PRO: Jon Jaehnig
CON: Samm Stein
ROUND 1 PRO:
It is appropriate for Michigan Tech to call itself a four-year school because it offers four-year degrees. The term “four-year school” refers to schools that offer “four-year programs” — bachelor’s degrees. This term is used to separate schools that offer bachelor’s degrees from “two-year schools” like community colleges that may only offer associate’s degrees. While it is true that many students pursuing a bachelor’s degree from Tech take longer than four years to get their degree, it does not mean that Tech is not a four-year school, or even that Tech has somehow tricked these students by spending extra time on their degrees. This is my fifth (and final) year of a “four-year degree” at Tech, but I picked up a major, changed my degree and missed a semester due to financial aid complications, and all of these changes have potentially added time to my stay here. While most students may not miss time to financial aid complications, many students change degrees, pick up minors or even dual-major. Some people who spend more time than they may have expected at Tech may feel that they have been tricked by the term “four-year school”, but many of us are here for longer than four years because of decisions that we make ourselves to utilize other resources that the university offers. Maybe instead of asking whether Tech should be calling itself a four-year school, we should ask how relevant the term is for any university when most of us feel that we need more than a bare-bones degree to be competitive in the workplace.
ROUND 1 CON:
While four-year programs are used to differentiating from two-year programs and associate degrees, there are more implications that come with the idea. These implications weren’t necessarily constructed, but rather they came to be through unintentional and cultural practices. Things have shifted so that now a four-year program has come to mean “must graduate in four years”. For example, some students feel like they are failures for not being able to finish all their coursework “on time”. School shouldn’t be something that students feel like they need to rush through to meet this idea of four years. We need to take more time to properly learn the concepts and become experts in our fields rather than try to complete some arbitrary timeline. Programs are getting more complex, students are expected to take on co-ops and internships and occasionally people fail classes that set them back. There are so many contributing factors to how long a student will be in school. Adding in the implication that they need to finish in four years with a seemingly harmless label can be damaging. Saying “four-year program” tends to stress everyone out a bit more. Of course, there are people who are unaffected by the implication that they must finish on time. However, most students still fall into the trap of thinking that four-year school means they have to finish in four years.
ROUND 2 PRO:
Beyond the stigma of needing to complete a degree in four years, the idea of how long a degree takes to get is an all-around poor description of the program. Most people rarely even say, “I’m getting a degree from a four-year program” or “I’m getting a degree in a two-year program.” We often hear “I’m getting a bachelor’s degree” or “I’m getting an associate’s degree.” No one really says “four-year” or “two-year” anymore. The terms are becoming more and more outdated. It’s easier to just eliminate the phrases entirely. This would not only match what the colloquial terms are, but also reduce the stigma about how long it should take to graduate. Rather than using four-year programs as an advertising method, it would be just as easy to say that Michigan Tech offers bachelor’s degrees. There are also better things to highlight when you talk about what programs the school has to offer. For example, it would be better to advertise ourselves as a public university that offers well-ranked bachelor’s and master’s programs in programs such as mechanical engineering. This whole idea of a four-year program is really arbitrary in the grand scheme of things. It’s not nearly as important as people think it is. It creates unnecessary stress to finish a program “on time” and more than ever, it’s an extinct idea.
ROUND 2 CON:
It is worth asking whether people’s understanding — or lack of understanding — of a term should mean that the term needs to be changed or eliminated. It might be easier for the university to stop using arguably antiquated terms, but it would be more valuable for the university to put more resources into communicating to parents and prospective students that these terms should not be used to judge how long it takes them to complete their degree, especially if they are earning other certifications and gaining other experiences along the way. It is not particularly hard to understand that if one engages in additional courses that make their degree more valuable, or pursue multiple degrees, they will take more time to get that degree. Some people still value the term “ college” and would benefit more from an explanation of additional options and possible contingencies than they would benefit from the changing or eliminating of a term that has been in common use for quite a long time. This would also be a good way for the university to get the credit that it deserves for the courses that it offers instead of being begrudged by people that don’t understand what they’re signing up for.
