Mount St. Clare College, for its part, ensures that these students will be able to enroll in the courses required for graduation for an approved program of study within four years. If the student is not able to graduate in four years through no fault of the student, the courses the student needs to take to graduate will be offered to the student tuition-free during the fifth year. This is a financial issue. A student who takes more than four years to graduate incurs not only additional educational expense but also loses the income the student would have earned if he or she had been able to graduate in four years and enter the workforce. To illustrate the financial impact of graduating in four years, compare the cost of attending Mount St. Clare College and graduating in four years and the cost incurred by a student who goes to a state institution and graduates in five or six years.
Higher education is a major investment of money and time for parents and students.
They need to look at the big picture. This four-year guarantee program that we now offer is our way of assisting parents and students to realize their educational goals at a realistic and reasonable cost. The program was first implemented in the fall of 1997. Two freshmen classes have had the opportunity to take advantage of the four-year guarantee program.