GRAND FORKS — Through a pilot program, the North Dakota University System and State Board of Higher Education are exploring the idea of reduced-credit bachelor’s degrees. Reduced-credit bachelor’s degree programs are awarded upon a student completing 90-119 semester hours, according to Policy 409.1, which was passed earlier this year. Dickinson State University was the first to have one of the degrees — a BAS degree in management — come through. Internally, campuses have some reservations about how reduced-credit programs will compete with traditional programs and impact revenue, Johnson said. Removing those from a degree program certainly doesn’t align well with what employers are telling us.”