More Colleges Consider 3-Year Degrees

As tuition rates rise and colleges become crowded with students, more and more schools are considering -- and touting, if they have them already -- three-year degree programs.

According to the Daily Illini, the University of Illinois is the latest college to investigate the value of a truncated college experience.

Inside Higher Ed reports that many colleges currently offer students the chance to earn their degrees in less than four years, though not all of the programs are popular.

The University of Houston-Victoria, the University of Washington, Lipscomb University and a few others have introduced three-year degrees in the last year or so.

Maine's Bates College and Alabama's Judson College, among others, have for decades actively offered applicants and students guided paths toward earning their bachelor's degrees in three years, though relatively few students take that route.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., has been an avid proponent of students spending less time earning their degree. As he wrote for Newsweek last year:

Expanding the three-year option or year-round schedules may be difficult, but it may be more palatable than asking Congress for additional bailout money, asking legislators for more state support, or asking students for even higher tuition payments. Campuses willing to adopt convenient schedules along with more-focused, less-expensive degrees may find that they have a competitive advantage in attracting bright, motivated students.

Lamar focused much his article on Hartwick College in upstate New York, where students who pursue a degree in three years save up to 25 percent in tuition costs.

What do you think? Should college 3 years? Or is that too short? Share your comments below.

Comments

[Reedr Tya]

02:33 AM on 03/12/2010

College in 3 years is a great idea, but how is that going to be accomplished when it takes 5 years for a 4 year degree? The classes needed are not being offered every semester, tuition fees are being raised and even w/ a degree, you're still being offered minimum wage job opportunities!

[supergenius02]

11:41 PM on 03/11/2010

All bachelor degree programs should be 3 years. 4 years is way too long and only serves to enrich universities (more administrators with $300,000+ salaries and more coaches and assistant coaches with $1 million+ salaries), place students in unncessary debt, put more taxpayer money at risk in guaranteed student loans obligations and represents an opportunity cost for students who could be actually making money in a job in the real world and gaining an additional year of valuable work experience instead of accumulating more student loan debt.

[KristenEJ]

11:03 PM on 03/11/2010

I finished my degree in 3.5 years in December of 2007, coming in as a traditional age student. It was difficult, but I was very happy I was able to do something that normally takes 4 years in a little bit less time.I graduated having completed an undergraduate thesis, magna cum laude and with a job offer the next day. I think to be sustainable as a workforce, we need to not only offer some people this option, but treat it as if it was still a degree of higher education. Everyone should be lifelong learners, regardless of how many two and three letter combos they can put behind their names.No one should have to hang a degree like a millstone around their neck because they went into six figure debts to get it, just because someone said they needed it to be well-rounded. My grandfather only had the chance to finish seventh grade, but he read the newspaper daily, and he was a very good farmer and landscaper, something we are all starting to appreciate again as good quality food and green space is getting scarce. I don't condone three year options as a way to cut back on quality, but as far as giving more people a chance to train themselves or learn something they don't know, then I'm all for it.

[LifeZealot]

08:29 PM on 03/11/2010

Continued from below:

We are facing financial troubles all across the U.S. but especially here in California. The deficit is too large to not expect funding to be cut from education. I rightfully agree education is an investment to our future but we need to be realistic. Our schools have already made detrimental cutbacks to vital programs, faculty and employees have taken salary-cuts and forced furlough days, and students are already facing a 32% increase in tuition and fees. The state can't cut more and the students can't pay more; it is time to find an alternative route.

The 3-year program is definitely not for everybody but I know it is common in the EU. Science and Engineering majors would have to work even harder to graduate in 3 years but it can be done through summer school and good study habits. But for those who can do it, are determined to do so, or have no other financial choice it is possible.

[Bonaboman]

09:17 AM on 03/12/2010

When you graduate what do you plan to do?

[LifeZealot]

08:29 PM on 03/11/2010

I am currently an economics student at the University of California and I am finishing my undergraduate education in three years. It is completely feasible, especially because I am a quite average student. I enrolled without AP credit nor did I take any summer school courses, both of which would have expedited the process. It only took careful planning and good time-management skills.

This was by no means easier. I still took every course required, finished all my GE's, finished an entire language series, and even had to retake precalculus. Instead of taking 3 classes a quarter, I took 4. Not every college student will admit to this but there is a lot of time we spend doing things such as facebooking, chasing romance, smoking, etc. I still had time to go to the beach on the weekends even with a heavier load than usual.

They say you should study 3 hours for every hour of class every week (even though it may be rare to find this student). For the 4-year track, that is 12 hours of class and 36 hours of studying, 48 in total, like a full-time job (why they call it full-time student) For the 3-year track, you will generally have 16 hours of class totaling to 64 hours a week. There are 168 hours in a week. You figure you spend 60 sleeping, 8 working, 8 going out, 20 personal time, and the last 8 doing whatever you please.

