By Courtney Johnson
CCC Journalism Program
BLACKWOOD – Many students have recently found it difficult to get a degree in two years at Camden County College.
When students choose a major, they are provided with a step-by-step syllabus that shows what courses they should be taking each semester to graduate in two years. However, many students have found that is easier said than done.
The school’s website shows most students do not transfer to another college with a degree, saying 327 students transfer before graduation while 270 students graduate and transfer with a degree. Nonetheless, every student’s situation is not the same, so many reasons can exist as to why some students are able to graduate in the two-year time frame and others are not.
Biology major Monet Jones should be finishing up her last semester now, but that is not the case for this sophomore. “I should be almost done by now, but I wasn’t full-time every semester, so I would say I’ll be here for six semesters total,” says Jones.
Jones’s reason for not being able to graduate in two years is very common, among many other reasons. According to the college, a variety of reasons exists about why some students take longer at this community college than other students do. The college’s website says, “Students who begin as full-time students often change to part-time status during their college careers due to family or employment responsibilities. Sometimes family or employment responsibilities cause students to leave school for a while and return when circumstances change. Other students need considerable remediation or decide to change their majors. Some or all of these factors may influence the length of time it takes for any individual student to graduate.”
In addition to these reasons, another cause Jones gives for supplementary semesters at Camden County College is some courses are not being offered in certain semesters. Some classes are specifically set up so one course is offered in the fall and the follow-up class continues into the spring, and some are just not offered at all.
Monet Jones looks through the Academic Program Guide in one of Camden County College’s lounges. By Courtney Johnson, CCC Journalism Program