[TonyLima]

<bfsnip>

Who decides it is not a "hardship"? The student is the one who decides what they want to do with their lives. They may change their minds about their goals as they mature while competing at Stanford. The rest of us, and their coaches, don't get a vote. Some students come in fully intending to be "one and done". Do we refuse to recruit such athletes? What about athletes that have an unexpected breakout season and decide to declare for the draft? How do we stop that? Should we stop that, even if we could? Some students decide to transfer without the degree. Is that somehow "better" than being a grad transfer?
 
In the (distant) past when freshman couldn't play NCAA sports, when transfer rules were "different" and when pro sports essentially didn't take one and done players you could expect athletes to remain in school for at least 4 years, maybe 5. Those days are gone and are not coming back. It was also very difficult (but not impossible) to graduate from Stanford in 3 years. The course offerings in Summer quarter were almost impossible to apply to any major requirements. You could learn things, but the courses were of little use in "progress towards a degree". The major requirements were also such that it was virtually impossible to schedule the required classes in 3 consecutive years. Add to that prerequisite entanglements and you had a real challenge. This was true even for psychology majors, which had the fewest required number of major units (45). That too is gone and not coming back.

Back in the late 1970s I taught a few undergrad econ classes in summer. They were no different from the other 3 quarters. Of course, not all academic fields are the same. I gotta add that the current team has several econ majors.

[TonyLima]

<bfsnip>

Who decides it is not a "hardship"? The student is the one who decides what they want to do with their lives. They may change their minds about their goals as they mature while competing at Stanford. The rest of us, and their coaches, don't get a vote. Some students come in fully intending to be "one and done". Do we refuse to recruit such athletes? What about athletes that have an unexpected breakout season and decide to declare for the draft? How do we stop that? Should we stop that, even if we could? Some students decide to transfer without the degree. Is that somehow "better" than being a grad transfer?
 
In the (distant) past when freshman couldn't play NCAA sports, when transfer rules were "different" and when pro sports essentially didn't take one and done players you could expect athletes to remain in school for at least 4 years, maybe 5. Those days are gone and are not coming back. It was also very difficult (but not impossible) to graduate from Stanford in 3 years. The course offerings in Summer quarter were almost impossible to apply to any major requirements. You could learn things, but the courses were of little use in "progress towards a degree". The major requirements were also such that it was virtually impossible to schedule the required classes in 3 consecutive years. Add to that prerequisite entanglements and you had a real challenge. This was true even for psychology majors, which had the fewest required number of major units (45). That too is gone and not coming back.

Back in the late 1970s I taught a few undergrad econ classes in summer. They were no different from the other 3 quarters. Of course, not all academic fields are the same. I gotta add that the current team has several econ majors.