@ChoatieMom I can’t imagine my kid wanting to go to a service academy, however great that option may be.
@ordinarylives True. And since we cannot be full pay out of pocket, ultimately, he is probably going to go where the best merit money is offered, and will have to get it done in the time allotted by that merit award.
If a student takes a summer session, that counts as one quarter. A typical academic year would mean enrollment in three (fall, winter, spring) quarters of school, with the summer quarter off school, so four years is supposed to be twelve quarters of school. A student who takes all of the regular quarters plus one summer session in four years will have taken thirteen quarters.
The reason for the difference between four year graduation rate and twelve quarter graduation rate is that some students may take one of the regular quarters off school. For example,
year 1 2 3 4 5
student A FWS-FWS-FWS-FWS----
student B FWS-FWS--WS-FWS-F--
student C FWS-FWS--WS--WS-FW-
student D FWSSFWS-FWS-FWS----
student E FWS-FWS-FWS-FWS-FWS
In the examples, student A took 12 quarters over 4 years. Students B and C took 12 quarters, but more than 4 years (note some fall quarters off for them). Student D took 13 quarters over 4 years (although it is possible that some schools do not count this as “4 year” graduation). Student E took 15 quarters over 5 years.
My D is actually going to take one class at CC this summer for other reason. It would not make her graduate faster but easier to schedule next year. She will have 70 credits before starting sophomore and she just need 80 credits more for dual major in engineering. I know that is not typical.
Each of our kids was given 2 rules to follow: 1. You can major in anything. 2. Graduate in 4 years. They didn’t have to work during the school year. They did work during summers to generate some spending money for school. They both graduated in 4 years, though in my younger one’s case this required completing two courses the summer after her 4th year.
The statistics on graduation rates need to take into account that many students work 10-20 hours per week during the academic year for financial reasons. In large public universities this could be 30-40% or more students. Students who work 20+ hours often take a less than a full course load – say the minimum “full-time-enrolled” 12 hours instead of 15 per semester. This alone is going to add couple of semesters to the time needed for completion – without considering other circumstances such as illnesses or repeating a course or two. Sometimes summer courses can help keep the student on a 4-year graduation schedule.
^ One may need to justify whether the income earned during the school years may cover the cost of additional semester(s). Also, delaying the graduation by 1 year would also delay the real income after graduation. Nevertheless, if the school is really not affordable, there may be no other choice.
Since a summer is like an extra half semester or full quarter of tuition paid (although it may cost more or less than at the student’s usual school) and requires foregoing some summer work opportunities, why is it more acceptable to take extra summer sessions than it is to take an extra regular semester?
Most students beginning as freshmen in Florida’s 12 public universities should be able to complete undergraduate degree in 4 years considering probably most of them begin college with at least a semester or two of credits from AP or dual enrollment while attending high school. Students beginning in Florida community colleges might need five or more years because they maybe are working while attending college and might need extra time after transferring to an upper division state university and aligning course work with major track.
Ucb, good question (as was your earier point about summer internships.) My kid could have taken a summer course for (at the time) about $650, versus summer work at $3500. Big difference, to her and to us.
We told her, all along, that we couldn’t pay for a 5th year. We made sure she met cores and was on target- and this, despite not discovering. declaring and really digging into her major til fall of junior year.
Of course too there are some Florida community college students who like to speed things up a little.
We never expected to pay for more than four years, and barring health issues, I see no reason to pay for more. It was our dime and our kids worked plenty hard without having any “skin in the game.”
This thread is helpful on a number of levels. I’m not worried about my son’s lack of academic preparation for engineering, so that is good!
But I am worried about a messed up sequence/missing degree requirements, and thus delayed graduation. Since this could have serious financial consequences, I wonder how much a parent should try to keep an eye on things, and nudge the student from time to time if it seems that he or she is not sufficiently focused on the degree requirements? To be clear, I don’t want to be doing this at all, but I also don’t want either my son or myself to have to pay additional tuition because of an avoidable error.
