Barbara Rupp, admissions director at the University of Missouri, added, “in some disciplines it would not be possible” to finish in three years. “Engineering, for example -- it is tough to graduate in four years much less three years.”

Another student at a four-year college who figured out how to finish in three years was Charles Jacobson, 20, who graduated this year in business at Skidmore College. He credits good planning and not AP courses.

“Halfway through my freshman year, I had all my courses planned out,” Jacobson said.

He was motivated to get a business degree after a summer job with a pet store in high school. He recalls going to the Skidmore registrar's office and posing the idea of a degree in three years.

“The first thing they asked me was, are you sure you want to do that? I said yes, and here is my plan.”

Jacobson also found time in college to work as a ski instructor and complete a summer internship with a financial planning firm. He said he needed help from the registrar's office to pull off his plan, but he never had a problem registering for the right classes.

“I did have to take 8 a.m. classes, but that is no big deal,” he said.

Raphaelle Peinado of Rye, N.Y., a three-year graduate of McGill, said the tough job market has made her wonder whether she should have hung out in college for another year.

“It is pretty daunting for students with a three-year degree to go into a very hostile work environment with little work experience,” she said.

On the positive side, she thinks finishing in three years may have helped her get into graduate school; she'll be attending a masters program at the London School of Economics.