Often, many college students worry about graduating late because the class(es) they need are only offered at certain times. For example, if you need to take ENGL 4500 to graduate the upcoming fall semester, you would have to wait  until the spring semester because that’s when the course is offered.

According to the Valdosta State Office of University Advising and Student Transitions, the reason why certain classes are offered once a year is because there is not enough faculty to teach these classes every semester.

Most majors have at least a few classes that are offered once every year, especially the majors that are least popular.

On top of the numerous struggles that college students face, this can create more stress for them, as they worry about not graduating on time.

It can also hurt their pockets, as they would have to pay for an extra term(s) just to get the required class they need.

Charles Grissom, a junior middle grades education major, said that some education classes are only offered during the summer, and that throws him off his track financially and academically.

“Since my scholarship only pays for fall and spring semesters and is supposed to keep me debt-free, I have to find a way to pay for my tuition during the summer,” he said.

Joshua Wilson, an academic advisor for the Dewar College of Education and Human Services, said that there are so many different components that make graduating dates get pushed back sometimes.

“As an adviser, I experience talking about lengthening a student’s graduation time about 15 to 20 percent of the time,” he said. “It’s pretty high, but it happens.”

Elaina Walker, an academic advisor for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, said that departments are trying to update course rotations so that students can see when exactly courses are offered.

“(Course rotations) haven’t been updated in a while, so now they’re updating the course rotation so students can see exactly when courses will be offered,” she said. “Hopefully we won’t run into problems going down the road but (students not graduating on time because of course rotations) has been more of a problem recently.”

There are few ways for students to avoid such inconvenience. However, students can plan ahead of time and make sure they know what classes they need to make a priority for a certain semester.

They can make appointments with their advisers and be proactive in pre-planning what courses they will need for each semester.

Based on the career outlook for a college professor, this problem may be a thorn in college students’ sides for a while. In 2014, the projected 10-year growth for the occupation was 13 percent.

While this is a concern that many college students may have, students should always stay optimistic through situations like this and focus on the main objective of getting their degree that they worked years towards obtaining.

Written by Torrence Weaver, Staff Writer. Photo Courtesy of  the Prexel. 

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