US: More colleges offer four-year degree guarantees

More colleges in the US are offering four-year degree guarantees, where parents do not pay extra if their child's education spills over into additional semesters, writes Emily Glazer for The Wall Street Journal.

The guarantee is currently being offered by about 20 private and a few public colleges, says Tony Pals, a spokesman for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and an increasing number of institutions are slated to offer the option in the autumn of 2012. Students typically sign an agreement before entering their freshman year, which can include declaring a single major by sophomore year, regularly meeting with an adviser and upholding a certain grade-point average, Pals says. The criteria vary by school.

Meanwhile, some larger public universities are taking a different approach - offering more guidelines and support to keep students on schedule to graduate but limited, if any, financial guarantees.
Full report on the Wall Street Journal site