The value of a University of Calgary diploma tanks in 3...2...1...

Why would you even want that? Who wants to hurry out of college and into the real world? Stay as long as you can, enjoy it, no hurry to leave school.

See, I told you procrastination paid off!

Four years won't be enough for me to get my Master's Degree in Back Bacon.

Being a grad of both U of C and U of A, I feel compelled to comment that this is the stupidest post secondary "guarantee" I have ever heard of.

/way to go U of C ... now if their parents aren't there to hold their hand, the institution will.

Commercials to air during Jerry Springer breaks?

Colleges are officially high priced day cares. Is Futurama ever wrong??

Of course, after having taken lessons from major airlines, this guaranteed trip through 4 years of education will be plagued with $5 optional pencils and $1 optional sheets of paper...

/would have been funnier, but I just woke up.
//you know what I'm tryin' for... right? right?

From my experience, most U.S. schools already do that.

Well...there's always the tar sands.

Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time.

Yawn.

I crammed 4 years of college into 5 years, so I'm really getting a kick...

Seriously, if colleges continue to coddle their students, the value of a college degree will continue to drop.

Something colleges seem to have forgotten is that the students need to take responsibility for their own success...or failure.

The world needs fry-cooks, ditch diggers, and laborers too.

At first, I facepalmed, and started warming up my moral outrage. Then I RTFA, and this actually doesn't sound like too terrible an idea, especially since subby mischaracterized the plan.

They're not guaranteeing that you'll graduate even if you drop courses or flunk out. Students are required to maintain a full course load and keep their grades up, or the program doesn't apply. As far as I can tell, all this does is protect the students from getting hosed by scheduling screw-ups and un-offered required courses.

I think this is a great idea. The students have to maintain a full course load and keep their grades up; it's not like the university is just going to hand out paper regardless of achievement. Students also will meet with academic counselors regularly to make sure they're on track, and the advisors will help make sure they get into the courses they need.

This reminds me of those McDojos that guarantee a black belt in 3-4 years.

They do have to pass all of their classes and maintain a full course load. It sounds more like the U of C is promising not to F up the scheduling and pas for the class if they do.

/not a bad idea

I thought that was called "going to class".

/loved college.

What a bunch of losers. When the dean was giving his opening speech to my freshman class (univ of chicago), at one point he told us to look to our left, and then to our right. The he said in 4 years one of you wont be here. Its a little bit better now, I think something like 80% graduate in 4 years. But the point is that they failed out smart people, even those who were doing the work. That is the way it should be. College is not supposed to be some sort of finishing school for people who don't want to work/don't know what they want to do, it is supposed to be a harsh, intense, enriching intellectual experience.

/Univ of Chicago, where fun comes to die
//where the end of the world began
///the level of hell Dante forgot
////second only to Cornell in suicides

velvet_paw: I think this is a great idea. The students have to maintain a full course load and keep their grades up; it's not like the university is just going to hand out paper regardless of achievement. Students also will meet with academic counselors regularly to make sure they're on track, and the advisors will help make sure they get into the courses they need.

Sure it's a good idea but if the kid is going to be able to keep his grades up all it's protecting against is scheduling conflicts.
Otherwise the student would have graduated anyway without needing to see an advisor all the time.
I've heard of people scared shiatless, being a semester away from graduating and the school not offering the ONE class they need to finish. Of course, all they did was biatch and yell at the school until they said they could take a substitute course and they would count it.
So maybe a scheduling conflict like this would benefit the student. You get an extra semester on the school and probably only have to take that class. Can you say raging kegger?

Son of Thunder

You take all the fun out of knee-jerk outrage.

HMS_Blinkin
Don't go! It's rough out there. Move back with your parents. Let them worry about it.

/Rodney

wage0048: I crammed 4 years of college into 5 years, so I'm really getting a kick...

Seriously, if colleges continue to coddle their students, the value of a college degree will continue to drop.

Something colleges seem to have forgotten is that the students need to take responsibility for their own success...or failure.

The world needs fry-cooks, ditch diggers, and laborers too.

But then everybody wouldn't be special.

