A bachelor’s degree in three years would cut costs and curb waste.

In 2018 George Mason Economics prof Bryan Caplan was among the first to suggest this backed up by some well presented metrics. His book, The Case Against Education is must reading if you're interested in how colleges can be improved to be more affordable and effective. Great read!

Amazon link below.

https://a.co/d/0j5ffOcq

Less Is More in Higher Education

A bachelor’s degree in three years would cut costs and curb waste.

By Zachary Marschall, WSJ

July 16, 2026 5:12 pm ET

American universities can’t afford complacency. Tuition is too high, standards are too low and administrators emphasize experience over academics.

That makes Virginia and Ohio’s venture to develop three-year bachelor’s degree programs good news. A 90-credit bachelor’s degree (instead of the standard 120) would reduce waste and save families about 25% in tuition.

For too long, universities have increased tuition, which is now more than $100,000 a year at some schools. But the four-year model isn’t untouchable. Colleges make money when more students stay longer. Tuition, housing, dining, fees, athletics, facilities and campus amenities all depend on keeping students enrolled in a costly ecosystem. Three-year degrees would disrupt that by putting students’ interests ahead of institutions’.

Most students don’t need years to explore electives and declare a major. They need clear requirements, serious majors, sound advice and firm deadlines. We need to stop thinking of college as a time to find oneself and recast it as a period of intellectual development that precedes our more formative mid- to late 20s.

Universities should streamline general-education requirements, trim unnecessary electives and make students declare their majors by the end of freshman year. These changes are productive guardrails, not punitive restrictions.

I know this can work. I completed a double major in politics and cinema studies at New York University in 3½ years by using advanced-placement and internship credits and avoiding electives that didn’t move me toward graduation.

A three-year program also might arrest the ideological sprawl and runaway spending that plague higher education. Reports show that before DEI bans took effect in more than a dozen states, two-thirds of American universities mandated DEI courses that took up 40 million student hours and cost $1.8 billion every four years to maintain.

Students don’t need more politicized course requirements that displace core classes. They need writing, history, math, science, economics, literature and civic knowledge.

Remedial education doesn’t belong in higher ed. Universities have admitted too many students who were failed by K-12 schools and arrive unable to read demanding books, write coherent essays or complete college-level math. The answer is to raise standards and expectations. Colleges shouldn’t admit students who need remedial work.

Academic calendars also need reform. Month-long winter breaks and three-month summer vacations are outdated customs based on historical agrarian calendars. Calendar-year schedules would benefit students who want to enter the workforce sooner.

Virginia and Ohio are showing leadership with their initiative. Undergraduates can complete bachelor’s degrees in three years if colleges become leaner and more mission-focused. The goal isn’t less education, it’s less waste.

Mr. Marschall is editor in chief of the Leadership Institute’s Campus Reform.