BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – More than 100,000 North Dakotans age 25 or older have some college credits but no degree.
The North Dakota University System is looking at ways to get more students over the finish line, forming working groups to examine three areas:
- Creating three-year degrees, perhaps with fewer credit hours
- Accelerated or combined master’s degrees, where a student’s fourth year could earn a graduate degree.
- Examining the group who have some college, no degree
The North Dakotans that have some college credits but no degree represent about 21% of the population, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
That data was cited during a State Board of Higher Education meeting in December during a discussion of accelerated degrees.
“That gives you a good idea of just how many students or individual adults are out there that we could be recruiting,” Lisa Johnson, vice chancellor for academic and student affairs, said in an interview. But the colleges need programs that are flexible and manageable in length, and affordable for working adults.
It is more common for students to earn college credit while in high school, adding to those with some credits but no degree. Colleges are also offering more certificate programs that may or may not lead to a full degree.
The discussion of accelerated programs was started by State Board of Higher Education member John Warford, a Bismarck orthodontist.
Warford put himself on an accelerated track when he was at the University of Minnesota. He got his undergraduate degree in three years and was in the university’s dental program by his fourth year.
Then he was on a task force at the University of Mary in Bismarck that put together an accelerated degree program.
“It takes a special student,” Warford said in an interview. “It takes a huge commitment on the part of the institution to do it.”
He said there has to be buy-in from faculty and from staff and administrators that deal with admissions policies and academic calendars.
The colleges will have to weigh the possibility of lost tuition revenue from condensed programs.
“I think it would be a great tool to be in the tool chest of higher education to look at a three-year degree and to maybe look at accelerated admission into med schools, maybe accelerated in workforce majors. There are critical areas such as teaching, nursing,” Warford said.
A report released in November by Georgetown University found that by 2031, 72% of jobs in the U.S. will require postsecondary education or training and 17% of jobs will require a graduate degree.
In the report, North Dakota was ranked No. 1 for the share of jobs that will require middle skills – associate degrees, postsecondary vocational certificates, test-based licenses, industry certifications, or some college but no degree.
But North Dakota was one of five states with the smallest share of jobs for workers that will need a graduate degree, along with Wyoming, Nevada, Arkansas and Mississippi.
The field with largest anticipated growth in North Dakota is health care, with a 19% growth projection.
Johnson and Warford both cited making more efficient use of summer classes as a way to shorten the timeline to a degree to three years.
Warford admits that there may be pushback from faculty that are reluctant to teach during the summer.
Some colleges have created three-year degrees requiring 90 credit hours instead of the typical 120.
Colleges that have implemented three-year degrees for some programs include University of Minnesota Rochester, University of Montana, and University Wisconsin Oshkosh.
“How do we do a four-year degree in three years through the use of summer terms? Or is it a reduction of credit hours?” Johnson said of the working group’s mission.
She said an accelerated graduate degree would fit some programs, but not all.
“For example, the bachelor’s in accounting and accounting – that fourth year could then be perhaps the MBA; a bachelor’s in information technology, that fourth year might be the master’s in cybersecurity,” she said.
A discussion of the three working groups is on Wednesday’s agenda of the State Board of Higher Education’s Academic and Student Affairs Committee.
The process is just getting underway, and Warford said higher education tends to move at a “glacial pace,” but said he hopes accelerated degrees can be on an accelerated timeline.
“This could be a bright hope for the future of higher ed if we can come up with some innovative answers.”
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