Examination of Four-Year Baccalaureate Completion Rates at Purdue University. April Enrollment Management Analysis and Reporting

Transcription

1 Examination of Four-Year Baccalaureate Completion Rates at Purdue University April 2011 Enrollment Management Analysis and Reporting Student Analytical Research 0

2 Executive Summary Since 2000 the four-year baccalaureate completion rate at Purdue has been on the rise, and currently stands at the highest rate in Purdue's history at 39.1%. The university's goal is to increase the four-year baccalaureate completion rate to a minimum of 50.0%. This is a brief synopsis of some of the factors that impact our four-year rate. 1.) The average time to degree for Purdue students is 4.27 years. Better academically prepared students, females, non-residents, and students who participate in learning communities all take less time to complete. 2.) Attrition in the first two years is still a major impediment to Purdue achieving a 50.0% four-year completion rate. Typically 11% of the students do not return for their sophomore year, another 9% will leave prior to their junior year. After that point only 3% of the students will be lost prior to graduation. 3.) On average Purdue requires students to complete hours per semester to graduate in four years (assuming the student does not enroll in Summer school). Presently our students on average only attempt hours and only earn hours per semester. 4.) Purdue students earn credits from Purdue courses equivalent to their degree requirements, an average of hours per degree. However, they also earn an additional 6.38 hours of AP or exam credit and hours of transfer credit above their campus hours on average. Students who take longer than four years to complete their degree earn an average of 8 additional Purdue credit hours than on-time completers. 5.) The additional Purdue course credits are not going towards completing more credentials (a second major, degree, minor, or concentration). Students who graduate with more credentials than a baccalaureate are only earning 1.85 more campus credit hours, are more likely to graduate in four years, and have a lower time to degree. 6.) We have several unique programs of study that require more than four years to complete at Purdue including but not limited to the Engineering and Landscape Architecture COOP programs, joint baccalaureate/mba programs in Management, an advanced accounting certificate, and the Doctorate of Pharmacy program. While these do affect our time to degree it is not to a large extent. The maximum potential impact of these programs is a three to four percentage point difference on our graduation rates 7.) Changing degree objective (CODO) behavior is very common on the Purdue campus. 11.3% of new-entry students will change their enrollment college after their first year. CODO students take an additional ½ year to complete their degree and earn an average of 7.5 more Purdue course credit hours over the course of their career. 8.) Students who take longer than four years to complete their degree retake twice as many courses on average and are far more likely to repeat a course. 1

3 INTRODUCTION The most recent four-year baccalaureate completion rate for Purdue University firsttime full-time students stands at 39.1%, this actually represents the highest four-year rate in Purdue's history (table 1). With the most recent six-year cohort (fall 2004 beginners) the university's graduation rate increases by 81.9% to 69.3 compared to the four-year rate of 38.1 for the same cohort. The largest jump occurs between the fourth and fifth year as the graduation rate increases an average of 72.3% in this time frame and only another 8.8% from the fifth to sixth year (table 1). More accurately this jump in completion rates occurs at the four and one-half year point as the average time to degree at West Lafayette is 4.27 years. This paper is an examination of factors that impact the time to degree at Purdue University, and the University's ability to increase four-year graduation rates to 50%. Table 1. Baccalaureate Completion Rates for Purdue University Cohort Year 4-yr Rate 5-yr Rate Percent Gain Percent Gain 6-yr Rate* from 4-yr from 5-yr % % % % % % % % % % % Average % % *Six-Year Rate includes students who have completed a professional degree 2

4 What are the demographic characteristics of students who graduate in 4 years or less? Each of the colleges' students at Purdue average more than 4 years to graduate with the exception of Veterinary Medicine. However, the school of Veterinary Medicine is an extremely small subpopulation consisting of only 14 of 5,130 graduates examined (figure 1, Appendix TTD). Figure 1. Average Time to Degree by Academic College Additionally, African American students take the longest time to graduate while International students take the least time. Also, non-resident students and females graduate faster on average. Students who graduate in four-years or less have higher standardized test scores when they enter Purdue (ACT converted to SAT CR+M scale), and students who 3

5 participate in the learning communities graduate from Purdue at a faster pace (figure 2, Appendix TTD) Figure 2. Time to Degree by Various Demographic Characteristics 4.8 Time to Degree (Years) by Ethnicity African American Asian American American Indian Hispanic International White 4

