Tracy Stotts remembers spending her college career making sure she didn’t waste a minute of it.

That’s because she fast-tracked her education at Hendrix College, a private—and pricey—college in Conway, Ark., with a plan to graduate in three years. Her motivation? Saving money. “I was super-focused and also worked two part-time jobs,” Stotts says. “Every minute was dedicated, and I had to be very careful not to waste even one credit.”

Because they don’t want to spend an extra year accumulating more student loan debt, more students are cramming four years of education into three. In turn, many universities, especially private ones where yearly tuition is $50,000 plus, are embracing the idea of getting students in and out more quickly.

Wesleyan University, a liberal arts college in Middletown, Conn., where tuition and fees are about $47,000 a year, has become the first elite school to become part of the growing national trend. Programs like the one at Wesleyan, however, aren’t for the faint of heart. The college cautions on its website, “The option is not right for everyone, and requires students to take on heavy workloads, and perhaps give up certain opportunities like study abroad.”

Don E. St. Clair, vice president of enrollment management and university marketing at Woodbury University in Burbank, Calif., has studied the trend and says it has benefits for the right kind of student.

“The three-year bachelor's degree is a very attractive option for students who have a clearly defined career aspiration and are unlikely to deviate from it,” St. Clair says. “Accelerated completion of a bachelor's degree can save educational expenses and allows the student to enter their chosen field more quickly.”

The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities lists 19 private universities that have begun to offer three-year programs. According to the association, and depending on the university, a student can save thousands of dollars in education costs. At Wesleyan, for example, students could save as much as 20 percent, the college’s president, Michael S. Roth, told The Boston Globe.

Some public institutions, such as Mississippi State University, have also joined the accelerated three-year track. Last fall MSU began “special programs which allow highly motivated and hard-working students the opportunity to complete a degree in three years rather than the traditional four years,” according to its website.

The four-year college education tradition in the U.S. began before the Revolutionary War, when only the country’s wealthiest families could afford to send their children to school. The university system was based on that of England, where it was believed that four years allowed for a broad education covering many subjects. As time passed, the courses and degrees were redeveloped and tweaked, but the four-year length remained.

Just like their peers who graduate in four years, students in three-year degree programs still have to accumulate hundreds of credit hours. Some programs require students to take on intense summer terms or online classes during winter breaks. Other programs, such as Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio, have a long list of prerequisites students must meet to enroll in a three-year degree program, including proving themselves academically ready by acquiring college credits in high school.

Intensified workloads aren't the only challenge with the three-year plan. Many students attend college on a part-time basis because they have to attend to family responsibilities or keep a job for supplementary income. Also, depending on the course of study, the necessary classes to complete certain degrees may not all fit into a jam-packed schedule because of class time and availability.

Stotts says that her college years were filled with stress—mostly self-inflicted. She took a course on Chaucer at a nearby public university during the summer to earn credits. Studying, she says, was her life.

That worries some, such as St. Clair, who says that the college experience shouldn’t just be about earning a degree but also about the journey of self-discovery.

“For many students, the bachelor's degree journey is one of exploration, seeking the passion that will carry them into a meaningful career and responsible citizenship,” St. Clair says. “For them, the traditional four-year journey, complete with internships, community engagement, extracurricular activities, and study-abroad opportunities, is extraordinarily valuable."

Education, after all, isn’t just about landing a job. It’s also about developing interests, passions, and life skills.

Stotts says she wouldn’t change a thing about her fast-paced college education. Her sister also graduated in three years, and her niece recently did too. Stotts, who is the director of marketing at a Fortune 500 company, says graduating early gave her a leg up in the job market.

“Finishing in December gave me a head start on the job hunt and seemed to impress potential employers,” she says.

This article was created as part of the social action campaign for the documentary TEACH, produced by TakePart's parent company, Participant Media, in partnership with Bill and Melinda Gates.