<p>Once upon a time, Ontario undergraduate degrees were 3 years because of Grade 13. The rest of Canada had 4 year degrees. I’m guessing the current state of affairs is in flux.</p>
<p>I can confirm that Canada has three year “general” degrees. I graduated from one in Ontario many moons ago. The university wanted me back for a 4th year to complete an “honours” degree. It was tempting because I was 1% short of a “1st class honours” needed to “graduate with honours”.</p>
<p>I finally decided against it because I have decided to change major in graduate school, and spending an extra year would just increase my student debt and delay my joining the workforce. Yes, we had a 13th year of high school and it was not eliminated until one of my kids was applying to college. So for one year there was a “double cohort”, where students from both the new 4 year program and the old 5 year program were applying at the same time. Mine was in the 5 year program and decided to complete it in 4 years to avoid the rush. Many students did the same.</p>
<p><a href=“http://occ.crescentschool.org/geography/worldissues/Articles/university.htm”>http://occ.crescentschool.org/geography/worldissues/Articles/university.htm</a></p>
<p>All my siblings, if they have a 1st degree at all, have decided not to continue for a 4th year at the University of Toronto. Grading was brutal then and still is now. (They both decided to do a two year MBA instead). Maybe that is why Toronto is one of the schools in Ontario to eliminate the 3 year degree?</p>
<p><a href=“Why Do Students Hate The University of Toronto? | The Mike Online”>http://themikenewspaper.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2011/02/02/why-students-hate-the-university-of-toronto/</a></p>
<p>@mom2collegekids I work with med students. I could see value in doing a 6 year med school, a 2+4 or even a 4+2 sort of thing. For any student who majors in science, the basic science component is really just amped up biology/biochem courses. Why not amp it up to begin with, and then finish it off with 2 years of clinical work? It makes sense, but it’ll never happen because universities with med schools will never agree to lose those years of money. They’ve built their business model on the 4+4 model. I think mileage varies with med students in terms of maturity, with some being wonderful and others being not so wonderful. But imagine saving $100K from cutting 2 years of med school? </p>
<p>@Janniegirl, UMKC has a 6 year undergrad+MD program. The kids there don’t exactly get to smell the roses, though.</p>
<p>Quite a few 7-year combined MD programs out there as well.</p>
<p>One reason many four years schools won’t be eager to jump on any 3-year bandwagon is the enrollment outlook. While the elites and big brand schools still turn away many students, a much larger number of schools are struggling to fill their seats without lowering standards. (Some lower tier schools are, or will be, struggling just to fill seats.) If you squeeze most students through in a year less, finding additional qualified students to fill the newly-created excess capacity will be very difficult.</p>