{"id":422571,"date":"2026-09-01T06:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T06:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/422571\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T06:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T06:06:08","slug":"gov-abbott-calls-for-3-year-bachelors-degree-plans-from-state-coordinating-board-the-daily-texan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/422571\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Abbott calls for 3-year Bachelor\u2019s degree plans from state coordinating board \u2013 The Daily Texan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov. Greg Abbott urged the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to create a framework for three-year Bachelor\u2019s degrees by Dec. 31 in a Wednesday letter<\/a>. The shorter degree plan framework would increase workforce readiness and affordability for students, Abbott wrote.<\/p>\n

The THECB is not bound to comply with the directive, but the governor appoints the Board\u2019s members who will likely follow his request, said Randy Erben, adjunct professor in the School of Law.<\/p>\n

The letter is part of a broader effort to make higher education more affordable, Abbott wrote. The governor has focused on affordability in higher education, allocating funds for financial aid programs, and freezing tuition and fees<\/a>. In March, a separate board that accredits UT approved certain degree requirements to be decreased from the standard 120 credit hours down to 90.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery semester adds to tuition, fees, housing, food, transportation and other living expenses, and delays students\u2019 ability to begin their careers,\u201d Abbott wrote.<\/p>\n

To decrease the amount of time required to complete a degree, core requirements not directly related to students\u2019 majors could be reduced, said Rachel White, an associate professor of educational leadership and policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

UT\u2019s core curriculum is already facing a possible reduction after a report<\/a> from UT President Jim Davis\u2019s Core Curriculum Task Force proposed to lower the number of course hours in the core from 42 to 36 hours. The changes would reduce the number of hours required outside a student\u2019s selected area of study.<\/p>\n

Abbott did not specify which majors would have three-year curricula before others, but mentioned \u201chigh demand, high wage field(s)\u201d in his letter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Erben said the career and technical subjects are more likely to have three-year curricula than majors such as engineering or business. The Texas legislature has tripled funding in the last year in high school technology pathways and career and technical education<\/a> classes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTexas has long been a national leader in higher education innovation and workforce development,\u201d Abbott wrote. \u201cI look forward to working with the Legislature to codify an accelerated three-year bachelor\u2019s degree pathway.\u201d<\/p>\n

UT already offers shortened degree options like five-year master\u2019s programs, which allow students to take graduate classes while completing their undergraduate degrees to obtain both degrees in less time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

White said a three-year Bachelor\u2019s could be similar, where students could be expected to complete certain requirements while finishing high school through programs like AP and dual-credit. White also said access to three-year degree programs could depend on a student\u2019s high school resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cUnequal access to those courses across the state could become a gatekeeper,\u201d said White, an expert in K-12 education policy. \u201cIt could even become a bigger issue, and that could widen opportunity gaps between those coming from the more rural or high-poverty districts in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Greg Abbott urged the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to create a framework for three-year Bachelor\u2019s degrees…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422572,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-422571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}