Here are the proposals for the UNC System’s new three-year degree option
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- UNC System asked schools to submit ideas and will award $20,000 planning grants.
- Most proposals include cutting general education requirements or electives.
- The accreditor requires programs prepare graduates for entry into the workforce.
The UNC System is exploring the possibility of offering bachelor’s degrees that could be completed in just three years. The system asked schools to submit ideas for such an accelerated bachelor’s degree — and now, those proposals are in.
The system will review these pitches over the next few weeks, with $20,000 planning grants awarded to successful ideas. Most proposals include cutting general education requirements or electives. They target transfer students, adult learners, and people with unfinished college degrees or military affiliations.
Any program that uses the new reduced-hour, reduced-credit framework must “prepare graduates for direct entry into the workforce,” the system’s accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, requires.
“This is not a substitute for a four-year degree,” UNC System President Peter Hans told The News & Observer. “This is something different, an alternative route for students who might otherwise be skeptical of higher education. ... The big critique of higher education is it costs too much and delivers too little.
“If an innovation like this enabled us to attract students who might otherwise skip a college degree, that could be very meaningful to them and help them enter a high-demand workforce field, then great,” he said. “We’ve asked the schools for their thoughts, and we’ve asked them to be as creative as possible.”
A few more proposals may trickle in past the deadline, system spokesperson Andy Wallace said, but for now, here’s a look at what schools pitched.
NC State University
NC State pitched six possible three-year degrees, requesting $100,000 total from the system. The six potential degrees are:
- Agricultural Business Management
- Crop Protection
- Natural resources & Conservation Management
- Forest Management & Environmental Technology
- Applied Data & AI Workforce
- Non-clinical Health Informatics Administration
“These programs are not ‘BS-Lite,’” the proposal reads. The proposal says that these degrees could target “rural and underserved” and “adult learners displaced by AI.”
If the system gives NC State the go-ahead, faculty groups will spend the 2026-27 school year conducting market research and curriculum mapping, with detailed plans expected by spring 2027. The school says they don’t necessarily expect all six to advance.
NC State is also offering to “build and employ a shared planning infrastructure [for three-year degrees] — a common design framework, quality assurance playbook, and regulatory roadmap — that the UNC System can replicate across member institutions.”
NC Central University
NC Central proposed two accelerated degrees: one in nursing and another in engineering technology. Both proposals ask for $20,000 to plan the program.
The nursing program eliminates credits from freshman and sophomore year while preserving upperclassman nursing courses. Future nurses in the accelerated program could skip courses on English composition, algebra, chemistry, statistics, fitness, nutrition, and foreign language.
The engineering technology program would be entirely new, not a mini version of an existing program. The proposal focuses on artificial intelligence and robotics to “prepare graduates to work with smart machines — not just operate them.” It differs from an engineering program because of its focus on building, testing, and maintaining systems rather than designing them.
Fayetteville State University
Fayetteville State proposed two accelerated degree programs: one in business management with a focus on artificial intelligence, and another in interdisciplinary studies/applied professional studies.
The business management degree shrinks the requirements of the school’s existing business administration degree to fit into the three-year model. The proposal says graduates of the program would be able to apply AI tools to business data, design AI management and operational strategies, and evaluate ethical and legal implications of AI in business contexts. The school estimates it would save students $15,000 and allow them to enter the workforce one to two years earlier than the full program.
The interdisciplinary studies degree is targeted toward students in the military.
“For military-affiliated students, this integrated model allows completion of up to 75% of the bachelor’s degree through validated Prior Learning Assessment and aligned community college credentials, requiring as little as 25% of the degree in residence at FSU,” the proposal reads.
UNC Greensboro
UNC Greensboro pitched two three-year degrees: Sports Business and Economic Analysis.
The Sports Business degree would require students to come in with at least two years of full-time professional work. It would prepare students to work in the “business, organizational, economic, legal, management and marketing aspects of sports.” UNCG is asking for $8,000 for market research, $2,000 for travel to meet with industry professionals, and $10,000 for faculty support for program planning.
