Ashley Satcher Mr.

Hackney Rhetoric 101 27 September 2013 Getting a Bachelors in Three Years The cost of college tuition for undergraduate students is increasing every year. If there was a way for students to save money on their education, most likely a lot of students would ta ke the opportunity. Some student might even take on the idea of graduating in three years, eve n if that meant taking on more school during the summer and having less vacation time. In the l ong run, graduating college a year early might even save some students 30,000 dollars or more. While a lot of people might agree on the tree year opportunity, some argue that allowing stude nts to graduate in three years might not be healthy for their learning abilities, and it would allo w students a chance to mature. In the article The Three-Year Solution, Lamar Alexander intro duces Hartwick College idea on a three year degree for well-prepared students. Alexander utiliz es ethos to show how the three year plan can be successful and uses logos to give examples of how it can be unsuccessful. Towards the beginning of the article, Alexander explains how much the three year degre e can save students when it comes to tuition costs. Students that are well-prepare should consi der this offer. He explains, A number of innovative colleges are making the same offer to stude nts anxious about saving time and money (Alexander 26). More colleges are offering the three year degree to students that want to save money or finish college early. Another reason for th e three year degree is so that students wouldnt graduate in as much debt when they graduate,

Meanwhile, tuition has soared, leaving graduating students with unprecedented loan debt. St rong campus presidents to manage these problems are becoming harder to find, and to keep. I n fact, students now stay on campus almost as long as their presidents (Alexander 27). Since, s tudents are in debt, it takes longer for undergraduate students to graduate. In some cases, stu dent even stays in school longer than the college president, The average tenure of a college pr esident at a public research college university is even years (Alexander 27). This means that is takes undergraduate students about seven years to graduate instead of it taking normally 4 yea rs. Alexanders utilization of ethos is displayed by him believing that having the three year und ergraduate opportunity can help students. Alexander continues on ethos by using more information on why the three year degree could be helpful for undergraduate students. Education tuition has rose, From 2000 to 2006, t otal state higher-education funding rose only 17.6% percent while average tuition at public four -year institutions went up 63.4 percent (Alexander 28). By the cost rising it takes l8nger to grad uate. Students that plan on getting a higher degree can also benefit from the three year plan," F or students who don't plan to stop with an undergraduate degree, the three-degree plan may h ave an even greater appeal"(Alexander 28). Students that plan on getting a higher education ca n save money as well. In addition to ethos, Alexander shows examples of logos by experts that have their own opinion about the three year degree situation. Michael Crow, president of Arizona State Univer sity thinks differently about the 3 year plan, "The learning process should be as flexible as possi ble"(Crow 30). Crow believes that what students learn in 4 years would be a little difficult to obt ain in 3, there for he disagrees with the three year plan. Elaine Tuttle Hansen, president of Bate

College, believes that our culture is about doing things the fast way, I think too much in our cul ture is about doing things faster and simpler and easier"(Hansen 31). Hansen describes how stu dents and todays culture takes the easy way out of things. In Alexanders article, he successfully uses ethos argue that the three year plan can ben efit college students and even graduate students that are planning going back to school. Logos i s successful used to prove that people are afraid of change, and the idea of changing the educat ion system is thought of a way to take the easy way out of things other than helping reduce the cost of tuition.

Works Cited Alexander, Lamar. "The Three-Year Solutinon." NewsWeek: n. pag. Print.