History-making: Ensign College offering 3-year programs for all its bachelor's degrees

SALT LAKE CITY — It's been a couple of years since Ensign College began offering three-year bachelor's degrees for a few select programs.

Now the Salt Lake City-based private school — which is sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — is going "all in" on 90- and 96-credit bachelor's degrees.

Ensign College announced this week that it has redesigned all of its Bachelor of Applied Science degrees, allowing students to graduate with a bachelor's degree in three years rather than the traditional four years.

The school's "Every-Bachelor's-Degree-in-3" option is actually historic. Ensign College is reportedly the first institution in the country to offer the three-year degree format for all bachelor's programs.

The goal of the accelerated options, according to the school, is simple: Help students enter the workforce earlier — and start earning sooner.

Ensign College President Bruce Kusch said the three-year degree programs offer students paths to realizing their potentials at a moment when many are anxious about the cost and time exacted by higher education.

"We think this is a wonderful solution for anyone looking to complete a bachelor's degree and get themselves into the workplace sooner," Kusch told the Deseret News.

"It's a great solution for the new student. It's a great solution for the return missionary. It's a great solution for someone who wants to come back and finish a degree that they started and maybe didn't have the opportunity to finish because life got in the way. And it's a great option for transfer students."

Claiming a bachelor's degree, of course, has typically involved four years of study. And some may ask if an accelerated degree comes at the cost of diminished learning, rigor and training. But Kusch emphasized that the three-year bachelor's degree programs now being offered at Ensign College "are not compromised educational experiences in any way."

"We are very outcome-focused," he said. "The process that we went through was employer-informed. It's fully accredited — and we designed these degrees from the ground up to make sure that the skills that our students are gaining are the skills that will prepare them for the workforce — and skills that employers are looking for."

The college's faculty and industry partners collaborated with curriculum developers to redesign every bachelor's degree. "Instead of squeezing a 120-credit program into three years, they focused on the most important skills and outcomes graduates need for their first job," noted a school release.

What bachelor's degrees can Ensign students earn in 3 years?

Known for its low tuition, Ensign College offers a trio of bachelor's degrees — business management, communication and information technology — across a variety of study areas such as accounting, digital marketing and cybersecurity.

Ensign College began offering accelerated bachelor's degrees in communications and information technology in 2024. That experience proved invaluable for the school as it prepared to offer three-year degree programs across the board. "What we've learned is that the real focus is on skills and outcomes and what students can do," said Kusch.

The president points to research indicating employers are eager to hire college graduates who are well-trained in their respective fields — while also possessing timeless "soft skills" such as problem-solving, workplace etiquette and teamwork.

"All those things," he said "are part of the Ensign College experience."

The school president added that the college has prioritized integrating with industry to best develop the curriculums found in each of the accelerated degree programs. "It's very much employer aligned."

And at a moment when ROI — return on investment — seems included in any higher education debate in the U.S., Kusch said Ensign College checks all the boxes.

"We have a high-quality product for what students pay," he said. "We're the most affordable higher education institution in the state of Utah — but that doesn't mean that just because it costs less our students are getting lower quality.

"Our students are getting really good jobs, and they're well-prepared."

Blazing local trails for accelerated degrees

Ensign College's three-year bachelor's degree programs are fully accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, according to the college. And the school has also been something of a policy trailblazer in Utah.

In recent years, state lawmakers have championed accelerated, sub-120 hours bachelor's degree programs at Utah's public degree-granting institutions.

"I do think there's a way to streamline the process and get a student graduated through the system in three years versus four years; 90 credit hours versus 120 credit hours," Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz told the Deseret News prior to the 2025 Legislative Session.

Last year, a pair of Utah public schools — Weber State University and Utah Valley University — introduced accelerated bachelor's degrees to create faster pathways to careers.

Kusch added that he's gleaned interest in Ensign College's three-year degree programs from educators outside the state.

Ensign College: An elevated mission transcending classrooms and degrees

As an educational institution sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ensign College has a guiding purpose that goes beyond degree curriculums and industry alignments.

"Everything that we do is focused on our mission of developing capable and trusted disciples of Jesus Christ — and that is also integral to the experience of our students," said Kusch. "This is what we live by every single day. We talk about it. It's mentioned in prayers. It's mentioned in devotionals. It's mentioned in everything that we do.

"If we didn't have that mission, there would be no need for Ensign College."

When the school president considers all that's happening at Ensign College — including this week's three-year degree announcement — he remembers a pair of quotes about the school from Latter-day Saint apostles.

From President Henry B. Eyring, now first counselor in the First Presidency, in 2009: "Students who think they have limited potential come to recognize that they have found hope where they thought they could not hope — and can dream dreams they had thought were impossible."

And, in 2017, from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, now acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: "Ensign College is a place where students come and they are professionally prepared and spiritually nourished and well-grounded to go out and earn a livelihood."

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