But I am a double major. I took 14 credits last summer. I likely will take eight more credits this summer and still have a full course load my senior year. Oh, and I still need to complete an internship for credit.

Simply put, it is unrealistic for many students to graduate in four years.

The time it takes to graduate has taken on new importance with the scarcity of student loans, tuition increases and job opportunities following graduation.

This is a problem that must be tackled by all students. With an increasingly competitive job market, many students feel they need two majors or even earn two degrees to make them more attractive candidates.

In years or even decades past, maybe students did not feel the need to go above and beyond just to get a job following graduation. But times have changed and graduation requirements haven’t.

I still don’t know what value biology or math classes have when I am a journalism and international relations major. I’m sure that someone at some point in time came up with a convoluted response to this, but it’s irrelevant. Every university wants its graduates to be well-rounded, but it seems they desire this only for the sake of being able to say it.

But I have never been asked in an internship interview if I can do long division.

MSU graduates would benefit from restructuring graduation requirements if the administration eliminates universal mandatory courses and lets each department pick its own requirements.

Students who have not yet declared majors or have not yet been accepted into the school of their choice would be able to take a variety of courses on subjects in which they are interested, which would enhance knowledge in their profession.

Students who already have declared a major would become more knowledgeable in their field through this system as well.

Surely, many students come to MSU without knowing what they want to do with their lives. Some come to the university and change majors several times. Still, I don’t think this is a good reason to handcuff the people who know what they want to do.

I am taking an ISB lab this semester instead of becoming a more well-rounded journalist.

I could be taking an online publishing course (which is a pretty important class these days), but someone high up in the university would rather have me waking up at 7 a.m. every Tuesday to evaluate the hatching rate of brine shrimp eggs.

I can’t wait to wow my future employers with that information.

If the university is adamant on having several universal graduation requirements, they should be something from which everyone can benefit.

Why is personal finance not a required course? Given the proposed 8.9 percent tuition hike and the economic recession, money management would be a worthwhile skill to learn. At least more worthwhile than asking a mechanical engineering major to analyze a William Wordsworth poem.

Unfortunately, students can’t buy credit hours in the bargain bin or the clearance rack. College is getting more expensive every year and our ability to pay for it is dwindling.

Many parents are losing jobs. Even more graduating students can’t find jobs. If the university really is looking out for its students, it will research a way to graduate in a more timely manner while accumulating less debt.

As if the above information weren’t cause enough for a headache, many majors demand that students complete an internship to graduate. This is becoming increasingly difficult to do, though, as companies in all industries are experiencing cutbacks and are unsure whether they can even offer internships.

College graduates who have not found full time employment also are in competition for internships, adding to the difficulty expectant graduates face.

Not everyone will have to deal with the same pressures today’s graduates must endure.

Lucky freshmen have little to worry about. This recession should be over when they graduate in five years.

Zack Colman is the State News opinion writer. Reach him at colmanz1@msu.edu.