YU is More Than a Pathways Program

About a week before the start of this semester, YU deans sent an email to the student body informing us that it will now be possible to graduate in less than three years. They wrote that, “In response to input from students and parents, the new requirements will allow students to graduate in fewer than six semesters if they have completed all other requirements.” 

What struck me is that the policy change seems to be a reluctant response to shifting interest — either real or perceived — within the student body. The administration made sure to include that this policy will affect only a small number of students with sufficient AP credits and summer classes, while emphasizing that “in most other cases, students will still need six semesters on the New York campus.” They insisted that the change “allows students greater flexibility while ensuring the same rigorous academic standards and commitment to a predominantly in-person experience that have always been the hallmarks of a YU education.”

The emphasis on the limited scope of the policy change indicates to me a reluctance on the part of the administration to implement it. And that reluctance makes sense. The idea that we can allow “greater flexibility” while still ensuring “the same rigorous academic standards” — that we can have it all, yet do it in less time — is unrealistic. By cramming the requirements of a full college degree into five semesters, we sacrifice quality.

Many of my friends in YU are overextended, point blank. Balancing a dual curriculum with the expectation of graduating in three years (for students who spend a year in seminary or yeshiva) while also pursuing all the other opportunities that become available for an undergraduate student can create a very demanding schedule. A given student may be registered for the maximum number of credits, president of a student organization, a player on an athletic team, working part-time and studying for the MCAT (or some variation of this) all at the same time. 

I actually think that one of the best features of YU is the awareness that students are involved in many activities outside of their classes, a sensitivity which generally allows students to develop themselves in a more balanced and holistic way than may be possible in universities where the required coursework is simply too demanding. But trying to do everything can lead to the feeling that one has become the jack of all trades and master of none. And trying to fit all of those pursuits into one fewer semester will make that balance even more difficult to strike.

I fear that, given the opportunity to graduate a semester early, many students will push themselves to achieve this without giving sufficient thought to the loss. College can be a time to sit down with texts, to push oneself academically, to entertain whims and interests which would otherwise be neglected and then forgotten. But these goals require the menuchat hanefesh (tranquility) that is only possible with sufficient time.

An individual student may be willing to sacrifice on the fullness of their own college experience in order to graduate early. But I am not concerned only for the success of the individual; a reality in which a shorter college experience is the new normal also threatens the community’s continuity. Any community relies upon enduring members to become increasingly familiar with the institution and eventually take on leadership positions. In a community where members are in and out so quickly, that kind of communal awareness is challenged. Upperclassmen who have built a foundation set the tone for an institution, and their absence would be palpable.

I believe that the student body is sometimes at fault for treating YU as a transitional place, somewhere to go from Monday to Thursday and exit with a bachelor’s degree. But when YU creates policies like this one, they only reinforce that culture of impermanence. Policies like these signal that, rather than standing for academic excellence, YU will shape itself to be the best-fit program for each student.

One of the inevitabilities of visiting the campuses of other universities is that I compare my college experience with those of other students. When I respond to the question, “Are you happy at Stern?” in the affirmative, I often find the reaction to be one of surprise — an unfortunate indicator of generalizations which I believe to be largely misrepresentative of YU. While no institution is the best fit for all of its members, most YU students I know are happy with their college experience; they are present in YU’s batei midrash, involved in campus initiatives, pursuing interesting classes and taking advantage of various other jobs and opportunities in the city.

Yet despite my positive feelings toward my experience at YU, I nonetheless feel twinges of envy every time I visit another college campus. Part of this is due purely to the aesthetic of a grassy campus and collegiate buildings that is missing from Midtown Manhattan. But I also feel a lingering sense that students in other universities are developing themselves academically more than I am.

I would not trade the Judaic classes that I have for any other experience. But balancing a dual curriculum in three years comes with a cost. Overall, my friends in other colleges take fewer classes than I do. They spend many more hours outside of class investing in readings and assignments. On the whole, they will spend four years — rather than three — as undergraduate students. And all of these factors add up to much more deliberate time investing in a discipline and becoming a master of a subject.

Why do I bother comparing YU to other four-year universities? The truth is that certain branding choices place YU in comparison with career-oriented institutions like Touro University and Sara Schenirer Institute — colleges which offer some degrees in as few as three semesters. 

While there are obvious financial benefits to choosing this kind of institution, YU offers a lot more. By making a five-semester graduation a reality for students, YU is putting itself in competition with these institutions. But it should be looking instead in the other direction, at highly academic four-year schools. There is no reason for YU to sell itself short.

I write this piece because I see that this new policy is compelling to many students. A lot of the chatter from the first few days on campus involved students considering whether or not they should rework their schedules, compact their courseload just a bit more, drop the minor that they weren’t so sure about anyway, so that they can graduate a semester early. 

When presented with the opportunity to finish something more quickly, awarded with the same degree, it can be very difficult to opt for the longer path. Students may feel responsible to make fewer semesters work now that it is an option.

To YU, I think it is important to consider what kind of institution we are aiming to be. Based on other programming initiatives that I have seen throughout my four semesters on campus, I actually see the administration prioritizing in-person events and community building. This particular policy change seems to me to be an outlier, and I believe it is a mistake.

To students thinking about graduating early, remember that your undergraduate years have the potential to be some of the most precious of your life. And trying to do it all in less time will not only challenge the quantity of what you can achieve, but the quality as well. 

If you are considering graduating early, at least consider the cost.