FAU offers three-year degrees for students

A college education may feel like a marathon for many students, but Florida Atlantic University hopes to turn it into more of a sprint.

The school is offering an “Expresso degree,” as President John Kelly has nicknamed it, where students would graduate in three years. Currently, a quarter of FAU students finish their bachelor’s degrees in four years, and half finish in six, well below the State University System average of 45 percent finishing in four years and two-thirds within six years.

To speed things up, FAU has expanded its summer offerings to more closely resemble the fall and spring semesters. The courses are not limited to those in the new program.

“We have students on this campus who are ready a lot sooner to finish college,” Kelly said. “If you want to move quickly through the college experience, why are we holding you back?”

The idea of three-year degrees has been growing in popularity in the past decade. Lynn University in Boca Raton started offering them in 2009 and enrollment has spiked from a few dozen students to several hundred a year. Right now, nearly a third of the 1,881 undergraduate students are pursuing threeyear degrees, officials said.

“It saves our students significant amounts of money and gets them going on the next stage of life a year sooner,” said Gregg Cox, vice president for academic affairs.

Florida State University started a three-year degree in 2000. Enrollment of new students has ranged from 37 to 138 in the past decade. About half of them graduated within three years, FSU data shows.

Several universities, including FAU, the University of Florida and Nova Southeastern University, also offer combined bachelor’s and graduate degree programs where students can finish their studies a year early. In addition, many freshmen arrive with college credits earned through Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or dual enrollment classes.

“But even if you start with zero credits, these [three-year] programs are designed to help you graduate quicker,” FAU Assistant Provost James Capp said.

A traditional full-time undergraduate student at FAU would finish in four years by taking 15 credit hours every fall and spring semester. To graduate in three years means taking an extra six to nine credit hours during summer semesters.

The idea of summer school doesn’t bother freshman physical therapy major Danielle Kleinert, 18.

“I just want to get through college as fast as I can so I can get out and onto the job market,” said Kleinert, of Coral Springs.

How much money students can save in the accelerated program is not fully clear. FAU students pay tuition, fees and the cost of books for every class they take, regardless of how long they stay in school. And the savings for housing and food also may be negligible since they will still spend money on those after graduation.

However, many students have to take out student loans and a recent FAU study found they could shave off about $3,000 in such debt by finishing in three years. The accelerated degree could give them their first year’s salary — which

averages $38,700 for FAU graduates — a year earlier, Capp said.

The two factors combined means “we’re helping students add a potential $41,700 to their pockets,” he said.

Capp said the university is looking to start the threeyear program this year with about 100 students in 13 possible majors, including computer science, criminal justice, engineering and psychology. Some degrees are not yet available for the quick degrees, because they haven’t been able to offer all the classes needed in the summer months, he said.

FAU has made a big push to improve its graduation rates in recent years due to changes in the way state universities are funded. Schools now receive extra money if their students do well or improve in a variety of measures, including graduation and retention rates. The state also looks at whether graduates are getting good jobs.

In 2013, FAU was ranked second lowest of 11 state universities, resulting in no extra funds. In 2016, it received a bonus of $25 million after tying for the top spot with the University of Central Florida. It fell to the middle of the pack this year and received $19 million.

To raise its graduation rates, FAU has been taking a number of steps, including raising its admissions standards, hiring more advisers to help students stay on track and hiring more faculty to make sure enough classes are available. As a result, the number of students graduating in four years has increased from 17 percent in 2012 to 25 percent in 2016. During that same period, the number of students finishing in six years has climbed from 40 percent to 49 percent.