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An Option to Save $40,000: Squeeze College Into 3 Years
New York Times ^ | February 24, 2009 | Tamar Lewin

Posted on 02/25/2009 5:31:09 AM PST by reaganaut1

Here’s one way of cutting college costs: get a degree in three years, instead of four.

This fall, Hartwick College, a small liberal arts college in Oneonta, N.Y., will offer students the option of doing just that, at a savings of more than $40,000.

In the college’s three-year degree program, students will complete the standard 120 credits, taking 18 credits in the fall, 4 in a January term and 18 in the spring. Students will be able to keep their summers free for internships or jobs.

Whether for a three-year degree or a four-year one, Hartwick’s tuition next year will be $32,550, 3.9 percent higher than the current year. Room and board will be about $9,000.

“We anticipate a great deal of interest in an option that lets students get a top-quality education and save a whole year of tuition,” said Margaret L. Drugovich, president of Hartwick.

Although most American students now take longer than four years to complete their degrees, the idea of three-year degrees has been gaining favor in some circles, with several colleges talking about or experimenting with such programs, often involving online courses or summer school.

Earlier this month, [...] Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, a Republican who served as education secretary and president of the University of Tennessee, urged colleges to consider three-year degrees, calling them the higher education equivalent of a fuel-efficient car.

Molly Corbett Broad, president of the council, said she believed the three-year degree option could help private colleges attract students as more families struggle with tuition costs.

“Three-year degrees are a very important option, and I think we’ll be seeing more of them,” she said. “They won’t serve a large proportion of students since a three-year degree requires that you finish high school college-ready, enroll full-time and be focused.”

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: acceleration; college; highereducation
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I think the 17 years (1+12+4) it typically takes Americans to progress from kindergarten to a B.A. are too long, considering how much they are learning. In India, where my wife is from, a doctor finishes medical school at 23, not 26 as in the U.S. And the theoretical 4 years in college often extend to 5 or 6. Maybe students who are not "college-ready" and "focused" should not be in college.
1 posted on 02/25/2009 5:31:10 AM PST by reaganaut1
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To: reaganaut1

Can colleges squeeze the required liberal indoctrination into 3 years?


2 posted on 02/25/2009 5:32:13 AM PST by NeoConfederate
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To: reaganaut1

Our student will be doing it under 4 years - even with a full ride and a dual major!


3 posted on 02/25/2009 5:33:13 AM PST by anniegetyourgun
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To: reaganaut1

Better idea eliminate social science departments and replace with Reading Writing and Arithmatic.


4 posted on 02/25/2009 5:33:16 AM PST by screaminsunshine (f)
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To: reaganaut1

India is serious about education. I have serious doubts about higher learning in the US because of creeping grade inflation.

Colleges are now industries and cannot afford to fail students.


5 posted on 02/25/2009 5:34:09 AM PST by Red in Blue PA (If guns cause crime, then all of mine are defective.)
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To: NeoConfederate
For a lot of degrees, content makes up about 25% of the curriculum, while indoctrination makes up 75%.

So, yes, the whole thing can be accomplished in 3 years, if appropriate cuts are made.

6 posted on 02/25/2009 5:34:59 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (American Revolution II -- overdue)
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To: reaganaut1

Here’s my idea to cut the cost of education - large numbers of courses do not need to be taught with a live professor lecturing. Yes students need to be able to ask questions and get informed answers, but the actual need for college professors is very low. Use video. We’d actually need maybe a dozen professors for the whole country per academic discipline rather than hundreds.


7 posted on 02/25/2009 5:35:08 AM PST by RKV (He who has the guns makes the rules)
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To: reaganaut1

Students often can finish a 4 year degree in 3 or 3.5 years. I’m amazed at how many students take 5 years to finish just one degree! I also have learned over the years that there are many students who do not take more than 15 credits at a time because more than that would be “too much stress” (i.e. lazy kids need Thursday and Friday - in addition to Saturday and Sunday - for drinking).


