About 64 percent of students who are the first in their families to go to college transfer or graduate within three years, compared to the national average of 40 percent.

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Unlike traditional radiocarbon dating, which can be bought off the shelf, Dr Bayliss reckons it takes between three and four years to train a graduate researcher to use the new technique properly.

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To earn permanent residence an International Medical Graduate generally must agree to work three or five years in an underserved area or Veterans Administration (VA) facility.

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The educational arm of the Federation of Korean Industries, a Seoul-based business trade group, has been working with the Stanford Graduate School of Business for three years to conduct programs for its 453 corporate members.

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After all, in three or four years a British graduate could get most of the way to qualifying as a lawyer, for example.

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