The University of Massachusetts-Amherst announced plans for a new program last week that would help cost-conscious students in certain areas of study graduate with a bachelor’s degree in just three years. The plan makes UMass the first school in Massachusetts to offer an official program for three-year degree students.
UMass officials should be commended for their commitment to reducing education costs for hardworking students. In a tough economic time, schools should be concerned with the financial well being of their students rather than merely their own self-interests. Although universities clearly have to make money, the costs that they pass on to students are ridiculously high, and schools should examine any method by which they can attempt to alleviate this burden. If students are willing to put in the work and planning necessary to graduate in three years, they should by all means be given the ability to do this.
The three-year program clearly isn’t for everyone, and the option for a four-year degree is still the best choice for students who are unsure of what they want to study or who want more time to explore different subjects. But for motivated students who start their undergraduate educations with a plan of how to pursue their chosen major, the three-year program is a smart way to save money and get a jump-start on their careers.
BU should take a hint from UMass’s program and follow suit. Though this may be a tough policy to implement with the many requirements of BU’s extensive liberal arts curriculum, it is one worth considering. Instead of forcing freshmen to take introductory philosophy courses, allowing those who know exactly what they want to study to obtain a degree under a three-year plan would be a great help to many students. Additionally, this sort of action could help BU stay competitive at a time when students and parents alike are searching for cheaper alternatives to higher education.
Although BU is a reputable school with strong academics, the $200,000 asking price may still be a little too much to bear for some current or future students. While truly elite schools may give graduates enough of an advantage in the job market that they can afford to spend the full price, at lower ranked schools a lower cost alternative should be made readily available, provided of course that students fulfill all of the requirements. It is encouraging to know that schools like UMass have the interests of their students in mind.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
