Accelerated Degree Programs For Working Adults

From personal experience, I know that many college students undergo financial hardships which cause them to drop out of college and take up a job instead. Many such students are looking for ways to accelerate their college degree completion. The US and other countries have setup special programs to help such students to successfully complete college.

Accelerated Degree programs enable nontraditional students and working adults with prior college credits, to successfully complete their college degrees. These programs transfer student’s previous college learning and grant credits for exams such as CLEP, online courses and work experience.

There are a few US colleges that specialize specifically on offering students an accelerated degree completion program. Some regular universities with traditional college degrees also have a separate program for accelerated degree completion.

ACCELERATED DEGREE PROGRAMS: THE PROCESS

 

S No.	Process Stage	Explanation
1	ADMISSION PROCESS	High school graduation is a prerequisite for admission into an accelerated degree completion program.  The application process begins by submitting all your old college-level certificates and transcripts (or mark sheets) to the college. Many accelerated degree completion colleges have rolling admissions throughout the year. The admission process at these colleges is simple and generally takes about 2 to 3 weeks. Along with the certificates and transcripts, a detailed course curriculum also needs to be submitted for each previously-completed course.
2	FOREIGN CREDENTIALS	For students who have completed any previous courses or exams outside the US, a foreign credential evaluation is required before applying to this college program. The foreign credential evaluator will perform a course-by-course evaluation of your previous learning and award US equivalent college credits. The college will then receive this evaluation report before doing the credits transfer into your accelerated degree completion program transcript. Each college has its own recommended list of foreign credential evaluators, so be sure to check this list before submitting your documents for evaluation.
3	AFTER ENROLLMENT	A few weeks after enrollment and upon paying the enrollment fees, a detailed college transcript will be sent to you listing all the credits that have been transferred to the current degree, along with the respective scores or grades for each course. The curriculum of previously completed courses will be compared with the degree curriculum for your chosen degree and major listed in your application. The college will perform their own evaluation and If the courses you completed were more advanced than what is required, you might even receive better scores/ grades after the credits transfer than your original scores/ grades.
4	DEGREE CREDIT REQUIREMENTS	A typical US bachelors degree requires about 120 credits with individual credit requirements for each core/ elective topic as per your degree curriculum. You will receive your detailed degree requirement documents/ brochures from your college. If you already have a total of 120 or more credits for a bachelors degree, you will still need to check if you have enough credits for all the core credits such as humanities, math and science and so on. Your degree major will also require you to earn many advanced credits for the major.
5	GUIDANCE/ COUNSELOR	Upon enrollment, you will either be assigned a dedicated student counselor for yourself, or have a list of the college student counselors whom you can contact as you progress with your accelerated degree completion. As you progress with your degree, keeping in regular communication with your college counselor is very important. Be sure to check with your student counselor before taking any new college course, online courses or exams.
6	MODES OF LEARNING	Students can take college courses where they live, online courses, MOOC’s, other certifications or standardized exams such as CLEP or DSST. At these colleges, the learning or knowledge you have gathered are considered more important than the mode (online/ distance/ classroom) by which you have acquired the learning. Many students have completed their entire college degree at these colleges simply by writing standardized exams such as CLEP and DSST. In such a case, its possible to complete the bachelors degree in as little as US $5000 – $8000.
7	ACCREDITED or NON-ACCREDITED LEARNING	All accredited learning will transfer free of charge and other non-accredited learning will require a fee-based portfolio evaluation at the college. Accelerated degree completion colleges allow the transfer about 90 or more credits into their degree program. Courses that are part of a regionally accredited US college, or ACE/ NCCRS accredited courses can be freely transferred to your current degree transcript.
8	ACCELERATED DEGREE PROGRAMS: TIME LIMIT	Students can complete their degree at an accelerated degree completion college in as little as a few months, or up to around a maximum of 6 or 7 years, depending on individual college policies. If a student has already completed most of the course and credit requirements prior to enrollment, the final degree certificate can be obtained almost immediately or in a few months. It all depends on how quickly you are able to meet the degree credit requirements.
9	GRADUATION and SCORES	Before final graduation, be sure to check your final GPA. Any GPA between 3+ and 5 (range being from 1 to 5) is considered a good grade/ score. If you have an excess of credits much greater than the 120 or so required for graduation, request your college to remove some of the courses with lower scores from your transcript. This will improve your final grade point average or GPA. Finally, remember to purchase the gown and cap for the graduation ceremony!

