College To Dangle Financial Incentive To Students Who Graduate On Time

[Dave_Berry]

"In an effort to improve its 4-year graduation rate, the University of Texas at Austin has announced that it plans on testing a program that will provide a bit of student loan forgiveness to a handful of students if they can avoid falling into the “perpetual student” trap." ...

College To Dangle Financial Incentive To Students Who Graduate On Time ? The Consumerist

More: Graduating in 4 years may help UT students save on loans - Houston Chronicle

[ucbalumnus]

Looks like this is in addition to existing tuition rebates for Texas residents graduating without attempting too many credit units: Tuition Rebates : Tuition Dollars & Sense and http://www.collegeforalltexans.com/a...fa2.cfm?ID=447

Other public universities have either penalties or incentives. For example, credit unit or semester/quarter count limitations are common in California public universities. Some which have low on-time graduation rates have four year graduation pledges that give priority registration as an incentive to students who agree to follow their majors' course plans and not need remedial courses (e.g. CSUs in Pomona, Fresno, and Stanislaus, for example). Minnesota also has such a program. Obviously, public universities want students to graduate quickly, because extra time means extra subsidy (of in-state tuition). They may be generous with AP credit units for this reason (even if the academic departments are less generous with subject credit and placement).

In private universities, high tuition, plus perhaps the ending of financial aid or scholarships, presumably provides a strong incentive to avoid needing extra semesters. Of course, the private universities would not mind if a student stays and is able to pay for an extra semester.

[cromette]

At D2's University, after a certain number of hours over those required by your degree plan, they begin charging you graduate rates.

[cromette]

In Texas:

"Students who started Fall 2006 and thereafter and attempt* 30 or more semester credit hours beyond the hours required to complete their degree could be charge tuition not exceeding out-of-state tuition rates for these excess hours. Students who have not selected a major are considered, by state law, to have degree requirements of 120 hours."

This includes dual, running start, transfer hours, etc.

This could really discourage those not REQUIRED to have a minor from having one, and also could really discourage the freshman year of trying several different things just to explore and see what you like.

[ucbalumnus]

It is not surprising to see penalties for exceeding some maximum number of semesters or credits attempted.

Berkeley blocks registration beyond semester or credit unit limits (which depend on the division; the largest division has a limit of 130 credit units if you are beyond the eighth semester, or fourth semester for junior transfers) if you do not get special permission. For example: Office of Undergraduate Advising: Unit Ceiling

San Jose State disallows "high unit seniors" from registering for any courses other than the minimum needed to graduate as quickly as possible: San José State University : Advising : High Unit Seniors

[cap]

My sister did not get the rebate when she graduated in four years, because she had AP and dual enrollment credit. She knew people that took five years to graduate, but were below the credit limit, so go the rebate, yet she did not. She started a campaign to change that rule, but nothing came of it at the time.

[cptofthehouse]

Interesting. My son's public u is the one putting road blocks into their students' ways to graduate on time.

[ucbalumnus]

What university, and what specific road blocks?

[blueiguana]

UVa has an 8 semester rule with great exception. Students are expected to utilize summer terms if they need additional time to make up a class to stay in sequence, or complete a minor/double major.

[GMTplus7]

There already exists a financial incentive to graduate on time; it's called: not having to pay another year of tuition.

[ucbalumnus]

Originally Posted by GMTplus7

There already exists a financial incentive to graduate on time; it's called: not having to pay another year of tuition.

True, but when the tuition is subsidized as it is for in-state residents at state universities, the financial incentive is not as strong as it is when one would have to pay more. Conversely, the school has much more motivation to offer on-time graduation incentives if each additional semester or credit taken causes more subsidy to be spent on the student.

[noimagination]

"Students who started Fall 2006 and thereafter and attempt* 30 or more semester credit hours beyond the hours required to complete their degree could be charge tuition not exceeding out-of-state tuition rates for these excess hours. Students who have not selected a major are considered, by state law, to have degree requirements of 120 hours."

How does this work with respect to AP credit?

[ucbalumnus]

Originally Posted by noimagination

How does this work with respect to AP credit?

For the tuition rebate, College For All Texans: $1,000 Tuition Rebate for Certain Undergraduates says:

Originally Posted by Texas

All credit earned by examination was originally counted, but a change in the law allows the first nine hours of credit earned by examination—for example, credit earned through AP courses, CLEP exams or high SAT or ACT scores—to be exempted; Those first nine credit hours do not count as hours attempted. Additional credit earned exclusively by examination will still count toward hours attempted.

It would not be surprising if something similar applied to the +30 credit hour limit of in-state tuition.

[Apollo6]

Indiana University announced a similar plan today: http://www.courier-journal.com/artic...ll|text|Home|p

They will freeze tuition rates for upperclassmen who are on track to graduate. I won't mind this because IU Class of 2015 Son has a "full tuition" scholarship that was set at 9K before his freshman year and has covered less of his tuition each year.

[rmldad]

I am curious about how colleges justify these policies with their mission of intellectual curiosity and academic freedom. Giving incentives to one group (early graduates) necessarily punishes all other groups. They are discouraging students from taking full advantage of the school's resources.

It seems that universities are simply continuing their march down the path of becoming trades schools.