1. Student Voices: Time to Graduation Freshmen 2009 Seniors starting as freshmen 2009 Seniors starting as transfers 2009

2. Samples SampleResponse Rate FreshmenN= 389/187521% Seniors starting as Freshmen N=922/254536% Seniors who started as transfers N=223/112420%

3. Perceptions regarding time to graduation FreshmanSeniors starting as FR Senior Transfers Graduating in 4 years or less is important to me Very important or important ____ Not very important or not important at all 91% 9% 64% 36% 64% 36% Graduating in 4 years was important to me when I began my college career Very important or important ____ Not very important or not important at all n/a 75% 25% 77% 24%

4. How many years to graduate? (in % ) FreshmanSeniors starting as FR Senior Transfers Less than 4 years 8106 4 years 383420 4 ½ years 281814 5 years 202825 5 ½ years 3512 6 years 1413 Over 6 years 0111 I am planning to transfer to another institution and graduate from there 200

5. When realized it would take longer than 4 years (in %) Seniors starting as FR Senior Transfers Never expected to graduate in 4 years 189 Prior to transferring to UW-EC n/a27 When I transferred to UW-EC n/a34 During my first year in college at UW-EC 185 During my second year in college at UW-EC 308 During my third year in college at UW-EC 2914 During my fourth year in college at UW-EC 44

6. 4 year degree plans (as %) FreshmanSeniors starting as FR Senior Transfers Does your major department have a 4 year degree plan? (FR were asked if they know about the 4 year plan) Yes No FR: haven’t decided on major yet SR: I don’t know 67 11 22 64 10 26 64 5 31 If yes, have you met with an advisor to guide plan of study? Yes 84 If yes, have you used it to help plan course of study? Yes 86 74 60

7. 4 year degree plans (as %) Seniors starting as FR Senior Transfers Does your 4 year degree plan include a sequence of when to take courses? Yes No I don’t know 83 10 8 73 9 18 Does your 4 year degree plan include info about when courses are offered? Yes No I don’t know 46 35 19 48 31 21 Changed majors when transferred to UWEC n/a 62

8. Advising influences (as %) Indicate which of these are true for you? My advisor encourages/ed me to …. FreshmanSeniors starting as FR Senior Transfers ….graduate in 4 years 67 58 59 ….stay in school longer than 4 years to complete additional majors/minors 12 16 19 ….stay in school longer to explore and study additional areas of interest 6 8 8 ….stay in school longer to complete an internship 2 6 4 ….stay in school longer to do faculty/student collaborative research 3 2 4 ….stay in school longer to study abroad 9 7 6 ….stay in school longer to do some other outside-of-class activity 1 3 0

9. Advising (as %) Seniors starting as FR Senior Transfers Did you meet with an advisor during each semester during your junior and senior years? Yes No I don’t know 64 34 1 73 26 1 How helpful was your advisor in planning course selections to help you graduate on time? Very helpful Somewhat Not helpful Hindered my progress 38 40 17 5 34 42 18 6

10. Student course choices (as %) Students were asked if they had taken (Freshmen were also asked about planning to take…) the following courses FreshmanSeniors starting as FR Senior Transfers …additional courses for personal interest, knowing they will not count toward degree requirements 42 43 40 …additional courses for career preparation, knowing they will not count toward degree requirements 46 37 28 …courses to maintain eligibility to athletics, financial aid, veteran's benefits, insurance benefits, etc. 7 18 21 ….repeat a course to improve GPA 8 22 20

11. Student course experiences (as %) Students indicated they had experienced (SR responses indicate that this experience delayed their graduation): FreshmanSeniors starting as FR Senior Transfers ….all sections of a course to meet degree requirement (major/minor/GE) were closed 47 16 21 ….only section of required course that would fit into my schedule was closed 48 10 13 ….prerequisite for required course was closed 17 9 10 ….required course was not offered the semester I needed to take it 13 16 22 ….time conflict between two required courses 41 8 (2 or more semesters) 11 (2 or more semesters) ….course conflicted with work schedule 7 3 6 ….course conflicted with family commitments 1 1 3 ….course conflicted with athletic activity commitment 6 1 0 …..course conflicted with music activity commitment 7 2 1

12. Student perceptions on factors extending time to graduation (as %) Students endorsed all items that they perceived would or did extend time to degree. Full load = 15 credits FreshmanSeniors starting as FR Senior Transfers Need to work impacted taking a full load each semester 12 33 35 Family obligations impacted taking a full load each semester 1 8 14 Personal reasons impacted taking a full load each semester 11 14 19 Only took courses at convenient times, even if could take at other times 13 18 Degree program can’t be completed in four years 24 26 11 Want to maintain a high GPA so take fewer courses each semester 33 21 Study abroad 54 21 8 Completing an internship 33 10 6 Transferred courses from another institution that did not count toward requirements n/a 21 74

13. Transfer courses not counting toward degree (as %) Seniors starting as Freshmen Seniors who started as transfers 1-2 courses5839 3-5 courses4842 6+ courses1219