8 posted on 02/25/2009 5:36:48 AM PST by vladimir998 (Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. St. Jerome)
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To: reaganaut1

State universities should be forced to offer this program. It would greatly benefit the serious students and their parents. Universities have been raising prices far above the rate of inflation for the past 20 years, and it’s time the taxpayers required some cost-cutting and accountability from them.


9 posted on 02/25/2009 5:38:35 AM PST by kittymyrib
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To: Red in Blue PA

Go to online schools. Keep the same curriculums and have the classes moderated and facilitated by the instructors. As far as papers go, they will still have to be written. Tests can be done out of book.

Who cares if you can remember what year some tyrant decided to take over a country. It doesn’t go on your degree anyway.

Probably can save several thousand a year.


10 posted on 02/25/2009 5:39:13 AM PST by EQAndyBuzz (History does repeat itself. This is Ceasar and the Roman Senate.)
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To: EQAndyBuzz

“Go to online schools”

They aren’t much cheaper than the real world schools!

Higher ed is a scam, at least in part.


11 posted on 02/25/2009 5:41:59 AM PST by Red in Blue PA (If guns cause crime, then all of mine are defective.)
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To: reaganaut1

Depending on your major, it’s not difficult at all to graduate in three years. Take out some of the ridiculous liberal arts requirements and who knows how quick one could graduate.


12 posted on 02/25/2009 5:45:41 AM PST by gate2wire
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To: reaganaut1

In most universities, you cannot even be accepted unless you complete the FASFA application, even though you are not eligible and have no interest in the $$. Plain and simply, universities are trying to grab every federal aid dollar they can get their hands on.

Given the access to and abundance of government money, it is any surprise the price has gone up precipitously and the quality has gone down? Government sub-optimizes everything it touches.


13 posted on 02/25/2009 5:48:27 AM PST by IamConservative (I'll keep my money. You keep the change.)
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To: reaganaut1

I did it in three years by going to summer school, but then I squandered the year that I saved.


14 posted on 02/25/2009 5:52:03 AM PST by Malesherbes (Sauve Qui Peut)
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To: reaganaut1

I have a better way than that. Go to a State University. 6,000 a year room and board included. Get a part time job and pay for it yourself. My niece did. Easy.


15 posted on 02/25/2009 5:52:22 AM PST by therut
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To: reaganaut1

JC Penney University On-Line Campus.


16 posted on 02/25/2009 5:53:10 AM PST by Calusa (Subo como el Dolar. Bajo como el cafe.)
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To: reaganaut1

An interesting concept. I went to Hartwick for one year (when the tuition was around $7K). Dilbert’s Scott Adams is also an alum.

The major challenge the Hartwick students will have is ignoring the 50-plus bars that I recall being located in Oneonta’s downtown.

At least we didn’t have dedicated indoctrination in the classes I took... who knows what it’s like now.


17 posted on 02/25/2009 5:57:16 AM PST by bootless (Never Forget. Never Again. And NEVER GIVE UP!)
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To: vladimir998
Students often can finish a 4 year degree in 3 or 3.5 years

I did mine in 3.5. Not impossible if you want to WORK! U of I '53 DC

18 posted on 02/25/2009 6:01:07 AM PST by Don Corleone (Leave the gun..take the cannoli now reads "Oil the gun..eat the cannolis.")
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To: reaganaut1

They could also let students audit or skip courses taught by liberals which generally just involve a confused liberal spouting opinions and ridiculing conservative students.


19 posted on 02/25/2009 6:04:29 AM PST by HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity
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To: reaganaut1

I assume they are only talking about saving room and board and various fees for that last year aren’t they? You would still be paying for 120 hours.


20 posted on 02/25/2009 6:04:46 AM PST by WhyisaTexasgirlinPA (Computer says No..... Carole Beer)
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