We-Ha.com will be publishing a series of essays/blogs/reflections on the issue of going to college – primarily a set of thoughts and musings, along with some practical advice, intended to support students and parents as they embark on this journey. While many of our readers are experts in this topic, many others are less knowledgeable and have little outside support. We hope this is helpful to all readers as they go through the various stages of getting into and getting something out of college.

Adrienne Leinwand Maslin. Courtesy photo

By Adrienne Leinwand Maslin

Juliet to Romeo: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet” (Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Act II, Scene II).

There is a movement afoot, actually begun some years ago but it’s just now gaining traction, for a three-year, 90-credit, bachelor’s degree. Completing a bachelor’s degree in three years is nothing new. But it still required 120 credits to earn the degree and was accomplished by overloading one’s schedule and taking summer and winter classes. Now it appears that college administrators and accreditors are accepting of an actual reduction to the typical 120-credit bachelor’s degree.

As recently as April 2024, when the College-in-3 Exchange, an organization whose mission is to promote a three-year degree, held a meeting in Massachusetts, most accrediting agencies were skeptical of the idea. But now, only 18 months later, more people in higher education are taking the idea seriously.

Many accreditors have already approved programs, including the country’s first in-person reduced-credit degrees: computer science, criminal justice, graphic design and hospitality management at Johnson & Wales University, which were approved by the New England Commission of Higher Education* and will launch this fall. [*The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) is one of six regional accrediting bodies in the U.S. It is the accrediting agency for all institutions in New England as well as some foreign institutions.]

According to Inside Higher Ed, NECHE was the most skeptical of all accrediting agencies in the U.S. but is now one of the first to approve a three-year bachelor’s. Of course this move raises a host of questions: Is a 90-credit bachelor’s degree equal in value to a 120-credit bachelor’s? What are the benefits? What is missing from the 90-credit degree? What will employers think? What will graduate schools think? Should it even be called a bachelor’s degree?

Juliet asks, “What’s in a name?” My response is, “A lot.”

I have worked closely with NECHE over the course of my career and it is an agency I have great respect for. I know that if NECHE approved the 90-credit bachelor’s degree programs it was only after thorough consideration, discussion, and review. The agency does not approve anything lightly.

NECHE’s “Guidance for Institutions Preparing Proposals to offer Baccalaureate Degrees of Fewer than 120 Credits” indicates that such degrees must clearly distinguish by means of a prefix – to potential students and the public at large – that what is proposed is not a traditional baccalaureate degree with a minimum degree requirement of 120 semester credits; (and) develop a required language provision that they will prominently include in their marketing material. This would include a provision that some graduate programs, professional schools, and employers might not accept a baccalaureate degree of fewer than 120 credits. This language will also provide students with a pathway to a four-year degree. The expectation is that this language provision will be made known to potential students and their families in all marketing and admissions material, including web site descriptions of the program.

According to Carol Anderson, Vice President of the New England Commission of Higher Education, the institution proposing the three-year baccalaureate has the discretion to determine the terminology it will use to distinguish it from the four-year degree. Most, she says, use the word “applied.” The programs that have been approved at Johnson & Wales University are, indeed, in applied areas including computer science, criminal justice, graphic design, and hospitality management. In the case of Johnson & Wales, however, they are designated as three-year programs on the website and as a “C.F.B.S.” or “Career-Focused Bachelor of Science” in Criminal Justice in the catalog.

I reviewed Johnson & Wales’ catalog and learned that the learning outcomes for the three- and four-year programs are identical. The primary differences are in the number of criminal justice electives and general electives a student is required to take. Obviously the three-year program requires fewer. The three-year program is comprehensive, however, and a student who successfully completes the program will be in an excellent position to start a career.

So, how should we view the three-year, 90-credit, bachelor’s degree? I think the concept is good. I am pleased there is a credible option that provides students – whether for financial or personal reasons – an opportunity to earn a degree that includes general education, concentration in a major, and room for a couple of elective courses in a shorter amount of time. It enables students to enter the workforce earlier so they can begin to draw a salary, and allows students to enter graduate school sooner and move forward with their careers. If a student knows what they want to study and the career path they wish to follow, a three-year bachelor’s might be a good route to go.

But, is a 90-credit degree still a bachelor’s degree? Ninety credit hours and 120 credit hours are not the same. The total number of courses, and, most critically, the number of general education courses required, do not equal those of a 120-credit hour degree, and students will not graduate with the same depth and breadth of educational experiences as those in a 120-credit degree program.

When considering a 90-credit bachelor’s program students may wish to keep several things in mind. One is what kind of overall college experience is desired? Aside from less time to develop lifelong friendships and have fun, a three-year program might prevent a student from experiencing a semester abroad or engaging in research with a faculty member. There may also be leadership or athletic opportunities that are not available to a three-year student because of their shorter stay at the institution.

Another question concerns how a graduate school might view the three-year program. My guess is that it will be a 50-50 split with some grad schools being leery of such a program while others will either be oblivious or embrace the applied nature of the program.

Keeping these factors in mind, a 90-credit degree program is an idea whose time has come. But a “bachelor’s degree” with only 90 credits doesn’t smell as sweet. My preference would be to have some other name that would more appropriately distinguish it from the traditional bachelor’s.

Adrienne Leinwand Maslin recently retired from a 45-year career in higher education administration. She has worked at public and private institutions, urban and rural, large and small, and two-year and four-year, and is Dean Emerita at CT State-Middlesex. She has held positions in admissions, affirmative action, president’s office, human resources, academic affairs, and student affairs. Adrienne has a BA from the University of Vermont, an MEd from Boston University, and a PhD from the University of Oregon. She is presently writing a series of graphic novels on life skills and social issues for 8-12 year olds believing that the more familiar youngsters are with important social issues the easier their transition to college and adulthood will be. Information about this series as well as contact information can be found at www.adrienneleinwandmaslin.com.

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