I understand where parents are coming from in stressing that the student is responsible for anything payment that goes over the agreed-upon amount (four years or something else). But I also think that the ability to start working life without debt is a huge benefit to the future, so I will consider checking in with my son from time to time on this issue.
Post #70, I only checked the program when my daughter texted me she’s worried she might not be able to graduate. To which I texted back she was way ahead. But I didn’t want to cause any unnecessary worry, she is more of a planner than I am, like she gets to doctor’s appointment 5 minutes early. But I’ve been stressing the fact that we will be retiring this year, i.e. no more income to waste. I don’t know if it sunk in or not. But she manages her course load and I stay away from it. But she did ask me for opinion when she wanted to drop some courses, or just took 12 units, whether I thought that it was a good idea. To which my reply has always been yes because I didn’t want her to be burnt out like I did, I was a Pell Grant student and they only gave me 4 years.
Thanks DrGoogle. I suspect my son is less of a planner than your daughter! I know this is a stereotypical difference between boys and girls, but in his case, it may be apt. Gently nudging him to work on planning seems to be a central part of my parenting. Consider yourself fortunate that your daughter is a planner.
The flowchart at my son’s engineering school is do-able in 4 years if the student averages about 17 credit hours per semester. It enables them to take a slightly lower load freshman fall (14 credit hours) if they test out of Calc. and more flexibility of they test out of Cal II. Engineering and most majors at most colleges/unis require a minimum GPA to stay in that major and it will vary a couple points but is around a 3.0 or greater depending on which engineering concentration. My son has the “smallest” engineering major and has no trouble getting the classes he wants each semester. Some of his friends struggled abit getting into the classes sophomore year because the volume of students in those concentrations was huge. This is all doable for a student that is ready-for-college and doesn’t drift around trying different majors but my son said it’s not easy and many choose not to carry that load every single semester. Engineering is a pretty prescribed major with a full load of required engineering classes and the gen-eds with virtually no wiggle room unless they test out of 8 credits of math.
My two “olders” were not in engineering and had far more more flexibility in their schedules to dabble in other classes.
All three kids’ college had an on-line interactive degree navigator that showed them what they needed class-wise to meet the degree requirements, what they had taken and what was left to take.
Like I said…having a close relationship with the acDemic advisor is important. Very important. Our kid did have a health issue that made dropping one course necessary. Her excellent academic advisor helped her navigate the courses so that the kid would graduate on time, with her class.
They planned the course sequences every quarter, and updated as needed.
My second had a horrendous adviser IMO unfortunately, but he ‘liked’ the guy personally and muddled through it. He had a couple “camp-out” days at this guy’s office and the registrar’s office right before graduation around his required internship and this adviser not submitting correct paperwork and I was on pins and needles if we were driving out for graduation or not.
My parents will pay for undergrad (4 years).
We’re on track to save for four years undergrad at a public in-state university. We’ll pay tuition, fees, room and board, books and supplies. (Possibly a weekly allowance, not sure on that yet.) Thankfully, both kids have the drive to perform well in school and based on their track record their guidance counselor has already labeled the in-state flagship as a safety for both. (Our youngest is not even in high school yet!)
If our kids want private or OOS, they need to make that happen through merit aid covering the difference. If they are able do well enough to not what we’ve saved, they can apply any remainder to grad school.
Both of us (parents) went through years of paying back student loans due to our parents not saving. We aren’t doing that to our kids.
As far as nudging I did point out to my DS that because of his co-op rotation schedule he would need to start his 2 semester senior design class a semester early because he will be graduating in the summer and they don’t offer senior design II in the summer… While he may have figured that out by himself I thought it was a good idea to mention it now so he can plan accordingly for the next 2 years…
^^This is the kind of thing I anticipate having to do with my son to help keep him on track. I think it might stem from my being too much of a secretary for him to make sure he gets his homework assignments done on time.