The blue T-shirt Melissa Footlick and more than 4,100 of her fellow Kansas University freshmen received this week proudly proclaim them the “Class of 2008.”

But if trends hold true, fewer than a third of the incoming class will graduate in 2008. Some will become the Class of 2009. Or the Class of 2010.

And some starting college today won’t graduate at all.

With tuition rates continuing to skyrocket, KU administrators and many students are pushing to resurrect the traditional four-year college course, which in the past two decades has become a thing of the past.

“I think I have to get done in four years,” Footlick said, “or my parents will kill me.”

Just more than 30 percent of the KU students who entered as freshmen in fall 1999 graduated in four years, university data show. Even at that, the four-year graduation rate has improved since its low of 22.8 percent in 1991.

These days, the average time to a KU undergraduate degree is about 9.5 semesters.

Nationally, 39 percent of college students who receive degrees finish within four years, according to the National Center for Education.

Changing attitude

Those who work with KU students say they’ve seen a shift in expectations among incoming freshmen.

No longer do many expect to finish in four years, and they’re not working as hard toward their degrees. Average student course loads decreased to 13.82 per semester in 2002 from 14.68 in 1982.

“Students are not that interested in finishing in four years,” said Pam Houston, director of undergraduate services for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “They have other things they want to do. They want to have a good time, work so they can live a certain lifestyle or be involved in student activities. They’re perfectly happy being here longer.”

Kansas University students from left, Bethany Stanbrough and Chelsea Hudson, both Emporia freshman, Emily Geier, an Overland Park freshman, and Becky Eschmann, a Topeka junior, sing the alma mater at the end of convocation. Students kicked off the new school year at KU with the ceremony Wednesday at the Lied Center.

Stacey Hatfield, a freshman from Belle Plaine, is one such student. She’s considering majoring either in journalism with a second major in a yet-to-be-determined discipline, or getting a bachelor’s degree in business and continuing to graduate school.

“I’m not going to get done in four years,” she said. “I’m not worried. Nowadays, I think you have to go for more than four years to get done.”

Four-year goal

KU is doing more to let freshmen know they can — and in some ways are expected to — finish in four years. The T-shirts reminding freshmen they’re the Class of 2008 are an explicit example of the effort.

“The T-shirts are more than symbolic, in a way,” said Kathryn Tuttle, associate vice provost for student success. “We want to get students thinking that way. There’s a symbolic piece of saying, ‘Yes, you can do it and this is how.'”

Employees of the Freshman-Sophomore Advising Center also coax students to step up their studies, Tuttle said. Advisers there and in academic departments across campus present students with plans for completing degrees in four years when possible.

KU’s Office of the Provost has a goal of increasing freshman-to-sophomore retention rates to 85 percent from 80 percent. Tuttle said many of the efforts aimed at helping freshmen return to KU their sophomore years also put them on track for finishing in four years. Those include thematic learning communities, which are small groups of freshmen who take courses together.

The university hasn’t set a specific goal for four-year graduation rates, but the provost wants to increase six-year graduation rates — a more common method of measurement in higher education — to 65 percent from 57 percent.

On the Street: How long will it take you to graduate? Comparison of cumulative graduation rates (pdf)

Jeff Judd, a freshman from Kansas City, Kan., has bought into the idea he can graduate in 2008. He’s already met with an adviser and has a four-year course plan — despite his double-major in economics and finance.

“A lot of people don’t have a plan, and that’s why they don’t get out in four years,” Judd said. “I want to get out in four years. Why stay in school any longer than you have to?”

Not for everyone

Though KU wants timely exits for students, Tuttle said the university wasn’t pressuring students into thinking they must graduate in four years.

“Some students intentionally take more time for very good reasons, like a double-major or study abroad,” she said. “We don’t want to put this into a rigid formula where students feel they have to be here for just four years.”

Some programs, including architecture and pharmacy, tell students their programs will take five or six years.

Robb Sorem, associate dean in the School of Engineering, said many of his students took a lighter course load because companies paid attention to grade-point averages. Only 25 percent of engineering students graduate in four years.

“We don’t really stress four years,” Sorem said. “Students want to boost their GPAs. Instead of taking 15 hours, they’ll take 12. It’s very competitive for getting interviews.”

KU benefit

Finishing school in four years can help students’ pocketbooks. Base tuition rates have increased 44 percent since the 2001-2002 year, and more increases are expected next year.

Houston, of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said there also was an advantage for the university. Having more students graduate lessens the burden on KU’s student services.

“It’s good for them in a lot of ways to get a degree and become productive members of society,” Houston said. “And it frees up some of our time and energy to work with other students.”

And that — along with the benefits for students — is why Tuttle is hoping the freshmen wearing Class of 2008 T-shirts this week can continue wearing them after May 2008 passes.

“That’s our goal,” she said, “that they can wear those T-shirts on graduation day.”

Staff writer Jennifer Byrd contributed to this report.