With the price tag of a college education pushing $100,000, some schools are looking to trim the cost of tuition by paring the number of years it takes to get a bachelor's degree.
Much of the restructuring of the school calendar reflects the changing financial needs of students, yet it also demonstrates the recognition by many university officials that higher education is at a crossroads."What we're beginning to see is a movement to tailor the school to the student rather than forcing the student to fit the school," said Richard Rosser, executive director of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. "Colleges are re-examining their roles and how they deliver their services."
As schools consider what a 21st century baccalaureate degree entails, one of the first traditions they're challenging is the idea that it takes four years to get a "good" college education.
"We currently have a curriculum which essentially functions to fill up four years," said Stanford University President Gerhard Casper, in his April state of the university speech. "Our students come and, by and large, take courses for four years even when they have accumulated enough credits to graduate much earlier."
Stanford is one of hundreds of private and public schools debating the effectiveness of three-year baccalaureate degrees. Proponents promote the idea by stressing the cost savings.
"We believe that the cost of a college education is going out of sight for students," said Sister Charles Marie Brantl, vice president for academic affairs at Albertus Magnus College in Connecticut. "We're trying to give them an alternative."
Brantl said interested students take three semesters of 15 credit sessions each year. She said students who go the abbreviated route save between $7,000 and $10,000 through reduced summer tuition costs.
At Cleary College in Ypsilanti, Mich., students with two years of college classes and some business experience can enroll in an intensive business management program, which basically packs two years of instruction into one. Students graduate with a bachelor's degree in business.
"Students know when they take this they'll be out in a 12-month period, and they like that certainty," said Vince Linder, Cleary's vice president for academic affairs.
The revolution in programming is centered in private schools, where the competition for students is fierce and the cost of a college education often exceeds the price of a home. Only one major public university system, the State University of New York, is planning to offer three-year bachelor's degrees.
As the trend grows, some worry that students will be cheated of a well-rounded education by compressing four years into three.
"If you go to three-year degrees, what you will sacrifice is breadth," said Mary Ann Swain, associate vice president for academic affairs at the University of Michigan. "We're not just preparing students for jobs; we're preparing citizens for a democratic society."
Admittedly, it doesn't work for everyone. Students who cannot go to school full time for financial reasons would be shut out as would those who don't have the academic skills to succeed in an accelerated program.
"Far more people who are employed are going back to school for their degree," said Glenn Stevens, executive director of the Presidents Council of State Universities of Michigan. "Those people who have to go to school part time couldn't participate in this."
Rosser points out that the three-year degree is designed for students who are capable, both financially and academically, to tackle it.
Even as colleges consider shortening schedules, others are expanding them. Costs are forcing students to attend school part time so they can work, and many are unable to get into required courses in a four-year period.