How many years does it take the average student to graduate college?

It depends on the years the student is required to finish her/his course. I'll take for example with my own experience, it takes 6 years for me to finish my college since I shifted two times and some of my subjects weren't credited to my next course. In our school, if your course is a 4-year degree then you are given a 6-year to finish your course. So, you are given an allowance of 2 years. My sisters-in-law all got 4-year-degree courses in four years also. Of course, that included some summer classes and four straight curriculum years.

NCES examined 1999-2000 bachelor's degree recipients and compared them with 1992-1993 recipients. The results are as follows:

Graduates of public, four-year institutions in 1999-2000 completed their bachelor's degrees in 4.8 years on average compared with 5.3 years for 1992-1993 graduates

At private, not-for-profit institutions, bachelor's degree recipients in 1999-2000 took 4.3 years to complete their degrees compared with 5.0 years for 1992-1993 graduates
http://www.collegeboard.com/parents/pay/scholarships-aid/36990.html

Students finish in more than 4 years for a variety of reasons
1. they take time off to work
2. they work while in school
3. they change majors
4. they decide to change to a different school

It seems that the time it takes to graduate causes concern not only for parents but for colleges too!
"Your four years of college are up: Graduate or else
A University of Florida policy was implemented to curtail career students - and it appears to be working."
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/06/16/State/Your_four_years_of_co.shtml

another school with concerns:
http://casweb.ou.edu/home/news/events/bell_response_outin4.htm

I got my BA in 4, but then took a year to get teacher certification, then two more years to get a Masters of Library Science, I am up to 7!

So, we are still coming in under 5 years for a college degree. While taking over 4 years is not cause for great alarm, it is something to consider.

best wishes,
Librarian50