Fast and Affordable Education: Accessible Degree Programs for Every Learner

What is an accessible degree program?

Many peo­ple in today’s work­force feel the pres­sure to get a bach­e­lor’s or mas­ter’s degree to advance their career. There are also a lot of stu­dents con­tin­u­ing to work on a degree while hold­ing down a full time job and keep pace with grow­ing fam­i­lies and oth­er life goals. Find­ing the right degree pro­gram that can fit into a busy lifestyle can be chal­leng­ing. It is dif­fi­cult to pick the right col­lege or uni­ver­si­ty for your career goals. Enroll­ment can be a com­pli­cat­ed and time-con­sum­ing process, involv­ing fees and oth­er ini­tial invest­ments. And then tak­ing on your first few cours­es and feel­ing the weight of many more months or years of class­es or oth­er require­ments can be dis­cour­ag­ing. Thank­ful­ly, edu­ca­tion­al insti­tu­tions are increas­ing­ly rec­og­niz­ing these chal­lenges and offer­ing more acces­si­ble degree pro­grams designed for a diverse range of stu­dents. Whether you are a work­ing adult, a vet­er­an, or some­one look­ing for a flex­i­ble, accel­er­at­ed path, there are options avail­able to help you achieve your edu­ca­tion­al goals. In this arti­cle, we will take a look at these emerg­ing options and how they help you imag­ine a new future and career.

Fast-Track Degrees for Learners with Limited Time

When we hear “bach­e­lor’s degree”, most of us still think of a four-year com­mit­ment on a tra­di­tion­al col­lege cam­pus. We tend to think the same way about mas­ter’s degrees and oth­er pro­fes­sion­al cer­ti­fi­ca­tions. While these tra­di­tion­al cred­it require­ments and time­lines to grad­u­a­tion still occu­py the largest share of the high­er-edu­ca­tion mar­ket, col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties are begin­ning to increase access to degrees in the fol­low­ing ways.

Competency-Based Degrees

Com­pe­ten­cy-based edu­ca­tion (CBE) is a much dif­fer­ent way of think­ing about design­ing an under­grad­u­ate or grad­u­ate degree. In a tra­di­tion­al degree pro­gram, you attend a class with oth­er stu­dents that has a defined semes­ter. At the end of the semes­ter you com­plete a project or take an exam to show that you have under­stand and can apply the key aims of the course. CBE is entire­ly dif­fer­ent. Stu­dents can enroll in a course at many dif­fer­ent times through­out the aca­d­e­m­ic year. While they will be learn­ing with oth­er stu­dents in an online envi­ron­ment, you are free to com­plete the course and all course assign­ments at your own pace. CBE pro­grams focus on the mas­tery of skills and knowl­edge rather than the time spent in a class­room. If you can quick­ly progress through course mate­r­i­al, you can com­plete the course more quick­ly that a tra­di­tion­al class. CBE pro­grams often also offer cred­it for pri­or life or work expe­ri­ence. This mod­el is very attrac­tive for adults who have an estab­lished career and feel that a degree may get them to the next level.

Accelerated Degree Programs

Gen­er­al­ly, an accel­er­at­ed degree pro­gram is designed more like a tra­di­tion­al degree pro­gram. You enroll in a pro­gram and take cours­es with a cohort of oth­er stu­dents. The dif­fer­ence is accel­er­at­ed pro­grams are much faster paced. These pro­grams are designed to con­dense the tra­di­tion­al time­line of earn­ing a degree, allow­ing stu­dents to grad­u­ate soon­er. You will make it to grad­u­a­tion much more quick­ly, in some cas­es as quick­ly as two years for a bach­e­lor’s degree. Stu­dents in accel­er­at­ed pro­grams need to be ready to han­dle the pace and work­load of inten­sive course sched­ules and much short­er terms. Accel­er­at­ed pro­grams can often require attend­ing inten­sive on cam­pus ses­sions of sev­er­al weeks once or twice dur­ing the degree pro­gram. Accel­er­at­ed degrees are ide­al for high­ly moti­vat­ed indi­vid­u­als ready to com­mit to a rig­or­ous study schedule.

Stackable Credits and Certifications

Stack­able cred­its and cer­ti­fi­ca­tions are a good option when you are not ready to com­mit to a full degree pro­gram, but want to get your feet wet in high­er edu­ca­tion. In this learn­ing process, you would com­plete a des­ig­nat­ed ini­tial course or set of cours­es and receive a pro­fes­sion­al cer­ti­fi­ca­tion valu­able on the job mar­ket or in your field. These cer­ti­fi­ca­tions are help­ful for pro­mo­tion, on your resume, or as part of your LinkedIn pro­fes­sion­al show­case. Here is where stack­able cred­its and cer­ti­fi­ca­tions can real­ly work in your favor. There are pro­grams avail­able where as you com­plete more of these cred­its or cer­ti­fi­ca­tions over time, they will even­tu­al­ly add up to a full under­grad­u­ate or grad­u­ate degree. This is a great option to con­sid­er in spe­cif­ic indus­tries where pro­fes­sion­al cer­ti­fi­ca­tions make you stand out or advance more quickly.