6 What are the credit hour requirements for Purdue students to complete a baccalaureate degree, and how well are the students meeting those requirements to complete in four years? The average number of credit hours required to graduate from Purdue University across all degree programs is (see table 2), or approximately 16 credit hours per a semester over a 4-year (8 semester) time frame, if a student does not enroll for summer hours or earn credit from other sources (AP, dual enrollment, transfer credit). The credit hour requirements across all of the academic schools remain similar, ranging from a low of hours in Science to a high of hours in Education. Table 2. Credits Required for Completion by Academic School Academic School Mean Median Total College of Agriculture College of Consumer and Family Sciences College of Education College of Engineering College of Liberal Arts College of Pharmacy, Nursing, & Health Sciences College of Science College of Technology Krannert School of Management Veterinary Technology It is debatable as to whether this credit load requirement is fully realized by students or academic advisors as the most recent average credit hours attempted per a semester is The median attempted hours remains 15 for all classification levels, but the average ranges from a low of for 08 seniors to a high of for 05 juniors (see table 3). The negative skew among 08 seniors is expected, given students who are in later than their eighth semester at the university, who might be taking less than a full load to complete their degree, would fall into the senior 08 classification level. Additionally, the mean campus credits earned in one 5

7 semester by students are 14 credit hours. On average, no classification level of students earns more than credits during the semester. Table 3. Fall 2010 Purdue Credits Attempted and Earned by Classification Campus Credits Attempted Classification N Mean Median Total 30, Freshmen 01 6, Freshmen 02 2, Sophomore 03 4, Sophomore 04 2, Junior 05 4, Junior 06 2, Senior 07 3, Senior 08 5, Campus Credits Earned Classification N Mean Median Total 31, Freshmen 01 6, Freshmen 02 2, Sophomore 03 4, Sophomore 04 2, Junior 05 4, Junior 06 2, Senior 07 3, Senior 08 5, What is the distribution of credits earned by Purdue Students? Is there a difference between four-year completers and students who take longer than four years? Purdue students are earning more credits than required for completion of their degrees. The average number of credits earned for graduating students is However, much of this extra credit is earned in methods other than course enrollment at the West Lafayette campus. Average credits earned from the West Lafayette campus (126.80) is nearly identical to the 6

8 average required credits for completion (126.71). Students earn an average of 6.38 credits via placement exams such as AP, and credits via transfer courses (table 4). Given the students, on average, are earning campus credits equivalent to their degree requirements, it leads to the question of how much benefit in accelerated degree completion they are gaining from the placement and transfer work they are completing. Additionally, given the finding that the students, on average, attempt less hours per a semester than necessary to gain the approximately 127 credit hours they earn in campus work, it stands to reason that the average time to degree completion is greater than 4 years. Finally, as would be expected students who take more than 4 years to complete their degree have greater campus hours completed than students who graduate in 4 years or less. The difference is, on average, 8 more hours completed ( hours vs hours). 7

9 Table 4. Total Credits Earned at Time of Graduation by Credit Type and Academic School Graduation Academic School Campus* Placement Transfer Total Mean Total Median N Mean College of Agriculture Median N Mean College of Consumer and Family Median Sciences N Mean College of Education Median N Mean College of Engineering Median N Mean College of Liberal Arts Median College of Pharmacy, Nursing, & Health Sciences College of Science College of Technology Krannert School of Management Veterinary Technology N Mean Median N Mean Median N Mean Median N Mean Median N Mean Median N *ICN courses and courses taken at Regional Campuses are included in Campus Credits 8

10 Are the additional campus credits secondary to students earning additional credentials beyond their bachelor's degree, such as second degrees, second majors, minors, and concentrations? Do earning these additional credentials impact students time to degree? Among the baccalaureate degree completers from the most recent academic year, 59.3% of the graduating students earned additional credentials at the time of degree, either a second degree, second major, at least one minor, or at least one concentration. Overall, earning these additional credentials did not lead to a large increase in earned credit hours for these students. The mean campus credit hours earned by these students was only 1.85 hours higher than the students who only earned a baccalaureate degree. Students who earned a second major had the largest increased campus credits (differential hours), but this only consisted of 49 students. Interestingly, students who earned minors actually earned less credits (differential hours), and, as would be expected, was the largest portion of the extra credential students at a count of 2,037 students (table 5). Table Total and Campus Credits Earned by Credential Classification Credentials Group N Campus Credits Total Credits Mean Median Mean Median Second Degree Yes No Second Major Yes No At Least One Minor Yes No At Least One Concentration Yes No Unduplicated Total Yes* No* *Yes Unduplicated Total means the student is a yes in at least one of the additional Credential Categories 9

