SACSCOC recently published a Position Statement on the three-year baccalaureate degree. You can find that here. The document is an interesting read and offers guidance to SACSCOC institutions who seek to develop and offer a three-year baccalaureate degree, while cautioning institutions to take each step carefully.
This Position Statement discusses different approaches that don’t remove content such as enhanced pathways for unconventional credits and year-round attendance. This is nothing new. Back in the early 90s I wanted to get married, my girlfriend (now wife of almost 30 years) wanted to finish her bachelor’s degree first. I asked her to hurry up and she did, earning that credential in three years by taking heavy loads fall, spring, and summer. I was then, and continue to be, impressed.
The Position Statement goes on to remind us all of the purposes of the baccalaureate degree as an academic credential. Minimums from the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the Lumina Foundation are included such as assorted intellectual skills, reasoning ability, and understanding different investigative approaches, but the Position Statement goes a bit further.
“There are also intangible values associated with the baccalaureate degree, such as the mastery of learning, creative problem solving, and resilience and commitment to long-term goals.”
The institution developing a three-year baccalaureate degree by cutting content, maybe a reduction in credit hours to 90-100 from the more traditional 120 will need to make the case that the reduction in credits (and time) does not compromise the integrity of the degree. Such an approach will require (in the substantive change prospectus) a list of standards that a shorter pathway will conflict with along with a, “thorough, reasoned, academic rationale for why the proposed program should be approved given its possible non-compliance with the Principles of Accreditation and/or policies.” I hope to have the opportunity to collaborate on such a narrative.
One last thought on this and one that is not mentioned in the Position Statement is the institutional mission. Is the mission of the institution compatible with the principles behind a three-year baccalaureate degree? Is the mission of the institution about a speedier path to the workforce? Is the mission consistent with such an unconventional way to reduce student expense? This is where you start. If you can’t find the three-year baccalaureate in your mission, then you will have no end of problems with the rest of the requirements.