10 Fastest Online Finance Degree Bachelor’s Programs

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• Auburn Uni­ver­si­ty is the #1 fastest online bach­e­lor’s in finance degree pro­gram.
• Accel­er­at­ed online pro­grams allow for the com­ple­tion of a finance degree in sig­nif­i­cant­ly less time than tra­di­tion­al paths, with some as quick as 18 months.
• Pro­grams often accept trans­fer cred­its, which can fur­ther reduce the time need­ed to graduate.
• A bach­e­lor’s in finance is designed to quick­ly pre­pare stu­dents for finance careers, empha­siz­ing job-ready skills and knowledge.

“I need a bachelor’s degree fast!” said thou­sands of work­ing adults in the last decade, and col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties all over the US have respond­ed with accel­er­at­ed online degree pro­grams for work­ing adults inter­est­ed in a finance career. For young busi­ness­peo­ple, career-chang­ing pro­fes­sion­als, and work­ing adults look­ing to enroll and fin­ish a long-delayed bachelor’s degree, accel­er­at­ed online finance pro­grams offer an over­all ben­e­fit – an in-demand, job mar­ket-ready Bachelor’s in Finance in a for­mat that lets them keep their cur­rent job and work around their demand­ing sched­ules. Quick and easy online degrees don’t get much more lucra­tive than an online bachelor’s degree in finance.

Relat­ed:

• Top Bach­e­lor’s in Finance Degree Programs
• Best Online Finance Degree Bach­e­lors Programs
• Top Online Train­ing and Devel­op­ment Programs

Methodology: Ranking the Fastest Online Degree Completion Programs in Finance

To rank the Fastest Online Finance Degree Bachelor’s Pro­grams for 2019, Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter searched for some very spe­cif­ic para­me­ters: region­al­ly-accred­it­ed col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties offer­ing accel­er­at­ed online bach­e­lor com­ple­tion pro­grams that can be fin­ished in 24 months or less. To rank the result­ing pro­grams, we used a few criteria:

• Time to Completion
• Trans­fer Cred­its Accepted
• Mul­ti­ple Start Dates
• Accel­er­at­ed Courses

The Fastest Online Finance rank­ing fea­tures the insti­tu­tions that are most gen­er­ous with trans­fers, fastest, and most con­ve­nient for stu­dents’ sched­ules. See also our rank­ing of the Best Online Bach­e­lor in Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion.

1. Auburn University — Auburn Online

Auburn University’s online BS in Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion is an accel­er­at­ed pro­gram that teach­es mar­ket­ing, finance, man­age­ment and account­ing to stu­dents. It allows work­ing stu­dents to com­plete the degree in two years, and allows stu­dents to trans­fer cred­its from oth­er uni­ver­si­ties to fin­ish the degree at a fast pace. Accel­er­at­ed online degree pro­grams for work­ing adults from Auburn Uni­ver­si­ty allow busy pro­fes­sion­als to focus on their long-term career goals and start improv­ing their opportunities.

Auburn Uni­ver­si­ty has been Alabama’s fore­most pub­lic research uni­ver­si­ty since 1872, though it dates back still fur­ther. With its focus on the needs of Alabama’s work­ing peo­ple, Auburn makes it easy for career-chang­ing adults and work­ing pro­fes­sion­als to focus on their goals. Auburn is ranked one of the top 50 pub­lic uni­ver­si­ties by U.S. News and World Report, which gives employ­ers con­fi­dence in an applicant’s edu­ca­tion. The school is accred­it­ed and is des­ig­nat­ed as an Inno­va­tion and Eco­nom­ic Pros­per­i­ty Uni­ver­si­ty, and its online BSBA is one of the fastest online degree com­ple­tion pro­grams in the South.

School: Har­bert Col­lege of Busi­ness
Degree: BS in Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion (BSBA) degree com­ple­tion pro­gram
How Quick?: 24 months

Click here for more infor­ma­tion about the finance degree!

