Committee approves 'bachelor's degree in 3' bill
7:00 AM Thu, Mar 19, 2009 | Permalink
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A proposal to shorten the time it takes to earn a bachelor's degree from four years to three won unanimous approval by a House committee Wednesday, sending it to the full House in the coming weeks for a vote. The bill would allow more high school students to take college courses at the state's three public universities and receive college credit, thereby decreasing the time it takes to earn a four-year's bachelor degree. Such high school-to-college bridge programs already exist, but serve only small numbers of students. The proposal would open the option to more high schoolers and expand financial aid programs. Bill sponsor Joseph M. McNamara (who also chairs the committee that approved the plan), has said that the proposal could allow high school students to graduate with as many as 12 to 15 credits -- a semester's worth -- under their belts. 
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Kids are not getting properly educated in RI public schools as it is right now...with illegals not speaking English and the stupid standardized tests, they are just learning to take tests So why not vandalize their ability to learn in college too?
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All of the programs for gifted and talented children are being cut, so this might give those kids a chance to continue learning once they've completed the courses that the high schools offer. The alternative is probably letting them sit around in study halls.
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How would this work-- Do high school level courses count for college credit, or will HS teachers cram in college level courses during a school day? No doubt, the gifted and talented kids would probably not qualify for the aid program, and most of RI "welfare/special Ed" students can't even handle high school. This is a stupid idea. If HS students want to take college level courses on their own dime and their own time, they have the freedom to do so. We already have enough "feel good" diplomas diluting the meaning of a college degree. Do we satisfy our legislators' need to despense more welfare money by adding yet another pogram the deficit capital of the country can't pay for? Are we looking for another #1 award?
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