Rethinking the Bachelor’s Degree: The Case for 90 Credits

Should all bachelor’s degrees require four years and 120 credits?

In this episode of Degrees of Impact, NACU President Seán Creighton speaks with Merrimack College President Chris Hopey and Todd Leach, Executive in Residence at Merrimack and former Chancellor of the University System of New Hampshire, about Merrimack’s innovative three-year, 90-credit bachelor’s degree.

The conversation challenges long-standing assumptions about the traditional four-year degree and explores how a faculty-designed, three-year model can respond to changing student needs. Hopey and Leach discuss the thinking behind the idea, the importance of reimagining rather than simply compressing the undergraduate experience, and the potential to make a college education more accessible to students and families.

As institutions rethink how they deliver higher education, Merrimack’s approach raises an important question: What should a bachelor’s degree look like for today’s students?

Find episodes of Degrees of Impact on Buzzsprout and all major podcast services, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Listen to past episodes here.