2. Rasmussen College

For fast and easy online degrees in finance, Ras­mussen College’s online accel­er­at­ed Finance Bach­e­lor’s Degree com­ple­tion pro­gram allows stu­dent to com­plete bach­e­lor degree in 18 months and pro­vides a Flex Choice option to fit their sched­ule and goals. The Flex Choice degree pro­gram means stu­dents can take tra­di­tion­al course­work and self-direct­ed assess­ments for an edu­ca­tion­al expe­ri­ence that works with their long-term goals and sit­u­a­tion. Ras­mussen rec­og­nizes the grow­ing inter­est in more spe­cial­ized finan­cial skills and the CFA des­ig­na­tion, com­bin­ing cours­es and intern­ships to pre­pare stu­dents for the first exam as a Cer­ti­fied Finan­cial Ana­lyst, or CFA.

Ras­mussen Col­lege is a unique region­al­ly-accred­it­ed, for-prof­it insti­tu­tion based in Min­neso­ta. Found­ed in 1900, Ras­mussen began as a busi­ness school, intend­ed to pro­vide train­ing in an area with­out for­mal busi­ness edu­ca­tion, and busi­ness is still its pri­ma­ry focus. Ras­mussen began its online divi­sion in 2002, and has since become a lead­ing name in online busi­ness edu­ca­tion. Their accel­er­at­ed online degree pro­grams for work­ing adults have earned Ras­mussen a rep­u­ta­tion far beyond its hum­ble beginnings.

School: Busi­ness School
Degree: Accel­er­at­ed Finance Bachelor’s degree com­ple­tion
How Quick?: 18 months

Click here for more infor­ma­tion about the finance degree!

3. California State University East Bay — Cal State East Bay Online

The Col­lege of Man­age­ment offers Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty East Bay’s online BSBA-Finance con­cen­tra­tion . The key aspect that sets the degree pro­gram apart is the flex­i­bil­i­ty in rela­tion to their edu­ca­tion. Stu­dents com­plete the entire degree online at a pace that fits their sched­ule and goals. The flex­i­bil­i­ty in their sched­ule means stu­dents can com­plete a bach­e­lor degree in 12 months, or stu­dents can take longer for their degree. That allows stu­dents to fin­ish a degree while stu­dents work in a career while giv­ing them the foun­da­tion to start work­ing in a finan­cial posi­tion. Alto­geth­er, it’s an excel­lent exam­ple of the fastest online degree com­ple­tion pro­grams in California

CSU East Bay is a region­al uni­ver­si­ty ranked by the Prince­ton Review as one of the top pub­lic insti­tu­tions in the West. Begin­ning in 1957, CSU East Bay serves the San Fran­cis­co Bay region, with a par­tic­u­lar mis­sion to pro­vide oppor­tu­ni­ty for the work­ing class and under­served. CSU East Bay has been called the most diverse col­lege in Cal­i­for­nia, and its reach has extend­ed with its online degree pro­grams. Cal State uses online pro­grams to pro­vide accel­er­at­ed online degree pro­grams for work­ing adults, offer­ing some of the best quick and easy online degrees in the nation.

School: Col­lege of Man­age­ment
Degree: BSBA in Finance
How Quick?: 24 months

Click here for more infor­ma­tion about the finance degree!

4. University of Maryland University College — Global Campus

One of the fastest online degree com­ple­tion pro­grams, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mary­land Uni­ver­si­ty Col­lege online BS in Finance pro­gram allows stu­dents to trans­fer up to 90 cred­its from pre­vi­ous col­leges or uni­ver­si­ties. The abil­i­ty to trans­fer a large num­ber of cred­its allows stu­dents to com­plete a bach­e­lor degree in 18 months or less with­out wast­ing time on gen­er­al stud­ies they have already fin­ished. UMUC’s Finance BS pro­gram is a Cer­ti­fied Finan­cial Plan­ner board-cer­ti­fied pro­gram, giv­ing stu­dents con­fi­dence in their finance skills when they com­plete their degree.

