The Three-Year B.A.: Who Will Choose It? Who Will Benefit?.
ABSTRACT The present study explored the-characteristics of students who take advantage of the option to complete the B.A. degree in 3 years at Goucher College. At Goucher, the optional 3-year degree plan has been selected by students of exceedingly diverse academic potential and background, and different ideas of what for them constitutes a successful educational experience. No evidence was found that the students who chose acceleration were those who might have been, on the basis of academic predictors, selected by the faculty or by admissions personnel to pursue such a program. Students attracted to a 3-year program include, in sizeable numbers, those who are motivated by strong vocational aspirations, often coupled with financial concerns. For other accelerants, however, the desire to graduate early has little relation to either financial considerations or career plans, but-may simply be a way cf escaping the educational scene. Students who prefer to.stay for 4 years may represent 2 groups: those who enjoy the college scene for its social and extracurricular aspects, and those who desire to pursue graduate study but are more concerned with adequate preparation and high grades than with the time element or financial expenditures involved.