Ohio’s education policymakers are considering whether some bachelor’s degree programs can require fewer than the traditional 120 semester credits while preserving educational quality, workforce value, and student opportunity. The authors examine the feasibility of reduced-credit bachelor’s degree programs in Ohio to identify where reduced-credit pathways appear to be most viable.

Reduced-Credit Bachelor’s Degrees in Ohio

Opportunities, Constraints, and Field-Level Feasibility

Jason C. Lee, Jenna W. Kramer, Peter Nguyen, Jonah Kushner, Sichen Shawn Chao, Min Jung Kim

ResearchPublished Aug 20, 2026

Download PDF
Additional Downloads

Includes Annex I, Opportunities, Constraints, and Field-Level Feasibility; Annex II, Program Inventory; and Annex III, Feasibility Matrix

Policymakers, accreditors, and institutions are reexamining the traditional bachelor’s degree in the United States. For generations, the dominant model of undergraduate education has been a four-year, 120-credit bachelor’s degree. In recent years, there has been growing concern about college affordability, student debt, the amount of time it takes to earn a degree, and the labor market value of postsecondary credentials. This has prompted interest in whether some bachelor’s degrees can require fewer credits without sacrificing quality.

In response to a statutory requirement in the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act, the authors of this report examine the feasibility of reduced-credit bachelor’s degree (RCD) programs in Ohio. The authors draw on a national inventory of RCD programs, a review of institutional and specialized accreditation and Ohio regulatory requirements, interviews with institutional and field-level stakeholders, and a survey of graduate and professional admissions leaders in Ohio. They identify where reduced-credit pathways appear to be most viable under existing conditions, what constraints are likely to shape these programs’ development, and what questions remain unanswered.

Key Takeaways

  • The feasibility of implementing RCDs in Ohio varies by degree field. The national inventory produced in this study identified 119 programs that had been publicly announced as of May 2026, most of which were in applied and workforce-facing fields.
  • The feasibility of postsecondary institutions implementing RCDs in Ohio varies by the degree field. Business, information technology, cybersecurity, and some related applied fields appear to offer the clearest near-term opportunities to implement RCDs, while fields with extensive clinical and licensure requirements or tightly sequenced courses appear to be less adaptable.
  • Institutional accreditors are open to RCDs, but approval and implementation remain demanding, and these programs require clear academic justification.
  • Most of the identified RCD programs preserve core general education requirements and reduce flexibility elsewhere in the curriculum.
  • Reduced-credit pathways might be promising for targeted student populations, including adult learners and re-engaged students who are seeking more-structured and more-efficient routes to a degree.
  • There is continued uncertainty about how RCDs will be treated for credit transfer between schools, graduate and professional programs, licensure, and employers. Clearly communicating these uncertainties to students will therefore be essential.

Topics

Document Details

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Lee, Jason C., Jenna W. Kramer, Peter Nguyen, Jonah Kushner, Sichen Shawn Chao, and Min Jung Kim, Reduced-Credit Bachelor’s Degrees in Ohio: Opportunities, Constraints, and Field-Level Feasibility. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2026. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA4772-1.html.
BibTeX RIS

Research conducted by

This work was sponsored by Arnold Ventures and conducted in the Education and Employment Program of RAND Education, Employment, and Infrastructure.

This publication is part of the RAND research report series. Research reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND research reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.