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Cal State Approves 3-Year Bachelor’s Degrees Across All 22 Campuses

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Cal State Approves 3-Year Bachelor’s Degrees Across All 22 Campuses


California State University, the largest public college system in the U.S., just voted to allow (PDF File) the creation of bachelor’s degrees that can be completed in as little as three years. This is a massive shift that could reshape how working adults and community college transfers earn a credential.

The first shortened degrees could launch as early as fall 2027, though 2028 is more likely. 

Driving The News

CSU trustees voted unanimously last week to authorize three new shortened degree types across the 22-campus system:

  • Bachelor of Education: for aspiring teachers focused specifically on classroom preparation
  • Bachelor of Professional Studies: aimed at workers pursuing managerial roles, with potential credit earned for skills built at past jobs
  • Bachelor of Applied Studies: designed for students with vocational training, such as automotive repair or HVAC

The new degrees require a minimum of 90 units, compared to 120 for a traditional bachelor’s. They sit alongside (not in place of) existing four-year offerings, and individual campuses choose whether to launch them.

By The Numbers

  • 90 units: the new requirement for these degree types (vs. 120 for a traditional BA/BS)
  • 10 CSU campuses posted double-digit enrollment declines between 2020 and 2025
  • $96,000: typical annual pay for a California bachelor’s degree holder vs. $48,000 for high school only
  • 65% of CSU bachelor’s recipients in 2024–25 graduated with zero student loan debt
  • 6 million working-age Californians hold a high school diploma but no college degree

What’s next: Faculty at CSU’s 22 campuses can begin building the curriculums this fall. The first shortened degrees could debut in fall 2027, though 2028 is more likely. Trustees also dropped the rule requiring students to earn at least 30 units at the campus issuing their degree, a change aimed at returning students who started elsewhere in the system.

How This Connects: Cal State is now the largest public system to formally adopt the model The College Investor tracked earlier this year, when nearly 60 colleges were already developing or offering three-year bachelor’s programs at roughly 90 credit hours. That earlier wave was driven by accreditor changes (every major regional accreditor has now reversed its opposition to the shorter programs) and state action, including Indiana’s law requiring public bachelor’s-granting institutions to build at least one three-year program. Utah created a new “bachelor’s of applied studies” category in the same 90–120 credit range CSU just adopted.

The financial case for students is straightforward: cutting a year off the degree can reduce total cost by roughly 25%. With one in three college students never earning a degree, faster completion paths may matter as much for finishing as for saving.

The catch, as our earlier reporting noted, is that almost all approved three-year programs to date sit in professional and technical fields (criminal justice, cybersecurity, hospitality, applied studies) not the humanities or hard sciences. CSU’s new categories follow that same pattern by design.

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The post Cal State Approves 3-Year Bachelor’s Degrees Across All 22 Campuses appeared first on The College Investor.

How People Actually Get to the C-Suite in S&P 500 Companies

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Over the past two decades, as the challenges facing businesses have become increasingly complex, CEOs face pressure to have the right people in the C-suite. A strong top team—one that is aligned and collaborative, rather than just a collection of talented leaders—is the foundation for everything that follows. For those aspiring to these top roles, the bar is higher than ever.



If Bond Yields Are at 52-Week Highs, Why Aren’t Mortgage Rates?

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If Bond Yields Are at 52-Week Highs, Why Aren’t Mortgage Rates?


It’s been a very bad month for mortgage rates, yet they remain below year-ago levels.

And by some margin too. Had this been last year, we’d be staring at a 7-handle 30-year fixed.

Instead, the 30-year fixed is hovering around 6.75%.

Sure, it’s still not great news, but it tells you that conditions are a lot better than they were in 2025.

The reason: mortgage spreads are no longer blown out like they were back then.

Tighter Spreads Keeping Mortgage Rates Below 7%…For Now

The 10-year bond yield ticked even higher today on continued fears of inflation tied to the Middle East conflict.

At last glance, it was up another four basis points to around 4.66%, the highest since last January.

Despite that, the 30-year fixed isn’t even close to its 52-week high.

That high, according to Mortgage News Daily, was 7.08% almost exactly a year ago to the day.

So we’re roughly 0.375% lower now versus back then, despite bond yields being higher.

The 10-year bond yield is a bellwether for 30-year fixed mortgage rates and the pair move in relative lockstep.

This means they always tend to move in the same direction. However, there is a spread between the two to compensate mortgage-backed securities (MBS) investors for the added risk.

That risk is mainly prepayment risk because most mortgages have either an explicit or implicit guarantee in the event of default.

The spread varies, but historically has been around 170 basis points higher for the 30-year fixed.

