Topeka ? The Kansas Board of Regents this month will consider decreasing the minimum number of semester credit hours for a bachelor’s degree.

The current minimum requirement for a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts, sciences, or professional fields is 124 hours. The recommendation is to decrease that to 120 hours.

The Academic Affairs Committee of the regents voted unanimously to put the proposal before the full regents at its Oct. 20-21 meeting.

Thirty-nine states and all of Kansas’ bordering states have a 120-hour minimum.

The regents staff wants the change.

“Given the high degree of student mobility today and the fact that many receive bachelor’s degrees from an institution other than the one at which they began study, establishing consistency with regard to minimum baccalaureate degree requirements should benefit students by creating improved efficiency and transferability of credit,” a staff memo said.