11 Additionally, the earning of the extra credentials did not lead to increased time to degree for Purdue students, even with the slight increase in campus credit hours earned. Students who earned at least one extra credential were less likely to take greater than four years to graduate (credentials 40.84% greater than 4 years vs. noncredential 47.15% greater than 4 years) and have a lower mean years to degree (credential 4.17 years vs. noncredential 4.41 years). Only the students who earn a second degree or second major take longer to graduate on average than their fellow students (table 6). Table 6. Time to Degree by Extra Credentials earned Credentials Group N % > 4 years Mean Years Median Years to graduate to Degree to Degree Second Degree Yes % No % Second Major Yes % No % At Least One Minor Yes % No % At Least One Concentration Yes % No % Unduplicated Total Yes* % No* % *Yes Unduplicated Total means the student is a yes in at least one of the additional Credential Categories What is the impact of unique programs of study that require greater than four years for Purdue students to complete? Purdue has several unique academic programs with experiences that, by design, intentionally take more than four years to complete. Engineering has an optional professional practice COOP program available to interested students. In any given year 240 to 260 Engineering students will enroll in a COOP course, and 180 Industrial Practice Certificates will 10

12 be awarded by Engineering. Agriculture has a professional practice COOP embedded into their degree requirements in the Landscape Architecture major. In any given year there are 90 to 120 undergraduate students enrolled in Landscape Architecture with another 40 enrolled in Pre- Landscape Architecture. Management has several 3+2 and 4+1 baccalaureate/mba joint programs. The school typically awards 10 to 15 degrees in an academic year from the joint programs. However, many of those students are awarded their bachelor's degrees the year before earning their MBA, and thus, might fall into the four-year completion rates. Additionally, Management offers an Advanced Accounting Certificate that requires 150 credits to complete. Typically 20 to 35 students complete the Advanced Accounting Certificate each year. Pharmacy begins 250 to 300 students in their Pre-Pharmacy program each year. The students enter this program with the goal of enrolling in the Pharmacy program and earning a Pharm-D six-year professional degree. However, only 60 to 70 of the students from each beginning class will enter the Pharm-D program at Purdue, another 140 to 160 will earn bachelor's degrees from other programs on campus with approximately 25% of the new entering class earning a baccalaureate in 4 years. Students in many of these programs can not be identified until degree completion making it difficult to assess their full impact on four-year graduation rates. However, if the students from the extended programs that can be identified at entry to the institution (Pre- Pharmacy, Landscape Architecture) are removed from the entry cohort the most recent fouryear baccalaureate completion rate increases 0.8 percentage points from 39.1% to 39.9%. The maximum impact the extended programs could potentially have on the four-year completion rates based upon program enrollment is 3 to 4 percentage points. 11

13 How prevalent is CODO behavior on the Purdue campus, and what is the impact of CODO behavior on time to degree? Movement between academic colleges requiring a change of degree objective (CODO) is common amongst Purdue students. In any given academic-year approximately 11% of the undergraduate students who are continuously enrolled at West Lafayette will change enrollment between at least two colleges. This pattern of CODO movement begins early with Purdue students as, on average 11.3%, of the new entry class will CODO away from their initial college by the beginning of their second year (table 7). This ultimately leads to an average sixyear graduation rate from initial college of only 44.4%, with an additional 26.0% of our new entry students graduating from a CODO college. Additionally, 6.8% of new entry students voluntarily leave Purdue and graduate from another institution within 6 years, and 0.6% of the new entry students are academically dismissed by Purdue and graduated from another institution within 6 years (table 8). 12