In other words, during normal times, a 4% 10-year bond yield would result in a 30-year fixed around 5.70%.

Today, the spread is pretty close to normal, around 210 basis points.

While that sounds high, consider the fact that it was about 250 bps a year ago. That’s why the 30-year fixed was averaging 7.10% with even lower bond yields.

If we had totally normal spreads right now, we’d be looking at a 30-year fixed around 6.375%.

So yes, it could be even better, but it could be worse. And this phenomenon is keeping us below 7%, for now at least.

Why Are Spreads So Much Better Now?

Mostly because prepayment risk has subsided. Ultimately, mortgage rates have kind of settled in at current levels between 6% and 7%.

They’ve been here for a while now and don’t appear to be going anyplace else, anytime soon.

As such, there’s more certainty for MBS investors looking for a certain yield on their investment.

They don’t have to worry as much about these mortgages getting paid off immediately thanks to some refinance boom driven by markedly lower mortgage rates.

From 2023 to 2025, there was a lot of disruption and uncertainty in the secondary market as QE ended, QT began, and mortgage rates nearly tripled.

That meant pricing had to be more defensive than it typically would be, hence the blown-out spreads.

At one point, these were as wide as 325 bps, which explains how we got an 8% 30-year fixed late in 2023.

That’s no longer the case and perhaps a lot of investors are looking at a premium of 200 bps as pretty solid for a home loan with an implied or explicit guarantee to be repaid.

Colin Robertson
Latest posts by Colin Robertson (see all)

[Targeted] Upgrade To American Express Blue Cash Preferred, Get $150 Bonus + Waived Annual Fee

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[Targeted] Upgrade To American Express Blue Cash Preferred, Get $150 Bonus + Waived Annual Fee


Update 5/24/26: Check your AmEx Offers section for an upgrade offer to change the Blue Cash Everyday to Blue Cash Preferred and get $150 after spending $1,000 within 6 months, plus waived $95 annual fee for the first year. That one is highly targeted. There’s a more broadly available offer for $75 after spending $1,000 within 6 months and without the waived annual fee. (ht Celia)

Update 3/25/23: Some are seeing the better offer in-app (I’m not sure where to check to find it, perhaps in the Amex Offer section). Also interesting: some people are seeing upgrade offers for other cards at the same link, such as the Amex Everyday > Everyday Preferred. Open the below link, login and click on each card to see the available upgrade offers. (ht San_K) Some people are also reporting higher upgrade offers of $300.

The Offer

Direct Link to offer (YMMV, login to see if it works for you)

  • American Express Blue Cash Everyday cardholders can upgrade to the Blue Cash Preferred and get their $95 annual fee waived for the first year.
  • They’ll also get a $150 statement credit after spending $1,000 within the first 6 months.

Others are seeing just $75 statement credit. And some are not getting the annual fee waiver.

Our Verdict

The offer link works for me only partially – it’s showing the $75 bonus, but not the $95 fee waiver. Personally, I’d go for an offer for $150 or $75 with a waived annual fee.

Hat tip to reader 007 and Gorgonzola

Oil drops as U.S. says deal with Iran and Hormuz reopening is near

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Oil drops as U.S. says deal with Iran and Hormuz reopening is near



Oil dropped as the US and Iran edged toward a deal, although President Donald Trump said that Washington’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would remain until an agreement was completed.

Global crude benchmark Brent fell as much as 5.2% to $98.12 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was near $92. Trump said in social-media posts he wouldn’t “rush” into a deal, which “isn’t even fully negotiated yet.” Any final approval may take several days, according to senior US officials.

Still, it remains unclear how key differences, including the fate of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, will be addressed. Iran’s Tasnim news agency said the draft agreement could still collapse because the US was obstructing some key clauses, including a demand that its assets be unfrozen.

Global energy markets have been upended by the crisis, which began in February when the US and Israel attacked Iran. The conflict spread rapidly across the Persian Gulf region, forcing producers to shut in millions of barrels of daily crude supplies. Hormuz — which links the region to global markets — has been subject to a double blockade by both Tehran and Washington.

A full reopening of the waterway — which in peacetime typically handled around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies — would be a relief for energy importers across Asia, including China, Japan, and South Korea.

“A lot of oil was trading on worst case assumptions for weeks,” said Haris Khurshid, chief investment officer at Chicago-based Karobaar Capital LP. “But once it became clear talks were still alive and escalation wasn’t accelerating, a chunk of that fear premium comes out pretty fast.”

Trump has been facing growing domestic political pressure to end the conflict, particularly ahead of the November midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. The war has boosted the cost of fuels, with average US gasoline prices hitting the highest since 2022 this month.

