Not excited about choosing a trade, but a four-year-degree feels out of reach, expensive and time consuming? Meet the new third option: A three-year bachelor's degree programs are gaining popularity as a solution to the college affordability crisis and a way for non-traditional students to earn a degree faster.
These condensed programs have gained popularity as a solution to the college affordability crisis, offering faster completion with fewer credits. Reduced-credit programs allow students to finish faster by completing as few as 90 credit hours, shaving a year off the typical 120-hour bachelor's degree.
Such programs are more common in private nonprofit schools, often online, and typically compress majors by reducing electives, with business degrees being the most common. Not only do they save time, they save money, $20,000 on average depending on the price of a credit at the school of choice.
26 U.S. states have a college that offers at least one reduced-credit, three-year bachelor’s, according to the nonprofit research group RAND. While advocates praise the efficiency and accessibility of these programs, critics raise concerns about potential limitations in learning, graduate school options, and professional licensing requirements.
Concerns exist about the impact of reduced-credit programs on graduate school admissions, state licensing requirements, and the potential devaluation of the degree in the eyes of employers. “This is not innovation. This is just cutting corners,” said Todd Wolfson, the American Association of University President’s president.
But for workers looking to continue education, like Giles Sims, 34, the option was a life saver.
“I can’t afford to be out of the workforce for four years," Sims told the Associated Press. "That just seems like forever, and the three-year made it seem less daunting,” Sims is a student at Ensign College, a private Salt Lake City school that recently changed all its bachelor’s degrees to require fewer classes.