14 Table 7. One Year Retention to Initial Entry College and CODO College 2007 Cohort 2008 Cohort 2009 Cohort Retained to Voluntary Voluntary Voluntary What College? Entry CODO Dismissed Entry CODO Dismissed Entry CODO Dismissed Withdraw Withdraw Withdraw Total 75.3% 11.2% 3.7% 9.7% 76.9% 10.4% 2.9% 9.8% 76.7% 12.2% 2.5% 8.5% Agriculture 77.0% 9.0% 5.2% 8.8% 82.8% 6.1% 3.2% 7.9% 81.5% 7.2% 2.9% 8.2% Health and Human Sciences 80.1% 8.4% 1.5% 10.0% 78.4% 6.2% 2.3% 13.0% 80.2% 10.7% 1.3% 7.8% Education 75.7% 13.6% 1.8% 8.9% 81.3% 6.3% 3.1% 9.4% 77.6% 10.2% 2.0% 9.5% Engineering 83.7% 6.8% 2.5% 6.9% 85.1% 6.5% 1.6% 6.8% 85.9% 7.4% 1.4% 5.1% Liberal Arts 73.7% 6.6% 4.6% 15.0% 74.8% 5.4% 4.6% 15.2% 79.2% 5.9% 3.2% 11.7% Pharmacy 78.4% 14.4% 1.4% 5.5% 79.7% 13.4% 0.8% 6.1% 79.3% 14.2% 1.6% 4.9% Science 64.3% 19.0% 6.6% 10.0% 69.0% 19.3% 3.6% 8.1% 64.8% 21.5% 3.2% 10.5% Technology 74.8% 10.6% 3.8% 10.8% 74.1% 12.3% 4.3% 9.0% 72.3% 12.4% 5.2% 10.1% Management 84.2% 4.7% 3.9% 7.2% 81.8% 6.5% 1.3% 10.4% 82.5% 7.5% 2.1% 7.9% Undergraduate Studies Program Veterinary Technology 55.6% 26.7% 3.6% 14.1% 56.4% 27.5% 4.1% 11.9% 51.3% 32.2% 3.0% 13.5% 72.2% 22.2% 5.6% 0.0% 68.2% 18.2% 4.5% 9.1% 68.8% 12.5% 0.0% 18.8% 12

15 Table 8. Six Year Baccalaureate Completion From Initial Entry College and CODO College 2002 Cohort 2003 Cohort 2004 Cohort +Graduated From What College? Entry CODO Noncompletercompletercompleters Non- Non- Entry CODO Entry CODO Total 46.7% 25.3% 28.1% 44.0% 26.0% 30.0% 42.6% 26.7% 30.7% Agriculture 50.7% 18.5% 30.8% 53.1% 11.6% 35.3% 53.8% 15.3% 30.9% Health and Human Sciences 50.9% 23.1% 26.1% 47.5% 24.7% 27.8% 54.4% 17.6% 28.0% Education 54.8% 15.5% 29.8% 59.9% 18.6% 21.6% 48.8% 20.9% 30.3% Engineering 58.9% 19.7% 21.4% 53.2% 23.7% 23.1% 50.8% 23.0% 26.2% Liberal Arts 44.8% 18.8% 36.3% 44.7% 19.2% 36.1% 49.1% 17.1% 33.8% Pharmacy* N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 27.2% 41.8% 31.0% Science 26.7% 39.6% 33.7% 25.5% 36.3% 38.2% 26.4% 37.8% 35.8% Technology 60.9% 12.5% 26.6% 61.9% 11.2% 26.9% 53.1% 12.6% 34.3% Management 47.7% 27.1% 25.2% 47.3% 27.7% 24.9% 45.4% 29.0% 25.6% Undergraduate Studies Program 0.0% 68.1% 31.9% 0.0% 62.8% 37.2% 0.0% 64.8% 35.2% Veterinary Technology 55.6% 0.0% 44.4% 50.0% 11.1% 38.9% 33.3% 16.7% 50.0% 2004 Non-Completers Break Out Voluntary Withdrawals Academic Dismissal Other Noncompleters Total VW VW and Graduated Elsewhere Total AD AD and Graduated Elsewhere Total 18.1% 6.8% 9.9% 0.6% 2.7% Agriculture 15.1% 3.3% 13.2% 1.0% 2.7% Health and Human Sciences 20.1% 9.2% 6.1% 0.1% 1.8% Education 21.9% 8.5% 7.5% 0.5% 1.0% Engineering 13.8% 6.4% 9.3% 0.7% 3.1% Liberal Arts 21.8% 7.8% 9.7% 0.5% 2.3% Pharmacy 20.4% 10.2% 6.5% 0.3% 4.0% Science 18.2% 7.5% 14.6% 1.2% 2.9% Technology 19.1% 2.4% 10.8% 0.3% 4.4% Management 17.8% 7.4% 5.8% 0.2% 2.0% Undergraduate Studies Program 20.7% 6.8% 12.9% 1.0% 1.6% Veterinary Technology 33.3% 16.7% 16.7% 0.0% 0.0% +Six-Year Rate includes students who have completed a professional degree * College of Pharmacy was a major housed in Health Sciences until 2004 **Non-completers include students still enrolled after six years, academic dismissals, voluntary withdrawers, associate degree completers, and students who are deceased 13

