In a report from the New York Times, studies show that of all full-time students pursuing bachelor’s degrees, only 19 percent of them graduate in four years.

Complete College America is a group based out of Indianapolis and calls pursuing a bachelor’s degree in four years a “Four-Year Myth.”

The cost of college is always rising and even though students may enter school with the intention of graduating with a bachelor’s degree in four years, if students don’t take enough credits each semester it is more likely that they will graduate in five years.

A big issue that is on almost every college campus is class registration. For universities with enrollment that keeps growing, it is becoming more difficult for students to register for classes they need because there are simply not enough seats. It is especially more difficult for upperclassmen who need to register for classes because their classes typically have less sections offered and those sections fill up more quickly.

The New York Times reported that there are more than 580 public four-year institutions and there are only 50 that graduate a majority of their full-time students in four years.

With college tuition increasing, it is becoming more difficult for students to afford to attend college for four years, let alone five or six.

The Washington Post reported that at Temple University and University of Texas at Austin, if a student takes on two extra years of college, it could increase their debt by 70 percent.

With students having to stay in college longer to obtain degrees, their debt will most likely increase with it and student debt as a whole keeps rising and that is what makes paying off students debts more critical and urgent.