In the face of rising tuition prices, students look to save money on the cost of a university education. One particularly popular option at Hopkins has been to finish Bachelor's degrees a semester, or even a year early.
According to statistics provided by Hopkins, in the graduating classes of 2005 through 2008, an average of 15 percent of students graduated at least a semester early.
An opinion piece in the Nov. 14 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, which suggested that three-year diplomas become a standard option at major universities to mitigate the expense of primary degrees, reported 20 percent of Hopkins students graduate at least a semester early.
"There is a wide variety of students who have chosen to graduate early...in past years people looking to go into finance have looked into it. We've also had a number of pre-med students who looked into this option," Senior Associate Director of the Career Center Dawna Milligan said.
Administrators and advisors emphasize that there are various problems with early graduation, including the logistic difficulty of cramming all the required credits into fewer than four years of college.
"In general, it is much harder for engineering students to finish in fewer than eight semesters, and generally harder for pre-meds and science majors than for social science or humanities majors," Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education in the Krieger School or Arts and Sciences Paula Burger wrote in an e-mail.
Despite that, pre-meds still find ways to fulfill credit requirements in order to cut tuition costs.
"When I first came to Hopkins, and even at the beginning of this semester, I planned to stay for all four years, but [tuition] became more and more of a burden on my family so this became a good way to help out," said John Cheng, a senior pre-med, neuroscience major who will graduate at the end of this semester.
Cathy Koh, a junior international studies major who plans to graduate at the end of this year, and Danielle Ernst, a senior math major with minors in entrepreneurship and management and psychology who plans to graduate this semester, both cited financial reasons as their primary consideration in making the decision to graduate early.
"I'm on a lot of financial aid and graduating early saves my family almost $25,000. Plus my mom made a deal with me: If I graduated early and saved her some money, she'd let me stay in Baltimore and enjoy my senior spring with my friends instead of making me go home to Florida," Ernst wrote in an e-mail.
Both Burger and John Bader, associate dean for Academic Programs and Advising noted that, while the school will certainly help students who choose to graduate early, neither would recommend a student to take this option.
"We don't encourage early graduation because of the view that a baccalaureate degree is not just about fulfilling a set of requirements and toting up a certain number of hours, but of developing intellectually over a period of time," Burger wrote.
All students contacted for this article decided relatively late in their time at Hopkins to graduate early. Students were able to graduate by focusing on major requirements and with AP credits they brought into Hopkins.
In choosing whether or not to graduate early, students have to consider a wide array of issues, particularly job prospects.
"Students need to think about graduating early way in advance...In terms of the job search, [students who] leave early have to search much more quickly. Students who graduate a year early have only had two summers to acquire relevant work experience. I've seen graduating early hurt job applications." Milligan said.
Students also have to consider their living situation while they are out of school but not working.
"I always ask students about health insurance. Loan repayment schedules are also important, affecting family finances," Milligan said.
Going forward, due to tuition prices and the increasing time students spend in graduate and professional schools, more students may opt to graduate early. Koh, Ernst and Chang all said that they had heard more students considering graduating early.
However, the percentages of students graduating early in the last four years are 16, 13, 16 and 14 percent, meaning there is no movement in the trend.
While tough financial times may encourage some students to leave school a semester or two early, the same financial struggles may encourage other students to avoid the withered job market and stay in school for as long as possible.
"Especially right now, the job market isn't going anywhere. Its not like in December, you have so many more prospects than you will in May," junior Miriam Haviland said.
Other incentives for students to complete their undergraduate studies early remain unaffected by the financial crisis and are constant factors.
"Students also sometimes want to get a jump on getting a job. Sometimes they may want to do a semester of travel before heading off to graduate or professional school. And sometimes, it might be an internship or research opportunity that is of interest," Burger wrote.
As students graduate early, they have to modify their schedules and their plans to accommodate the shorter schedule for their degrees.
"I'm a neuroscience major, and I do enjoy the things that I study. A lot of upper level classes are only offered in the fall or spring, so by graduating early, I may be losing out on classes I would've liked to take," Cheng said.
The increased burden can be difficult for some, however. Bader and Burger both noted that overloading classes in order to graduate early may be an excessive burden and that it may violate the credit limit.
Many students are attracted to graduating early because it gives them time to focus on applications, internships or more adventurous activities.
"Most of my friends who are going to graduate early are thinking about doing special programs in that last semester or more research. One of my friends is thinking of hiking the Appalachian Trail. They're doing life experience stuff rather than trying to get jobs," junior Micahel Arnst, an international studies and German major, said.
Choosing to graduate early also has serious social implications.
"I am going to miss out on my senior year. I don't get to have that, and I don't get to graduate with my friends, which kind of sucks. I may stay in Baltimore [to work], because I'm missing out and don't want to have to move on from my friendships just yet," Koh said.
Advisors echoed this sentiment, expounding on the loss of extracurricular opportunities.
"When students graduate early by a semester or two, they miss out on a lot of the rich experiences of college. Holding an office in their club, or put on one more concert or a play ... You won't get a chance another to do these things easily. Those eight semesters are very precious, every one of them," Bader said.
Still, some of the students who have decided to leave Homewood before the traditional four years see their decision as a no-brainer.
"I'm pretty sure there are only benefits to finishing my degree early. I think it looks good to potential employers that I'm graduating early with a tough major ... I'm getting a jumpstart on my job search, as I won't have much else to worry about next semester ... I would definitely suggest graduating early," Ernst said.
Advisors and counselors at the school, despite their willingness to help a student who has made her decision, are adamant that disregard for the negative consequences of early graduation is a harmful attitude.
"Students will come in and just have decided they want to graduate early ... It's not a decision students should take lightly. Losing a year of your undergraduate experience and what the implications of that will be takes a lot of careful thought to balance," Milligan said.
