Gov. Abbott pushes Texas colleges to offer three-year bachelor’s degrees

Texas could soon offer students a faster path to a bachelor’s degree if Gov. Greg Abbott’s latest higher education proposal moves forward.

Abbott, a Republican seeking an unprecedented fourth term, ordered the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Wednesday to develop recommendations for how schools can grant bachelor’s degrees in three years.

“Texas students are our future leaders and the workforce of tomorrow. They deserve the option to receive a degree in a high-demand, high-wage field in less time as a means to reduce the overall cost of securing a degree,” Abbott said in a letter to the board. “Texas must identify innovative ways to reduce the cost and time required to earn a bachelor’s degree. Recent changes to accreditation standards have created a new opportunity to develop three-year bachelor’s degree pathways in high-demand, high-wage fields.”

The move could save students as much as $35,000 in tuition and living expenses and allow them to enter the workforce sooner, Abbott said, KVIA reported.

The governor said he also looked forward “to working with the Legislature to codify an accelerated three-year bachelor’s degree pathway.”

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, the accreditor for many of the state’s schools, approved its first reduced-hour bachelor’s degrees in December, The Texas Tribune reported, at the University of Lynchburg in Virginia.

Abbott, who is locked in an unexpectedly tight race with Democrat Gina Hinojosa, also announced this week a proposal for discounted summer classes to reduce college costs and speed up graduations.

His letter directs the board to convene a working group representing public colleges and universities, employers, accreditation agencies and other stakeholders to develop the recommendations, which are due back to him by the end of this year.

Abbott has spearheaded other education reforms, including a tuition freeze at public colleges and universities since 2023 and the $1 billion Texas Education Freedom Accounts, which launched this year. The school choice initiative granted scholarships of $10,000 or more to more than 90,000 students. Abbott championed the legislation, campaigning in primaries against Republicans who had opposed it in previous years.