The Corner Education

Three Year College Degrees — Pro and Con

By George Leef, May 25, 2026 10:36 AM

Listen to the article now online at link at the end, not available in my repost. –DrWeb

For more than a century, American students interested in post-secondary education had a choice between the good old bachelor’s degree, which took four years to complete, or various community college programs that took two or less. Would it make sense to offer something in the middle?

The University of North Carolina system is interested in that and has asked for proposals for three-year degree programs. In today’s Martin Center article, Professor David C. Phillips looks at the arguments.

Opponents say that the shortening of programs comes at the expense of general education requirements. Grads will have less of the broad knowledge that they ought to have. (Sadly, “gen ed” has been so diluted over the decades that it doesn’t ensure much knowledge at all.) And the option of a three-year degree is apt to lure some students who would have otherwise taken a four-year program.

But Phillips comes down in favor of the option. He writes, “Even if the lure of a three-year degree draws some students away from four-year programs, this may ultimately be to the benefit of these programs as well as to the students. Disinterested students will no longer flounder in courses that they don’t see the value in taking to fulfill requirements that don’t necessarily serve them, and departments will be able to better serve the students who are taking those courses because they choose to.”

I think he’s right. More choice is better.

Source: Three Year College Degrees — Pro and Con | National Review