NH’s Business: Accelerated college degrees

AGAIN ON FRIDAY. WELCOME TO NEW HAMPSHIRE’S BUSINESS. I’M FRED KOCHER. A COLLEGE DEGREE IN THREE YEARS INSTEAD OF FOUR IS NOW OFFERED IN SOME WAY BY MOST COLLEGES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND NEW ENGLAND. EITHER A STANDARD BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN THREE, SOMETIMES TIED TO A GRADUATE DEGREE, OR AN ACCELERATED PATHWAY OF COURSES. THE QUESTION WHY THREE INSTEAD OF FOUR? WELL, HERE’S WHY. COLLEGES ARE OFFERING THREE YEAR DEGREES. UNIVERSITIES ARE OFFERING DEGREES TO ATTRACT STUDENTS TO HELP ENROLLMENT TO REDUCE THE COST OF HIGHER EDUCATION, AND TO SUPPORT WORKFORCE NEEDS. INITIAL OBJECTIONS BEING OVERCOME. PUSHBACK FROM FACULTY BECAUSE THEY SAY IT’S A WEAKENING OF THE DEGREE RESISTANCE BY ACCREDITING AGENCIES. AND HERE’S A QUOTE FROM MY GUEST. THE APPLIED PROGRAMS ARE NOT A REDUCTION IN QUALITY, BUT RATHER A FOCUSED ALTERNATIVE FOR STUDENTS IN SELECT MAJORS WHO HAVE AN EARLY DEGREE PATHWAY IN MIND AND WANT TO COMPLETE THEIR DEGREES IN LESS TIME. THAT’S FROM SISTER PAULA MARIE BEWLEY, THE PRESIDENT OF RIVIERA UNIVERSITY, BASED IN NASHUA, AND SHE IS IN THE STUDIO. NICE TO HAVE YOU HERE, FRED. GOOD TO BE WITH YOU. YOU STARTED A THREE YEAR DEGREE BACK IN DECEMBER. YES. AND BUT YOU ONLY DID IT IN THREE AREAS. YOU DID IT IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. A CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT. WHY NOT? OTHER CURRICULUMS AS WELL? WHY THOSE THREE? THE THREE AREAS WE CHOSE, FRED, OFFER VERY STRONG PATHWAYS TO THE WORKFORCE. THEY ATTRACT STUDENTS WHO HAVE A SENSE OF WHERE THEIR FIRST CAREER LANDING POINT WILL BE, AND THEY REALLY OFFER VALUE TO BOTH FAMILIES AND STUDENTS. THESE DAYS, STUDENTS ARE EVER EAGER TO JOIN THE WORKFORCE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE, WE KNOW, NEEDS THEM DESPERATELY. AND YOU HAVE STUDENTS SIGNING UP FOR THREE YEARS. YES WE DO. OKAY. FACULTY HAVE REACTED. DO REACT. TRADITIONALLY AT COLLEGES AGAINST WHAT THEY CONSIDER AS WEAKENING DEGREE. WHEN YOU GO TO THREE YEARS INSTEAD OF FOUR. WHAT ABOUT YOUR FACULTY? WELL, OUR FACULTY IS AN ANOMALY BECAUSE THEY REALLY PROVIDED EXCEPTIONAL LEADERSHIP IN LOOKING AT THE CORE CURRICULUM. THE PROFESSIONAL CORE, AND THEN THOSE COURSES THAT MAKE UP A MAJOR IN BUSINESS. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE. SO LET ME JUST GIVE OUT A SHOUT OUT TO RIVIERA FACULTY WHO BELIEVE SO DEEPLY IN OUR STUDENTS AND IN HIGHER EDUCATION THAT THEY WANT TO EXPAND THE OPTIONS FOR STUDENTS TO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY. AS YOU KNOW, THERE’S BEEN A PRESIDENTIAL ACCLAMATION OF. PROCLAMATION BACK IN DECEMBER, SUSPENDING A STUDENT AND EXCHANGE F AND J VISAS FOR NATIONALS FROM 38 COUNTRIES. DO YOU ACCEPT STUDENTS FROM OVERSEAS? IN FACT, HUNDREDS OF THEM. IS THAT SUSPENSION BLOCKING STUDENTS FROM COMING TO RIVIERA? NASHUA IS A VERY WELCOMING COMMUNITY, PARTICULARLY FOR A NUMBER OF STUDENTS FROM INDIA THAT WE’VE RECEIVED, AND THE VISA RESTRICTIONS HAS IMPACTED OUR ENROLLMENT. WE’RE CONTINUING TO GRADUATE OUR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE. BUT THE PIPELINE HAS SLOWED FOR RIVIERA AND FOR INSTITUTIONS AROUND THE COUNTRY. AND THEN THERE’S THE DEMOCRATIC CLIFF DEMOGRAPHIC CLIFF FROM HIGH SCHOOLS WITH FEWER STUDENTS. AND LET’S GO TO THAT TO GRAPHIC US HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. GRADUATES WILL PEAK NEXT YEAR. THAT WAS 2025. AND MOST STATES WILL SEE STEADY DECLINES THROUGH 2041. IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS BACK, 160,323 ENROLLED NOW. BUT 20 YEARS AGO, IT WAS 205,000. IN THE IMPACT OF FEWER HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS APPLYING TO COLLEGE. IS THAT HAPPENING AT RIVIERA? WE’RE QUITE FORTUNATE BECAUSE WHILE THE NUMBER OF HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES HAVE DROPPED, THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS WHO WISH TO HAVE POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION HAS INCREASED. THE SOCIETY, THE TECHNOLOGY, THE ADVANCED LEARNING, THE NETWORKING, I THINK REALLY HAS ALLOWED RIVIERA TO MAINTAIN ITS CURRENT STUDENT ENROLLMENT AND GENERAL QUESTION. SISTER PAULA, HIGHER EDUCATION AIMING MORE AT WORKFORCE, PERHAPS LESS AT THE TRADITIONAL DEGREES IN THE HUMANITIES OR LIBERAL ARTS, AT LEAST A TILT IN THAT DIRECTION. IS THAT CORRECT? THERE IS DEFINITELY A TILT, AS FAMILIES VALUE THIS PATHWAY AND ON RAMP TO THE WORKFORCE. HOWEVER, THE VALUE IS ALWAYS IN THE MIDDLE WAY. THE CLASSICAL HUMANITIES, SOCIAL SCIENCES AND THOSE STRENGTHS IN KNOWING WHO WE ARE AND WHERE WE CAME FROM ALWAYS IMPORTANT. SISTER PAULA MARIE BEWLEY, PRESIDENT OF RIVIERA UNIVERSITY IN NASHUA. THANK YOU. THANK YOU FRED. AND IF YOU MISSED PART OF THIS,