BUZZ
Public universities in North Dakota can now pilot bachelor’s degree programs that only take three years.
The approval came during a recent meeting of the State Board of Higher Education.
“The new version of the policy limits reduced-credit programs to bachelor of applied science degrees, which typically focus on career and technical education,” the North Dakota Monitor reported last Thursday. It is expected electives would be dropped in order to make the degree possible, according to the article.
“North Dakota University System Deputy Commissioner Lisa Johnson, who made the presentation to the board, said those degrees are geared to students looking to enter the workforce, rather than continuing on to graduate school,” the outlet reported.
Schools can begin offering the degrees this upcoming fall semester. There are limits to the universities’ ability to innovate.
“Reduced-degree programs also cannot be offered in fields that require a professional license,” the North Dakota Monitor reported. “The board would need to approve any new degree program.”
Several programs already have degrees in the works that take fewer than the typical 120 credit hours, the Monitor previously reported.
Valley City State University proposed a 106-credit program in education. However, “the last semester would often be used for obtaining an extra endorsement, such as kindergarten or special education,” the Monitor reported last October.
The idea of a shortened undergraduate degree has gained some interest in recent years.
Purdue University offers a “‘Degree in 3’ program that offers an accelerated path to graduation, although it requires a summer courseload.
Higher education experts have also suggested “curriculum bloat” is causing students to take a longer time to graduate – sometimes even six years.
“A standard bachelor’s degree requires about 120 credit hours, but at least 25 percent of those are unrelated to the degree itself, and probably 10 percent are completely useless,” Jared Gould wrote for Minding the Campus.
Gould shared how he had to take a golf class in college in order to hit the 120 credit requirement.
“Some core classes offer real value,” he wrote.
“But requiring every liberal arts student to take multiple math and science courses—or STEM majors to slog through multiple English courses and diversity studies—is a waste,” Gould said.
“They don’t retain the material anyway. I had to take a geology class to meet my core requirements, and I can’t tell you a damn thing about a rock.”
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