Potential of 3-year bachelor’s degrees spark debate of affordability, quality

By KELLEN STEPLER
TribLive

The math behind a four-year bachelor’s degree isn’t adding up anymore for Carlow University President Kathy Humphrey.

“This notion that every single degree has to take at least 120 credit hours, it just doesn’t make logical sense to me,” Humphrey said.

She’s not the only one thinking about a three-year bachelor’s degree.

Educators in Pennsylvania are investigating the possibility of reducing the state-mandated number of credits — typically, 120 — to obtain a bachelor’s degree. While some undergraduates have earned their degrees in less than four years, they still must complete 120 credit hours.

Humphrey has identified six bachelor’s programs, ranging from healthcare management to creative writing, that she believes could be reduced to 90 credits and still retain their value.

“There has been tremendous outcry about the return of investment on higher education,” said Humphrey, president of Carlow since 2021. “What I have been trying to do is, ‘How can I do this more economically? How can I provide incredible value and, at the same time, decrease the amount of money that students are paying?’ ” It’s the latest debate in the higher education realm. Colleges nationwide are seeking to reinvent themselves against declining enrollment and increasing skepticism that a college degree provides a good return on investment.

Supporters say the reduction would increase college affordability and, in turn, boost enrollment and retention. Opponents say such a move would threaten the academic integrity of college programs.

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education — which locally includes Slippery Rock, Indiana and Pennsylvania Western universities — is researching the potential of a reduced-credit bachelor’s degree.

A growing number of colleges outside Pennsylvania already are launching 90-credit degree programs, reducing the amount of time a student spends in college to three years from four.

“It’s a market that hasn’t really been tested,” said Timothy Slekar, associate provost for academic innovation at Slippery Rock. “Cheaper and faster sounds great, but does cheaper and faster mean quality? I don’t know that anybody has the answer to that right now, in the form of saying a certain amount of credits in a shorter amount of time is the answer.

“The real work is, what are institutions doing right now, to look at innovative things we can do, that we already have the ability to do?”

Seeking flexibility

Earlier this year, Ohio passed legislation requiring each state university to establish a 90-credit degree program for in-demand careers by the 2027-28 academic year.

That’s a concern for Pittsburgh-area universities that often recruit students in Ohio. But it’s too early to tell if Ohio’s move is making an impact on local enrollment, said Shari Payne, provost at Point Park University.

“We would like the opportunity to try and pilot something to be innovative, especially for programs that meet workforce needs,” Payne said. “We would absolutely love for the state to approve this so we can pilot a program and see how it would work. If it’s successful, we’d expand it. And if it’s not, we’d stop.”

Payne agrees with Humphrey, the Carlow president, that not all bachelor’s degrees would succeed as a 90-credit program. But she would welcome the chance to innovate.

“For that reason, we’re supportive of making a change,” Payne said. “We’re trying to be innovative to the workforce and community, and we can’t do that if the state mandate is so strict.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Education is open to the idea but has not taken a firm position. Department spokeswoman Casey Smith said three-year bachelor’s degrees “have the potential to be one of several pathways to more affordable college credentials, and an effective way to more quickly address pressing labor market demands.”

But the question of reduced-credit degrees requires thorough and informed discussion, Smith said, along with evaluating the experience of other states and hearing the perspectives of all higher education sectors, employers, parents and students.

Humphrey believes the reinvention of a bachelor’s degree is inevitable in Pennsylvania.

“We can either be in front of it or behind it,” she said. “We can help our workforce with it, we can save families’ resources. I don’t think we can be afraid of it, and I don’t think we can hide behind this notion of we can’t do it, or the value is going to be less than, because we see time and time again that just because something takes a little less time to do does not mean the value has to suffer.”

State Sen. Lynda Schlegel Culver, a Northumberland County Republican, is chair of the Senate Education Committee. She intends to introduce legislation that would give colleges and universities the option to offer three-year bachelor’s degree programs.

“This is not a mandate. It is another tool that institutions can use to meet the needs of today’s students and employers while helping Pennsylvania remain competitive,” Culver said in a statement. “The proposal has the potential to save students time and money, strengthen our workforce and give schools the flexibility to determine whether this option is the right fit for their programs.”

Watering down?