 

ACCELERATED DEGREE PROGRAMS: THE COLLEGES

The top accelerated degree completion colleges are Excelsior college, Thomas Edison and Charter Oak State college. Here is further information on 25 degree completion colleges located in various US states. Here are additional lesser-known degree completion colleges with most of them located in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

In any case, there are degree completion colleges in most US states so there is no need to worry if you are not located in the tri-state area. Just start by inquiring at your nearest college or university, or do an internet search  for your state and follow up with the colleges directly after that.

Also, if you decide to enroll at one of these colleges in the tri-state area, you can do so while continuing to live in your other state. There are minimal to no residency requirements at these colleges, so you can take your courses anywhere and still get all your credits transferred to one of these accelerated degree completion colleges.

ACCELERATED DEGREE PROGRAMS: ADMISSIONS

Most degree completion colleges have relaxed admission requirements that include high school graduation and the completion of at least a few prior college courses. This requirement for college credits can also be met by completing a few AP exams in high school or later.

SAT, AP or ACT are usually NOT mandatory for college admissions.

There are rolling admissions throughout the year at most colleges, or 3 at least or more times a year when students can apply for admissions at one of these degree completion colleges.

So there is no need to wait an year if you missed an admissions deadline. Simply apply as soon as you’re ready to enroll into your degree program.

ACCELERATED DEGREE COMPLETION: RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS

You can live in any part of the world and do not have to live in the same state as the college or even in the US for studying at one of these colleges.

There are no visa requirements or travel required for completing your college degree at these colleges.

Some of the colleges such as Empire State require students to earn a fixed number of college credits by directly taking their college courses. But most of such requirements can be easily met by taking online courses. There are also other colleges such as Excelsior which do not have any such limitations, and students can take any courses, exams or learning from anywhere in the US or from other countries.

ACCELERATED DEGREE COMPLETION: THE STUDENTS

Any high school graduate with just a few college credits can enroll into an accelerated degree completion program.

Most students of these programs either have a delay in graduating college or have a gap in their college studies and want to desperately complete their college degree.

Many of them are in their early or mid-20’s but there are also some who are younger and others in their 30’s or older. For a non-traditional college student, any age is ideal for college.

Some students want to study full time and many prefer part time studies. Some students work full time and take up college studies after work hours. Others have a family with kids and find these programs to be very convenient for completing college in their spare time.

Therefore,accelerated degree completion programs are suitable for any of the following student categories:

• Non-traditional students who want to leverage their previous college learning towards completing their college degree. Options such as credits transfer and portfolio evaluation are very helpful for such students.
• High school graduates who have completed some college-level learning or AP courses and who are looking for a timely and affordable way to complete their college degree.
• Students who prefer taking control of their college studies by choosing their own courses (which fit the degree curriculum).
• Students whose family/ living circumstances would require them to travel during their college years. By signing up to an accelerated degree completion program, such students can continue their college without any break in their college studies while traveling.
• Working adults who have some previous college credits or a few years of work experience.

To reach a large group of degree completion students online especially from the top 3 colleges, gather student feedback in the DegreeForum.net. Also speak with other college students on the forum for additional tips and guidance before taking new courses or exams. 

ACCELERATED DEGREE PROGRAMS: CREDITS TRANSFER

Any accredited courses you take while you’re enrolled in the college, and those you completed earlier can be transferred FREE of charge for credits into your degree transcript. Non-accredited courses will require a special portfolio/ prior-learning evaluation (which I’ll discuss later in this post).

As a student of an accelerated degree completion program, your study schedules can be anything that works for you.

You can take some classes online and other classes at a physical college, or choose all your classes to be online. You can also write exams such as AP, ACT or take online ACE-accredited courses for college credits.

