By Browning Brooks

FSU Communications Group

The average FSU student graduates with only 8.13 credit hours beyond degree requirements -- fewer than three extra courses -- according to a study ordered by the Legislature.

That compares with higher numbers at FSU's sister institutions and reflects Florida State's excellent student advising, said Undergraduate Studies Dean Elisabeth Muhlenfeld.

It also shows why legislative proposals to move students through the universities faster -- charging them higher tuition for "excess hours" or guaranteeing access to needed courses if they don't waver from a prescribed schedule -- would not speed up graduations at FSU.

"Such measures go against our fundamental grounding in the liberal arts and are designed to fix a problem that we do not have," Muhlenfeld said.

Assistant Dean Bruce Janasiewicz said FSU analyzed the transcripts of all students who received bachelor's degrees at the end of the 1994 spring term -- 2,532 students in 88 degree programs.

"Excess" credit was determined by subtracting the minimum number of hours required by the student's degree program from the total number the student earned.

The analysis found that for most FSU students, excess credit:

* Is taken in the student's major

* Results from unrequired language study

* Stems from a late decision to teach, or

* Reflects a late decision to pursue medical school or a science major.

Janasiewicz pointed out that requirements of degree programs differ. Some juniors and seniors pursue extra credits because their majors have little room for electives and they have broad interests.

Administrators expressed concern about limiting such intellectual discovery, particularly in the freshman and sophomore years.