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Three Colleges with a Very Big Difference
Many people seem to be able to perform at a higher level if they can focus on a single task, project, or responsibility.
In most cases, such people prefer a single task, even if highly difficult, to two or three offering lesser challenges.
For them, a one-course-at-a-time academic structure makes more sense than a traditional semester system. Almost all online colleges offer degree programs in which students take a single course in a reduced time frame rather than taking several courses simultaneously during a traditional sixteen week semester.
It might surprise you to find out that three relatively small liberal arts colleges also employ calendars designed to allow students to pursue a degree one course at a time. Colorado College, one of the three, developed what it calls the Block Plan more than thirty years ago. The plan divides the traditional academic year into eight blocks of three and a half weeks each. Depending on the material to be covered, a student may be enrolled in a single course for one block or more.
Iowa's Cornell College, not to be confused with Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, uses an identical calendar and an identical one-course-at-a-time system.
Tusculum College, in Greeneville, Tennessee calls its system a focused calendar. The Tusculum calendar consists of four blocks per semester, with a four day break between blocks. Three optional blocks are offered during the summer.
The three colleges are very different in terms of selectivity, location, and other factors, but their academic calendars set them apart from every other college and university in the United States. And the web pages of the three highlight the same advantages their academic calendar affords students. The ability to continue a good discussion without the constraints of a 50 minute time limit. The freedom to remain in a laboratory as long as you wish. And, the ability to develop mastery of a subject by focusing on it without other demands.
If you like the idea of taking one course at a time, and if the advantages of a block schedule appeal to you, one or more of these three unique colleges may be good options for you.
In most cases, such people prefer a single task, even if highly difficult, to two or three offering lesser challenges.
For them, a one-course-at-a-time academic structure makes more sense than a traditional semester system. Almost all online colleges offer degree programs in which students take a single course in a reduced time frame rather than taking several courses simultaneously during a traditional sixteen week semester.
It might surprise you to find out that three relatively small liberal arts colleges also employ calendars designed to allow students to pursue a degree one course at a time. Colorado College, one of the three, developed what it calls the Block Plan more than thirty years ago. The plan divides the traditional academic year into eight blocks of three and a half weeks each. Depending on the material to be covered, a student may be enrolled in a single course for one block or more.
Iowa's Cornell College, not to be confused with Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, uses an identical calendar and an identical one-course-at-a-time system.
Tusculum College, in Greeneville, Tennessee calls its system a focused calendar. The Tusculum calendar consists of four blocks per semester, with a four day break between blocks. Three optional blocks are offered during the summer.
The three colleges are very different in terms of selectivity, location, and other factors, but their academic calendars set them apart from every other college and university in the United States. And the web pages of the three highlight the same advantages their academic calendar affords students. The ability to continue a good discussion without the constraints of a 50 minute time limit. The freedom to remain in a laboratory as long as you wish. And, the ability to develop mastery of a subject by focusing on it without other demands.
If you like the idea of taking one course at a time, and if the advantages of a block schedule appeal to you, one or more of these three unique colleges may be good options for you.
About the Author:
Daniel Z. Kane has counseled high school and college students for more than three decades. His websites cover subjects which include online college degrees, financial aid, college admission, and accelerated online degree programs.