But Doug Estry, associate provost for undergraduate education, said the average time it takes students to graduate from MSU has decreased slightly during the past few years.

“The average time to degree right now is approximately 4.1 years — which calculates out to be about 9 semesters instead of 8 semesters,” Estry said, an average he said he doesn’t expect to undergo dramatic change. “It’s never been, on average, much greater than that.”

For MSU’s 2004 entering class, 48 percent had graduated after four years and about 77 percent had graduated after six years, according to data from the Office of Planning and Budgets. In comparison, the 1995 entering class had a 33 percent four-year graduation rate and a 68 percent six-year graduation rate.

Some students might face an extra year or two in college depending on their major and the way they plan their schedules, Estry said. Students in engineering and premedical programs typically take longer than four years to graduate, he said.

“We have a couple of majors that require 126 (or) 128 credits to receive the degree,” Estry said. “We have a couple of majors that have an associated internship, so they do their undergraduate work and then do an internship.”

Graduating from a major university in four years is no longer the standard by which students should be measured, earth science junior Artur Isakov said. After retaking a few classes and switching his major, Isakov is now on track to graduate in five years.

“I think it’s more like four and a half (years) for most people now, from what I can tell,” he said. “A few of my friends have to stay longer, too.”

Graduating from MSU in four years requires careful planning, focus and commitment, said Phil Gardner, director of the MSU Collegiate Employment Research Institute.

In the Big Ten, the University of Minnesota and the University of Nebraska have created programs that, along with student cooperation, guarantee students to graduate in four years.

“I think there’s some intentional people that don’t want to get through too fast,” Gardner said. “They panic at the end of the year and think, ‘Oh my goodness, I’ve got to go out in the workplace.’”

Interdisciplinary studies in social science and community relations senior Rachel Kozkowski is planning on joining the workforce early by graduating in three years. Kozkowski came to MSU with transfer credits from Advanced Placement courses in high school, which is allowing her to graduate ahead of schedule.

“I just got accepted to a graduate program that’s only a year long, so I’ll have a master’s degree in four years,” Kozkowski said.

Major changes, financial problems and failed courses are typical factors that cause students to spend extra semesters in college, Gardner said. Employers, in most cases, aren’t concerned with how long it took a student to graduate, Gardner said, as long as their graduation wasn’t delayed because of poor academic progress.

“They want to know how well you did, what skills you have (and whether) you have mastery of your major,” he said. “A lot of these employers took more than four years to graduate.”