Here is a good news for all of those students studying in the Hartwick College in New York. So according to the news release from the college, the students might be able to save more than US$40,000 on their education by participating in a new 3-years degree program.
So the college will cut the colleges cost by 25% and students are still provided with “rich educational experience” which is characteristic of the school.
To qualify for the three-year degree program, students must have graduated high school with at least a 3.0 GPA. Once enrolled, students must take 40 credits each academic year instead of the usual 30, and take classes during a special January term each year in order to complete the standard 120 credits needed to graduate. The required extra winter session will allow students to keep their summers free for study abroad, internships, research practicums, or spending time with family.
Dr. Margaret Drugovich, Hartwick’s president is anticipating a great deal of interest in the three-year degree program, but her students aren’t the only ones taking notice of these types of programs. With the skyrocketing cost of college continuing to squeeze families often already hard-pressed to come up with money for school, the concept of a cheaper three-year degree may be gaining favor.
But prior to the country’s recession, three-year degrees had largely failed to catch on because of lack of interests. One of the examples is at the Upper Iowa University. There was only 5 students who chose the school’s three-year degree program over the five years it has been in existence and every one of those five students ended up taking four or more years to complete their degree. The school has not had a single student interested in the program since.
Educators attribute the lack of participation in these accelerated programs to the fact that students may still prefer the full four- year college experience, academically, socially, and athletically, Joy Newcom, spokeswoman of Waldorf College, told the Associated Press about her Iowa school that is just now phasing out its last three-year program due to lack of student interest.
Newcom said, “What we’re finding they’re saying is, ‘Why did I want to grow up so fast?’ .”
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