Page 104 - EW November 2023

International News

lationship” with quality or prestige of universities. But he
believes the recent fee changes has more to do with China’s
economic stagnation.
This policy shift is fundamentally related to growing
concern in government circles over very high levels of un-
employment among educated youth in China’s cities. “It is
actively seeking to deter many young people from pursuing
university education, because it fears the socially and politi-
cally destabilising effects of increasing graduate unemploy-
ment,” says Vickers.
Other scholars are less convinced that China’s higher
education system is heading towards marketisation. “The
vast majority of students will not go to cheaper universities
or not go to university because of tuition increases,” says
Futao Huang, professor of higher education at Hiroshima
University. Brigham Young University-Idaho: 90-96 credits
Still, universities should take care not to overshoot the
mark, warns Chia-Ming Hsueh, vice-dean of the Office of through which the federal government recognises accredit-
International Affairs at Minghsin University of Science and ing agencies such as the Northwest Commission, which in
Technology in Taiwan. “Raising tuition fees also depends on turn give institutions the approvals needed for benefits that
market acceptance. I believe that people are willing to spend include student aid eligibility.
money on education that is expensive but worthwhile…how- But with students confronting fast-rising levels of tu-
ever, if the value provided differs from the increased tuition, ition fees and accumulated debt, US institutions have faced
it could result in enrolment difficulties,” he warns. constant pressure to make the standard college experience
cheaper and faster.
UNITED STATES With the Northwest Commission approving the pilot in
Three-year bachelor’s degree pilot which three-year degree programmes at BYU-Idaho and
Ensign will require only 90 to 96 credits, and with the Biden
THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IS SIGNALLING administration indicating consent, a rush of other accredi-
its willingness to accept degree programmes with tors and institutions is likely to follow them, says Robert
fewer than 120 credits, potentially triggering a rush Kelchen, professor of higher education at the University of
of consolidations that could further weaken struggling cam- Tennessee-Knoxville.
puses. And while any net benefits to students may take time
The idea hit a milestone this summer with one of the six to assess, the nation’s many struggling colleges and uni-
major US accrediting agencies, the Northwest Commission versities — primarily the less-selective public and private
on Colleges and Universities, approving pilot three-year campuses — are likely to suffer even more financially, says
bachelor’s degree programmes at Brigham Young Univer- Prof. Kelchen.
sity-Idaho and Ensign College. “You may get some more students in the door” by reduc-
The US Department of Education, after allowing pro- ing their total time of enrolment, he says. “But enough to
longed uncertainty over the matter, has now made clear offset the loss of credit hours? Probably not.”
that it sees no basis for interfering with the decision. “The The effect on students is less clear. The Northwest Com-
Department of Education does not regulate the length of a mission agreed to try the idea, says its president Sonny
baccalaureate degree programme or set and approve credit Ramaswamy, with the understanding that BYU-Idaho and
hours,” the department told Times Higher Education in re- Ensign will show comparable student outcomes over time.
sponse to a query over its position on the matter. As part of the pilot programme, which begins this coming
“Instead,” the department said, “our regulations rely April, the measures subject to comparison include course
heavily on accrediting agencies and institutions to deter- success rates and post-graduation outcomes such as career
mine that credit hours appropriately represent a student’s accomplishments and entry to graduate schools.
academic work, and expect that accrediting agencies ensure
their standards and evaluation of credit hours are rigorous Naming rights controversy
to allow the department to sufficiently evaluate institutional
practices.” DEOLOGICAL CONFLICT IN US HIGHER education
The norm of four years and 120 credits has a histori- is moving into the realm of naming rights, with activists
cal basis unrelated to academic merit. Those two numbers Ion both the left and the right fighting upstart entrants
have, however, been long-accepted elements of a system on the grounds of protecting students from confusion.

104 EDUCATIONWORLD NOVEMBER 2023