Study Shows Public College Students Take Longer to Graduate

Less than half the students at public universities in Massachusetts finish their studies in a four-year period, according to a national report released Monday. 

The report came from the Indianapolis-based nonprofit Complete College America. The mission of the organization is to communicate the benefits of receiving a degree within four years.

The organization’s goal is to facilitate students in their path to graduating in four years. 

In Massachusetts, only 49 percent of students that participate in high levels of research at public institutions are completing their studies within four years, according to the report. At public colleges and universities that aren’t research-based, only 29 percent are graduating on time. 

Looking at the bigger picture, only 36 percent of students at public research institutions in the U.S. graduate in four years, while 19 percent of students graduate within four years from non-research institutions in the U.S. 

“Obviously at a public school there are way more students competing to get into classes that they may need to fulfill degree requirements, but because of the limited spots in each class a lot of people cannot get the classes they need in time,”  said UC Santa Barbara junior Arezu Hashemi.

 The study shows that tuition borrowers who do not graduate on time take on far more debt in their extra years, the report found. According to data from Temple University in Philadelphia and from the University of Texas, Austin, two extra years on campus increases debt by nearly 70 percent.

UC Berkeley sophomore Lauren D'Annibale believes that going to a public school would make students graduate later.

“It can sometimes be difficult to enroll in the exact class I want due to the high demand of students, but there are always other class options that are very similar and class sizes tend to be larger to accommodate more students,” said D'Annibale.