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Three-year degree programs are undergraduate college degrees that typically can be completed in three years instead of the traditional four years. Three-year bachelor's degree programs are also referred to as accelerated or fast-track programs.
The concept of three-year degrees has historical roots in European higher education systems. In countries like the United Kingdom, some universities have long offered three-year bachelor's degree programs. In recent years, many higher education institutions in many countries have adopted the accelerated model, especially to reduce the cost of education and enable students to enter the workforce more quickly.
In the U.S., the 120 credit-hour baccalaureate degree has been the norm for more than a century, and most colleges have established the expectation that fulltime students will complete those credit hours in four-years. The reality is that many students take longer than four years, but some complete their undergraduate degree in less than four years. This typically has occurred by combining Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and/or dual-credit college courses in high school; attending classes in the summer or during inter-semester (winter) sessions; and completing more than 15 credits per semester.
Three-year degree programs especially gained in popularity in the 1990s and 2000s driven by learners seeking to enter the workforce faster; wishing to minimize costs and student debt; and seeking to free up time to pursue other opportunities like internships or research. Higher education institutions were also responding to incentives to improve their graduation rates and provide greater flexibility to the college experience.
In the U.S., institutions such as American University, Bates College, Ball State University, Butler University, Hartwick College, Lake Forest College, Miami University Ohio, Mount Holyoke College, Purdue University, Regis College, Southern Oregon University, University of Iowa, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Iowa, and the University of Tulsa established three-year degree program options. The California State University and State University of New York implemented some three-year pathways. Accelerated medical school programs that confer a bachelor’s and medical degree in six- or seven-years fall are viewed as fast-track paths.
Outside the U.S., examples of colleges and universities offering three-year degrees include the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford in the UK; University of Canterbury in New Zealand; McGill University in Canada; Tilburg University and University of Otago in New Zealand; Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in Hong Kong).
Redesigning the college curricula to accommodate an accelerated pathway has historically raised many questions about the quality and rigor of the shortened degree. However, retaining quality and rigor is addressed in accelerated options through a number of approaches:
Academic disciplines such as business, political science, economics, and STEM disciplines tend to be common focuses.
As described by Nietzel in Forbes (January 2024), the “College in 3 Exchange” project launched in 2021 to invite colleges to reconceive the undergraduate curriculum so the number of required credit hours for the degree would be substantially reduced (sometimes to as low as 90 credit hours) for specific programs. The project is led by Robert Zemsky, Professor Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, and Lori Carrell, Chancellor of the University of Minnesota at Rochester. In 2021, they recruited 13 colleges to think about designing new undergraduate degrees that could be completed in three years:
The initial cohort of institutions has grown to 17, and the Exchange receives some support from the Strada Education Foundation to support this effort. another convening to discuss and extend the concept.
Recent developments from this effort include:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2024/01/02/has-the-time-for-three-year-college-degrees-finally-arrived/?sh=29a2884d7054#:~:text=Has%20The%20Time,about%20higher%20education.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/business/academic-programs/2023/09/01/first-three-year-degree-programs-win-accreditor-approval
https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=4045047-1&h=4190121009&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.apus.edu%2F&a=American+Public+University+System
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/us-lawmakers-encouraging-three-year-degree-experiments
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