10 Most Affordable Bachelor’s in Human Resources

Work­ing adults who want to com­plete their bachelor’s degree have to take cost into con­sid­er­a­tion, espe­cial­ly if they’re pay­ing for their degree them­selves. Most stu­dents want to find the cheap­est online Human Resources degree pos­si­ble. In most cas­es, online degree pro­grams are more afford­able because of the way the class­es are taught. While a cheap degree or cer­ti­fi­ca­tion is accept­able, stu­dents may want to pay a lit­tle more to ensure they get every­thing they need.

Earn­ing a Human Resources degree or cer­ti­fi­ca­tion online is extreme­ly ben­e­fi­cial because it pro­vides the nec­es­sary skills you will need to man­age the resources you have avail­able to you. This type of degree also teach­es you how to match poten­tial hires to posi­tions with­in the com­pa­ny. Human Resources is also in charge of deal­ing with all of the ben­e­fits pro­grams a com­pa­ny offers to its employ­ees. It will be up to you to ensure that both recruit­ment and ben­e­fits tasks are han­dled effi­cient­ly and expe­di­tious­ly. Earn­ing a cer­tifi­cate or degree online will give you the skills you need to do your job with con­fi­dence and know you are mak­ing a dif­fer­ence with your employees.

Relat­ed:

• Best Human Resources Degree Programs
• Best Online Human Resources Degree Programs
• Fastest Online Human Resources Degree Programs
• Best Online Train­ing and Devel­op­ment Degree Programs
• Human Resources Scholarships

Methodology: Ranking the Most Affordable Human Resources Degrees

A cheap degree is a sav­ings, but cheap in itself isn’t a val­ue. For the Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter Most Afford­able Human Resources degree rank­ing, BDC edi­tors began with a pool of accred­it­ed, trust­ed col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties, so stu­dents can be sure their afford­able degree is worth it. The rank­ing is put into order by tuition rate, from low­est to highest.

1. California State University, Long Beach

Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty, Long Beach Col­lege of Busi­ness offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence (BS) degree in Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion (BA) with a con­cen­tra­tion in Human Resources Man­age­ment (HRM) that requires degree can­di­dates to com­plete 120 semes­ter units to grad­u­ate. LBSU’s under­grad­u­ate human resource pro­gram is con­sid­ered one of the most afford­able human resources degrees in the coun­try. Course­work for the human resource degree includes lead­er­ship and moti­va­tion, man­ag­ing diver­si­ty, staffing and per­for­mance man­age­ment, and labor rela­tions, to name a few.

Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty, Long Beach was estab­lished in 1949 and is a space-grant insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing. The school’s cam­pus is the 3rd largest of the Cal­i­for­nia Uni­ver­si­ty Sys­tem in terms of acreage with more than 300 acres. More than 38,000 stu­dents attend class­es at LBSU each semester.

What We Like: The school is locat­ed in the most south­east­ern coastal area of Los Ange­les County.

Degree: Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion: Human Resources Man­age­ment, BS

Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty, Long Beach Human Resources Man­age­ment, BS

2. California State University, Sacramento

Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty, Sacramento’s Col­lege of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree in Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion with a spe­cial­iza­tion in the Man­age­ment of Human Resources. Stu­dents enrolled in one of the most afford­able human resources degrees in the coun­try must com­plete 120 cred­it units to grad­u­ate, of which 63 must be from the major’s cur­ricu­lum. Class­es in the human resource major include labor rela­tions, orga­ni­za­tion­al behav­ior, busi­ness ethics, employ­ee ben­e­fits, and indus­tri­al psy­chol­o­gy, to name a few.

Sac State was estab­lished in 1947 as a state col­lege. CSUS’s urban cam­pus cov­ers more than 290 acres and serves more than 30,000 stu­dents. The school’s cam­pus has two rec­og­nized his­to­ry sites list­ed in the Nation­al Reg­is­ter of His­toric Places.

What We Like: Cal­i­for­nia State University—Sacramento is one of the old­er mem­ber schools of the Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty system.

Degree: Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion: Man­age­ment of Human Resources, BS

Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty, Sacra­men­to Man­age­ment of Human Resources, BS

3. Murray State University

Mur­ray State University’s Bauern­feind Col­lege of Busi­ness offers a bachelor’s degree in man­age­ment with a Human Resource Man­age­ment Track that has received accred­i­ta­tion from the AACSB. MSU’s under­grad­u­ate human resource degree is con­sid­ered to be one of the most afford­able human resources degrees in the nation. Course­work for this pro­gram includes the com­ple­tion of 120 cred­it units with class­es like train­ing and devel­op­ment, orga­ni­za­tion­al devel­op­ment, occu­pa­tion­al safe­ty, labor rela­tions, plus an intern­ship or coop­er­a­tive edu­ca­tion expe­ri­ence relat­ed to the human resource major.

