Can’t Afford A Four-Year College? Make it Three.

Posted by J. Catapano , Feb, 2009 @ 11:49

A new idea has surfaced from a small liberal arts college in New York. Hartwick College in Oneonta is starting a program to save their students some money. Normally, their tuition costs ’round about $40,000 per semester, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at. Since the institution clearly has no desire to lower tuition (in fact, they raised it nearly 4 percent for next term) administrators decided to create a sort of fast-track program. Students will still receive the total 120 credits, but take them in greater succession: 18 credits in the Fall, 4 during a short Winter semester, and 18 in the Spring.

One issue being, of course, that it’s likely to be an awful lot of work. I’ve known fellow students who have gone nuts and taken 20 credits per semester in order to get out faster, and I find them to be patently insane. But, if you can do it, go for it. I know my college allows for an override as long as your GPA is high enough, which is actually what Hartwick is doing as well (3.0 or higher for the fast-track). It’s worth checking out if you can handle the work load. And if you’re at one of these high bill universities, it’s $40,000 worth of checking out.

But don’t expect to see this as a growing trend. Many other colleges have tried this model and there has been some trouble. The New York Times reports,

‘Some schools that considered the three-year approach have encountered strong resistance from faculty — or little interest from students. At Upper Iowa University, for example, a three-year option created about five years ago remains on the books, although only five students signed up for it and not one actually finished a degree in three years.’

So, you’ve got your bumps in the road. Maybe we just need cheaper college degrees, no? I think it sounds like a better idea.

Tags: affordable education, cheap college, early graduation, fast degree, three year degree