School: Under­grad­u­ate School
Degree: BS in Finance
How Quick?: 15 months

Click here for more infor­ma­tion about the finance degree!

5. Lamar University — LU Online

Lamar University’s online Bach­e­lor of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion Finance con­cen­tra­tion gives stu­dents the oppor­tu­ni­ty to com­plete their finance degree in a ful­ly online for­mat. The Gen­er­al Busi­ness degree with a Finance con­cen­tra­tion allows stu­dents to trans­fer cred­its from anoth­er uni­ver­si­ty to com­plete their degree in a time­ly man­ner. Accel­er­at­ed online degree pro­grams for work­ing adults from Lamar Uni­ver­si­ty give stu­dents the abil­i­ty to work around their sched­ule and work on their long-term goals, usu­al­ly in less than two years.

Lamar Uni­ver­si­ty has been pro­vid­ing edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ties for the peo­ple of South­east Texas for near­ly a cen­tu­ry, begin­ning in 1923 as a junior col­lege. Today, Lamar is a pub­lic research uni­ver­si­ty known espe­cial­ly for its out­reach to work­ing adults and for its copi­ous online degree pro­grams. Lamar has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top col­leges in the US for online bachelor’s degrees, with some of the fastest online degree com­ple­tion pro­grams in Texas.

School: Col­lege of Busi­ness
Degree: Bach­e­lor of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion — Finance con­cen­tra­tion
How Quick?: 24 months

Click here for more infor­ma­tion about the finance degree!

6. University of Houston at Clear Lake — UHCL Online

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Hous­ton at Clear Lake online BS in Finance is one of the fastest online degree com­ple­tion pro­grams in Texas. The online pro­gram allows stu­dents to trans­fer cred­its from anoth­er uni­ver­si­ty or degree pro­gram, so stu­dents can com­plete their bach­e­lor degree when it fits their sched­ule, in less than 2 years. The AACSB-accred­it­ed Col­lege of Busi­ness pro­gram focus­es on teach­ing stu­dents real-world appli­ca­tions of finan­cial stud­ies. The top­ics stu­dents learn in the course­work range from sta­tis­tics and account­ing to finan­cial state­ment analy­sis and inter­na­tion­al finance.

UH Clear Lake has been mak­ing its rep­u­ta­tion since 1971, when the Uni­ver­si­ty of Hous­ton opened a Clear Lake cam­pus to pro­vide edu­ca­tion for the Manned Space­craft Cen­ter. Its unique focus on prac­ti­cal, applied sci­ence extends to its busi­ness pro­grams, and Hous­ton is known for noth­ing if not big, big busi­ness. As for accel­er­at­ed online degree pro­grams for work­ing adults — UHCL has earned acco­lades from U.S. News and many oth­ers not only as a top region­al uni­ver­si­ty, but as one of the best online edu­ca­tors in the nation.

School: Col­lege of Busi­ness
Degree: BS in Finance
How Quick?: 24 months

Click here for more infor­ma­tion about the finance degree!

7. Bemidji State University — BSU Extended Learning

Bemid­ji State University’s online BS in Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion-Finance con­cen­tra­tion allows stu­dents to com­plete their degree with­out wast­ing their time. The pro­gram requires stu­dents to trans­fer at least 24 cred­its from anoth­er uni­ver­si­ty or col­lege to start the com­ple­tion pro­gram, but can trans­fer up to half the require 120 cred­its. The Min­neso­ta Trans­fer Cur­ricu­lum makes it easy for stu­dents to trans­fer cred­its from any Min­neso­ta State Col­leges and Uni­ver­si­ties mem­ber, pro­vid­ing accel­er­at­ed online degree pro­grams for work­ing adults in all sorts of fields.

