Universities Moving Toward 3-Year Degrees?
Mount Mary offers 95-credit degree. Universities of Wisconsin could follow.
UW-Madison students walk on campus Tuesday, May 6, 2025, in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
This year, Mount Mary University became the first college in Wisconsin to offer a reduced-credit bachelor’s degree.
Launched in January, the program, known as “Thrive in 3,” allows students to earn their degree in as few as three years, with students able to graduate with 95 credits instead of the traditional 120 credits.
Mount Mary, a private women’s university in Milwaukee, offers the three-year degree program for cybersecurity, digital marketing and social work.
The Universities of Wisconsin could soon follow.
Last week, the Board of Regents Education Committee unanimously approved revising a policy that would allow campuses to offer 90-credit degrees.
The approval on March 5 did not yet establish three-year degrees.
That process would take several months, said Johannes Britz, Universities of Wisconsin senior vice president of academic affairs.
The development of a three-year degree could occur two ways.
Either a new academic program could be proposed and approved by the Board of Regents. Or an existing program could be adapted, which would need approval by the Universities’ accrediting body, the Higher Learning Commission, Britz said.
State Superintendent Jill Underly, who serves on the Regents’ Education Committee, said she understands the logic of offering three-year degrees, but she doesn’t want to harm the credibility of the UW System.
“If we can put some guardrails in place, I think that is probably the best way forward,” Underly said.
Regent Joan Prince said the guardrails were already set when the Higher Learning Commission began allowing colleges to develop three-year bachelor’s degree programs.
“There are times when I like to say, the mouthwash that we use doesn’t taste really good,” Prince said. “But it’s what we have, so we have to make it work. But I totally agree with you, we cannot tarnish the reputation of a degree from the system.”
According to Inside Higher Ed, the first three-year degree programs in the country were online programs at Brigham Young University-Idaho and Ensign College in Utah just two years ago.
Since then, nearly 60 colleges nationwide began offering or working toward developing three-year degree programs, according to Inside Higher Ed.
The decision to offer three shortened degree programs at Mount Mary offers students the ability to graduate faster and spend less money, said Marmy Clason, chair of the Business, Communication & Technology Division.
The initial three majors were chosen because the are in high demand, so students can start their careers as soon as they graduate, Clason said.
“It could be a very attractive option for those students for whom affordability of a college degree might seem out of reach and then it becomes much more affordable if you are going only for three years instead of four,” Clason said.
Mount Mary offers a 3-year bachelor’s degree. Universities of Wisconsin could follow. was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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