As Oklahoma leaders work to introduce three-year bachelor’s degree, concerns remain

Several initiatives underway in Oklahoma may soon make three-year bachelor’s degree programs a reality for Sooner State college students, but some observers argue that would diminish students’ learning experiences and produce graduates with a more narrow, vocational focus rather than a comprehensive education.

As part of an overall higher education reform effort, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Feb. 5 signed two executive orders, including one that ends tenure at most of the state’s universities.

The other calls on the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education to initiate “a 90-day feasibility study on 90-credit-hour ‘accelerated’ bachelor’s degrees to slash time and costs while maintaining quality, accreditation, and job relevance.”

“Here in Oklahoma, we want to deliver higher education that meets workforce needs and keeps our talent at home,” Stitt stated in a news release. 

“I’m pushing for a 90-hour bachelor’s degree pathway to cut costs and get students into good jobs.” 

The study is expected to identify which academic fields and institutions could effectively offer an accelerated degree, an evaluation of the cost savings to students and taxpayers, and recommendations on how to roll out the three-year degree programs, according to the order.

As part of the executive order, regents must also begin the collection of postgraduate employment data, including job type, wages, and hours worked, to improve return-on-investment analysis. 

This performance data must be considered “when approving new academic programs, reviewing existing programs, or evaluating whether to continue, modify, or sunset academic programs at public institutions of higher education,” according to the order. 

The order comes as a bill is winding its way through the Oklahoma legislature, mirroring Stitt’s calls for a 90-credit-hour feasibility study. The House Postsecondary Education Committee moved the proposal forward with a unanimous vote on Feb. 10.

In recent comments to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, Stitt said the quicker pathway to a degree “speeds up workforce entry. It makes so much sense.”

According to the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, states including Indiana, Utah, Maine, and Massachusetts already offer 90-hour bachelor’s programs.

Critics of the 90-credit-hour degree, often university faculty, are concerned about reduced academic breadth and limitations on research. 

During a recent Massachusetts Board of Higher Education meeting, Fitchburg State University Professor Aruna Krishnamurthy said, “We may think that we have reduced their financial burden by taking out 30 credits, but in reality, we will have diminished their learning experience and narrowed their path to success overall.” 

Jennifer Frey, a professor of philosophy at the University of Tulsa, told The College Fix that the shorter pathway appears to be “an attempt to remove general education requirements.” 

She went on to say via email: “I believe that we should fix general education rather than give up on it altogether.”

“Instead of offering students a set of cafeteria-style requirements they need to fulfill however they can, we should offer them a set of courses that can help them form a vision of what is true, good, and beautiful,” she said. “Without such a vision, university graduates in Oklahoma will not be ready to lead in an era where good judgment about the proper use of technology and resources is more necessary than ever before.”     

In addition, Forbes reported, “some fear the option could eventually erode the number of faculty jobs available, and others contend that abbreviated degrees could create a two-tier system, structured by financial wherewithal.”

However, three-year degrees are becoming increasingly accepted and gaining political support across party lines. 

Nick Down, associate director of external affairs for the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, told The College Fix the group supports the shorter degree program and that Stitt’s ordered feasibility study is “long overdue.” 

Foundational core courses “can be completed in just 27 credit hours, clearing the way for colleges to scale back sprawling distribution requirements and excess electives,” Down said via email.

More generally on the executive orders, Down said: “The public has long had concerns about the skyrocketing cost of higher education, and the overall trust in higher education is at a low point.”

“ACTA is encouraged to see policymakers at all levels and members of governing boards get more involved in reforming higher education.”

As state leaders work toward the three-year degree, the University of Oklahoma already “received approval to reduce the number of credit hours required from 120 to 90 for eight select high-demand degrees.”

“These degrees will be available in social work, applied artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, digital manufacturing, healthcare information systems, software development and integration, integrative studies, and interdisciplinary studies,” the university reported Jan. 30.

“They will maintain full academic rigor while reducing a student’s time to graduation, their educational costs, and expediting their entry into the workforce.”

But Frey said that’s not necessarily the primary goal of the state’s universities.

“Stitt ignores that the university is the one institution dedicated to ‘higher’ learning, where students can ask and find answers to the enduring questions of our shared humanity, such as, the nature of justice, liberty, wisdom, and virtue,” she told The Fix.

This piece was originally published by The College Fix on February 26, 2026.