For a cen­tu­ry now, Bemid­ji State Uni­ver­si­ty has been pro­vid­ing oppor­tu­ni­ty for Minnesota’s work­ing adults, since its found­ing in 1919 as a teacher train­ing school. Today, BSU works to achieve its goal of giv­ing peo­ple across Min­neso­ta a chance, not only through its own cam­pus, but through its many ful­ly online and hybrid pro­grams. Bemid­ji State has emerged as an online leader, and its afford­able tuition — with no out-of-state fees for online stu­dents — has made it a vir­tu­al des­ti­na­tion for stu­dents around the world look­ing for quick and easy online degrees.

School: Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion
Degree: BSBA in Finance
How Quick?: 24 months

Click here for more infor­ma­tion about the finance degree!

8. Bellevue University

Belle­vue University’s online BS in Busi­ness degree pro­gram focus­es on trans­ferrable, imme­di­ate­ly applic­a­ble busi­ness skills, giv­ing stu­dents a well-round­ed view of com­pa­ny growth and devel­op­ment. Stu­dents learn about mar­ket­ing, finance, account­ing, eco­nom­ics, human resource man­age­ment and oth­er man­age­ment skills that give them a com­pet­i­tive edge when start­ing a new career in a com­pa­ny. Designed around a cohort for­mat, stu­dents get strong sup­port and net­work­ing even in ful­ly online class­es. The online BS is also per­fect­ly designed to roll right into an MS in Finance pro­gram, and stu­dents can fin­ish their bach­e­lor degree in 18 months.

Belle­vue Uni­ver­si­ty began in 1966 with a rev­o­lu­tion­ary mis­sion to pro­vide afford­able, acces­si­ble edu­ca­tion for work­ing adults. In 1966, that was just local out­reach, but Belle­vue has remained an inno­va­tor and pio­neer, estab­lish­ing accel­er­at­ed degree com­ple­tion pro­grams in the 1980s and branch­ing into online edu­ca­tion ear­ly. In fact, Belle­vue is ranked one of the top 10 online under­grad­u­ate col­leges by U.S. News, with some of the nation’s best accel­er­at­ed online degree pro­grams for work­ing adults.

School: Col­lege of Busi­ness
Degree: BS in Busi­ness — Finance and Account­ing
How Quick?: 18 months

Click here for more infor­ma­tion about the finance degree!

9. DeSales University ACCESS

DeSales University’s online BS in Finance accel­er­at­ed pro­gram allows stu­dents to study for the CFP exam and obtain a cer­tifi­cate in Finan­cial Man­age­ment and Finan­cial Plan­ning. That gives stu­dents a com­pet­i­tive edge by pro­vid­ing unique skills that will help them stand out when seek­ing a career in the finance indus­try. The school is accred­it­ed by the ACBSP, so stu­dents can feel con­fi­dent that employ­ers will con­sid­er the online degree in the same man­ner as a tra­di­tion­al degree pro­gram. With trans­fer cred­its, stu­dents can poten­tial­ly fin­ish their bach­e­lor degree in 18 months.

DeSales Uni­ver­si­ty ACCESS (found­ed in 1977) is one of the nation’s most inno­v­a­tive and impres­sive evening and online adult edu­ca­tion pro­grams, with accel­er­at­ed 6 and 8‑week cours­es and the ben­e­fit of allow­ing online stu­dents to attend on-cam­pus day class­es when con­ve­nient. DeSales was built on the needs of work­ing adults and oth­er non­tra­di­tion­al stu­dents, from the time it was found­ed in 1966 as a dif­fer­ent sort of Catholic col­lege. Today, DeSales is one of the most respect­ed busi­ness schools in Penn­syl­va­nia, offer­ing accel­er­at­ed online degree pro­grams for work­ing adults in the most con­ve­nient ways possible.

School: ACCESS
Degree: BS in Finance
How Quick?: 18 months

Click here for more infor­ma­tion about the finance degree!

10. Post University

Post University’s online BS in Finance degree pro­gram allows stu­dents to take cours­es online, but stu­dents can also attend class­es on-cam­pus when it fits their sched­ule. The ACB­SP-accred­it­ed pro­gram focus­es on finan­cial man­age­ment and pol­i­cy mak­ing as well as valu­able skills like com­mu­ni­ca­tion and finan­cial plan­ning. The key aspect that sets Post Uni­ver­si­ty apart from oth­er online pro­grams and schools is the train­ing stu­dents receive to obtain Finan­cial Indus­try Reg­u­la­to­ry Author­i­ty (FINRA) Series 6 and the Series 7 exams, which are vital for a career in the finance industry.

