Despite obstacles that would seem to increase the number of "super seniors," Penn State University Park has managed to increase four-year graduation rates to 48 percent for students who graduated in 2001, up from 44 percent in 2000.

Obstacles to graduating on time include "credit creep," where additional requirements cause students to need more credits, and internships and study abroad programs. The university says graduation rates are not a concern, but in some cases, help is on the way.

"In general, our graduation rates are pretty high," said university registrar James Wager.

The four-year graduation rate for all Penn State campuses is 34.1 percent.

Six-year graduation rates have also remained steady at 80 percent at University Park and 62.6 percent at all Penn State campuses.

"They haven't [changed] more than a percentage point over the last five years," Wager said.

Big Ten comparisons

Big Ten graduation rates are compared using six-year graduation rates. Penn State University Park graduates 80 percent of its students in six years, making it the second most efficient in the Big Ten. The University of Michigan tops the list at 82 percent, according to the 2001 NCAA Graduation Rates Report.

"Penn State continuously has the highest graduation rates in the Big Ten and the highest rate of any state-related university in Pennsylvania," university spokeswoman Amy Neil said.

Regardless of the statistics, Wager said Penn State is still paying attention to the issue.

"The university is always watching this," he said.

University action

Some departments in the College of Communications, including journalism, decided last spring that they will require students to need fewer credits to graduate. Proposals are under way for credit requirements to be reduced in other majors as well, including agricultural science, horticulture, and film and video.

Douglas Anderson, the dean of the College of Communications, said some majors decreased requirements to 120 credits because of the general "credit creep" throughout the years.

"Things got added on through the years and nothing got subtracted," Anderson said.

He said the driving force of the reduction, however, was not necessarily to have more students graduate in four years.

"That is a positive byproduct of what we did," he said.

University spokesman Bill Mahon said there is no university-wide initiative to reduce credits.

"If you enter into a four-year program and [graduating in four years] is an important goal to you, you should have no problem doing that at Penn State," he said. "That's not the goal some students come in with."

Some of these students include non-traditional students, of whom Penn State has a large number, said Janis Jacobs, vice provost and dean for undergraduate education. These students may have families or full-time jobs.

Jacobs said graduating later can be beneficial if students are taking more time for educational purposes, including internships.

"Taking longer to graduate enhances education in the long run and this is a good thing," Jacobs said.

Other reasons for delayed graduation range from tragedies to excessive use of late drop credits, Wager said.

"Graduation is based on ... choices the student makes," Jacobs said.

Financial Aid

Fifth-year students are not eligible for grants from the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA), and a bill intended to change that has been stalled in the Pennsylvania legislature for years.

"A bill like this could be very helpful to students," Anna Griswold, assistant vice provost for student aid, said. She said the state of the economy might have delayed the bill.

"I think anything that would cost more money, like this, would be put on the back burner for now," she said.

Griswold said she has not seen a change in the number of fifth-year students coming to her office for help.

"I would not say I am seeing growth in that area," she said. "We've always had a percentage of students who face this challenge."

Griswold said that as long as students are making normal progress toward their degrees, they are still eligible for some financial aid.

"The cheaper route to an undergraduate degree is to get out in four years," she said.