University of Michigan Student Expected to Complete Degree in One Year

Like most other normal college students, Nicole Matisse is looking forward to a break. Nicole Matisse is not a normal college student, however. After only one year at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, the 19-year old from Bloomfield, Michigan is celebrating more than just semester's end- she is looking forward to graduating within the year.

By the end of the summer, Matisse should be the proud recipient of a bachelors degree in psychology. It is unknown whether or not any student has ever finished their collegiate schooling in such a short period of time, but is very unlikely. Donna Wessel Walker, the assistant director of UM's honors program, attests that she has never seen anyone move through the curriculum so quickly. "She's taking in one semester the course load that most people take in two- she is one determined young lady," said Wessel Walker. Most full-time college students take between twelve and sixteen credits, and with the rising cost of a reputable degree, fewer and fewer students can afford to attend full-time with amassing huge student loans.

Nicole Matisse entered the University of Michigan as a junior by credits. While she attended Lahser High School, Nicole had earned enough credits to graduate by her junior year. Instead of getting out of high school and jumping into the college scene a year earlier, she chose to get a head start on the heavy UM credit load. Matisse passed exams for eight Advanced Placement (AP) courses, earning college credit for all eight of them. Although she had 24 credits already, Nicole wasn't satisfied. During her senior year, she took eight classes at Oakland Community College, passed them all, and enrolled at UM in Ann Arbor with 48 credits, enough to be considered a junior. The university requires a minimum of 124 credits to graduate, and Nicole was determined to get to that magic number as fast as possible. "When I got to UM, I only took 19 credits, and I was bored and craved more credits," she told The Detroit News for a story. "So even when I took 27 credits this semester, I felt I could have added even more."

The winter semester at The University of Michigan officially ends Friday, April 26. Assuming she passed all of her classes, Matisse should have no fewer than 94 total credits, only 30 shy of graduating. Nicole is on schedule to get her degree by the end of this coming summer semester.

Matisse is not finished with her learning outside of high school, however. She plans to attend Wayne State University in the fall (as a freshman this time) to pursue a career as a lawyer.

Sources: Detroit News, Associated Press