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Your four years of college are up: Graduate or else

A University of Florida policy was implemented to curtail career students - and it appears to be working.

GAINESVILLE - Since his first class at the University of Florida, Paul DeSario has changed his major six times. The 24-year-old admits he has had trouble picking a career path, but swears he will graduate by next year, his seventh at UF.

That's not nearly fast enough for university administrators, who are tired of students like DeSario. They say four years is all anyone should need to earn an undergraduate degree.

They aren't kidding.

UF students who insist on taking courses that slow their path to graduation can be forced to change their majors, or even expelled, regardless of their grades. It has happened to hundreds of students since administrators here began cracking down on procrastinators several years ago.

"It may sound harsh, but we are trying to make good use of our resources," says Joseph Glover, UF's associate provost for academic affairs. "There are a limited number of spots here, and every student who spends extra time takes a spot."

While critics decry the policy, saying it contradicts the ideal of a well-rounded education, UF is part of a powerful movement that is reshaping higher education.

Cash-strapped states are now demanding measurable results from their colleges and universities, forcing them to operate more like private businesses. That has put an increased emphasis on their bottom line.

And few elements in academia are more bottom-line than graduation rates.

UF administrators say they are proud of what their "move 'em out" philosophy has produced.

The school now boasts the highest four-year graduation rate in Florida, and one of the highest in the nation. More than half of the UF freshmen who entered school in 1998 graduated four years later. That compares with 30 percent before the policy was introduced.

The crackdown has been so successful that rival Florida State University, envious of the results, will adopt the program this fall.

"The way to look at this plan is it's a way to help students be efficient," says Debra Austin, Florida's chancellor of colleges and universities. "It helps them to focus."

But many professors argue that universities aren't factories, and students aren't widgets to be rolled out on an assembly line.

"To punish students for taking too long flies in the face of everything education means," said Joseph Layon, an anesthesiologist and UF professor who took six years to get his bachelor's degree.

"Let's not penalize them for being 18 years old and not knowing how they want to spend the rest of their lives. ... This is absolute craziness."

Tompson Lubin, an incoming freshman from Miami, won't take his first class at UF until July. But the 18-year-old already knows about the school's policy, which was explained to him during a recent orientation.

He supports the extra push. He doesn't mind that it requires him to declare a major before he officially enrolls.

"It's a strict school," says Lubin, who wants to study engineering. "This lets you know what you need to do."

That's exactly what then-UF president John Lombardi had in mind when he announced the crackdown several years ago. His idea was to increase monitoring and student advising and mix them with a strong dose of penalties.

He promised the combination would raise graduation rates while ensuring students got into what the school calls "critical tracking courses": those required for a diploma.

The idea worked.

In 1995, the average UF graduate took 24.2 extra credit hours before receiving a diploma. Two years later, after Lombardi's policy was in place, the number of extra credits had dropped to 22.55.

That may not sound like much, but UF officials say it saved a total of 12,923 credit hours, enough to free up seats for hundreds of additional students.

By 2001, the average graduate had taken just 20 extra credit hours. That number has remained stable since.

Many faculty members hate the policy. They think administrators care more about saving money than providing students with the best possible education.

"It sounds like a diploma mill," says Richard Briggs, a UF professor who sits on the Board of Governors, the statewide panel that oversees the 11 public universities in Florida. "I don't like the rigidity and lack of foresight."

Administrators argue that the policy still allows students to take up to eight classes not required for their major. And nothing stops them from changing majors, which still happens an average of 2.5 times.

"You always ought to look at the end result," says David Colburn, UF's provost and chief academic officer. "Success is an important measure of effectiveness. ... I don't want to sound defensive, but I think the system works pretty darn well."

Paul DeSario begs to differ. UF's poster boy for procrastination has had a terrible time with the four-year mandate.

In the spring of 2000, the school deemed him off track two semesters in a row. The problem wasn't his grades, which average about a low "B." The problem was he wasn't taking all the classes required for his math major.

DeSario, known in his fraternity house as the "old man," was told he had to switch majors if he wanted to stay at UF.

"I think I knew I was off track but didn't know it was a big deal," DeSario says. "I wish they had explained the consequences better."

He left UF and attended Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, where he earned his associate's degree. But when he tried to come back to UF, he was told he would have to change his major - again.

He's back now, but his scholarships have long since run out.

Though they couldn't provide exact numbers, UF administrators say it's now difficult to find students like DeSario on their campus.

Officials at rival FSU wish they could make the same claim.

After watching UF, the Tallahassee school began requiring its students to declare their majors earlier. It also beefed up its student advisement, a critical component of UF's program.

But FSU is still struggling with what provost Larry Abele calls "career students." He says there are at least 1,800 students out of 28,000 undergraduates who are badly off-track for a four-year degree.

Abele says FSU will adopt UF's model this fall.

"Students should get out in four years," he says. "The sooner you start (work), the better off you are."

State officials wish other Florida universities would adopt that sentiment, noting that state taxpayers pick up about 75 percent of the cost of educating their students.

"Universities have to become more efficient," says Florida Education Commissioner Jim Horne. "You want to keep the seats full. That may not meet the academic test, but it meets the business test."

That test is a tough one for schools like the University of South Florida, which has a large number of nontraditional students who work and study part-time. They are much less likely to complete a degree in four years.

"It's a careful balance," says Bob Sullins, USF's dean of undergraduate studies. "We do have institutional incentives to graduate students with a minimum number of hours, but academically, that's not sound."

Other schools, including the University of Central Florida in Orlando, have increased their academic advising but stayed away from strict requirements.

UCF students are asked to sign an advising contract and are contacted in person or via e-mail for individual or group sessions. Administrators say the school's four-year graduation rate is improving, but still lags well behind UF's.

"We have taken a different approach," says Mary Beth Ehasz, UCF's associate vice president for academic development and retention. "Not all students can perform at the same level."

Jason Brown can attest to that. He came to UF six years ago intent on becoming a doctor. Then he developed a taste for journalism, and changed his major from microbiology.

He has struggled with some of his required classes. Others, like the History of Jazz, he took because he wanted to learn something new.

Brown, who works at the student newspaper, says he expects to graduate at the end of the summer. He is 25.

"I know the university wants me out," Brown says. "But the reason to go to college is to expand your mind. It just makes sense to me to do that."

- Times researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.