College Degree Completion Programs
Did you start a college degree but could not complete it? If you started school and want to return, there may be help for you to do so. Your prior efforts do not have to go to waste, thanks to the availability of degree completion programs designed to help students return to college to finish a bachelor’s degree.
How Bachelor’s Degree Completion Programs Work
College degree completion programs work by evaluating a student’s previous education credits and work experience, providing credit toward the degree where applicable, and offering a more personalized approach to earning a bachelor’s degree.
For some, degree completion programs provide a faster and often more cost-effective path to graduation.
This option is especially appealing to working professionals seeking a better work-life balance. It offers an accelerated route to a degree and provides significant financial aid and merit-based scholarship programs for affordability.
College Degree Programs vs. Degree Completion Programs
Degree completion programs come in various formats, depending on the school and program. These options can help returning students finish their Bachelor’s degree, as one source explains:
“Both a bachelor’s program and a bachelor’s degree completion program lead to a college degree.” Furthermore, “Degree completion programs admit students with prior college credits. In a degree completion program, you’ll create a personalized graduation plan based on your transfer credits.”
Students who have enough previous college credit may be able to earn a degree in only a year. Others, depending on circumstances, may have to attend longer. Many online colleges accept transfer credits; finding the school that accepts yours is half the battle for a degree completion program.
Depending on the courses you took in previous terms or semesters, you may be able to earn a bachelor’s degree in one year, a very fast completion time.
But much depends on whether the school accepts your transfer credits and how many, to help you take your work from the bachelor’s program and switch it into a degree completion plan.
Degree Completion Program Choices
Picking the right program and school approach is key. Is online school better for you? Does attending in-person classes suit you better? What about a hybrid plan to combine in-person and online courses?
You’ll need to check the specific program and school you’re interested in attending to see which choices are available. For example, Claremont Lincoln University offers an online Bachelor’s of Arts in Organizational Leadership with concentrations such as Business Studies, Human Resources, and related options.
But some schools may offer an equivalent to that program as a hybrid in-person/online opportunity. Knowing which programs are offered fully online is an important part of your school selection process.
Who Benefits From Degree Completion Programs?
Some examples of students who often enroll in degree completion programs include:
- Community college graduates who need additional education after an associate degree
- Those who began a bachelor’s degree but did not complete it
- Adult learners with years of career experience without a degree
- Veterans and servicemembers
What should you look for in a bachelor’s completion program? Try to find those that meet your learning style. When evaluating a program, be sure to answer the following questions:
- Does the program offer the degree and area of study you need?
- Are there flexible learning options?
- Will the program accept my transfer credits?
- How extensive is student support?
How to Apply to a College Degree Completion Program
Visit the college’s official admissions page and fill out the online “contact us” form for more information. You can also call the school’s admissions department. Explain that you are a returning student looking for a degree completion program, not a new applicant.
Select Degree Completion Programs
Some schools that appear below are paid partners of CollegeRecon.
Business Degree Completion Programs
Teacher Degree Completion Programs
Degree completion programs in Engineering and Technology:
Healthcare Degree Completion Programs
Humanities Degree Completion Programs
Nursing Degree Completion Programs
Degree Completion Programs in the Social Sciences
About the author
Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter/editor for Air Force Television News and the Pentagon Channel. His freelance work includes contract work for Motorola, VALoans.com, and Credit Karma. He is co-founder of Dim Art House in Springfield, Illinois, and spends his non-writing time as an abstract painter, independent publisher, and occasional filmmaker.