Because we all know that it doesn't matter how hard you work or how well you plan your own life, in the end, everyone graduates to a $250,000 / year salary with a company car and a blackberry.

On a serious note ... the problem here is the dynamic of Calgary. There are more spoiled rich kids, per capita, in this city then anywhere else I've ever heard of. This has led to a rise in helicopter parents (usually mom) and "golden safety nets" (usually dad). My generation (I'm 27), in this city hasn't been taught to think or plan for themselves and quite literally expects to be making executive level money immediately upon graduation.

On the other hand, I suppose if this "guarantee" leads to fewer moms accompanying junior to the first few days/months/years of post secondary then it'll be worth it.

/daddy said so, so it's true ... right?

Honestly, the United States has the exact same problem in 80% of universities. We have horrible colleges that graduate tons of students for no apparant reason at all.

It's got Paul Anka's guarantee-e-e!


Guarantee void in Calgary!

I actually go to the University of Calgary (no, really!), so blah blah kick out the replies, et cetera.

If people RTFA, they would see that the grad guarantee is not that bad of an idea, given the frequency of cancelled courses and unoffered degree requirements.

rain_maker
On a serious note ... the problem here is the dynamic of Calgary. There are more spoiled rich kids, per capita, in this city then anywhere else I've ever heard of.

You obviously have never heard of USC. (University of Spoiled Children)

/not from UCLA
//has 2 siblings that went there.
///it's all true

Son of Thunder: At first, I facepalmed, and started warming up my moral outrage. Then I RTFA, and this actually doesn't sound like too terrible an idea, especially since subby mischaracterized the plan.

They're not guaranteeing that you'll graduate even if you drop courses or flunk out. Students are required to maintain a full course load and keep their grades up, or the program doesn't apply. As far as I can tell, all this does is protect the students from getting hosed by scheduling screw-ups and un-offered required courses.

I went there. I actually needed an extra semester to finish off, because they didn't offer the courses I needed to finish in time. That was like 15 years ago. It doesn't really surprise me that it's still that way. Their schedulers were idiotic, or something. Accounting students needed an extra semester as well to finish.

Son of Thunder: At first, I facepalmed, and started warming up my moral outrage. Then I RTFA, and this actually doesn't sound like too terrible an idea, especially since subby mischaracterized the plan.

They're not guaranteeing that you'll graduate even if you drop courses or flunk out. Students are required to maintain a full course load and keep their grades up, or the program doesn't apply. As far as I can tell, all this does is protect the students from getting hosed by scheduling screw-ups and un-offered required courses.

This. Did any of the rest of you RTFA?

velvet_paw: I think this is a great idea. The students have to maintain a full course load and keep their grades up; it's not like the university is just going to hand out paper regardless of achievement. Students also will meet with academic counselors regularly to make sure they're on track, and the advisors will help make sure they get into the courses they need.

So, in other words, business as usual for anyone who actually gives a damn about their own education? With the treat at the end being free tuition for those poor, borderline retarded morons who STILL can't manage to graduate in 4 years.

/hand holding ... for the WIN

HoFChaos: I actually go to the University of Calgary (no, really!), so blah blah kick out the replies, et cetera.

If people RTFA, they would see that the grad guarantee is not that bad of an idea, given the frequency of cancelled courses and unoffered degree requirements.

I'm a grad of the prestigious Mount Royal College so I'm also kicking a kick, etc, etc.

/Go Cougars
//even I can't say that with a straight face

Yale already has that policy. ::shrugs:: I honestly don't see why this is considered hand-holding rather than high standards.

/graduated in 5 years

It's called a degree plan. I haven't seen a public unversity in the U.S. that doesn't have one. You typically have to work quite hard to keep up with it, and keep pretty high work loads for some degrees. It's not terribly difficult...

...but usually not desireable. Why not take 5 years to do it, taking 12-14 hour semesters and relax a bit. College is a fun time (even if you don't drink and party every night), and it's worth it to take a bit of time and enjoy it.

dervish16108: This reminds me of those McDojos that guarantee a black belt in 3-4 years.