Education unions are hostile to the trend. “Three-year Bachelor’s Degrees Devalue Student Education, Do Nothing to Address Root Cause of Affordability Crisis” was the headline on a June 28 statement from the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers.

The unions argue that higher education should advocate for expanding and strengthening Pell and other federal- and state-level financial aid instead of “asking students to accept less education for the same credential.”

“A bachelor’s degree should both prepare students for the workforce and provide them with deep learning, broad intellectual development, and sustained engagement with faculty and peers — not simply the fastest possible route to the labor market,” the unions said.

Kenneth Mash, president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties union, also has concerns over a reducedcredit degree.

“Too many students that we are admitting are underprepared for the college experience,” he told the state system’s Board of Governors at its July meeting. “Well, if they’re underprepared coming in, and we’re telling them you only have to be here for three years, how are they ever going to be ultimately prepared for their future?”

Mash, himself a first-generation college student, also sees “hidden discrimination” at work. Elite schools, he said, are not in the conversation about three-year degrees.

“The universities talking the most about this are ones that tend to serve first-generation students, students of color and rural communities, the universities that move students into the middle class,” he said. “I can’t help but wonder why it’s OK to offer these less-than degrees to these students but not to the other students.”

In Pennsylvania, at least 40 semester credit hours of the 120 minimum must be in general education “and represent a broad spectrum of disciplines in general education,” the state code says.

Humphrey thinks skills learned in general education courses — like communication and critical thinking — can successfully be taught in major-related courses if they’re “intentionally woven in” to that curriculum. Often, those skills are already being taught in major-related courses.

“I could do all that in 90 credit hours, and provide you enough liberal arts education that ensures that you are a well-rounded student when you leave,” she said.

Slippery Rock’s Slekar thinks academic quality concerns go beyond discussing the viability of a reduced-credit degree. His university tapped into partnerships with businesses and industries for academic programs — like a new Bachelor of Applied Science degree in construction management with local trade unions, or a credit- sharing partnership with the State Police Academy — all within the 120-credit mandate.

“Maybe we have a real opportunity with current guardrails that would allow us to innovate within the current rules, and to create degree pathways that are powerful, practical and meaningful, to future students and employers working with future students,” Slekar said. “That really should be the heart of the conversation.”

Financial gain

The rising costs of college drove Humphrey to the idea of a reduced-credit bachelor’s degree. She said 45% of Carlow students are “economically challenged.”

“The faster I can get them to work, the better for their families,” she said. “They need to save money. If I can save them an entire year of tuition, have I done a great service? I believe I have.”

Humphrey also believes a reduced- credit bachelor’s degree could attract students who otherwise would not have attended college, or attended but dropped out. In turn, a reduced-credit bachelor’s degree could control costs and attract more students to college and to finish their degree.

“We’ve done all kinds of tricks, like saying, go every summer. That’s not a reduction in cost for the student, and for me, that’s very difficult to do,” she said. “That’s a system that helps affluent students, but a student who must work every summer in order to pay for their education — that doesn’t work, and it’s not fair.”

If a three-year bachelor’s degree becomes an option, some question the impact it would have on community colleges, which traditionally are known for two-year associate degrees.

Community College of Allegheny County President Quintin Bullock is a member of the state system’s board. He believes a three-year bachelor’s degree can be valuable for some students “when it is intentionally designed, academically rigorous and directly connected to workforce demand.”

“The goal of any three-year degree model should be to expand affordability and flexibility for students, while maintaining the academic quality and long-term value of the degree or credential,” Bullock said.

Seemingly now more than ever, colleges have emphasized accessibility in attracting more students.

IUP has developed a partnership where students at Penn Highlands Community College could earn three degrees — an associate, bachelor’s and master’s — in five years, finishing at IUP. Lower-income students at the University of Pittsburgh’s branch campuses, and state-owned universities, will be offered free tuition in coming years. And state funding has helped Point Park, Seton Hill and the Community College of Allegheny County expand scholarships and services to students who are parents.

“The reality is, it’s expensive to get a college degree,” Slekar said. “There are some viable markers out there where students paid a lot of money for a degree, and they ask if their return on investment for their current job was worth it.

“That’s a conversation that should be happening. The high price of higher education is something we should look at as a society, and we should ask, how did it get so steep?”