Some American colleges are offering students the chance to earn their degrees in three years instead of the traditional four. The offer is sugared with potential time and dollar savings, although many critics consider the one year loss of college experience a detrimental loss of development time for students.

College is a time and place when a student pursues a course of study that will ultimately be the foundation for their careers. From core classes, workshops, and part-time work, university life is more of an extended internship readying a young adult for the real world. Many parents are worried however. A fast-tracked education may save time and tuition, but is it worth the cost of a quality education?

Let it not be overlooked, the savings in three year schooling are substantial. According to CollegeNews, several liberal arts colleges are offering students this option. In one New York school, a student could save over $30,000 by doing a three year degree. Tennessee offers a program that saves students $10,000 in tuition, room and board. This kind of economic flexibility opens the doors of opportunity to many more people, especially those whose main roadblock is finances and not intellect.

Critics claim that putting students in major specific classes is important, but not at the cost of general knowledge. Opponents of three year degrees maintain that many general education courses will have to cut so that a tighter schedule with more focused career courses can be accomplished. In their opinion, this handicaps a student from having an essential understanding of a wide range of topics necessary for adult life. One year of early real world experience may not make up for the training in general education a student will lose.

Critics also contend that a three year program will leave students that are undecided about their majors in a harmful position. Without the time and flexibility to meditate about what field fits a student best, he or she may simply concede to study a major they may really not like. This leaves a student on a fast track to the unknown, giving tuition savings more importance than degree selection. As cliché as it sounds, college is an institution where personal mysteries are solved. Young adults, while within the womb of academia, are able to take the time to consider what path they belong on. To hurry this process may slip a student up, creating a long-term problem born from a short-term solution. In the timeless words of Shakespeare, “Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.”

However, advocates of the three year process contend that this is an option, not an ultimatum. Students who know what majors they want to pursue, or believe they can handle the three year process, should be the ones exercising this option. Furthermore, many of the colleges offering the three year option contend that general courses are available during this shortened program, allowing a student to gain overall knowledge while gaining specialized skills. Finishing school ahead of time was once considered a sign of a bright and accomplished student. Now it seems that completing college a year early is skin to voluntarily accepting a disability.

There is a tug of war being waged between fiscal savings and educational reform. Some advocate for more savings and access to schools while some are pushing for better and more challenging degree programs. This is not a debate that will be solved anytime soon, this is not a gamble that will end with one hand dealt. What is important is that we’re speaking of progress. Can three of a kind beat two pair? What’s your best bet?