They mispronounce it in FL(and most of US)
It's "Take One's Dough"

RetiredTroll: What a bunch of losers. When the dean was giving his opening speech to my freshman class (univ of chicago), at one point he told us to look to our left, and then to our right. The he said in 4 years one of you wont be here. Its a little bit better now, I think something like 80% graduate in 4 years. But the point is that they failed out smart people, even those who were doing the work. That is the way it should be.

80% is amazingly high for a four-year graduation rate. The five-year graduation rate for most top private colleges is 70-80%, so 80% for a four-year rate is pretty damn high.

Generally, the better a college is, the higher its graduation rate. Community colleges are going to run 20-25% (community college graduation rates are low mainly because a lot of students attend for a only few classes or to transfer out, not for a degree), state schools about 50-60%, average private schools about 60-70%. "Free Market University"'s grad rate isn't low because it fails out smart students, it's high because it's a good school with motivated students.

/This doesn't explain Oxford, though...higher suicide rate than Chicago and Cornell put together, and lower grad rate than either

My uni (a UC) tried doing something like this. It was that you pledge to graduate in 4 and they try their hardest to give you the classes you want at the right time. They were marketing this to engineering students....needless to say, i graduated in 4. It doesn't mean shiat that they guarantee you.

No, this makes sense. I had a friend that had a required course for his degree. At the end of his junior year, they eliminated that requirement and started only offering that course as an elective every other year or two. But they didn't make that retroactive for him. So he had to fight the dept and registrar's office over the ridiculous concept that he needed to fulfill a required class they no longer offered. For a while, the asinine jerks were telling him he would just have to postpone graduation for a year and a semester until it was offered again.

Ugh.

Whole lot of people who did not RTFA here. They're just guaranteeing that if you hold up your end they won't fark with scheduling to make it impossible for you to get all your required courses in four years.

Cornell really doesn't have as high a suicide rate as it's rumored to, though the university has been accused of some unusual accounting in relation to deaths.

Old news. My university did the same thing. If you meet the requirements to graduate, and take the classes they recommend, they will do what ever it takes to fit all your classes into 4 years -- even if it means paying a professor to teach a class of 1. It actually makes a lot of sense.

For the love of all that is good, RTFA. It has nothing to do with pushing forward students that can't hack it. RTFA.

What the policy does say, if the students take a full course load each term, and keep their grades up, if the university fails to offer the needed courses, and the student has to stay extra terms to complete (due to no fault of their own) the university will cover their costs.

This is an excellent program.

Once again, RTFA.

The Third Man:

80% is amazingly high low for a four-year graduation rate for a top tier/elite university. The five-year graduation rate for most the top 15 private colleges is 70-80% 95%, so 80% for a four-year rate is pretty damn high. low

Generally, the better a college is, the higher its graduation rate. Community colleges are going to run 20-25% (community college graduation rates are low mainly because a lot of students attend for a only few classes or to transfer out, not for a degree), state schools about 50-60%, average private schools about 60-70%. "Free Market University"'s grad rate isn't low because it fails out smart students, it's high because it's a good school with motivated students.

/This doesn't explain Oxford, though...higher suicide rate than Chicago and Cornell put together, and lower grad rate than either


FTFY

HYS (harvard, yale, stanford), which give out average grades of b+/a- just give you a diploma, Chicago, MIT, and a couple others give you an education.

Whatever happened to colleges encouraging students to take classes outside of their discipline, either for minors or simply to broaden their horizons? Heck, I went into college with 36 credit hours (awarded from AP/IB classes in high school), but took 4 years to complete my Bachelor's degree because of all the electives that I took.

And what if a student changes his/her major (as many students do throughout their college years)? Does this disqualify them from the guarantee program?

Also, my university was cool enough to work with you in your junior and especially your senior year. If a class was in a 2 year rotation and you didn't have the opportunity to take it when it was offered, they'll try to find a reasonable substitute class. They were also pretty lenient about doing directed studies in lieu of a required course.

penis: From my experience, most U.S. schools already do that.

Actually, don't like less than 50% of students graduate in 4 years or less?
/That's more than half