You send your student off to college and assume that four years later he will graduate with a degree.  You plan on four years — and you work hard to budget for four years.  And then you realize that it may take your student longer than four years to graduate.  Why is your student the exception — not graduating on time?

It turns out that your student who may need five — or even six — years to graduate is not the exception, but the norm.  A recent report, Four —Year Myth, released by the organization Complete College America points to this new direction in higher education.  The information is sobering, and important for college parents to understand.

Whose report is this?

Complete College America is a national nonprofit organization established in 2009 with the mission of working with the states to ”significantly increase the number of Americans with college degrees and to close the attainment gaps for traditionally underrepresented populations.”

According to this organization, between 1970 and 2009, undergraduate enrollment in the U.S. more than doubled, while the completion rate has remained unchanged.  Clearly, more students are gaining access to college, but not completing their degrees.

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