Times could be changing and students across the state may embrace this change.

The Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) and the University of Tennessee (UT) are proposing to Tennessee public colleges through the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) a change in the number of credit hours by fall 2005.

This change was proposed to help students out with course requirements and graduate sooner. The TBR is proposing that course requirements, many of which stand are at 140 hours or more. They are suggesting that it be 120 hours for bachelor’s degrees and 60 for associate degrees.

The reasoning behind the move is simple. If a student takes the average 15 hours per semester for eight semesters, or four years, the total would be 120 hours. Many students have to spend extra semesters in college in order to fulfill the requirements.

Some majors, such as pre-medical, pre-law, engineering, business, education and some sciences may not feel the affect of lessening the requirements needed to graduate.

This solution would taken the burden off many college students who are having to take out loans and work additional jobs to pay for school. It is estimated that at least 60 percent of UTM students work at least one job and attend classes, according to the Office of Student Life.

Because of the much talked about budget cuts, UTM and other public universities across the state have been asked to cut out up to $100 million from their 2003-04 budgets. Tuition has increased by at least 50 percent since 1997 and the tuition will continue to rise, so start saving by any means necessary.

“The College of Business has already moved to 120 hours. I think it’s a good thing but for some degrees such as nursing and engineering, it would benefit them more to take the additional classes to give them the edge they need out in the world,” said UTM chancellor Nick Dunagan.

The main concern of UT and the TBR is that the students get out of school as soon as possible so they can get out in the world and begin working to pay off student loans. Some are arguing that this plan could diminish a student’s education by not requiring certain courses that would give a more rounded education.

The cutting down on requirements is not the ends to a mean. If a student wants to pursue more courses to become more knowledgeable in a specific area of study, the TBR encourages that option.

“From this point of view, of the student, having to take four-and-a-half years is unduly burdensome and unnecessary. There’s no reason why we should not be able to get 120 hours in the fall of this year,” said Bill Ford, a finance professor at MTSU in an interview with The Tennessean on Monday.

With this break from the TBR and UT, students are anxiously awaiting from their department of news on the cuts in course requirement hours.

“It’s a double edged sword. It allows the student to decide if the goal is to graduate as soon as possible or to take additional some courses to be prepared later on.

“If we go to 120 hours, the liberal arts background some of the Humanities courses may be cut. Those may be the courses that give the student a broader background. Overall the concept will be beneficial to students to allow them to make the decision,” said Dunagan.

It is estimated that nearly 50 percent of programs will see a reduction by 2005, with some seeing instant effects as soon as this fall.