Only about a third of Americans now believe a four-year college degree is worth the cost.

And increasingly, students and families are questioning it, too.

As many colleges across the country face shrinking enrollments,

more than 60 institutions are now offering students a faster path to graduation.

Fred de Sam Lazaro reports as part of our series, Rethinking College.

At Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, signs of a typical spring are everywhere.

The graduating class is honored as they prepare for their next stage in life.

Some students play catch on campus green space, while others, like sophomore Jaden Stewart,

begin shifts at summer jobs.

I felt like I needed to be in hospitality, and that's kind of why I went here because I

knew it's what I wanted to do.

Stewart, a hospitality management major, represents something entirely new at Johnson

and Wales, however.

After transferring from the University of Maine last fall, Stewart became part of an inaugural

class of more than 90 students now on track to graduate with a bachelor's degree in three

years.

Even though it's three years, I'm still taking the classes that I need to take.

I'm still doing the work that I need to do.

And yes, I'm taking, you know, major specific courses with less electives,

but they're still going to be specific to what I need to do in the workforce.

Freshman Katie McPartland is also a three-year student majoring in criminal justice.

None of the schools I applied to offered that, and I think it was a big factor in coming

...