Three-Year Bachelor’s Degrees Could Become the Standard—If Accreditors Allow It
Last week, Johnson & Wales University (JWU) in Rhode Island announced the launch of the nation’s first in-person, three-year bachelor’s degree programs. While other institutions already offer three-year bachelor’s degrees, these programs are either exclusively online or require 120 credit hours. JWU students will be able to complete a degree in computer science, criminal justice, graphic design, and hospitality management within 90 to 96 credit hours.
The launch of JWU’s program follows a recent wave of support for similar initiatives across the country. In March, the Utah Board of Higher Education authorized state colleges to explore creating three-year bachelor’s degrees. That same month, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a law requiring each of the state’s public four-year colleges to review their bachelor’s degree programs to determine whether they could be completed in three years.
Yet despite the growing momentum, whether or not three-year degrees become more ubiquitous will be up to accreditors.
The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), JWU’s accreditor, approved the program in September. Similar programs at Merrimack College and New England College were approved by the NECHE in March, but have yet to be launched, according to The Boston Globe.
College accreditors have historically been wary about approving three-year programs. Before its three-year degree program was approved, New England College had its proposal rejected by the NECHE, which did not consider the college’s sub-120-hour degree programs to offer the equivalent value of a four-year degree, according to Inside Higher Ed.
Critics of three-year degrees have raised concerns that these programs will reduce interest in liberal arts courses, which may have personal value for students and faculty but offer little use in the job market. Kenneth Mash, the President of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, told Stateline that he has “visceral disdain for the idea” because of the potential it has in creating a two-tiered system where only wealthy students have the privilege of receiving a well-rounded four-year education.
Robert Zemsky, a University of Pennsylvania professor and co-founder of College-in-3, a group of colleges and universities
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