This sounds like a pretty good deal for students and provides incentive to finish school in four years.

Amy Scott of Business Insider reports.

University Offers Students A Free Semester For Finishing In 4 Years

Samantha Peterson is what you might call a “typical student” at the University of Baltimore.

“I am a junior-ish,” she says, in between bites of a sandwich at the student center. “That means that I’ve been in school for a very long time.”

Peterson has been in school — studying criminal justice — five or six years now, she says. Because she works, full-time, at a school cafeteria.

The University of Baltimore is like a lot of urban, public campuses. Most students here work, and more than half need to take remedial courses. That’s partly why just 12-15% of students graduate in four years.

“The longer it takes for students to complete college, the more life gets in the way, and the less likely they are to graduate,” says Dominique Raymond with the advocacy group Complete College America.

So starting in the fall, the University of Baltimore will offer new freshmen a deal. If they finish in four years, the last semester’s tuition is on the house. At today’s prices that’s worth about $3,300 for in-state students.

President Bob Bogomolny expects the university to save money by getting students through faster. It could also attract more full-time students.

“If we can motivate a few students to have the advantage of finishing in four, to have less loans, to get into the workforce sooner, it’s worth it to us,” he says.