While faster, more direct routes are available, students often don't see them, according to UC Davis academic advisers. This fall they've launched a pilot program designed to help undergraduates complete their degrees in four years. "We are very sensitive to the impact rising fees have had on families, and we want to assure students and parents that it is possible to finish in four years," says Carol Wall, associate dean of the UC Davis College of Letters and Science and the program's architect. The program's thrust is to encourage more students to take advantage of campus academic advisers who explain which courses are required, and in what sequence, for completion of majors and for graduation. The graduation rates of students who enter UC Davis as first-year students are among the highest in the University of California. At the same time these rates have climbed, however, the percentage of students taking more than 12 academic quarters to graduate has increased in recent years, a trend experienced by the UC system as a whole.