<p>Saying that students at one school can’t, all efforts and interest in place, graduate in four years would be pretty harsh, but saying that certain schools make it more simple/difficult than others is fair. </p>
<p>I have a number of friends at large publics (Berkeley and Irvine, to name two) who won’t make it out in 4 years…registration trouble, lack of advising (and thus trouble fulfilling GEs), impacted majors, and so forth. If you’re interested in a minor or a double major, it can mean even more hassle. And if you change your mind late in the game (re: major), then there can also be problems since lower division pre-reqs are sometimes closed to upper-classmen. Of course these students could have been more on top of things, less indecisive, more pro-active, etc. and graduated in 4 years. But given their circumstances, this didn’t end up being an option. The same students in the same situation at different schools might not have had any trouble at all (similarly, the majority of students at these “troublesome” schools are just fine…I know a few who’ve graduated early, as well). I know people at my small LAC who have changed their majors partway through junior year and still gotten out in 4 years (with minors, no less). Certainly, this is all just anecdotal…I know that any of the above scenarios are possible anywhere. I am NOT saying that a student who goes to a big public and aims to get out in 4 years will inevitably have trouble, nor that a student at a smaller school can change her mind every three minutes and not have problems…not even close to it. But personally, I think anecdote is more helpful here than numbers, which just leave out too much important info. </p>
<p>When I toured colleges, my parents made a point of stopping current students to ask a few questions, one of which was “How difficult is it to graduate in 4 years?” These casual encounters provided more valuable info than any statistic (granted, visitation is a privilege). Some schools also made a point of telling prospective students "You will graduate in 4 years, if you want to (and by the way, we want you to want to).</p>
<p>So my personal feeling is that the information IS important, but I don’t think the stats alone should be taken at face value.</p>