Get ‘em in, get ‘em out — Keys to graduating students on time
December 22, 2009 by Taylor HanniganPosted in: Enrollment, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views
A consultant and past college president has some tips for helping students graduate on time – or maybe even early.
Schools can take a number of specific steps to help boost on-time graduation rates, Lucie Lapovsky of Lapovsky Consulting told Academic Impressions. Lapovksy says students need to be clearly informed when it comes to which courses count toward their major.
Schools should take steps to make sure students don’t get shut out of courses they need to take, Lapovsky says. For example, students who need certain courses as prerequisites should be given priority to take them.
Schools can also audit curriculum requirements to make sure they aren’t setting unduly high credit requirements. And they can give students more ways to graduate early, such as by giving them the chance to attend school year round or providing flexible scheduling.
Source: Academic Impressions
What’s your school doing to help students graduate on time? Tell us in the comments section below.
HigherEdMorning delivers the latest HigherEd news once a week to the inboxes of over 200,000 HigherEd professionals.
Click here to sign up and start your FREE subscription to HigherEdMorning!
Loading ...
December 23rd, 2009 at 12:57 pm
It seems that a lot of departments and schools have increased their curriculum requirements over the years. It seems some of the these requirements are economic, making sure that class enrollment is at capacity or that a professor (who is not very good) gets enough students to maintain her/his employment. It could also be political, such as making sure that a spouse of a brilliant or prestigious academic (such as Nobel prize winner) is retained. For undergraduates, this restricts their opportunities for intellectual development since their course choices are restricted.
Institutions should compare the curricula to what the accreditation organizations require as well as other institutions. It is my experience, as an anthropologist, in the long run, that the only useful courses that one can use from one’s field are methodologically related since theories and content change over time.
December 23rd, 2009 at 2:09 pm
If you’re interested, here is a link to the source article with Lucie Lapovsky’s advice on correcting curriculum inefficiencies:
Making It Easier for Students to Graduate Sooner
http://www.academicimpressions.com/newsCMS.php?i=29
February 8th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
I just read your article, and found it interesting because my son just got shut out of a few Science classes he needed this semester here at Rutgers University. As a result, he now has to take the semester off and now will NOT graduate in May 2010 and instead may graduate in December 2010!! I thought it was a pity for him to have to do this! I don’t think our school here at Rutgers have anything program in place to help students graduate on time.