16 This large amount of movement between academic colleges is related to the extension of time to degree for students. The gain in completion rates from the 4 th to 5 th year among students graduating from their entry college is 53.1% over the last six years, while the gain among CODO students is 122.9% (table 9). On average CODO students take an additional semester (4.14 years vs years) to complete a bachelor's degree. Additionally CODO students earn 7.5 more campus credit hours than non-codo students (table 10). However, the phenomena of CODO activity requiring a greater time to degree is confined to students who do not start in the University's exploration program of Undergraduate Studies (USP). USP students, by the nature of the program, are required to CODO to complete their degrees. However, despite earning 6.9 more hours from the university on average than students who graduate from their initial entry college ( vs ), USP students only take slightly longer to graduate than students who complete their degree from their initial entry school (4.27 years vs years). Table 9. Percentage Gain in Baccalaureate Completion Rates Between Year 4 and 5 Cohort Year Completion from Entry School Completion from CODO School 4-Yr Rate 5-Yr Rate % Change 4-Yr Rate 5-Yr Rate % Change % % % % % % % % % % % % Average % % 14

17 Table 10. Time to Degree and Earned Credit Hours by CODO Activity and Graduation College Campus Credits Time to Degree Graduation College Earned Non CODO CODO Non CODO CODO Total College of Agriculture College of Consumer and Family Sciences College of Education College of Engineering College of Liberal Arts College of Pharmacy, Nursing, & Health Sciences College of Science College of Technology Krannert School of Management Veterinary Technology Do students who take longer than four years to graduate retake more classes? On average students who take greater than four years to graduate retake approximately twice as many classes as students who take four or less years to graduate (> 4 years = 3.75 retakes vs. 4 yr or less = 1.87 retakes). Also a dramatically higher percentage of the students who take greater than four years to graduate retake courses than the on-time completers (> 4 years = 83.4% of students vs. 4 yr or less = 54.0% of students). The top 10 retake courses for ontime completers and students who take longer are found in table 11. Among the on-time completers 3 of the 10 courses are repeat credit low DFW rate courses, repeats of these courses are either required by curriculum or taken for personal growth or enjoyment (PES 114, BAND 110, AAE 395), while all of the top 10 courses among the students who take longer to complete are higher DFW courses. Thus, it is likely these courses were retaken by the extended time students to improve final grades (table 11). 15

18 Table 11. Retake Courses by Time to Degree 4 years or less to complete Greater than 4 years to complete Number of students retaking courses % of students retaking 54.0% 83.4% Mean of retakes Top 10 Retake Courses 4 years or less to complete Greater than 4 years to complete Course ID Number of Retakes Course ID Number of Retakes PSY CHM ECON PSY MA MGMT AAE MA MGMT MA PES ECON MA COM MA MA PSY CHM BAND MA CONCLUSION There are several factors within Purdue's current climate impacting the University's ability to raise its four year baccalaureate completion rate to over 50%. The first is simply a matter of the University's overall retention and graduation rates. Figure 3 indicates the distribution of Purdue's six year graduation cohort. The majority of students who leave the university without graduating occur during the first two years after entry into the institution. Continuing to focus efforts on reducing the attrition during the first two years will have a tremendous impact on graduation rates. The highest six-year baccalaureate completion rate in Purdue's history is 71.9%. It is no coincidence that the cohort (2002) that produced this graduation rate also had at the time one of the highest first-year (86.5%) and second-year (78.7%) retention rates in Purdue history. The recent gains in one-year (2008 cohort 87.3%, 16

