More UCLA Undergrads Reported to Graduate On Time: Higher Tuition Cited

Yesterday's Daily Bruin carries a report that 4-year graduation rates are rising at UCLA. Excerpts from the article below:

Statistics show increase in undergraduate students who graduate in four years

Crystal Hsing, Jan. 31, 2011

In the past year, the proportion of undergraduate students who finished their degrees in four years rose to an all-time high of 70 percent. The increase in the four-year graduation rate is tied to many factors, including the rising cost of education, the administration’s initiatives to streamline academic curricula, and increased competition among applicants, said Robert Cox, the manager for institutional research at the UCLA Office of Analysis and Information Management. According to Cox’s office, this statistic is calculated from those who began their undergraduate career in fall of 2006 and graduated by summer of 2010.

...With more than 80,000 applications to UCLA this year, it becomes even more important for current students to graduate in a timely manner to make room for more first-years, she added.

...With applications to the UC at an all-time high, competition among applicants has also increased. About 25 percent of admitted first-years start their first quarters already carrying more than 45 units from Advanced Placement courses taken in high school, which means they arrive at UCLA with sophomore standing, Cox said. Students are also attending summer classes more, which allows them to finish their coursework earlier. “It costs more to go to UCLA than it ever has before, and that really lights a fire under people,” Cox said. “At some institutions, rising fees makes students drop out, but at UCLA, it just makes people work harder and faster.”

Full article at http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2011/01/statistics_show_increase_in_undergraduate_students_who_graduate_in_four_years

Some interviews with students suggest why things have speeded up: