US: Three-year degrees? Not so fast

06 June 2010

As hot higher education ideas go, the three-year bachelor's degree continues to get a lot of attention and praise, writes Scott Jaschik for Inside Higher Ed. Most recently, an op-ed in The New York Times made the case for three years of undergraduate study.

As more colleges have announced new three-year options, students haven't flooded the programmes, but the idea is increasingly cited as one that could be part of the solution to a range of problems, including rising college costs and low degree attainment for those whose parents didn't go to college.

Some higher education leaders have quietly expressed scepticism. But last week the president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities released a much more pointed critique of the idea. In a statement Carol Geary Schneider took issue with the idea, for both practical and philosophical reasons.
Full report on the Inside Higher Ed site

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