19 2009 cohort 89.0%) and two-year (2008 cohort 80.6%) retention rates are encouraging and will likely yield some of the highest completion rates in Purdue history. A university-wide improvement in overall retention and completion rates will likely yield improvements in the four-year rate as well. Figure 3. Distribution of Purdue's Six-Year Retention Cohort 100.0% 95.0% 90.0% 85.0% 80.0% 75.0% 70.0% 65.0% 60.0% 55.0% 50.0% 45.0% 40.0% 35.0% 30.0% 25.0% 20.0% 15.0% 10.0% 5.0% 0.0% Entry One Year Two Year Three Year Four Year Five Year Six Year Enrolled Graduated+ Left University* +Graduates include baccalaureates, associates, or Professional degrees *Left university includes students who were academically dismissed, voluntarily withdrew, or are deceased Secondly, the lowest credit hour requirement to finish with a baccalaureate degree in 8 semesters is 15.5 hours per a semester. It is debatable as to whether this message is understood or, possibly, even conveyed to students given the highest average attempted credit hours for any classification level is hours, with most classifications falling below 15 hours attempted. Changes in degree requirements or, simply, even changes in credit hour 17

20 requirement messages to students and academic advisors could show improvements in Purdue's four-year completion rates. Finally, CODO behavior and the amount of courses retaken have a large impact on students' ability to complete a bachelor's degree in four years. Students who graduate from a college other than their entry college take more credits at Purdue and take nearly an entire semester longer to complete their degree. CODO behavior has an even greater impact on students who start in a degree-granting college and CODO as opposed to students who begin in the Undergraduate Studies Program. Additionally, students who take longer than four years to graduate retake far more classes on average. Efforts to lower the impact of movement between degree granting colleges could yield a significant gain in four-year baccalaureate completion rates for Purdue, as well as student success programs geared towards reducing the number of retakes by students. 18

21 Appendix Time to Degree 19

22 Time-To-Degree Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN Time-to-degree is reported in years based upon calendar days. Below is a brief translation of semesters v. years. Semesters include fall and spring semesters. See more detail of time calculation at end of tables. 8 semesters = 3.7 years 8 semesters + trailing summer = 3.96 years 9 semesters = 4.3 years 10 semesters = 4.7 years 10 semesters + trailing summer = 4.96 years Note: May or may not have enrolled in summer sessions Baccalaureate Degrees granted in (August 2009, December 2009, May 2010) West Lafayette First-Time, Full-Time Beginners Years to Degree * CODO - No CODO - Yes Overall Average years Median years Award Count 3,345 1,785 5,130 *Does NOT include Technology Statewide students/degrees. * Does include graduates who began in Undergraduate Studies Program (USP). By College / School CODO CODO Overall No Yes Award Count Years to Degree Award Count Years to Degree Award Count Years to Degree Average Median Average Median Average Median Agriculture Consumer and Family Sciences Education Engineering 1, , Liberal Arts , Management Pharmacy, Nursing, Health Sciences Science Technology Veterinary Medicine

23 Baccalaureate Degrees granted in (August 2009, December 2009, May 2010) West Lafayette First-Time, Full-Time Beginners By Race Award Count Years to Degree Average Median African American Asian American American Indian Hispanic International White 4, All 5, By Gender Award Count Years to Degree Average Median Female 2, Male 3, All 5, By Residency Award Count Years to Degree Average Median IN Resident 3, Non-Resident 1, All 5, By Learning Community Participation Award Count Years to Degree Average Median LC participant Non-participant 4, All* 5, *Note two students could not be matched to the LC database Standardized Test Scores SATCR SATM ACT Composite Highest Test (ACT converted to SAT scale) Graduate 4 years or less Graduate GT years All

24 Additional detail of Semesters v Years Begins Enrollment Semesters Graduates August Fall / Spring 1 year Fall / Spring 2 years Fall / Spring 3 years Fall / Spring - 4 years - Graduates in May 8 semesters = 3.7 years May or may not have enrolled during the summers in between August Fall / Spring 1 year Fall / Spring 2 years Fall / Spring 3 years Fall / Spring - 4 years 8 semesters + trailing summer = 3.96 years May or may not have enrolled during the summers in between Summer - Graduates in August August August August Fall / Spring 1 year Fall / Spring 2 years Fall / Spring 3 years Fall / Spring 4 years Fall Graduates in December Fall / Spring 1 year Fall / Spring 2 years Fall /Spring 3 years Fall / Spring 4 years Fall / Spring 5 years - Graduates in May Fall / Spring 1 year Fall / Spring 2 years Fall /Spring 3 years Fall / Spring 4 years Fall / Spring 5 years Summer - Graduates in August 9 semesters = 4.3 years May or may not have enrolled during the summers in between 10 semesters = 4.7 years May or may not have enrolled during the summers in between 10 semesters + trailing summer = 4.96 years May or may not have enrolled during the summers in between 22