Students pick up pace toward degree
BY Cynthia lee
Today Staff Writer
Hanging around five or six years to earn a degree is no longer the norm for UCLA undergrads eager to move on.
A record number of UCLA undergraduates are graduating on time, according to the latest report from the campus’ Office of Analysis and Information Management (AIM).
Of the 4,245 students who entered UCLA from high school in Fall 2001, 63% graduated within four years, up from 39% for freshmen who entered 10 years earlier. Of the 2,888 students who transferred in from community college in Fall 2003, 53% completed their degrees in two years, up from 36% for transfers who came in a decade ago.
Looking at the new data another way, 67% of all baccalaureate degrees awarded at UCLA in 2004-05 were earned by students who finished on time.
“These numbers show that UCLA is doing a better job of making use of the resources we receive from the state and other sources,” said Assistant Vice Chancellor Tom Lifka. “Because resources have shrunk, it’s very important to the state that the University of California and all public institutions make efficient use of their resources, and the four-year graduation rate is one of the key measures of that.”
The six-year graduation rate is another standard used nationally to measure degree completion at colleges and universities. The most recent national comparative data show that UCLA’s 87% graduation rate for freshmen who entered in Fall 1997 was the highest among the UC campuses and the second highest among all public flagship universities in the country. The University of Virginia, a much smaller institution, was the only exception.
While graduation rates have been moving up for most universities nationwide, said AIM manager Robert Cox, “UCLA is not just moving with this tide. We’re really leading the way.”
“It fulfills the spirit of the compact that we have with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to maximize access and to make sure that classes are available so that students can graduate on time,” explained Caroline West, director of AIM. Students who stay longer take up more resources, including classroom space and time from academic advisers.
With faster graduation times, Lifka said, “the more efficient UCLA is at moving students toward that degree, the more students we can admit” in the face of increasing demand.
A number of factors is spurring graduation rates upward, campus administrators said. During the last decade, the quality of students being admitted has improved, bringing in those who are better prepared academically. And rising costs, a national trend, has also motivated students to graduate faster.
Another key factor at UCLA has been state funding for summer session, which roughly cut fees in half for students beginning in 2001, Cox said. Students are taking advantage of this in a big way. Before state-funded summer, 60% of UCLA undergraduates attended at least one summer. Since state funding, that number has risen to 80%.
Another critical factor was the restructuring of the general education program. From 1998 to 2002, the UCLA College of Letters and Science, working with the Academic Senate, redesigned general education courses to create a number of five-unit courses that required more reading and writing. UCLA students, many of whom tended to take 12 units a quarter, were motivated to take 15 units in-stead.
“We had to change the culture,” said Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Judith Smith of the UCLA College. “We figured if lower-division students got used to taking 15 units each quarter, this pattern of unit-taking would persist in the upper division.” The College also added more one-unit classes, such as the Fiat Lux and Honors Adjunct seminars.
In addition to reorganizing the general education program, the College adopted a guideline, Expected Cumulative Progress, that helps students stay on track so that freshmen accumulate 180 units by the end of their fourth year. If they fall behind, they meet with academic counselorsto plan how to catch up, for example, by going to summer session.
For details, visit www.aim.ucla.edu.update.html. |
