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My husband and I are UW alumni and have a $100 bet regarding the number of credits needed to be a full-time student in 1980. What was the minimum number of credits a student needed to be considered a full-time student way back in 1980, the year we both started at UW-Madison?

Well, Cindy, I don’t know what answer you based your wager on, but the number of credits required for full-time status in 1980 was 12 — the same as it is today. Things have improved, however — until the mid-1920s, full-time students were required to take 15 credits. And back in 1862, when I signed the Morrill Act that provided for the establishment of land-grant colleges such as the UW, the term credits was not in use yet. Students simply had to take a specific list of classes, depending on their major, along with hygiene and military drill for men, and all students were required to write a thesis before they could graduate.

I hope you won your bet, Cindy. In my day, $100 could have paid for your entire four years of college tuition, with $20 left to spare.

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