<p>There is also a certain percentage of every entering class who will drop out/flunk out/transfer before graduation. </p>
<p>Most athletes take more than 4 years to graduate because of their sport. </p>
<p>Many more students now than in the past are working part-time or even full-time jobs while attending college so they can’t always take the requisite amount of hours per semester to graduate in 4 years.</p>
<p>Many students change their major which puts them behind.</p>
<p>Sometimes certain classes are only offered in either fall or spring but not both. So if you can’t fit that class in your schedule or you take the class and don’t pass, you might have to wait until the next year to re-take it. </p>
<p>Some kids do co-op programs where they spend whole semsters just working and not taking any classes. Or if a kid is paying their own way through school, they may have to take off a semster here and there just to work to save up the money for tuition. </p>
<p>My husband got his Mechanical engineering degree from NCSU in 4 years.
I think he went to summer sch. one summer just to lighten his load.</p>