Coming soon to LSU Alexandria – three-year bachelor’s degree programs. This, after the Board of Regents approved the state’s first accelerated bachelor’s degree programs for specialized workforce-focused degrees. Liz Beard, the vice chancellor of academic affairs at LSUA, says these new programs, which will initially be offered in two fields, still combine a comprehensive general education curriculum with a specialized curriculum like most other degree programs.
“Instead of a traditional 120 credit hours, that take four or more years to complete, these are designed to be completable within 90 credit hours, or three years,” Beard explained.
Beard says these accelerated degree programs are in high-demand fields, allowing LSUA to graduate students faster so that they can fill those jobs faster.
“It opens doors to careers in healthcare, the research industry, the bioinformatical industry, pharmaceuticals, biotech,” Beard said.
Beard says one of the first two accelerated bachelor’s degree programs at LSUA are in information technology and in bioinformatics.
“That (bioinformatics) is really the intersection of biology, data science and technology. It’s a rapidly growing, very in-demand, highly specialized field. And this kind of degree, that’s focused and streamlined and intentional, fits very well with that,” Beard said.
The new three-year accelerated degree programs are slated to begin as early as this fall.
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