The combination of easy drop policies and an increasingly linear cirriculum (at least in engineering) had comparable effects, in my experience, at the University of Oklahoma.

Doesn't this rely an awful lot on an assumption that Berkeley enrollment is in steady state? If you read the article from which I think you took these numbers (in the campus newspaper), it says that Cal recently reached a deal with the city council to limit enrollment. That would seem to suggest that the flow has decreased; you may simply be noticing a bit of overhang in the stock.

My impression is that Berkeley moves students through pretty quickly. The CSU campuses, on the other hand...

I wouldn't reach for the Prozac just yet. Couldn't there be a fair number of students who don't take full loads, primarily for financial reasons, and so quite reasonably take more than four years to finish?

If the numbers for Cal depress you, don't ever look at the ones for UCSC...

How do these numbers compare with a couple years ago? Could there be a temporary swell in "superseniors" due to the job market?

You say it like it's a bad thing. I think five years is a perfectly acceptable time. I know people whose undergraduate programs are already 5 years, and some end up taking a year longer for whatever reason. I don't think this has any adverse effects whatsoever.

I think US News and World Report said that only around 80% of Berkeley undergrads get out in five years.

Berkeley counts a student as a senior whenever he or she has over something like 90 units, regardless of how long he or she has been attending college. Because so many freshmen nowadays enters Berkeley with college credits (from AP exams and community college courses taken while in high school), many 3rd-year, and even some 2nd-year, students are classified by the school as "seniors."

The press release Brad looked at unfortunately doesn't give the distribution for each class level, so we can't tell if the students are evenly distributed between the different class levels.

If my theory is right, there should a dip in one of the class levels, probably sophomores, to compensate for the over-count in the # of seniors.

The numbers could still support the theory that students are taking longer to graduate. The # of seniors have been increasing annually, but this also could be due to staggered increases in the # of freshmen or transfer students enrolled::

The number of students classified as seniors continues to increase - in fall 1999, 7,127 continuing seniors were enrolled on campus; in fall 2000, the number grew to 7,213; in 2001, there were 7,606; and this year there are 8,413.

Many of the "superseniors" may also be people with multiple or complicated majors or degree programs.

Just talked to my daughter, who is 3rd year at UCB, and possibly a "senior" (with those AP credits she's tried to get rid of). Undergrads can stay 9 semesters at Berkeley, period, but it is very difficult to get into all the required classes, especially if your major is not a department, like cognitive neuroscience. Classes have reserved spaces for various majors, waiting lists, lotteries for places, all kinds of hassles, competition, and barriers to frustrate completing degree requirements in 4 years. Add a 2nd major or even a change of major, and Telebears, and it's quite amazing for anyone to finish in 4 years. Do you teach undergrads? You could ask them if 4 years is realistic or usual.

As somebody who got his undergraduate degree in 3 years (a long time ago, but at OU like Mr. McCullough above), I think taking a longer time probably produces better results. Students in a hurry tend to use college as a credentialling experience rather than a learning experience. Taking longer, and ideally, combining college with part-time work, produces more mature, more capable graduates. And college, done right, is FUN--people should be encouraged to enjoy it (by this I mean its mind-expanding qualities, not just the parties--though there's nothing wrong with a few parties).

The large number of "seniors" at UCB is indeed caused by AP credits and high school college work. I have been a "senior" since the end of my freshman year. I do not understand why the University does not count by number of semesters on campus to determine class level.

Of course, there are plenty of people who do take an extra year. I think the reason most people stay is because they are double majoring or doing some other sort of complex degree path (like myself with two minors vastly different than my major). I doubt the reason most are staying for so long is because they are bad students. There are so many opportunities at Berkeley that it is hard to cram it all into the normal four years.

Panda, if you looked at your Info-Bears student profile, you'd see that Berkeley classifies students' class standing both by number of units ("non-AP level") and by number of units including things like APs and IBs ("level").

I guess the real question is which criterion the press release (or whatever) is using to determine that ~8K number.