Chapter Overview
Colleges and universities are under unprecedented pressure to operate more efficiently and effectively. State-supported institutions have lost substantial state support. Most of these cutbacks are likely to be permanent. Independent institutions face increasing resistance to tuition increases and diminished philanthropic support. For the first time in living memory, tuition costs net of institutional aid are dropping at private, non-profit colleges. Philanthropy is unlikely to take up the slack.
Given these trends, institutions of higher education have no choice but to make substantial improvement in efficiency and cost containment. Several commentators, most notably Senator Lamar Alexander (R.–Tenn.), have suggested that broader implementation of three-year baccalaureate degrees could make a major contribution to reducing the costs and increasing efficiency in American higher education. For students, time-shortened degrees permit quicker realization of the considerable job market advantages that accrue to college graduates and may also save on room, board, and time away from employment. For colleges and universities, they open the way to more efficient year-round use of staff and facilities.
This chapter describes the experience of Metropolitan College of New York, which has offered three-year baccalaureate degrees since 1974. Its successful approach to three-year degrees offers valuable lessons for other institutions contemplating this route to cost savings and efficiency. Most importantly, with the right ingredients, three-year degrees can enhance educational outcomes as well as save students and institutions money and time.
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