A bachelor’s degree is traditionally designed to take four years. But there are options for shorter completion, such as by earning college credit in high school or taking summer or heavier course loads throughout undergrad.
However, doing so can involve making other sacrifices. Here are factors to consider when deciding if an accelerated path is right for you.
Ways to Earn Your Degree Faster
Experts say students looking to graduate early should take advantage of opportunities to earn college credits in high school through Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses, dual enrollment or community college coursework.
“Often they’re low cost or no cost to high school students because of state programs,” says Rebecca Hoey, provost and senior vice president for academic and student affairs at Dakota State University in South Dakota. “That 100% decreases the cost of education. And it accelerates your program because you may go to college as a first-time, full-time freshman with 30 credits already done.”
[READ: Early College Programs: What to Know]
When looking to use AP or IB credits, students should check how each institution applies those credits ahead of time.
The credit will “count in a lot of cases, but it doesn’t mean that it counts toward the major,” says Pamela Cheek, associate provost of student success and professor of French at the University of New Mexico. “So it’ll get integrated as college credit, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to give you a head start on the major.”
Benefits of Accelerating Your Degree
Cost Savings
With rising college costs
, saving money is a common reason students choose to accelerate their degrees.
“One less year of tuition, housing and meal plans adds up fast, and that’s before you factor in a full extra year of salary from starting your career early instead of staying in school,” Christian Sonnenberg, associate dean of academics and associate professor at Florida Institute of Technology’s Nathan M. Bisk College of Business, wrote in an email.
However, graduating early doesn’t automatically mean overall savings.
While earning a degree in three years often reduces tuition and living expenses, the actual savings depends on other factors like scholarship eligibility, financial aid policies and the cost of summer courses needed to graduate early.
Career Jumpstart
An accelerated degree allows students to enter the workforce or attend graduate school early.
“There are many programs right now where a student can do a three-year college degree that includes getting a start on a professional master’s in that fourth year of college,” Cheek says.
There are long-term benefits to starting the next stage of your education or career early.
“Career-wise, entering the workforce a year ahead means a year’s head start on building experience, earning promotions, or applying to graduate and professional programs, which can compound into a real long-term advantage,” Sonnenberg says.
[Read: What to Do if Your School Doesn’t Offer AP Courses]
Disadvantages of Accelerating Your Degree
Risk of Burnout
Students who don’t enter with existing credits may need to take heavier course loads during the fall and spring semesters or enroll in summer courses.
“Cramming a full course load, or more, into every semester including summers leaves little breathing room, and students often underestimate how draining that pace becomes by year two or three,” Sonnenberg says.
Experts recommend discussing an accelerated timeline with an academic adviser to determine the best way to manage a heavier schedule and ensure that the decision aligns best with their major and career goals.
“Some students rush through prerequisite-heavy sequences and end up with weaker foundational knowledge in areas they’ll need later, whether that’s for grad school entrance exams or job skills,” Sonnenberg says. “And because accelerated tracks often require locking in a major early, students who accelerate and then decide to switch fields can lose more time than they saved.”
At schools that offer additional terms in the winter or summer, students may be able to spread those credits out rather than adding more credits to a traditional term. Between fall and spring semesters in January, for example, schools may offer a shortened academic period called J-term.
“Most students do J-term, and it’s an immersive time,” says Laurel Bongiorno, president of Hartwick College in New York. “They usually take one class. However, some of these three-year students will take two classes during that time.”
Limited Campus Experiences
Planning an accelerated schedule means there may be less time for campus experiences like research opportunities, study abroad programs and extracurricular activities, experts say.
These campus experiences can have lasting benefits that go beyond the classroom, experts say.
“All of those opportunities actually can make you a better job candidate and they certainly enrich your skill set, and your vision of what your future life can be,” Cheek says.
Internships can be one of the biggest challenges for students on an accelerated path, Hoey says.
“You’re probably going to have fewer opportunities for internships because you’re going to be taking a lot of courses,” says Hoey, adding that taking some online courses can increase flexibility.
[Read: What to Do for College During Each Summer of High School]
Sonnenberg advises students to “treat internships as nonnegotiable in that plan from day one, rather than something to fit in later once the coursework settles down.”
Students who are still exploring majors, balancing outside commitments like work or childcare, or looking to build workforce or leadership experience may prefer the traditional four-year path, he says.
Is Graduating Early Right for You?
Before making plans to graduate early, students should reflect on their career goals and consider what type of college experience they want to have. But they don’t need to make these decisions alone, experts say.
“I think those are important things to talk with an adviser about,” Hoey says. “Somebody who really understands the profession that the student is interested in or the kinds of graduate programs that the student is interested in.”
The key to successfully accelerating your degree, is “planning early and being deliberate about it rather than just piling on credits and hoping for the best,” Sonnenberg says. “Some students also choose to accelerate steadily but not aggressively, taking slightly heavier loads across several semesters rather than trying to compress everything into a brutal final stretch.”
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Should You Accelerate Your College Degree Program? originally appeared on usnews.com
