As the incentive for state universities to graduate its students in four years is growing, the statistics at Penn State are not reflecting this trend.

For the academic year 2000 to 2001, 43 percent of Penn State students completed their undergraduate education in four years, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Last year, the Pennsylvania state legislature created a program to provide additional funding for universities that graduate their students in four years. This incentive has recently been under speculation, as the trend for the number of students achieving this goal is diminishing.

Many students are involved in various programs, such as minors, studying abroad, internships and co-ops, that extend students' time at the university.

John Cahir, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education at Penn State, said the incentive program is unfair because it applies one graduation rate across the entire state to many different types of universities.

The Penn State university system, which comprises University Park and the Commonwealth Campuses, is named as one unit under this plan, making it virtually incomparable to smaller private universities. Cahir added that students use Commonwealth Campuses as a type of community college before transferring to another school, not necessarily another Penn State campus.

Under the state's program, these students affect the overall graduation rate of the university. This is a significant factor, then, in the increasing number of students staying for additional semesters.

"(The program) affects us badly. Students who graduate in four years must be on track and must be maximally efficient. They can't change their minds," Cahir said.

Mitch Turck (junior-graphic design) is now on a five-year track because he started at a Commonwealth Campus before transferring to University Park.

"The problem is not the time itself spent here, but there was definitely a lack of understanding by the advisers at my branch campus, and because of that I am now going to have to spend an extra year here to make up for the transfer," Turck said.

Penn State does not seem to be alone in seeing a decrease in the number of students graduating in four years.

At other Big Ten universities, the four-year graduation percentages reflect this trend. Purdue University, Michigan State University, University of Wisconsin and Indiana University all fall into the same range as Penn State in their graduation numbers, with under 50 percent of their students graduating in four years. Northwestern University boasts the highest four-year graduation rate in the Big Ten at 83 percent, however it is also the only private university in the Big Ten.

Ken Marshall, spokesman of the State System of Higher Education, noted that students at private universities have a stronger incentive to graduate in four years. Tuition is higher at these institutions and therefore students seem to have a greater initiative to graduate earlier.

"Public universities' missions are vastly different from private universities," he said.

Marshall added that the incentive program was devised to ensure universities are doing what they should for students.

"We want to help students graduate in four years if that is what they want to do. We are not going to try to force students into a track to graduate in four years if they don't intend that," he said.

Erin Paukert (sophomore-business administration) is planning on studying abroad. Because of this, she does not have plans to finish in four years. "I don't think that the program is fair because while I have the opportunity, I am going to take it and I don't think that students should be penalized for these opportunities or extra education," she said.