Kevin Hassett, Trump’s chief economic adviser at the White House, told Fox News on Sunday he expects energy prices to drop once there’s a deal, which could then create space for the Federal Reserve to cut rates. “We expect energy prices, as soon as there’s a deal, to plummet,” Hassett said.

Trading in oil may be lower than usual on Monday, with some traders away from their desks for public holidays in the US and the UK.

Indian Stock market vs Crypto trading #trading

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Indian Stock market vs Crypto trading #trading

source

Under Armour’s ‘Super Shoes’ Are Winning Marathons. Here’s Why

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Under Armour’s ‘Super Shoes’ Are Winning Marathons. Here’s Why



Inside Under Armour’s innovation lab, where carbon‑plate super shoes are tested, refined, and turned into marathon‑winning performance.

AI Strategy After the LLM Boom: Maintain Sovereignty, Avoid Capture

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“This is the biggest risk I see in the future of AI: capture of information by a small number of companies through proprietary systems.”

For states, this is a national security concern. For investment managers and corporates, it is a dependency risk. If research and decision-support workflows are mediated by a narrow set of proprietary platforms, trust, resilience, data confidentiality, and bargaining power weaken over time.

LeCun identified “federated learning” as a partial mitigant. In such systems, centralized models avoid needing to see underlying data for training, relying instead on exchanged model parameters.

In principle, this allows a resulting model to perform “…as if it had been trained on the entire set of data…without the data ever leaving (your domain).”

This is not a lightweight solution, however. Federated learning requires a new type of setup with trusted orchestration between parties and central models, as well as secure cloud infrastructure at national or regional scale. It reduces data-sovereignty risk, but does not remove the need for sovereign cloud capacity, reliable energy supply, or sustained capital investment.

Hilton Honors More Nights More Points Promotion (2026)

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Hilton Honors More Nights More Points Promotion (2026)


Hilton Honors “More Nights, More Points” Promotion

Hilton Honors has launched a new global promotion for summer 2026 called “More Nights, More Points”. Registered members can earn up to 4,000 Bonus Points per stay on eligible stays completed between June 1 and August 15, 2026. Let’s go over the details.

Offer Details

  • Register for the “More Nights, More Points” promotion
  • Stay between June 1 and August 15, 2026
  • Earn:
    • 2,000 Bonus Points on stays of 1 to 3 nights
    • 4,000 Bonus Points on stays of 4 nights or longer
  • No limit on the total Bonus Points you can earn
  • Valid at participating hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio worldwide

Hilton Honors members must register before completing an eligible stay during the promotion period. Stays that begin before June 1 can still qualify as long as checkout occurs on or after June 1 and by August 15, 2026.

Bonus Points are earned in addition to regular Hilton Honors points, elite bonuses, and Hilton credit card rewards. Bonus points do not count toward elite status qualification.

Important Terms

  • Registration is required
  • Promotion valid for stays completed June 1 through August 15, 2026
  • A “stay” is defined as consecutive nights at the same hotel, even if you check out and back in
  • Offer is not valid for groups
  • It may take six to eight weeks from completion of your stay for Bonus Points to appear in your account.

Hilton Honors “More Nights, More Points” Promotion 2026

Guru’s Wrap-up

This is a fairly standard Hilton promotion, but at least it’s simple and easy to maximize. The sweet spot is clearly stays of four nights or longer, where you’ll earn the full 4,000 Bonus Points.

That said, Hilton points continue to lose value as award pricing keeps increasing at many properties. So while free bonus points are always nice, these promos are not nearly as exciting as they used to be. Still, if you already have Hilton stays planned this summer, there’s no reason not to register and earn some extra points.

If you’re looking to earn more Hilton points, check out these new credit card offers that are available through NLL links.

Surging gas prices mask weak consumer spending in Canada

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Surging gas prices mask weak consumer spending in Canada




Canadian retail sales continued to rise last month after a solid first quarter, but skyrocketing gasoline prices appear to be increasingly eating into household budgets.

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Cal State Approves 3-Year Bachelor’s Degrees Across All 22 Campuses

Investments 0
California State University, the largest public college system...

How People Actually Get to the C-Suite in S&P 500 Companies

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Over the past two decades, as the challenges...

If Bond Yields Are at 52-Week Highs, Why Aren’t Mortgage Rates?

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It’s been a very bad month for mortgage...

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California State University, the largest public college system...

How People Actually Get to the C-Suite in S&P 500 Companies

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Over the past two decades, as the challenges...

If Bond Yields Are at 52-Week Highs, Why Aren’t Mortgage Rates?

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It’s been a very bad month for mortgage...

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