Spend a fifth year in college? Fewer Washington students stick around that long

At other colleges, officials say they are mining data on student performance for insights.

For example, after Western Washington University did a careful study of 10 years of data, it discovered that students who took a full load from the start of their college careers did better overall — perhaps because they learned how to manage their time more effectively, said Steven VanderStaay, Western’s vice provost for undergraduate education.

Many students were taking fewer credits than they needed, on the assumption they would get better grades if they had more time to study.

So the university started a campaign emphasizing the importance of taking a full load — 15 credits — every quarter. Students must earn 180 credits to graduate.