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And therefore not significantly different than the 300-student classes that can be found at even at Harvard.</p>
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In every school that I have seen, the path you describe would result in severe academic and funding penalties to the student in question. Once you graduate with one degree you are considered a “second baccaleaureate” student and are ineligible for certain funding opportunities including most federal grants. Also, most degree programs prohibit the use of credits earned under a prior degree, so all the “twice-counted” credits normally used in a double major would have to be repeated.</p>
<p>So the result would realistically be an elimination of double majors.</p>
<p>On a more general note, a 4-year graduation time is simply not the most important statistic for most students or schools, and many programs require more than years. At the end of the day, it is more important that the education be complete, in depth, and lead to a satisfactory and sufficiently lucrative career is more important even if it takes an extra year or two! While not all students graduate with such an education, I see no evidence that this particular failure is linked to the amount of time spent in school.</p>
<p>It should also be noted that one of the advantages of public schools is that the cheaper tuition allows students who would struggle to graduate in four years anywhere to graduate without unbearable expense. It also allows for more exploration in picking the degree - at $40k a year, most people are financially compelled to complete their degree in 4 years regardless of whether or not it is actually the correct degree for them, and regardless of what sacrifices must be made to accomplish this. Personally, I would rather see someone take an extra year and graduate with a solid foundation in a field in which they will continue rather than rush through and get a degree that they will not be able or willing to use. Remember that a Harvard degree can take you a wide range of places outside your field, but that is not true of most schools - if you graduate from Michigan with an education degree and no desire to teach, you are pretty well screwed. </p>
<p>In the end, I do agree that we are graduating too many students in certain majors, and would have no problem reducing or eliminating funding support for many students in these fields. I do not feel that enrollment caps should be arbitrarily imposed, however - if someone can afford to pay their own way despite the knowledge that they are unlikely to be employable, then they should be free to do so - I just do not want to encourage people to waste money on an education that will not help them.</p>