Cleveland, TN–In a move that was “painstakingly developed” by a task force of faculty and administrators, Lee University has reduced its required number of academic hours to graduate from 130 to 120, or approximately 8 percent. The action was taken to follow a national trend of colleges and universities trying to assist students to graduate in four years or less.
The announcement was met with applause from those who seek to make bachelor’s degrees more accessible, which is not only a boon for the students who will have a quicker shot at taking their education and training to the next level but also for the parents laying out tens of thousands of dollars in tuition.
It also ties in well with Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam’s Drive to 55 initiative, which seeks to increase the percentage of Tennesseans holding at least an associate degree by 2025.
Dr. Debbie Murray, Lee’s vice president for academic affairs, said the 120-hours requirement is standard for many schools, including nearby University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Recently, Emory University in Atlanta reduced its requirements from 128 to 124, and Loyola University dropped its requirements from 128 to 120.
“It’s the whole climate,” Murray said. “It’s a national and state trend to not only give students access but to make sure they finish.”
[1]Lee found ways to make the cut without sacrificing distinctive courses related to its mission as a Christ-centered university, its service learning component and its global perspectives component.
In the end, according to Murray, it made “tiny little shaves” by eliminating computer skills and physical education requirements and reducing its freshman orientation course. Six hours overall came out of the general education core and four in various ways from individual degree programs.
The task force, she said, examined requirements at similar schools and made sure Lee is still in compliance with requirements of its regional accrediting agency.
“The value of this process,” Murray said, “is it helped us look at those components in our curriculum, to affirm areas we wanted to maintain. It was a good process.”