Why would it matter if we if we take longer to graduate?
Answer (1)
A traditional undergraduate experience is eight (8) semesters at 15 hours per semester. Given the rapidly rising cost of tuition, many public and private universities can cost $15,000 to $40,000 or more in tuition per year. Some students leave their undergraduate programs with well over $100,000 in debt.
Because the LDS Church uses tithing funds to significantly subsidize tuition for all students, the value of an education at Church universities is very high, but the cost is artificially and comparatively low. With these conditions, the demand is much greater than the supply because of so many who want to take advantage of this educational opportunity.
Hundreds of qualified students are denied admission each year because there is not room at BYU–Hawaii. So for every three students graduating in 12 semesters, they use up the surplus time for one student to get a nine-semester education. Because tuition is subsidized so heavily (even for those who don’t receive university scholarships) and housing is a limiting factor each semester, we want to serve as many students as possible.