Students at a number of colleges around the country will end their course work and embark on their "summer" vacation in the next week or two. The school year has shrunk considerably in recent years, even while tuition costs have escalated.

• Data collected by the National Association of Scholars show that the length of the average college year has decreased by 35 days since 1964 -- from 191 days to 156.

• At the same time, the length of the standard class has diminished an average of 3.5 minutes.

• Meanwhile, inflation-adjusted college costs have doubled over the same period.

• At the nation's elite universities, the combination of higher tuition and less class time means an education now costs about $1,000 a week.

Experts attribute the trend to the schools' quest to save money. Students and professors like it, because it gives them more free time. But critics charge that it is just one more symptom of the overall decline in academic standands at U.S. universities -- along with abandonment of basic required courses, abolition of comprehensive exams and the reduction in scientific lab work.

Less classroom application may be behind the reality that growing numbers of students cannot complete their degree requirements in the traditional four years. This month, the American College Testing program reported a record low for students earning their bachelor's degrees on schedule. And only 52.8 percent of college students earn a degree within five years.