美国只有60%的本科大学生在6年内完成了他们的学习计划。
That information comes from the United States Department of Education. It was part of a report released in May.
这一信息来自美国教育部，这是五月份发布的一份报告的部分内容。
The report talks about full-time students who attended a four-year college or university for the first time in 2008. It states that 60 percent of them completed their degree program by 2014.
该报告谈到了2008年入校就读四年制高校的全日制学生。报告指出，其中60%的学生在2014年前完成了他们的学位课程。
Experts say there are many reasons why this number is so low. But many schools are looking for ways to increase the graduation rate.
专家表示，这一数字如此之低有多种原因。但是很多学校都在想方设法提高毕业率。
For example, every American college or university requires students to identify the main subject, or "major," of their studies. After all their requirements have been met, students receive their degree in that major.
例如，每所美国高校都要求学生们确定他们的主干学科或是专业。在所有要求达到之后，学生们就能获得该专业的学位。
Some universities require individuals to declare a major at the beginning of their studies. Other schools let students wait until their second year. Changing majors is also acceptable. But some experts argue against changing majors. They note it may cause students to take more time to complete their degree program.
有些大学要求学生在学习伊始申报专业，另一些学校让学生们等到第二年再申报专业。调换专业也是被允许的。但是一些专家反对调换专业。他们指出，这可能会导致学生们需要更多时间才能完成他们的学位课程。
However, a new study suggests that students who change their majors may be more likely to graduate.
然而，一项新的研究表明，调换专业的学生可能会更容易毕业。
The Education Advisory Board (EAB) released the report on the study last month. The board studies higher education and tries to help American colleges and universities make improvements.
美国教育顾问委员会上个月发布了这项研究报告。该委员会调查了高等教育，并试图帮助美国高校进行改进。
The study was based on information gathered from over 78,000 college students. It looked at the graduation rate of students who changed majors within the first four years of study. On average, their graduation rate was between about four to six percent higher than students who never changed majors.
这项研究是基于从7.8万多名学生采集到的信息。它着眼于那些在前四年内调换专业的学生的毕业率。平均而言，这些学生的毕业率比从未调换专业的学生高出4到6个百分点。
The report also suggests that changing majors within the first three years of study has little to no effect on the average time it takes students to complete their degree.
该报道还显示，在前三年调换专业对学生完成学位所花的时间影响甚微或是毫无影响。
The EAB's senior director Ed Venit wrote the report. He would not comment on whether or not college students should change majors. But he said that about 80 percent of students do change at some point.
美国教育顾问委员会高级主管Ed Venit撰写了这份报告。他不会对大学生是否应该调换专业发表意见。但他表示，大约80%的学生在某个时候做出改变。
Venit also said it is not completely clear why changing majors might help students. But he thinks some people become more invested in their studies once they have had time to decide what they truly want to do.
Venit还表示，为什么调换专业会有助于学生尚不完全清楚。但他认为，有些学生一旦有机会决定他们真正想做什么，他们在学习上就会更加投入。
"Students who chose a major early on: maybe they didn't have full information about what they wanted to do. Maybe they just picked something that felt familiar ... or their parents pushed them to something, whatever it might be. But maybe they didn't make a full choice early on. ... Those students were only, perhaps ... just kind of attached to their major, versus students who either wait and explore a little bit longer or have declared something, explored further and found something else that they like even better."
Venit说，“在早期选择专业的学生可能对自己想要做什么并未具备充分的信息。可能他们只是选择一些感觉熟悉的专业，或是父母逼迫他们学习的专业之类的。但是他们在早期可能并没有做出充分的选择。这些学生可能只是附属于他们的专业，比较而言，另一些学生要么先等等，先深入了解一下再说，要么选择了一种专业，然后进一步了解，然后找到他们更喜欢的专业。”
Venit added that the Department of Education's graduation rate information is not completely correct. It only includes the rates for students studying for the first time -- not for those who have changed schools. These students represent about 40 percent of the university population across the United States.
Venit补充说，教育部的毕业率信息并不完全正确。它仅包括了首次入学的学生的毕业率，不包括转校学生的毕业率。这些学生占到了美国大学生人数的40%。
The real six-year graduation rate is only between 53 and 55 percent, Venit said. He said that it is difficult to understand why the rate is so low. Some students leave school because of poor academic performance. Others leave because they lack the money to pay for their schooling. And others leave because they feel they are not getting enough in return for the high cost of higher education.
Venit表示，真正的六年毕业率只有53%到55%之间。他称很难理解为什么毕业率这么低。有些学生因为成绩差退学，有些学生因为没钱缴纳学费而退学，还有些学生认为他们没能从高等教育的高额支出中获得充分回报而退学。
No matter the reason, Venit said, this is the biggest and most complex problem facing higher education.
Venit表示，不管原因是什么，这是高等教育面临的最大也是最为复杂的难题。
I'm Pete Musto.
我是皮特·穆斯托。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)