Accelerated Degree Programs: Advancing your Career Quickly

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• Increased Flex­i­bil­i­ty: Accel­er­at­ed degree pro­grams are designed for non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dents and work­ing pro­fes­sion­als want­i­ng faster, more flex­i­ble edu­ca­tion­al options that align with their career goals and busy lifestyles.
• Faster Grad­u­a­tion: These pro­grams allow stu­dents to com­plete degrees in sig­nif­i­cant­ly less time than tra­di­tion­al degrees, with some pro­grams offer­ing self-paced learn­ing and the abil­i­ty to earn cred­it for work experience.
• Val­ue in the Mar­ket­place: Despite ini­tial skep­ti­cism about their cred­i­bil­i­ty, accel­er­at­ed degrees are now rec­og­nized by a wide vari­ety of indus­tries and employers.
• Prac­ti­cal Expe­ri­ence: Accel­er­at­ed pro­grams are designed to meet spe­cif­ic career goals such as rapid job mar­ket entry or pro­fes­sion­al advance­ment, often incor­po­rat­ing real-world expe­ri­ence and dual-degree options.

Accel­er­at­ed bach­e­lor’s and mas­ter’s degree pro­grams are grow­ing in enroll­ment among non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dents and work­ing pro­fes­sion­als who want to advance their careers quick­ly. Tra­di­tion­al degree path­ways can take four years or more to grad­u­a­tion. Many high­er ed stu­dents are look­ing for quick­er and more afford­able options that fit their fam­i­ly life, work sched­ule, and career goals. When accel­er­at­ed degree pro­grams start­ed appear­ing around the US, many were skep­ti­cal. There were con­cerns about the qual­i­ty of any degree com­plet­ed quick­ly. Stu­dents were con­cerned about the val­ue of accel­er­at­ed degrees in the mar­ket­place. Will employ­ers val­ue an accel­er­at­ed degree the same as a tra­di­tion­al degree?

Advances in the tech­nol­o­gy and learn­ing design used in most accel­er­at­ed degree pro­grams have helped stu­dents move past these con­cerns. Cod­ing boot­camps, degrees with work expe­ri­ence cred­it, and pro­fes­sion­al cer­ti­fi­ca­tion are all becom­ing more viable path­ways to suc­cess­ful careers. Accel­er­at­ed degrees are part of this grow­ing land­scape of high­er ed options rec­og­nized as valu­able to employ­ers in a wide vari­ety of indus­tries. You can save a lot of time and mon­ey in an accel­er­at­ed pro­gram, but you are going to need to be ready for the pace and unique chal­lenges stu­dents often face in these environments.

What is an Accelerated Degree Program?

Accel­er­at­ed pro­grams are designed to help stu­dents com­plete their degree require­ments in a short­er amount of time than tra­di­tion­al degree pro­grams. Stu­dents com­plete each course more quick­ly than usu­al, with some pro­grams allow­ing self-paced learn­ing. This allows a stu­dent to com­plete a degree ful­ly online, more quick­ly, and in a way that allows them to work at their own pace. 

Accel­er­at­ed degrees at accred­it­ed insti­tu­tions are approved by the same qual­i­ty stan­dards applied to any tra­di­tion­al degree pro­gram. This ensures that stu­dents receive a rig­or­ous and mar­ketable aca­d­e­m­ic expe­ri­ence even if they are com­plet­ing cours­es more quick­ly. Accel­er­at­ed pro­grams are ide­al for the work­ing pro­fes­sion­al want­i­ng to com­plete their bach­e­lor’s degree, some­one look­ing to change careers quick­ly, and stu­dents in tech­ni­cal, health­care, busi­ness, or edu­ca­tion fields want­i­ng to advance with a grad­u­ate degree.

What Kinds of Accelerated Programs Are There?

There are accel­er­at­ed degree pro­grams for every career goal:

• Accel­er­at­ed Bach­e­lor’s Degree Pro­grams allow stu­dents to earn a bach­e­lor’s degree in less time than a tra­di­tion­al pro­gram. Some accel­er­at­ed bach­e­lor’s degree pro­grams can be com­plet­ed in as lit­tle as one year.
• Accel­er­at­ed Mas­ter’s Degree Pro­grams allow stu­dents to earn a mas­ter’s degrees in less time than a tra­di­tion­al pro­gram. These pro­grams often include work/life expe­ri­ence cred­it as part of the enroll­ment process.
• Dual Degree Pro­grams allow stu­dents to earn two degrees in a short­er amount of time than it would take to earn each degree sep­a­rate­ly. For exam­ple, stu­dent earns a bach­e­lor’s degree in engi­neer­ing and a mas­ter’s degree in busi­ness admin­is­tra­tion in five years instead of the six or sev­en years it would take to earn each degree separately.

Accel­er­at­ed degrees are about get­ting a qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion more quick­ly so you can enter the work­force or advance your career more quickly.

How Do I Get Into An Accelerated Degree Program?

Accel­er­at­ed degree pro­grams are not nec­es­sar­i­ly eas­i­er to get into than tra­di­tion­al pro­grams. Stu­dents typ­i­cal­ly will need a cumu­la­tive GPA of 3.0 or high­er and have a few under­grad­u­ate or grad­u­ate degree cred­its com­plet­ed. There may also be pre­req­ui­site cours­es in math, com­put­er sci­ence, biol­o­gy or oth­er basics required. These require­ments will range wide­ly from uni­ver­si­ty to uni­ver­si­ty and are often based on the type of degree. Nurs­ing degrees, for exam­ple, will have dif­fer­ent require­ments than accel­er­at­ed mar­ket­ing or busi­ness degrees. Accel­er­at­ed degree admis­sions offices are always look­ing for stu­dents that can keep up and learn well in online environments.

The appli­ca­tion process for an accel­er­at­ed bach­e­lor’s and mas­ter’s degree pro­gram is sim­i­lar to that of a tra­di­tion­al pro­gram. You will need to com­plete an appli­ca­tion, pro­vide tran­scripts from all col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties attend­ed, share let­ters of rec­om­men­da­tion, and craft a per­son­al state­ment. GRE or GMAT scores may be required depend­ing on the grad­u­ate insti­tu­tion’s cri­te­ria. It is impor­tant to review and com­pare accel­er­at­ed degree pro­gram qual­i­ty and require­ments care­ful­ly, as it may be worth the extra step to take the GRE if it leads to a more qual­i­ty grad­u­ate program.

What Makes Accelerated Degree Programs Different?