Postsecondary Innovation Archives - Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching https://www.carnegiefoundation.org/tag/postsecondary-innovation/ Wed, 18 Mar 2026 23:46:18 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 The Three-Year Option https://www.carnegiefoundation.org/the-three-year-option/ Wed, 18 Mar 2026 18:34:29 +0000 https://www.carnegiefoundation.org/?p=3910 In 2009, Robert Zemsky, a professor of education at the University of Pennsylvania, proposed a radical idea: a three-year college ... Read more

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]]> In 2009, Robert Zemsky, a professor of education at the University of Pennsylvania, proposed a radical idea: a three-year college degree, which, he argued, would serve as a catalyst for fundamental change in higher education. “It’s time to look for something that will really make us rethink everything instead of just rethinking the things along the perimeter,” he told Newsweek. The idea barely registered. Higher education, long accustomed to the comfortable architecture of 120 credits spread across four years, was not ready to question itself. Accrediting agencies were opposed. Zemsky pressed on anyway, arguing that only a genuine “dislodging event” would force the academy to question its assumptions all at once.

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