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<p>Never saw this complaint on the Berkeley forum, which indicates that it is likely extremely exaggerated. Berkeley has about a 70% four year graduation rate for recent classes, among the highest of public universities. Berkeley also has restrictions against taking more than 8 semesters to graduate, so it is unlikely that a student could actually take 7 years (14 semesters) to graduate. And a look at the current schedule of classes at Berkeley indicates that the CS courses are not 100% full.</p>
<p>I remember when the four year graduation rate was under 40%. But the main reason for the low graduation rate then was student-related:
- More than half of entering freshmen needed remedial English courses (versus under 10% now).
- Many students found the workload too difficult, so they took 12-13 credit units per semester instead of averaging 15 per semester needed to complete the degree in 8 semesters.
- Students generally had much less AP credit.</p>