Graduation guaranteed
Utah State University now guarantees that any student committed to graduating in four years will, or the rest is free.
This summer, Wade Oliver, assistant director of Advising and Transition Services, implemented the Graduation Guarantee Program. Eligible freshmen willing to follow a set course schedule during four years are guaranteed to graduate. If they don’t, the university will pay for the rest of their education.
“The Provost’s Office asked me to look at the program, so I did a lot of research on a number of different institutions across the country, and from there, we just decided to go with it,” Oliver said.
Only 31 percent of college students in the United States graduate with a bachelor’s degree in four years, according to a 1990 report from the U.S. Department of Education.
“It’s an issue all across the country,” Oliver said. “Students are taking a long time.”
The goals of the program are to increase retention, create financial savings for both the students and the university, and to improve the image of USU.
“I haven’t heard anything negative about the program at the other institutions,” he said.
Interested students are required to attend one of six meetings during the next two weeks for more information and to receive the program contract.
“Yesterday we sent out an e-mail, and we’ve had 10 or 15 people sign up for the meetings so far,” said Marie Dinger, office manager of Advising and Transition Services.
When the meetings are held, the program and its details will be laid out for students. Those interested will meet with Oliver to sign a contract.
Oliver acknowledged that while the effectiveness of similar programs at other institutions can be seen, the impact of the program at USU will not be immediately known.
“We’re not really going to know the effectiveness of the program for at least four years,” he said.
Students will not be penalized if they become involved in the program, then drop out of it, or switch majors after a year or two.
“There is absolutely no penalty for a student not completing their end of the contract,” Oliver said. “The only thing that could be detrimental to the student would be it might take them longer to graduate.”
According to the Graduation Guarantee Program Web site, www.usu.edu/graduate, students enrolled in the program should expect to take 15 to 18 credit hours per semester, depending on their particular plan of graduation.
Once students are enrolled in the program, they are allowed to stop the four-year graduation “clock” one time. Health problems, family emergencies, or an approved leave of absence, such as a church mission or pregnancy, are acceptable reasons for stopping.
One setback of the program in its infancy is its list of available majors.
“Not every major is available at this time,” Oliver said.
More majors will be added over time as the program evolves. However, there have been no discussions on a program for graduate students, he said.
One advantage of the program will be a partnership with the College of Eastern Utah.
“We’re actually still working on the ins and outs of how to make that work,” Oliver said.
A significant number of transfer students comes from the College of Eastern Utah. The partnership will allow students to begin the program at CEU, then continue at USU.
“The program will adapt as we learn how things are going to work,” Oliver said. “We will fix things as we need to.”
Ethan Lucia, an undeclared freshman, said, “It’s a good idea to guarantee that you’ll graduate and be able to get into the field you want to go in.”
Shea Rounds, a freshman majoring in public relations, hadn’t heard about the program. She said she thinks the program is a good idea and would like to get involved.
“The goal of the program is to help students get through in four years, guaranteed,” Oliver said.
-str@cc.usu.edu