Portland State to offer state's first four-year guaranteed degree
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Portland State University on Tuesday announced a radical change in how it offers undergraduate education.
Starting this fall, entering freshman can sign a "graduation guarantee" that will ensure a bachelor's degree in four years. On average, students at Oregon's seven public universities, including Portland State, take more than five years to graduate.
In order to get the guarantee, students will need to select a major when arriving on campus (with some exceptions), remain full-time students and stay in "good academic standing." It's available for students in all 99 majors available on campus.
At a press conference, Portland State President Wim Wiewel said the four-year degree guarantee will help address rising student debt.
"Students in Oregon average between five and six years to get a degree that should take four years," Wiewel said. "That means extra tuition, rent and books, which result in more student debt."
The average student at one of Oregon's seven public universities graduates with more than $24,000 in debt.
"I don’t have much money saved up for college and I don’t have much money to pay for college except grants, scholarships and (financial aid)," said Aysia King, a senior at Grant High School. "This four-year program sets out a path for me to attain my goals for school and my future."
University leaders said the program isn't expected to result in any financial liabilities.
"Our plan is to ensure that every student who signs up will be able to complete (a degree) in four years," said Provost Sona Andrews. "We don't anticipate any large financial liability."
Andrews did not immediately know what percentage of students take more than four years to graduate.
Portland State isn't the first university to offer a four-year guarantee. The University of Iowa, Iowa State and the University of Minnesota offer similar programs.
At Portland State the guarantee has its roots in degree maps crafted by department heads to schedule courses and helps students select classes in order to graduate on time.
"(Faculty and department heads) had been working for a number of years on these degree maps," Andrews said. "When I came on last July I was impressed with the degree-map work. We had everything in place to do this."
The four-year guarantee isn't the only big change in how Portland State operates. The university is in the midst of ReThink PSU, a campus-wide effort to address the headwinds facing colleges and universities, such as decreased funding, increased tuition costs and competition from online education providers.
Portland State is the largest university in the state. It has roughly 30,000 students.
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2013/10/29/portland-state-four-degree-guarantee.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Portland State University on Tuesday announced a radical change in how it offers undergraduate education.
Starting this fall, entering freshman can sign a "graduation guarantee" that will ensure a bachelor's degree in four years. On average, students at Oregon's seven public universities, including Portland State, take more than five years to graduate.
In order to get the guarantee, students will need to select a major when arriving on campus (with some exceptions), remain full-time students and stay in "good academic standing." It's available for students in all 99 majors available on campus.
At a press conference, Portland State President Wim Wiewel said the four-year degree guarantee will help address rising student debt.
"Students in Oregon average between five and six years to get a degree that should take four years," Wiewel said. "That means extra tuition, rent and books, which result in more student debt."
The average student at one of Oregon's seven public universities graduates with more than $24,000 in debt.
"I don’t have much money saved up for college and I don’t have much money to pay for college except grants, scholarships and (financial aid)," said Aysia King, a senior at Grant High School. "This four-year program sets out a path for me to attain my goals for school and my future."
University leaders said the program isn't expected to result in any financial liabilities.
"Our plan is to ensure that every student who signs up will be able to complete (a degree) in four years," said Provost Sona Andrews. "We don't anticipate any large financial liability."
Andrews did not immediately know what percentage of students take more than four years to graduate.
Portland State isn't the first university to offer a four-year guarantee. The University of Iowa, Iowa State and the University of Minnesota offer similar programs.
At Portland State the guarantee has its roots in degree maps crafted by department heads to schedule courses and helps students select classes in order to graduate on time.
"(Faculty and department heads) had been working for a number of years on these degree maps," Andrews said. "When I came on last July I was impressed with the degree-map work. We had everything in place to do this."
The four-year guarantee isn't the only big change in how Portland State operates. The university is in the midst of ReThink PSU, a campus-wide effort to address the headwinds facing colleges and universities, such as decreased funding, increased tuition costs and competition from online education providers.
Portland State is the largest university in the state. It has roughly 30,000 students.
