 "Photo: Luke Cusumano/The Observer")
As the cost of attending college continues to increase, graduating early becomes more attractive. But is it really worth it? Are students missing out by hurrying through their education?
The financial incentive to graduate early is obvious: Fordham charges the same tuition whether you take 12 or 18 credits. Fordham requires 124 credits and 36 courses for graduation. A balanced course load would therefore consist of 15 credits (five three-credit courses) per semester in your first two years, followed by 16 credits (four four-credit classes) in the last two years. Taking one additional class per semester would shorten your time in college by a semester. That means you spend $18,000 less on tuition.
However, that is not all: there is also an opportunity cost to attending college. While you’re sitting in a classroom, you’re not out making money. Assuming a starting salary of $50,000 per year, not working costs you $16,000 per semester. Total cost of attending college per semester: $34,000. That’s a lot of savings for what amounts to an extra 2.5 hours of classes per week.
While the savings are significant, there are downsides, too. Taking on a larger course load means more work and less free time. If you don’t have enough time to do the work for all classes, this can lead to worse grades and much more stress. An employer asking for your GPA might interpret an early graduation with a low GPA unfavorably. He could think that you did not take the work seriously and simply wanted to get out as quickly as possible. The additional stress could also hurt your chances of graduating at all.
Cramming more classes into a few semesters does no good if it causes you to drop out of college. By trying to graduate early, you also risk shifting the focus from learning and growing as a person to a race for credits. Scheduling constraints will make it difficult to get into all the classes you need—expect to have a messy schedule.
While taking on more work during the regular semesters has downsides, there is an obvious time to take more classes: the summer. Without a college degree, you earn less than you would after graduation. So why work and be paid little, when you can graduate early and work for a higher wage? On top of that, you actually pay less per credit for the summer term than during the regular semesters. With a balanced course load of 16 credits, each credit currently costs you $1,125 (a four-credit French course costs you $4,500 per semester; 30 hours of private lessons can be had for $1,950). During the summer, Fordham charges only $675 per credit. The choice of classes is more constrained over the summer, so your best bet is to take core requirements then.
Consider taking two core classes during each of your three summers at Fordham. Those 18 credits allow you to graduate a semester early and save you $8,100 in tuition.
Graduating early does not have to deprive you of unique experiences. The summer is a good time to go on one of Fordham’s trips abroad without having to commit to a whole semester. You could also look at foreign universities and sign up for a summer course there. You will find that European universities are much cheaper, credits usually transfer (check first!), and you get to experience life in another country. The London School of Economics, for example, even offers a discount if you take two classes there. Two courses (three weeks each) cost about $3,100 (housing not included) and are worth three or four credits each (depending on the class) at Fordham. Savings of $5,900 compared to Fordham’s regular tuition—enough to pay for housing and tour Europe afterward.
So, is graduating early worth it? As always, it depends on the person. If you can handle a little more work, or if you don’t need a four-month break over the summer, then it is absolutely worth it. Graduating one semester early can be done with relatively little effort and provides significant savings. If you’re worried about missing out on the abstract notion of the college experience, take the $16,000 you would have spent on tuition and travel for a month or two. Once you start working, you will no longer have time to have those experiences.
Some may worry about their prospects on the current job market. However, by the time you graduate the situation will likely have changed again. As someone with a college degree, you will already be much less likely to be unemployed than someone without a degree. You would also have the option of attending graduate school and further increasing your earning potential. Indeed, Fordham offers programs that allow you to start doing graduate-level work during your time as an undergraduate. So if graduating college early is not enough for you, you can get a head start on your graduate degree as well.
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