The proposal for Economic Analysis trims elective from the existing 120-credit BA. The university is asking for $20,000 to conduct a study into whether there is meaningful student demand for an accelerated economics program, and whether graduates would be able to find jobs.
UNC Wilmington
UNC Wilmington proposed one accelerated degree: Workplace Writing and Content Creation. The bachelor’s program would be built by combining three certificate programs at UNC: technical writing and design, AI literacy, and either professional content creation or science and medical writing.
Combined with general education requirements, the program fits very tightly into the 90-hour cap. The proposal acknowledges that it would likely work best for students transferring into the university.
UNCW requesting $18,500, which would allow faculty to plan the program over the summer.
UNC Asheville
UNC Asheville wants to introduce a 90-hour degree in Live Entertainment Production, a program that would focus on audio engineering, lighting design, video production, stagecraft, and production management. The curriculum would include internships and apprenticeships with on- and off-campus events and productions. The proposal cites the “growth of live music, festivals, and touring productions across N.C. and the Southeast” and the “expansion of hybrid and live-streamed events, increasing demand for technical specialists” as justifications for the potential program.
UNC Charlotte
UNC Charlotte pitched five accelerated degree programs:
- Hospitality Management. This program would combine coursework with hands-on learning experience that “prepare students for immediate success in the dynamic and service-driven hospitality industry.”
- Technical Production. This degree would focus on “workforce ready skills” in the entertainment and live event industry.
- Drone Technology. This program, within the engineering school, would focus on unmanned aircraft systems, their electrical controls, motors, flight mechanics, sensors, and policies.
- Engineering Technology in Fire and Safety. This abridged program “directly address a documented gap in the higher education market: the absence of a scalable, public, workforce-aligned Fire Safety and Occupational Safety degree completion program in the UNC System,” according to the proposal.
- Learning, Design & Technology. This program, focused on education and media, would be fully online.
UNC Pembroke
UNC Pembroke pitched four accelerated degree programs:
- Interdisciplinary Studies. UNC Pembroke has four tracks in its existing Interdisciplinary Studies program: business, computer science, education, and health. “Institutional data indicate that B.I.S. students frequently enter with prior credit, balance coursework alongside employment and family responsibilities, and face heightened financial sensitivity to excess credit accumulation and extended time‑to‑degree,” the proposal reads.
- Applied Business. The school says this degree is targeted toward adult learners and military-affiliated students, “populations that have recently seen enrollment growth nearly double that of the general student body and highly prevalent at UNCP.”
- Accounting Technology. This program would serve students who don’t plan to pursue the North Carolina Certified Public Accountant exam, but want to go into accounting nonetheless.
- Economic Analysis. This program for adult learners or military-affiliated students would provide a “a rigorous foundation in economic theory, data analytics, and mathematical modeling, preparing students for high-demand roles in an increasingly data-driven economy,” according to the proposal.
East Carolina University
East Carolina University pitched the creation of a planning workgroup to pursue policy, guidelines, and programs that fit the 90-hour model. As an example, the school outlined what it might look like to shrink their accounting major down, but the proposal mentions potential programs in finance, informational technology, industrial technology, recreation therapy, economics and environmental studies. The school would cut general education requirements down from 40 to 30 credits, with cuts to humanities and fine arts, social sciences, natural sciences, and health and wellness. ECU is requesting $11,000 from the System.
Winston-Salem State University
Winston-Salem State pitched a three-way partnership with Forsyth Technical Community College and the Education Design Lab to pursue the creation of accelerated, workforce aligned bachelor’s degrees.
Appalachian State University
Appalachian State University’s proposal requires that accelerated bachelor’s degrees only be available to students transferring from community colleges. The school named many candidate programs, which would primarily be offered asynchronously online: nursing, health sciences, organizational leadership and learning, professional studies, criminal justice, construction management, business administration, child development, elementary education, special education, and middle grades education.
This story was originally published May 9, 2026 at 6:30 AM.
