Even as American graduate schools debate whether to accept students with three-year degrees from European universities, Britain may shrink its three-year degree to two, The Guardian reports.
The British government has asked the financing council for universities to develop proposals for more flexible, less expensive degrees. Two-year degrees have been piloted at a handful of universities in Britain, and may now be central to the government’s effort to cut costs, according to The Guardian.
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Republican of Tennessee, has proposed a three-year option for American colleges, an idea that Chronicle bloggers have considered here, here, and here.
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2 Responses to British Universities to Develop 2-Year Baccalaureate Degrees
jmerceru3 - December 22, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Scotland has four-year degrees (the model for American ones, in fact).
allens - December 24, 2009 at 12:00 pm
UK university/college education already doesn’t include much of anything beyond someone’s major, from what I’ve heard and read; I would not call such a degree a “liberal arts” degree, which I am proud to have (in biology). This proposal is probably meant to build on that such specialization starts in high school in the UK – something that causes rather a lot of problems for anyone wanting to switch tracks, as not infrequently happens.