The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents reviewed policy revisions on Feb. 6 that, if approved, could offer three-year bachelor’s degrees for system schools.
These new reduced-credit programs would cut down the 120 minimum required credits for a bachelor’s degree to 90 credits, shaving off a whole year from the typical four-year undergraduate degree.
Regents said they were considering the policy due to new guidelines that were released in 2024 by the UW System’s regional accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission, for schools that want to participate in reduced-credit bachelor’s degrees. Completing college earlier could lessen the financial load of four years of college tuition.
At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin residents pay approximately $12,186 and out-of-state students pay approximately $44,210 per year in undergraduate tuition, according to the UW Office of Student Financial Aid. By implementing three-year or reduced-credit bachelor’s degree programs, students could save tens of thousands of dollars.
A UW Board of Regents policy document frames the benefits of these potential programs as “increased efficiency and agility in meeting existing and emerging workforce and societal needs, while also ensuring the quality of the UW System’s academic program offerings.”
Some Wisconsin colleges have already taken action towards reduced-credit degrees.
Mount Mary University in Milwaukee launched their reduced-credit program, “Thrive in 3,” in January which allows their students to earn a bachelor’s degree in three years and with a minimum of 95 credits.
The College-in-3 Exchange initiative is a group of more than 60 U.S. colleges and universities advocating to institutional accreditors for 3-year degrees. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Lakeshore College in Cleveland, Wisconsin are currently members of the initiative. Some of these educational institutions are also creating potential programs toward master degrees in collaboration with 3-year bachelor’s degrees such as “3+1” and “3+2” programs, according to the College-in-3 Exchange.
Improving the retention rate at U.S. institutions is a main goal of the initiative.
While UW-Madison’s retention rate after one year sits at approximately 96%, those rates have seen significant drops after the third year in school, according to the UW Office of Data, Academic Planning & Institutional Research.
This trend is more pronounced systemwide looking at other UW System schools.
The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s retention rate for first time, full-time students after three years is about 67%. At UW-Milwaukee, the same retention rate is about 57% and at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, this rate sits at approximately 54%, according to data from the UW System.
By integrating 3-year degree programs, U.S. campuses seek to “increase persistence and completion by providing a clearer and shorter path through college,” according to the College-in-3 Exchange website.
Enrollment concerns are also part of the move toward reduced-credit degrees.
Many students choose not to enroll in college due to rising costs and the length of time required to complete a degree. According to data from the UW System, UW-Madison saw a slight decrease in new freshmen last fall compared to 2024 while UW-Milwaukee has seen an average decrease of enrollments per year of approximately 2,000 students.
However, some students still choose the traditional 4-year degree path regardless of being able to graduate earlier.
Of UW-Madison’s new freshman cohort in 2022, about 7% opted to graduate within three years, which is up from 1.9% 15 years ago, UW-Madison spokesperson John Lucas said in a statement. Lucas said more students were able to graduate within three years but decided not to.
The UW Board of Regents will vote on this policy at a future board meeting. If passed, the policy will allow all UW institutions to offer reduced credit degrees.