Mur­ray State Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished as a pub­lic insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing in 1922 by the pas­sage by the com­mon­wealth’s Sen­ate bill. Mur­ray State Uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates cam­pus­es in Hen­der­son, Madis­onville, Pad­u­c­ah, and Hop­kinsville as well. The school’s cam­pus cov­ers more than 40 acres and serves near­ly 10,000 students.

What We Like: MSU has been rec­og­nized among the top region­al uni­ver­si­ties for near­ly 30 years in a row.

Degree: Human Resource Man­age­ment Track

Mur­ray State Uni­ver­si­ty Human Resource Man­age­ment Track

4. Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University’s Mar­riott School of Busi­ness offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree in Human Resource Man­age­ment pro­gram that is rec­og­nized as one of the country’s most afford­able human resources degrees. BYU’s under­grad­u­ate pro­gram only accepts 40 stu­dents annu­al­ly. Course­work for BYU’s degree pro­gram includes orga­ni­za­tion­al effec­tive­ness, com­pen­sa­tion, and ben­e­fits, man­age­r­i­al lead­er­ship, per­for­mance man­age­ment, plus an on-cam­pus human resource expe­ri­en­tial project. Degree can­di­dates are required to com­plete 64 cred­it units from the human resource major cur­ricu­lum. Stu­dents typ­i­cal­ly fol­low a cohort through three semesters.

Brigham Young Uni­ver­si­ty (BYU) was char­tered in 1875 and is a space-grant insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing. BYU Pro­vo is affil­i­at­ed with the Mor­mon Church and serves more than 33,400 stu­dents on the school’s 500+ acre campus.

What We Like: Brigham Young Uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates addi­tion­al aca­d­e­m­ic cam­pus­es in Salt Lake City and Jerusalem.

Degree: Human Resource Man­age­ment, BS

Brigham Young Uni­ver­si­ty Human Resource Man­age­ment, BS

5. California State University, Chico

Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty, Chico’s Col­lege of Busi­ness offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree in Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion (BSBA) pro­gram with a human resource man­age­ment sequence that is rec­og­nized as one of the nation’s most afford­able human resources degrees. Stu­dents enrolled in CSU Chico’s bac­calau­re­ate busi­ness pro­gram in human resources must com­plete 120 semes­ter cred­its, of which 24 semes­ter cred­its must be ded­i­cat­ed to the human resource man­age­ment major. Class­es include busi­ness dynam­ics, orga­ni­za­tion­al con­sult­ing, recruit­ment, cor­po­rate entre­pre­neur­ship, plus a man­dat­ed human resource practicum.

Cal State Chico was estab­lished in 1887 as a pub­lic insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing. The school’s small-city cam­pus cov­ers more than 100 acres and serves more than 16,000 stu­dents vying for more than 125 bac­calau­re­ate programs.

What We Like: Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty, Chico holds the dis­tinc­tion of being the sec­ond old­est of all the mem­ber schools in the (CSU) Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty system.

Degree: Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion, BS

6. Amridge University

Amridge University’s Col­lege of Busi­ness and Lead­er­ship offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree pro­gram in Human Resource Lead­er­ship that requires degree can­di­dates to com­plete 128 cred­it units to meet the program’s require­ments, of which 40 cred­it units must be com­plet­ed at Amridge Uni­ver­si­ty. Course­work for one of the south­ern US’s most afford­able human resources degrees includes employ­ment law, effec­tive lead­er­ship, orga­ni­za­tion­al the­o­ry, busi­ness law, man­age­ment inter­ven­tion, and human rela­tions, to name a few. Stu­dents grad­u­ate to find reward­ing careers as a human resource man­ag­er, a cor­po­rate train­er, or a human resource spe­cial­ist, among others.

Amridge Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1967 as a Reli­gious Chris­t­ian school. It was orig­i­nal­ly a the­o­log­i­cal sem­i­nary but now offers expand­ed cur­ric­u­la. Amridge Uni­ver­si­ty is orga­nized into five colleges/schools that serve about 700 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: The library sys­tem at Amridge Uni­ver­si­ty is home to a com­pre­hen­sive col­lec­tion of the­o­log­i­cal and reli­gious ref­er­ence books.

Degree: Human Resource Lead­er­ship, BS

Amridge Uni­ver­si­ty Human Resource Lead­er­ship, BS

7. Cleveland State University

Cleve­land State University’s Col­lege of Busi­ness offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree pro­gram in Human Resource Man­age­ment that is con­sid­ered among the most afford­able human resources degrees in the mid­west­ern por­tion of the US. Course­work for CSU’s bac­calau­re­ate human resource man­age­ment includes staffing, employ­ment law, employ­ee rela­tions, com­pen­sa­tion and ben­e­fits, prin­ci­ples of labor rela­tions, and human resource infor­ma­tion tech­nol­o­gy, to name a few. Addi­tion­al­ly, degree can­di­dates must com­plete an inde­pen­dent study in human resource man­age­ment to graduate.

