I have been reading more about schools offering some bachelors degrees in three years instead of four. Often these accelerated types of programs are counting on students taking classes over the summer and/or coming in with AP types of credits. Now I’m reading about some schools trying to truly allow for a three year program perhaps by reducing necessary credit hours. Does anyone know of schools that have this latter, true three year program?
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Here’s one in the US (there are many ex-US): https://newu.university/
The one I’ve seen most is Purdue “Degree in 3”.
They say it’s with or without AP and you can even intern - but yes they mention summer.
My daughter’s bf will graduate from U Denver business in 3 but that’s AP based. And I saw my son’s HS prom date graduated from college in 3 and is now doing an MBA.
So I’d check your schools of interest - whether they list a degree in 3 (like Purdue) or perhaps you can get there another way if that’s a road you want to travel.
Good luck.
Honestly, if what you’re interested in is to get your degree as quickly as possible, the easiest, quickest, cheapest way to do it would be to take an enormous course load at a community college that has a transfer agreement with a 4 yr public college from which you would be happy to have your degree. Community college courses are so easy that a serious student could take as many as 6-7 classes a semester, all three semesters a year (summer, fall, and spring) and get the two years done in 15 months, and be at the 4 year transfer agreement public college/U with junior status starting in the fall one year after high school graduation. If one were really in a hurry, one could also then do summer school, too, and maybe hurry out by December, a semester early. One could even possibly do some CLEP exams in 12th grade, in order to lighten the burden at community college.
Personally, I think that if it’s at all possible to take four years at a good college/U, one should do it, because there is so much more learning and maturation going on at college outside the classroom. But if the only consideration were getting one’s degree as fast as possible, it certainly is possible to do it in three years, with or without a three year program, AP, CLEP, or a dash through community college.
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Institutional accreditors generally have strict rules about the minimum number of credit hours for each level of degree; therefore, I think it would be difficult to find a program that enables students to graduate without earning at least 120 credit hours. Bringing in credits from AP, CLEP, IB, transfer, etc. and paying for summer terms is more common.
New University uses a longer semester schedule that enables the 120 credits to be earned in three years.
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I got my degree in 3 years but not through a specific program. I only took credit for 1 AP class (english), and my major required a lot of credits. I attended a cheap state flagship with a standard semester schedule, and took slightly less than a full load each summer. That was feasible because 1) I had a full tuition scholarship for 2 semesters of years 2&3; and 2) the cheap tuition made paying for summer a workable option; and 3) I lived in town with my spouse, so housing/food was not a variable.