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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Higher-education leaders are worried that many students never manage to graduate because of bottleneck courses, a shortage of advisers and an increasing amount of time required to finish a degree.
While the average length of stay for Utah's baccalaureate schools is just below five years, students at some schools, such as the University of Utah, are taking an average of 12 semesters.
Utah Higher Education Commissioner Rich Kendell said many students may give up on their degrees after getting bogged down in college.
About half of all Utah students who enter college directly out of high school do not finish a bachelor's degree within six years or an associate's degree within three, according to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
"There's a possibility of people dropping out, looking at a program and saying, 'It's just going to take me too much time.' It's a little discouraging," Kendell said.
Kendell said much of the problem is with bottleneck courses that can keep many students waiting just to get into a program or a prerequisite course they need to graduate.
High-demand programs such as engineering or nursing often have students biding their time while waiting to get into requisite classes.
At Salt Lake Community College, slots for the nursing program are booked up until 2010 with students who have already been accepted into the program, Joyce Barra, nursing director, said earlier this year.
Kendell said many students are left trying to navigate their college careers without help from advisers.
He said that at some schools, there may be only one counselor for every 500 students, a situation that leaves many students dragging on for years taking the wrong classes and switching majors.
"Some of the counseling ratios in this state are pretty wild. It's pretty hard to get direction on a program if there's no one there to talk you through it," Kendell said.
State higher education leaders tried to get $5 million in legislative funding this year for a student success initiative to boost the number of advisers and course sections for high-demand classes. That funding didn't come through, and Kendell said schools are unable to come up with the money on their own.
John Francis, University of Utah senior associate vice president for academic affairs, said many of the obstacles to reach graduation in four years often come from the students themselves.
He said an increasing number of students are getting dual majors, trying to prepare for a job market that demands versatility.
Also many students work part time to pay for tuition, he said.
Deneece Huftalin, SLCC vice president for student services, said her school has tried to streamline the process for students, installing a new online program that allows students to plug in their desired degree and what classes they've already taken. The program then tells them exactly what classes they need to get there, she said.
"We try very hard not to suggest you can do it in two years. Calling an associate degree a two-year degree is kind of a misnomer," she said. "That's just a reality for us."
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
