In a major shift for higher education in the Southeast, the University of North Carolina (UNC) System is moving forward with a pilot program to offer accelerated three-year bachelor’s degree programs.
The initiative, approved by the UNC Board of Governors on April 27, aims to address growing concerns about the rising cost of college and the time it takes for studentsto enter the workforce. By condensing the traditional four-year timeline, the system hopes to reduce student debt and increase access to higher education across the state’s 16 public universities, the Triangle Business Journal reported.
System officials estimate that graduating one year early could save students and their families up to 25% in tuition and fees.
The program will initially launch as a pilot at select institutions within the system, including UNC Greensboro, UNC Asheville, and Appalachian State University. Each campus will select specific majors—likely those with high workforce demand, such as Business, Communications, and select Social Sciences—to test the feasibility of the condensed format.
Participating campuses will re-evaluate general education requirements and major-specific courses to eliminate redundancies without sacrificing academic rigor.
This sounds essentially like a move towards a British-style system, where you do a 3-year degree that’s more focused on your major and less on a broad curriculum.
Some things that stood out to me from the article linked by ucbalumnus:
“They target transfer students, adult learners, and people with unfinished college degrees or military affiliations.”
“This is not a substitute for a four-year degree,” UNC System President Peter Hans told The News & Observer. “This is something different, an alternative route for students who might otherwise be skeptical of higher education."
What will be interesting is if they expand the program for traditional students and allow for the substituting of AP/DE courses for gen eds. Many schools already allow for that but don’t formally advertise that students would be able to graduate early.
There are different types of three-year degrees. NEWU, for example, does the usual 120 credits in 3 years. Others only require 90 credits.
NEWU also has an interesting early college Charter HS where you do the first 2 years in your junior and senior years, and the last year at NEWU free. Your whole degree is free and can be completed in only 1 year after HS. I am very positive towards those types of 3-year degrees.
90-credit 3-year degrees are a different matter, IMHO. In countries like Australia, where they are the norm, it is 96 credits, but you usually do not have general education subjects, which are done in high school. For the USA, it would not be my choice because of different expectations about college. And, as NEWU shows there is no need to have a reduced number of credits for 3-year degrees.
If it were part of a 4-year combined bachelor’s/master’s program that some schools offer, where some master’s subjects count towards both undergraduate and graduate credit, that would also be easy to design (and some schools have done so) and would be a good move, IMHO.
In Australia, there is a growing number of 4-year combined Bachelor’s/Master’s. Engineering is moving in that direction, except it’s a 5-year combined Bachelor’s/Master’s, but could be designed to be completed in 4 years using a summer semester.
What will also be interesting if UNC in particular moves to that model for traditional students is the fact that one of the top complaints at UNC is inability to get into necessary classes. That and access to advising. So if they decide to do that, they will have to hire more faculty or open more class sessions and require current faculty to take on more. They are also picky about accepting transfer credits from community colleges in scenarios where students want to knock off a class requirement elsewhere and use it toward their degree at UNC.
People really can figure this out…and I think colleges are changing their tune some in info sessions…
I was at a WPI info session recently, and they mentioned some kids were getting their BS/MS in 4 years thanks to so many APs (maybe taking a couple of summer classes)… I have seen kids at RIT graduating in 3 too. (or getting an MS in 4). I think this may be way some schools are going MASTERs in 4 - keeps kids in the school for same amount of $$ but with more output…
I guess it just depends on the college/university and what their policies and major requirements are (and what they would be willing to change). I was just talking to both my girls about this recently (UNC & VT grads) and in both cases they had quite a few AP credits going in and did get to skip a few classes, but still had to stay all four years in order to meet the requirements of their majors (and in UNC’s case, gen ed requirements). They weren’t looking to graduate early but it would have been nice to knock a year off of paying OOS for VT
And a friend whose kid is starting college in the fall - she already earned her associates via an accredited online program but will still have to go through all four years to earn her desired bachelor’s degree.
The more selective its the harder to graduate in 3, IMO
One of my kids goes to a school where they graduate with a ton of college credits - like 40+(taken directly at a university, in a building) and a lot of VERY advanced kids (think BC calc in middle school), so I hear a lot of the trials and tribulations on graduating in 3 years.
If you truly map out AP/DE credits at schools and CC asynchronous classes over summer, and so many schools can get GE credits done and graduate early, but as I say, the more selective, the less likely - some have no max credits, some at 30 credits, or 20 or none for DE which is separate from AP in some cases (I actually have a chart of this for my kid. )
Truth be told, many of these kids do NOT graduate early as they go to tippy top schools who will NOT take all the credits, but they can take an incredible amount of upper-level classes, double major, and do additional research, etc., etc. And many are full pay, and the cost isn’t a huge issue…. They are taking the classes as they are passionate about learning, not to save money…
This is a good point, I have seen a lot of universities that don’t take online DE courses or DE not in a physical classroom with other undergrads taught by a college instructor. That does mess up some DE for some HS students too. Though I can see how universities do need to some quality control out there and this is their quick and dirty way of doing it.
Private colleges also seem to make it harder than state colleges. This probably has to do with the financial implications – most state college students are subsidized, so the sooner they graduate, the less subsidy they consume, while an extra semester at a private college is more tuition revenue.
I can see how this makes sense, especially without the goal of a well-rounded education. You can major in accounting without taking science or FL, for example, and be well prepared for the work force.
While it may look like what is offered abroad (also my first thought!), those systems usually have 2 years of more advanced learning in the major subject prior to university (and more rigorous gen ed before that.) Not every student will have access to this type of specialization available to them at their high school so this will have to be pretty well thought out by the university.
At the same time, I can see how this will make some schools and degrees more elite than others. Will the 4 year version be perceived as more thorough/advanced than the 3 year one? Will 4 year students be perceived as better educated and prepared? This possibility seems like it could generate the opposite of th equity it intends, especially if employers and grad schools aren’t sold.
But regardless, I applaud the innovation and attempt to address access and cost. Truly needed.
I don’t think that this is a done deal at the University of North Carolina system although the winds seem to be blowing that way. I can only find regurgitation of the same story that CC_Sorin posted but no confirmation on major NC news outlets or on the University of North Carolina system website.
Peter Hans, current president of the UNC system was previously president of the North Carolina Community College system so if you take that into consideration, along with the SACSCOC (accrediting institution) new policy establishing a framework reduced hour Bachelor’s degrees, plus the NC GOP’s war on 4 year colleges it all makes sense.
The University of North Carolina system (all 17 institutions) is highly highly politicized being run by a GOP politically appointed Board of Governors. Many members have no higher education experience. I think most of them would like to turn the university system into vocational schools and right wing think tanks. See also UNC School of Civic Life and Leadership here and here.
(I actually have a chart of this for my kid. )