A pri­vate, for-prof­it uni­ver­si­ty found­ed in 1890, Post Uni­ver­si­ty is ded­i­cat­ed to busi­ness. Post’s modus operan­di is flex­i­bil­i­ty; since the 1970s, when it began its accel­er­at­ed pro­grams for vet­er­ans, the uni­ver­si­ty puts a pri­or­i­ty on work­ing with busy pro­fes­sion­als to make their degree com­ple­tion pro­grams as man­age­able as pos­si­ble. All 127 cred­its of the BS in Finance can be earned online, but gen­er­ous trans­fer poli­cies — as much a 90 cred­its — ensure that online degree com­ple­tion stu­dents can get their bach­e­lor degree in 12 months. Few accel­er­at­ed online degree pro­grams for work­ing adults offer what Post has to offer.

School: N/A
Degree: BS in Finance
How Quick?: 12 months

Click here for more infor­ma­tion about the finance degree!

How Quickly Can I Finish a Finance Degree?

A tra­di­tion­al bachelor’s degree gen­er­al­ly takes 4 years, but many adult stu­dents and work­ing pro­fes­sion­als are in a hur­ry to secure their degrees, and the oppor­tu­ni­ties (like high­er pay) that come along with a bachelor’s degree in finance. “I need a bach­e­lor degree in 18 months,” “I need a bach­e­lor degree in 12 months,” I need a degree fast!” – if you’ve said some vari­a­tion recent­ly, there’s good news: you can get a degree online in 6 months, earn a bach­e­lor degree in 12 months, or even fin­ish a bach­e­lor degree in 18 months (so leisure­ly!) with accel­er­at­ed online degree pro­grams for work­ing adults in the com­fort of your own home. It’s not four years anymore!

Since accu­rate tim­ing is required on issues per­tain­ing invest­ment, a course that you are at lib­er­ty to start at any time of the year fits the bill. An online bach­e­lor of sci­ence in finance offers exact­ly that. With the option of self-paced class­es, you can decide how fast you want to work, and how soon you want to be through. Be aware, though, that how long a degree takes depends on what you bring to the table: trans­fer cred­its and your moti­va­tion are two key elements.

Are Accelerated Online Degree Programs for Working Adults?

The Bureau of Labor Sta­tis­tics (BLS) makes it clear that a bachelor’s degree is essen­tial for finan­cial exam­in­ers and per­son­al finan­cial advi­sors. The incred­i­ble flex­i­bil­i­ty of accel­er­at­ed online pro­grams enables a work­ing adult to choose how to con­ve­nient­ly study between work and fam­i­ly respon­si­bil­i­ties, and quick­ly com­plete the course. Mod­els are avail­able which are inten­tion­al­ly devel­oped to suit these adult learn­ers through the accel­er­at­ed online degree pro­gram for work­ing adults.

Con­densed cours­es allow adult stu­dents to focus on com­plet­ing one course (con­densed) for bet­ter bal­anc­ing of time between dif­fer­ent respon­si­bil­i­ties. It still car­ries the same study con­tent but can be done in a more time-effi­cient manner.

Accel­er­at­ed cours­es take a 4 or 3 cred­it course and com­press it to cov­er a short­er time than the tra­di­tion­al 15 weeks. Through an accel­er­at­ed degree pro­gram for work­ing adults, cours­es can be com­plet­ed in just 5 to 8 weeks.

Self-Paced Pro­grams offer flex­i­bil­i­ty at its best; the learn­er can deter­mine when to speed up or slow down depend­ing on his/her work sched­ule demands.

