In a recent New York Times Op-Ed piece entitled “A Degree in Three,” president emeritus at George Washington University, Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, and GW research professor, Gerald Kauvar, urge the educating public to consider switching from a four-year standard undergraduate degree to one that can be completed in three years.
Trachtenberg and Kauvar explain: “The college experience may be idyllic, but it’s also wasteful and expensive, both for students and institutions. There is simply no reason undergraduate degrees can’t be finished in three years, and many reasons they should be.”
They continue to explain how the transition from four to three years would be rather easy: simply hire more faculty and adjust the calendars.
Some of the advantages Trachtenberg and Kauvar discuss include:
- More students would be accommodated during the same four-year period.
- The cost per student would be reduced.
- Schools could take advantage of an otherwise mostly-empty campus in the summer by holding summer term classes required by those wishing to graduate in three years.
- College graduates would hit the work force a year early, a financial advantage. Plus they’d pay for one less year of school.
- Summer internships could be evenly distributed throughout the year, rather than condensed into a short summer, allowing more students to participate.
- It would force faculty to implement curriculum innovation—to make better use of classroom time, cramming the same amount of material into a shorter amount of time.
The authors stress that changing to a three-year system would be the norm for students, but not the rule. Students who simply cannot afford to skip a summer’s worth of work, would not be required to so.
In a brief email interview by Jacques Steinberg in the New York Times “The Choice” blog, Kauvar elaborates on why now is the best time to implement three-year plan:
“Why now? Because enrollments are increasing, and capital funds for expansion are hard to come by. Faculties and staff members are stressed by budget reductions, particularly in the public sector. Student demographics are changing rapidly. Institutions are merging, selling themselves, going out of business. We can’t continue to be your father’s Oldsmobile.”
What do you think?
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Read the full article: Will Three Year Colleges Become the Norm?