Giles Sims, a 34-year-old laid-off web developer, was tired of being passed over for jobs without a college degree. With a wife and a widowed mother to support, he needed a quick path back into the workforce. He turned to Ensign College, a private Salt Lake City school, which recently changed all its bachelor's degrees to require fewer classes than a traditional four-year degree. "I can't afford to be out of the workforce for four years," Sims told the Associated Press. "That just seems like forever, and the three-year made it seem less daunting."

Sims is part of a growing trend. As of this spring, 26 U.S. states have a college offering at least one reduced-credit, three-year bachelor's degree, according to the nonprofit research group RAND. These programs, advocates say, offer a solution to the college affordability crisis and a godsend for non-traditional students. New programs let students finish with as few as 90 credit hours, shaving a year off the typical 120-hour bachelor's degree.

How Three-Year Degrees Work

Accelerated degrees are not new; colleges have offered programs that let students finish faster by forgoing long summer breaks, maximizing transfer credits, and condensing semester-long courses into shorter terms. But those programs maintained the same course load. The new model reduces the credit requirement itself, completing a bachelor's in three years.

Three-year degrees are common in other countries, including the United Kingdom, India, France, and Italy. In the U.S., the idea gained attention in 2009 when Robert Zemsky, founding director of the Institute for Research on Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, argued in a Newsweek cover story that three-year degrees could shake up a broken system. But, as Zemsky recalled, "Accreditors said, 'College is 120 credits, not 90 credits.'"

The roadblock was overcome in 2022 amid concerns about college affordability. Zemsky helped revive the idea, leading to the creation of the College-in-3 Exchange. Dozens of institutions joined the network, and in 2023, the first accreditor approved reduced-credit programs. As of May, 119 reduced-credit programs had been announced, according to a RAND analysis.

Who Is Offering Them?

Private nonprofit schools offer three-quarters of the reduced-credit programs, with business and computer science as the most common majors. The College Board reports that tuition and fees last school year averaged $11,950 for in-state students at public schools and $45,000 at private nonprofits. Reducing a year of study can translate into significant savings.

Students Enrolled Report Benefits

For many, the streamlined degree is exactly what they need. Jill Cohen, a 42-year-old teaching student, appreciates the focused path especially with her busy life. Gabriella Staten, a 20-year-old student, estimates the three-year program will save her at least $20,000.

Giles Sims describes the condensed timeline as less daunting. Ensign College president Bruce Kusch told the Associated Press he does not anticipate graduate school problems for three-year graduates. However, not everyone is so certain.

Concerns and Criticism

Critics worry the reduced-credit programs will narrow too much what students learn, confuse employers, limit graduate school options, and create headaches in fields that require state licenses. Wesley Hardy, a student at Ensign, shares these worries, concerned about state variations in CPA requirements and how graduate admissions might view the three-year degree.

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is more blunt. The group says the programs devalue the meaning of a college credential. "This is not innovation. This is just cutting corners," said Todd Wolfson, AAUP's president.

These concerns are not unfounded. For example, a student aiming for a CPA could find that the reduced credits hours do not meet state requirements, as Hardy notes. Similarly, graduate schools sometimes require extra coursework for degrees with fewer credits.

A Historical Perspective

Interestingly, the three-year degree is not new to the U.S. Some early colonial colleges, modeled after English institutions like Oxford and Cambridge, initially had three-year degrees, according to John Thelin, author of "A History of American Higher Education." By the 19th century, the four-year format had taken hold, partly because there wasn't an established system of public high schools to prepare people; colleges had to start from scratch.

Now, as they offer more programs, the debate is likely to intensify. The growth is driven by an unusual coalition: students seeking fast and affordable paths into the workforce, and some colleges eager to attract them. But the skeptics see a false economy that might them.

The Associated Press, reporting as a wire service, provided the foundational story. Other reports have echoed the terms of the lead, with the Anchorage Daily News, Baltimore Sun, The Boston Herald, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WDIV ClickOnDetroit, Hartford Courant, Boulder Daily Camera, The Economic Times, Fortune, Santa Ana Orange County Register, PBS, Mechanicsburg Patriot News, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, and San Diego Union-Tribune all carrying parts of the same narrative. Their reports emphasize the growth, while some editions highlight the cost savings and quotes from critics.