They tell you that a full time student is twelve credit hours. So then how come, if you take twelve hours a semester, it can take you five years to graduate? Why are there so many requirements? The load keeps getting heavier and the pressure to graduate increases as the tuition goes up. Am I really going to have to pay back student loans forever? It seems a little ridiculous to me.
If I would not have gone to college, I could have stayed in my home town and worked for my mom as a Farm Bureau Agent and could have been making bank after a while. So why am I spending my money instead of making money? Yes, a college education is important to me, and that's why I'm here. But not only are we paying for all of it but we are being thrown into a win- lose situation. Either you take a ton of hours and work your butt off to graduate on time, or you take time to breathe and take around 12-15 hours a semester and then end up spending more money just so you can graduate in five years, who knows maybe more.
Older adults tell you that these are the best years of your life, but how can you have the time to enjoy them when you are crammed with required homework everynight? If, God forbid, you don't complete it, and do what's expected, then you join quite a bit of people on academic probation and waste either you or your parents money.
I started this semester with seventeen credit hours. I haven't taken spanish in five years and I was thrown into the second spanish class and was told not to get out. Spanish is one of my requirements so I just have to deal with it. But I am definitely no genius and it has been kicking my butt since the first day. I knew right away that if I was going to stick with this class then I was going to end up slacking in other classes, so I dropped a psych 300 class and I now have fourteen hours. Is this going to come back and kick me in the end? Am I going to regret this decision? Am I, along with many other seniors I know, going to have to kill myself with eighteen to twenty-one hours my last semester as a senior just so I don't have to spend all that money the following year?
The requirements are going up every year and the tuition is too. According to http://tuition.ku.edu/ ,over the past 30 years, tuition has increased an average of 9 percent a year. Why does education have to be so expensive? If you have experience in the field, is the education really worth it? In J101, I've listened to a few speakers announce that if they have two people up for a position in their company, they are going to consider a person's personality over their GPA. So maybe I should work on my personality to get that great job and load up the hours, never caring about the grades, and just get school over with.
I think too many hours is a problem more and more students are facing. I've personally taken 18 hours every semester so far, and I know i'm close to being burnt out. Over the past four semesters i've seen my outgoing, social personality end up confined to anschutz library on more nights then i'd like to admit. I think this blog shows just how unrealistic that old "graduate in four years... while partying harder then ever" myth is. I had no idea tuition requirements had increased so insanely in 30 years and it's something think not only students, but parents should know.
It’s upsetting to think about. I feel like nonstudents (educators, parents, politicians) don’t understand how much of a problem this really is. And you’re right it is no longer a four year degree. For most students it takes closer to five. I think it may not be worth spending the five years and $50,000 (minimum) for some people. For example I had a friend who went to a private university that cost $23,000 a year. He graduated in five years and is now a grade school teacher at a Catholic school. His salary for the next five years might be $23,000 per year! How long will it take him to break even?
I do think that something has to be done about the present condition of our education system. My high school counselor once told me it does not matter how much money you need to take out in student loans because it is an investment in yourself. Whatever! You have to be very careful before you rack up a whole bunch of student loan bills. They are the only type of loan that can never be erased, even if you declare bankruptcy.