Actual Duration, Over Duration and Timely Graduation in the Systems Engineering Career of the Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo

Abstract

This research is about a very important issue in higher education; itŽs about the time it takes for college students to obtain their professional degrees; specifically focuses on the career of Engineering in Systems in the Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo; analyzes eighteen years with 856 graduates during this period, 181 students obtained the Systems Engineering with an average of 10.05 graduates per year,  and 675 students earned the title of Engineering in Computer Systems, with an average of 37.5 graduates per year. To complete the curriculum the group required on average 1.97 years more than the established academic offerings, obtaining his degree in an average time of 8.44 years; only 443 graduates finished their studies in less than this time; extreme cases among system engineers and engineers in computer systems they used 17.78 years and 14.15 years respectively. A research on this subject enables higher education institutions, students and their families have a real vision of the time in the university, also to identify problems and establish corrective measures aimed at effective curriculum evaluation in order to decrease the actual time required for graduation and optimization of the professional training costs.