Of course, it is impor­tant to look into the school’s accred­i­ta­tion, finan­cial aid offer­ings, and all of the usu­al signs of a good pro­gram. If you expect to get a master’s degree lat­er, a good BBA will help.

Is a Bachelor Degree Completion Program in Finance Right for Me?

Finance is one of the fastest online degree com­ple­tion pro­grams that can be done in a short time. The finan­cial sec­tor is expect­ed to gen­er­ate a mas­sive num­ber of jobs in the near future, which makes the online plat­form very advan­ta­geous as it will ensure you meet your job prospects and targets.

Online learn­ing ensures a cost-effec­tive edu­ca­tion pro­gram as all the over­head costs are eas­i­ly elim­i­nat­ed. Your salary is also set to increase by the time you earn your online bach­e­lor of finance degree, so no pro­duc­tive time is lost. This is of great ben­e­fit both to you and your fam­i­ly – the fam­i­ly bond is also not bro­ken due to separation.

Aca­d­e­m­i­cal­ly, you stand to enjoy a more inter­ac­tive, rich­er edu­ca­tion which enhances the abil­i­ty to retain knowl­edge. Email con­nec­tiv­i­ty with col­leagues and lec­tur­ers ensures that no stone is left unturned as far as the acqui­si­tion of knowl­edge is con­cerned. The bot­tom line is, learn­ers and their fam­i­lies ben­e­fit immense­ly. The col­lege ben­e­fits too, since the fastest online degree com­ple­tion pro­gram eas­es pres­sure off their phys­i­cal infrastructure.

In a bachelor’s pro­gram you’ll learn about:

• risk man­age­ment
• finan­cial ser­vices fundamentals
• finan­cial analysis
• cor­po­rate finance
• port­fo­lio management
• finan­cial markets
• per­son­al finance
• finan­cial accounting
• val­u­a­tion
• macro­eco­nom­ics
• fore­cast­ing
• finan­cial reporting
• per­son­al finan­cial planning
• non­prof­it and busi­ness management
• estate plan­ning

With these skills, there are many career paths. You can work in wealth man­age­ment, become a bud­get ana­lyst at finan­cial insti­tu­tions, become a char­tered finan­cial ana­lyst, and much more. Any­one work­ing in a finan­cial deci­sion-mak­ing capacity

Are Online Finance Degrees Easier than Traditional Programs?

For those seek­ing quick and easy online degrees, online finance degrees are a great option. It’s impor­tant to note, though, that course con­tents are the same for online and tra­di­tion­al pro­grams – online finance degrees are not “eas­i­er” than tra­di­tion­al. How­ev­er, going online has far more advan­tages for work­ing adults com­pared to their tra­di­tion­al counterparts.

Online degrees take much short­er time to com­plete. A 16-week course in the tra­di­tion­al on-cam­pus set­ting can be effec­tive­ly done in only 8 weeks, paving way for quick and easy online degrees of same value.

Sched­ul­ing of online finance degrees is more flex­i­ble than on-cam­pus pro­grams. That means, with the best accel­er­at­ed degree pro­grams for work­ing adults, you have the lee­way of doing your course­work while bal­anc­ing between your fam­i­ly and work duties, pro­vid­ed that you meet the deadlines.

Attend­ing an online school is time and cost effi­cient. All you need is to log in – no need to com­mute to and from class with all the expens­es and incon­ve­niences involved. They are also usu­al­ly cheap­er, because quick and easy online degrees take few­er semes­ters of fees and oth­er expens­es. Doing your course online pro­vides you with the priv­i­lege of enjoy­ing short bursts of learn­ing ses­sions any­time and any­where, which enhances gen­uine under­stand­ing and retention.

Obvi­ous­ly, you still need to do the work — case stud­ies, elec­tive cours­es, core cours­es gen­er­al edu­ca­tion. If you are learn­ing part-time, the process may also take longer than full-time. Many pro­grams also require a cap­stone project.

With an online finance degree pro­gram, there is unlim­it­ed access to edu­ca­tion­al resources through con­tact with oth­er col­leges across the globe.