Texas may give the governor choices for three-year bachelor's degrees. Greg Abbott asserts

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Gov. On Wednesday, Greg Abbott gave the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board instructions on how to work on pathways for individuals to make bachelor’s degree in three years.

According to state leaders, a system like this could allow college students to complete 90 hours of coursework rather than 120 hours to earn a degree, lowering the cost of higher education, reducing the length of time to complete their degrees, and allowing the position to meet workplace demands more quickly.

Abbott stated in a statement announcing the law that” Texas kids are our potential leaders and the labor of tomorrow.” As a way to lower the overall cost of getting a degree, they deserve the opportunity to get one in a high-demand, high-wage discipline in less time.

A working group must be established by members of the coordinating panel to make recommendations based on needs from students, employers, administrative approval requirements, and other criteria.

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Abbott is pursuing a wider push to tackle Texas’s affordableness of higher education with this statement. Since the 2023-24 school time, he has mandated a fee freeze for public colleges and universities, and he has supported legislation that would require four-year colleges to provide financial savings to undergraduates taking summertime classes.

In a press release, Abbott stated that “each quarter adds tuition, fees, housing, food, transportation, and other living expenses and difficulties students ‘ capability to begin their careers.”

According to state info, less than half of Texas undergraduate students at four-year institutions graduate with degrees in four years, and those from low-income communities are far less likely to receive a degree or certificate.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, the main accreditor for many of the country’s public colleges and universities, approved three-year degree courses in December.

Shorter channels, according to Texas Higher Education Commissioner Wynn Rosser, may enable individuals provide highly sought-after fields a year earlier as well as lower the cost of college.

According to the nonprofit research organization RAND, there are at least one college in 26 U.S. states that offer a three-year bachelor’s degree as of this spring, despite the programs being largely dispersed in a select few states.

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Public college and university administrators, faculty leaders, and other stakeholders will meet and make recommendations to the governor’s office by December 31. Coordinating board officials plan to do so by December 31. Abbott, who is reelection candidate in November, promised to work with lawmakers next year to create the pathways.

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Aug 26, 2026Hill Country Post

Texas may give the governor choices for three-year bachelor’s degrees. Greg Abbott asserts

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