BizVoice -- March / April 2018

60 BizVoice/Indiana Chamber – March/April 2018 Calls for innovation in higher education continue to escalate. While not new, three-year degree options are evolving. These accelerated programs often benefit a student’s bottom line by reducing postsecondary expenses and increasing earnings potential by joining the workforce a year earlier. BizVoice ® previously reported on some of these options (see updates beginning below) as they rolled out, and in September 2017 Purdue University’s College of Liberal Arts launched a Degree in 3 option for more than 20 majors. The new Purdue initiative grew out of a three-year option for communication majors that was developed in 2014. At that time, the Brian Lamb School of Communication received a $500,000 prize for creating the university’s first three-year degree program as part of an institution-wide challenge by President Mitch Daniels. David Reingold, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, took note of the program and its potential when he arrived in 2015. Along with the potential cost savings for students, he believes this will help differentiate Purdue’s College of Liberal Arts from other institutions. “I thought the innovation our friends and colleagues in communications had embarked on was novel,” he explains, adding, “I wanted to figure out if there was a way to expand it and make it part of our identity, one of the reasons students would take notice of some unique opportunities here at Purdue in the humanities and social sciences and arts.” The schools and departments within the college offer at least one Degree in 3 major, with several having more than one. “So for the 504 Purdue Adds 3-Year Liberal Arts Options CAMPUS ACCELERATION By Crickett Gibbons Option Continues at Ball State Ball State started offering a Degree in 3 option in 2005. It hasn’t seen huge interest from students, although some may finish in three years who don’t declare it, says Marilyn Buck, interim provost and interim executive vice president for academic affairs. “The most popular program continues to be nursing,” she reports. Buck mentions the difficulty of finishing 120 credits in three years and going to school year-round. Some students may need time off in the summer to earn money to pay for school or for the mental break, she notes. However, “it’s an option … we give to every student to pursue if interested.” She isn’t aware of direct feedback from employers about the program, but cites a lack of overt response from the business community as a positive sign. “In this case, I believe no response from them is probably a good thing, because it means the students are doing well.” Manchester’s Adam Hohman (see sidebar on Page 62) goes a step further, saying, “Employers, I think, are very supportive in the sense that they like Fast Forward (Manchester’s initiative) because it is effectively a full-degree program. Our students are coming through with the same information, the same knowledge, the same experience someone would get in four years. So for them, it’s something that shows someone has a bit of ambition. Someone who shows savvy in getting through a degree quickly. They are impressed with that.” RESOURCE: Marilyn Buck, Ball State University, at cms.bsu.edu/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/majors-and-special-programs Purdue University’s College of Liberal Arts has greatly expanded its three-year bachelor’s degree options, which previously were available only to communications majors. REVISITED

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