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Committee backs three-year pilot for 90-credit bachelor's degrees after intense debate over naming and diploma notation
Summary
The BASC voted to forward recommendations and approve policy changes to recognize a three-year pilot for reduced-credit (90-credit) baccalaureate degrees, but members did not reach consensus on how the degrees should be named or whether transcripts and diplomas should indicate the reduced-credit status.
Chair Alicia Johnston called the Board Academic and Student Success Committee (BASC) to consider work-group recommendations for a pilot allowing reduced-credit baccalaureate degrees.
Vice President Bontracki, presenting the RCBD (reduced-credit baccalaureate degree) work-group summary, said the recommendations align with Higher Learning Commission guidance: proposals must meet disciplinary accreditation and federal requirements, include at least 90 total credit hours with a minimum of 34 upper-division credits, allow a three-year provisional approval period, accept full 60 transfer credits in certain system-aligned fields, and require annual reporting on enrollment, retention, completion and employment outcomes. Vice President Bontracki said the bridge agreement and pilot are intended to generate data that will inform whether the policy should be permanent.
The discussion turned to how the degrees would be named and whether the reduced-credit status should appear on transcripts and diplomas. Regent Amar said she did not agree with leaving the transcript and diploma designation solely to institutions and pressed for a requirement that the reduced-credit status be noted. "I think it should say it's a reduced credit bachelor's degree," the regent said, arguing for uniformity and transparency for students and employers.
Multiple provosts and presidents cautioned against creating a "two-class" system by mandating a specific label on diplomas. Provost Arash Mafi of KU said institutions want flexibility to choose naming conventions that fit disciplinary practice and student pathways. Provost Monica Lounsberry (Wichita State) suggested the adjective "applied" could address value concerns while differentiating programs; other campus leaders said naming conventions vary and may overlap with existing degree titles.
Chair Johnston flagged federal financial-aid implications raised during staff checks: once a student receives a reduced-credit baccalaureate, it may be considered a terminal baccalaureate for Title IV purposes and could affect future eligibility for federal student aid if students later seek to "stack" credits to reach a 120-hour degree. She said that possibility heightens the need for transparency.
After debate, Regent Amar moved a friendly amendment to set aside agreement on how RCBDs are designated on transcripts and diplomas; the committee approved the amendment. BASC then voted to approve the work-group recommendations and the draft policy amendments recognizing a three-year pilot for 90-credit baccalaureate programs; the policy motion passed with one abstention.
What happens next: The committee forwarded the recommendations and draft policy for full board consideration (first reading in May, second reading in June). Staff were asked to continue compiling naming examples and to highlight transcript/diploma designation as a point for full-board discussion so that institutions, provosts and regents can further evaluate consistent approaches.
The committee also recorded that institutions will submit annual pilot reports including enrollment and outcome data that BASC will use to evaluate the pilot and any future naming or policy changes.
