photo by: Pittsburg State University

Pittsburg State University President Dan Shipp is pictured on the school's campus in southeast Kansas.

Imagine, if you will, you are a sophomore, or perhaps a young junior, at Pittsburg State University.

In between rooting for the Gorillas and navigating the Oval — the university’s version of a quad-like courtyard — you get a phone call out of the blue from your academic adviser.

In the history of college careers, this has not always been a positive omen. Some college students might even say it is why caller ID was invented.

But Pittsburg State President Dan Shipp has a piece of advice for those nervous undergrads: Take the call. He’s predicting hundreds of students a year are going to be pleasantly surprised by what their adviser has to say.

“Congratulations, you have earned a degree.”

It also may be followed by another message: “Now, get back to class.” That’s because students are getting the news while still being a couple years away from earning the degree that brought them to Pitt State.

Instead, what they have just earned is an associate degree, the type of two-year degree that students generally receive from a community college.

The Kansas Board of Regents approved a unique program in June that will allow Pitt State to automatically grant a two-year general studies degree to students once they generally complete the first 60 hours of classes for the four-year degree they are pursuing. Typically, a four-year degree requires 120 hours of classes, so students will get the news of their associate degree at about the halfway point of their undergraduate career.

Shipp told Regents there is an important reason Pitt State should take the unusual step of granting the associate degree even though that is not what students came to Pitt State seeking. The reason: Life happens.

Shipp said there are many students who get through two years of college with good intentions to finish their final two years. But then, life has other plans. Those students who quit college after year two currently are leaving the school with no degree to show for their work.

“But often they have several thousand dollars they owe in student debt,” Shipp said. “That can be a tough lift out in the job market without a degree.”

Shipp said he and his leadership team were looking for a “disruptive solution” to the problem, when they realized something about those students. If they had taken those same 60 hours of courses at community college, they would have earned an associate degree for their work. But because they took those classes at a four-year university, they did not.

Shipp said his team found no reason those students shouldn’t get that degree.

“We know there are students on our campus that already are earning that degree and paying for it,” Shipp said. “Now, what we want to do is confer it.”

Students will be automatically enrolled in the program for an associate degree, unless they decide to opt out of the program. Pitt State will not charge any extra fees for the degree. The normal tuition paid for the four-year degree will cover the costs of the associate degree. Students won’t have to take any special classes for the degree. Pitt State structures its four-year degrees so that the first 60 hours of classes will meet the requirements of the associate degree.

In June, the Regents unanimously approved the creation of the program, and it will begin with the next school year. In fact, Regents liked the program so much they also approved a systemwide change that will allow the University of Kansas, Kansas State, Emporia State, Wichita State and Fort Hays State to implement similar programs, if they so choose.

KU hasn’t yet decided whether to implement such a program, but Chancellor Douglas Girod told the Journal-World in a brief interview that he was intrigued by the concept, even though it would be unusual for a major research university.

“I think it is an important concept,” Girod said. “If for whatever reason life gets in the way and they aren’t able to finish a full four, you would sure like them to walk away with something, and something they can easily build upon for the future. I do think we want to take a look at it. I think we probably would be the only AAU institution in the country to do it, but I’m compelled by the idea.”

Shipp is convinced the program will produce meaningful differences for the students who receive the degree. Pitt State cites a national study that found the average annual earnings for someone who has an associate degree were $44,100. That was $4,200 higher than workers who had some college but no degree.

Shipp believes the benefits will go beyond the extra dollars.

“It is a big deal because it also will provide momentum for another degree,” said Shipp, who predicts restarting college will be easier for people who have a degree in hand.

That’s one of the reasons that Shipp sought and received approval to retroactively grant the associate degree to Pitt State students who previously met the 60-hour requirement but did not complete their four-year degree.

It was unclear how far back Pitt State would look through its records to determine degree eligibility. Initially, the university has looked back to the fall of 2019. The university estimates that by going back just that far, there are approximately 600 former Pitt State students who will be awarded the associate degree.

Shipp noted that if all six of the Regents universities created a program and took a similar approach, the number of Kansans suddenly receiving a degree would be “really staggering.”

Regent Blake Benson, who is an economic development professional in Pittsburg, said it also could significantly improve how potential employers look at Kansas. He said companies looking to locate in Kansas often ask for information on college degree holders in the area. Programs like this could provide a big boost in those numbers.

“I’m excited for what this will do for the workforce demographic data for Kansas,” he said.

Thus far, the program hasn’t drawn any public concerns from the state’s community college system, which is in the business of granting two-year associate degrees. Community college leaders did not object to the new program before the Regents. That’s likely because Pitt State has said students won’t be able to enroll at Pitt State with the sole goal of getting the associate degree. In other words, when students at Pitt State declare their major, they have to pick a four-year degree rather than the two-year general studies program.

Regents said they will continue to send the message that people who have the goal of only receiving a two-year degree should choose one of the state’s community colleges. Several Regents said students are likely to follow that advice because tuition and fees at community colleges are significantly less costly than at four-year universities.

Shipp said it will be important to ensure the program isn’t being misused by students who want nothing more than a two-year degree. That doesn’t meet the spirit of why the university is creating the program.

Shipp said the program is about helping students protect their “investment of treasure and time,” and giving them something they can carry with them no matter where life takes them.

“If life does get in the way … maybe you have to move to Indiana, maybe you are in the service, and you have to enter into a new educational journey at another institution, you show up with that associate degree, kind of like a suitcase.”