[Tamburlaine]

08:19 PM on 03/11/2010

Any time there's an article on higher ed, you can count on clueless conservatives railing against "libruhlz."

It doesn't take 5 or 6 years to get a BA because of required courses in "Inca studies" or something similar. (Notice the con men always invent decidedly non-white strawmen in their complaints against education.) It takes so long because of limited course offerings due to budget cuts, which in turn are the result of the economic devastation wrought by the banking crisis.

But just go on hating on everyone who doesn't agree with your myopic worldview (liberals liberals liberals!). Ignorance is indeed bliss.

[TVolm]

09:06 PM on 03/11/2010

I call BS. Yes I will claim that colleges and universities BOTH add excess "elective" courses to degrees, with the pitiful cries of "well rounded education".

All they are doing is padding teacher/professor headcount and allowing more tenure slots.

I've several times looked at an additional bachelor or getting my masters, and each time I get disgusted at the additional courses higher education says are required.

And no, I actually like to use the tried and true "Underwater Basket Weaving" when I complain. You example of "Inca Studies" is just your way of whining about racism. I'll bet you actually wanted a Inca Studies course, and figured out racial blackmail might do the trick.

[Bonaboman]

09:21 AM on 03/12/2010

Actually, "studies" courses are relatively inexpensive for a university. However, funding an "Incan Studies" (note the correct use of the term) PhD program is arguable; how many Incan Studies PhD's do we need.

[Tamburlaine]

08:06 PM on 03/11/2010

Anyssssszzffffff346))

[LongInTheTooth]

07:36 PM on 03/11/2010

Oh, great. Let's become less educated!

[WisconsinLiberal]

07:32 PM on 03/11/2010

If texting and cellphone use are a course, they'll all be on the Dean's list. Watch in a few years when these kids get out in the real world, productivity will plummet. Their texting and tweets are far more important than work.

[peacekitten]

07:32 PM on 03/11/2010

this is absurd.

it should be getting TOUGHER not easier to get a university degree.

a person might as well save themselves the trouble altogether, not to mention the money, and not get one at all if all they are going to get is a diploma from a box of cr@ckjacks.

it is a PRIVILEGE, NOT A RIGHT, to have a university diploma.

if a student is not willing to work for it, they don't deserve it.

university is not supposed to teach a student WHAT to think. it's supposed to teach them HOW to think, so that they can think for themselves.

we should be investing heavily in our public schools, making sure that ALL students in the public system get a good, SOLID, well rounded education so they can pass the entrance exams into university.

if they choose to go to a vocational school instead, fine, but DON'T call it a "university degree" and DON'T reward it as though it is one.

[Fromageball]

09:01 AM on 03/12/2010

I think a big part of this is that students don't want to go into an extra year's worth of debt. If you really think about it, college is ridiculously overpriced. I'm in grad school now and, luckily, work at the university where tuition is one of the perks, but I definitely do not think the classes are worth several thousand dollars a pop. I'm also in a masters program because to get the jobs I want, I now need a masters when a bachelors used to suffice. The system is broken.

[awckid3]

07:28 PM on 03/11/2010

Kansas City closing many schools, three year degrees, etc..
It's the sign of the times.

[peacekitten]

07:36 PM on 03/11/2010

it's unacceptable for ANY reason.

[Senseid]

07:22 PM on 03/11/2010

A three-year degree is highly doable for some, but not all, students. As someone who could have easily graduated in three years, I ultimately decided to stick with a four-year plan because I am double majoring.

Especially if you are in a liberal arts degree, three years should be more than enough time granted you stick to a rigid class schedule. Considering that you are looking at a lower expected pay than, say, an engineering student, it probably makes a lot of sense to shave 25% from your student bill.

And if you have AP credit, it is highly possible that you already have earned close to a year's worth of undergraduate general ed. credits. I started college with a full year's worth of credit from about 5-6 AP tests I took as a senior. That is about $8k savings (I'm at a big public research school). If I were at a private school, I could've easily saved 20k+ in tuition before even stepping foot on a college campus.

If you are a senior in high school: Think Ahead! It will save you loads of $$ and time. And if you plan on going to grad school, then saving $ as an undergrad is even more important.

[peacekitten]

07:35 PM on 03/11/2010

graduate school needs to be EARNED.

it's NOT an automatic right.

if you finish a degree in three years, it should ONLY be due to OUTSTANDING academic achievement, and NOT because the school has cheapened it by making it shorter.

[dwill123]

07:21 PM on 03/11/2010

University of Phoenix, Devry and Strayer are loving this news.

[mjt218]

06:49 PM on 03/11/2010

I personally think interspersing work experience with classroom activity is a critically important part of a BS degree.

If a three year program means no opportunity for summer or co-op work, I think the student would really be missing out.

[peacekitten]

07:35 PM on 03/11/2010

those are called "internships."

a three year degree program is not worth the time.

[mjt218]

06:46 PM on 03/11/2010