Options for Non-Traditional Learners

It is also help­ful to look at trends in fast-track degree options through the lens of the dif­fer­ent needs we can bring to high­er edu­ca­tion. Non-tra­di­tion­al learn­ers, such as work­ing adults and par­ents, often strug­gle to fit con­ven­tion­al class­room sched­ules into their busy lives. We may have health issues that require dif­fer­ent types of accom­mo­da­tion or learn­ing sup­port. Any fea­ture of your life that makes it dif­fi­cult to access and main­tain con­nec­tion to a degree pro­gram can make you what insti­tu­tions con­sid­er a non-tra­di­tion­al learn­er. Tech­ni­cal­ly, a non-tra­di­tion­al learn­er is defined as some­one who is inde­pen­dent for finan­cial aid, have one or more depen­dents, is already part of the work­force, or does not have a tra­di­tion­al high school diplo­ma. This is impor­tant to rec­og­nize as the high­er edu­ca­tion land­scape in the US is increas­ing­ly rec­og­niz­ing the bar­ri­ers non-tra­di­tion­al learn­ers face and are craft­ing pro­grams to address these tough barriers.

Accessible Enrollment Process

Ease of enroll­ment is a key bar­ri­er for many prospec­tive stu­dents. Even just look­ing at a col­lege appli­ca­tion can be a dis­cour­ag­ing expe­ri­ence. Many uni­ver­si­ties and col­leges have sim­pli­fied their admis­sion process­es to make the enroll­ment process more acces­si­ble and inclu­sive. These enroll­ment strate­gies include rolling admis­sions, where stu­dents can apply and start their stud­ies at mul­ti­ple points through­out the year. Open admis­sions poli­cies do not require stan­dard­ized test scores or oth­er tra­di­tion­al cri­te­ria. This can reduce the amount of stress, time com­mit­ment, and expense involved with the appli­ca­tion process. Some­one look­ing to con­nect quick­ly with a degree pro­gram should pri­or­i­tize insti­tu­tions with a rolling or open admis­sions process.

Support for Veterans

Vet­er­ans bring unique skills and expe­ri­ences to the class­room, yet they often face spe­cif­ic chal­lenges when tran­si­tion­ing to civil­ian learn­ing envi­ron­ments. Many insti­tu­tions offer tai­lored sup­port ser­vices for vet­er­ans, includ­ing ded­i­cat­ed advis­ing, finan­cial aid coun­sel­ing, and cred­it for mil­i­tary train­ing and expe­ri­ence. These pro­grams aim to smooth the tran­si­tion and pro­vide a sup­port­ive envi­ron­ment for vet­er­ans to explore poten­tial degree options and achieve their career goals.

Flexible Degree Programs

Busy work­ing adults seek­ing to fur­ther their edu­ca­tion can ben­e­fit from pro­grams specif­i­cal­ly designed to accom­mo­date their sched­ules. Online degree pro­grams are par­tic­u­lar­ly pop­u­lar, offer­ing the flex­i­bil­i­ty to study from any­where at any time. For future stu­dents want­i­ng to expe­ri­ence a more tra­di­tion­al class­room envi­ron­ment, many uni­ver­si­ties have a vari­ety of options for atten­dance. You may enroll in a part-time degree with oth­er stu­dents learn­ing at the same pace. You may head to cam­pus for class­es in the evening or on the week­end. There are also pro­grams that focus more on inten­sive one or two week expe­ri­ences over time that free you up for oth­er career or life goals. 

Explore Your Options Today

The land­scape of high­er edu­ca­tion is evolv­ing to meet the needs of a diverse and chang­ing pop­u­la­tion. Acces­si­ble degree pro­grams are open­ing doors for many who might oth­er­wise find it dif­fi­cult to pur­sue high­er edu­ca­tion. Whether through com­pe­ten­cy-based learn­ing, accel­er­at­ed sched­ules, flex­i­ble for­mats, or sup­port­ive ser­vices for vet­er­ans and work­ing adults, there are now more path­ways to achieve aca­d­e­m­ic and pro­fes­sion­al suc­cess. By embrac­ing these oppor­tu­ni­ties, stu­dents can find a path that fits their unique needs and cir­cum­stances, unlock­ing their full poten­tial in the process.