Text 1

Why students all over the country are taking so long to graduate from college

During his seven years in college (6), most of them at the University of Hawaii, Travis Quezon has studied chemistry and oceanography, art history and sign language. A few years ago, he decided to get focused and graduate in English—and geography. However, he can’t say exactly when he’ll graduate. "Maybe next May," he says.

Kids used to go to college for four years. But a new study, released (1) this spring, shows that most students today take about five years to graduate. The problem is particularly (2) bad at public universities, where (7), on average, only half the students get out in four years—compared with 80 percent of private-school kids. At the University of Michigan, fully 65 percent graduate on time. But at UCLA, only 42 percent graduate in four years, and less than a third of the students in the Texas university system do.

Many of the slower-moving students insist that they’re (8) not being lazy or indecisive (3) — quite the opposite. They’d like to graduate fast, but state budget cuts have made it impossible to take all the courses they need in time. Anne Keldermans, 23, for example, never considered an economics major until she was forced into an economy course when an accounting class she needed was cut. Now, with a minor in business administration, she hopes to graduate from Illinois State more than five years after she started.

To be competitive in a tough (4) job market, some students say they need two or three degrees. Student jobs are another issue. The American Council on Education says that 80 percent of students now work about 20 hours a week during the school year. While many are trying to pay tuition, others work to improve their quality of life (12). Rich kids are as likely to have jobs as lower-income students, but they (9) work for "a car payment, a cell phone, a nicer apartment, a spring-break trip," says Jacqueline King, of ACE (13).

Now a number of state schools are implementing initiatives aimed at moving kids more quickly through the system. The University of Texas has created the $22 million "B-On-Time" program, which (10) offers select students the chance to get bonus if they graduate in four years with a B average. Illinois is guaranteeing first-year students that their fees won’t increase (5) — as long as they (11) finish in four years (14). Judy Smith from UCLA has started monitoring students’ progress. Those who don’t take enough credits per semester may be punished. "When students say they want to stay longer than four years, I ask them if they’re prepared to write to a well-qualified candidate who won’t get a place in the university as a result. That argument doesn’t convince them completely but it does make them think. And that’s what college is supposed to be all about”, she says. Pat Wingert for Newsweek, May 31, 2004.

(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5039452/)

Check the only correct statement according to Text 1: