This is Ayres Hall on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville.A change in the way UT in Knoxville charges freshmen for credit hours could graduate students faster and save them $3,600 in tuition. Avoiding a fifth year of housing costs could do wonders for the wallet, too.
But the new plan might require perfection to pay off.
Starting this semester, new Volunteers pay for 15 credit hours instead of 12, an unprecedented move for the University of Tennessee among universities in its peer group.
The new model, which applies to this fall’s 4,300-plus freshmen and 1,400-plus transfer students, was approved by the board of trustees in 2012 in hopes that an increased minimum “full-time” course load would see more students graduate in four years and help retention rates.
It’s called the “Take 15, Graduate in 4” program, or “15-4” for short. The largest incoming class in a decade pays $11,194 for 15 hours, a cheaper average hourly rate than returning upperclassmen, who pay $9,684 for 12 hours. In either case, students can take up to 19 hours for the same tuition.