Such people often find a single challenge, even one that is difficult, less daunting than two, three, or sometimes even four far less difficult ones.

Not surprisingly, a one-course-at-a-time calendar might be more to their liking than the more traditional quarter, trimester, or semester calendar. Online colleges frequently adopt such calendars to allow working adults with multiple responsibilities to take single courses in shortened terms rather than carrying several courses for a sixteen week semester.

While most people know how online degrees are structured, few seem to realize that three otherwise traditional liberal arts colleges also offer students the opportunity to take one course at a time. At Colorado College, the most selective of the three, the calendar is referred to as the Block Plan, which breaks the academic year into eight three and a half week segments. Courses may be one, two, or three blocks in duration, depending on their scope.

Iowa's Cornell College, not to be confused with Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, uses an identical calendar and an identical one-course-at-a-time system.

Tusculum College's "focused calendar" also divides each semester into four terms of three and one half weeks, with a four day vacation at the conclusion of each. Students may also take one-course-at-a-time during one or more of three optional summer terms.

The three colleges are very different in terms of selectivity, location, and other factors, but their academic calendars set them apart from every other college and university in the United States. And the web pages of the three highlight the same advantages their academic calendar affords students. The ability to continue a good discussion without the constraints of a 50 minute time limit. The freedom to remain in a laboratory as long as you wish. And, the ability to develop mastery of a subject by focusing on it without other demands.

If you like the idea of taking one course at a time, and if the advantages of a block schedule appeal to you, one or more of these three unique colleges may be good options for you.