Some MOOC courses that are ACE/ NCCRS accredited can be directly transferred free of charge for college credits. More information on MOOC courses for credits can be found in this article titled Can You Get University Credits For MOOC Courses?

ACCELERATED DEGREE PROGRAMS: THE STUDENT COUNSELOR

Since there are numerous ways for individual students to design their college studies, the role of a student counselor becomes very important. Once you enroll into the degree program, you will be assigned one of the college’s student counselors who will work with you on a degree plan and answer all your questions.

The degree plan is a living document and you can keep modifying/ updating it as you finish individual courses or if you decide to take different courses or exams than earlier planned.

Before choosing any new courses or exams, be sure to consult with your student counselor for their feedback on acceptability of the course/ exam for credits transfer or evaluation.

ACCELERATED DEGREE PROGRAMS: EXAMS FOR CREDITS

Standardized exams are exams conducted by the college board which are pre-approved for earning college credits at many US and North American colleges. They are also inexpensive and are a great way to quickly earn college credits affordably.

CLEP and DSST are the most popular and affordable exams conducted by the College Board for directly earning between 3 to 6 college-level credits per exam.

Other standardized exams include UExcel (from Excelsior college), TECEP (from Thomas Edison), and COSC (from Charter Oak State college).

More information on CLEP and other such exams can be found in this earlier post. More about CLEP study guides can be found here.

ACCELERATED DEGREE PROGRAMS: MOOC COURSES

Many of the MOOC courses on edX.org are part of the regular college curriculum. So it is likely possible to get these credits transferred if you complete the test and pay the fee for the course certificate. This is at the discretion of the college and will also vary across different MOOC courses. If the courses are ACE or NCCRS accredited (such as all Saylor.org courses), they can be directly transferred for credits free of charge.

For Coursera.org or any other non-accredited courses, a special portfolio evaluation can be used to acquire college credits. In any case, its best to always complete the final test and to get the course certificate for any MOOC courses so that you will be able to prove or validate the learning with your accelerated degree completion college.

Another option is to learn from the MOOC course online and then to write a CLEP/ DSST exam on the same topic if available. CLEP/ DSST is the most widely used method for gathering college credits with accelerated degree completion programs. For more information, take a look at this article titled Can You Get University Credits For MOOC Courses?.

ACCELERATED DEGREE PROGRAMS: PORTFOLIO CREDIT EVALUATION

Portfolio or prior-learning assessment is suitable for anyone who has a lot of learning via non-accredited courses or work experience that fits the degree curriculum.

Each accelerated degree completion college program has its own process for this assessment.

Not everyone is eligible for a portfolio evaluation. In most cases, the college student counselor or program office first needs to approve the student’s eligibility for a portfolio evaluation.

To be eligible, the student needs to have:

1. A substantial amount of non-formal learning
2. Learning should fit within the degree curriculum
3. The learning should not be covered in a CLEP, DSST or other standardized exam
4. If the learning is also part of a standardized exam curriculum, then the students will be advised to take up the standardized exam to substantiate their learning (instead of a portfolio evaluation).

There is also a fee for every credit that is awarded via portfolio evaluation and in many cases, the evaluation can take several months.

Additionally, before a student can begin the portfolio assessment process, there are one or more courses he/she needs to complete at the accelerated degree completion college as preparation. Some examples of such courses include:

• Excelsior’s CCS 202 Prior Learning Assessment Theory and Practice
• Thomas Edison’s PLA-100 and PLA-200

Here is additional information on how to go about creating a student portfolio for the Prior Learning Assessment:

• Charter Oak’s Tips and Strategies for Prior Learning Assessment
• Thomas Edison’s Prior Learning Assessment

ACCELERATED DEGREE PROGRAMS: A BROADER PERSPECTIVE

Degree completion programs make it possible for students to combine all their learning from multiple sources into a single college degree. Though these programs were created for older, nontraditional students, any young adult with just a few college credits can complete his/her college degree this way.

For those who wish to complete college in an accelerated way, a strong motivation and clear planning will allow them to finish college quickly with such a program.

Students can also save a lot of money and time by combining all their learning this way.