Why the Five-Year (or Longer) Bachelors Degree?: An Exploratory Study of Time to Degree Attainment. AIR 1994 Annual Forum Paper.

This study utilizes student enrollment data often available to institutional researchers in order to predict and explain time to degree. The population for the study included all 1992 bachelors degree graduates (n=868) of a state-supported comprehensive university in the Southeast. Block multiple regression based upon Astin's Input-Environment-Output assessment model was used to examine the impact of a number of possible predictors (student background characteristics, college environment variables, and enrollment variables) on the total number of quarters of enrollment necessary for completion of degree requirements. Results indicated that: (1) cumulative credit hours earned, freshman year grade point average, Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, the number of courses dropped, high school grade point average, and age at matriculation had the greatest influence on time to degree; (2) older students took longer to complete their degrees than younger students did; (3) females obtained their degrees slightly more quickly than did males; (4) living in a university residence hall and enrolling in an orientation course fairly substantially decreased time to degree; and (5) academic major or college attended had a less substantial effect. (Contains 21 references.) (JDD)