Cleve­land State Uni­ver­si­ty (CSU) was estab­lished in 1964 as a YMCA school that offered free class­es. Through­out its his­to­ry, Cleve­land State Uni­ver­si­ty has acquired exist­ing schools to grow in size. CSU’s urban cam­pus cov­ers more than 75 acres and serves more than 15,500 students.

What We Like: Cleve­land State Uni­ver­si­ty is a mem­ber school of the Uni­ver­si­ty Sys­tem of Ohio.

Degree: Human Resource Man­age­ment, BS

Cleve­land State Uni­ver­si­ty Human Resource Man­age­ment, BS

8. University of Colorado

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Col­orado offers a BSBA in Human Resources that is con­sid­ered among the nation’s most afford­able human resources degrees. CU Boul­der’s under­grad­u­ate human resource pro­gram has received accred­i­ta­tion from the AACSB. Stu­dents enrolled at CU Boul­der must com­plete 120 semes­ter cred­its to meet pro­gram require­ments. Stu­dents grad­u­ate with the skills required to staff, train, and lead human resource depart­ments as the next gen­er­a­tion of busi­ness leaders.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Col­orado was estab­lished in 1876, sev­er­al months before Col­orado became a state. CU Boul­der is the flag­ship insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing for the state and the Uni­ver­si­ty of Col­orado sys­tem. The school’s cam­pus cov­ers 775+ urban acres and serves more than 9,100 students.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Col­orado ath­letes – the Buf­faloes – have won more than 25 nation­al cham­pi­onships in ski­ing-relat­ed sports.

Degree: Human Resources, BSBA

Uni­ver­si­ty of Col­orado BSBA in Human Resources

9. San Diego State University

San Diego State University’s Man­age­ment Depart­ment offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion (BSBA) with a major sequence in Human Resources that is con­sid­ered among the nation’s most afford­able human resources degree pro­grams. The cur­ricu­lum for SDSU’s under­grad­u­ate human resource degree pro­gram includes per­for­mance man­age­ment, HR legal issues, com­pen­sa­tion and ben­e­fits, labor rela­tions, diver­si­ty issues, and human resource man­age­ment, to name a few. Stu­dents enrolled in San Diego State University’s HR pro­gram have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to join SHRM – the Soci­ety for Human Resource Management.

San Diego State Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished as a teacher’s school in 1897. SDSU is a space-grant insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing that serves more than 35,000 stu­dents. SDSU is a mem­ber school of the Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty and the 3rd oldest.

What We Like: Forbes rec­og­nizes San Diego State Uni­ver­si­ty among the top schools in the 90%+ percentile.

Degree: Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion: Human Resources, BS

San Diego State Uni­ver­si­ty Human Resources, BS

10. Ball State University

Ball State Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS or BA in Human Resource Man­age­ment (HRM) that is accred­it­ed by AACSB; the Asso­ci­a­tion to Advance Col­le­giate Schools of Busi­ness. Stu­dents enrolled in one of the most afford­able human resources degree avail­able grad­u­ate to find reward­ing careers as staffing man­agers, recruiters, train­ing man­agers, employ­ee rela­tions spe­cial­ists, or per­son­nel admin­is­tra­tors, to name a few. Degree can­di­dates must com­plete 120 semes­ter cred­it to meet pro­gram require­ments, with 27 semes­ter cred­its ded­i­cat­ed to the human resource curriculum.

Ball State Uni­ver­si­ty (BSU) was estab­lished in 1918 by two suc­cess­ful indus­tri­al­ist broth­ers as a school to train teach­ers. Ball State Uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates sev­er­al cam­pus­es in Muncie, Indi­anapo­lis, and Fish­ers, Indi­ana. More than 22,000 stu­dents attend class­es on BSU’s 1,140 acreage campuses.

What We Like: Ball State Uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates more than 390 stu­dent clubs and relat­ed orga­ni­za­tions for BSU students.

Degree: Human Resource Man­age­ment, BS/BA

Ball State Uni­ver­si­ty BS or BA in Human Resource Management

How Do I Save Money on an Affordable Human Resources Degree?

Many orga­ni­za­tions offer schol­ar­ships to stu­dents (no mat­ter what age in many cas­es) who are try­ing to fur­ther their edu­ca­tion but lack the funds to do so with­out caus­ing finan­cial hardship.

Grants are anoth­er way to defray the cost of your edu­ca­tion. Grants can be found that will pro­vide funds for each year the stu­dent returns to school up to a spe­cif­ic amount. Many grants are offered based on edu­ca­tion and finan­cial need, while oth­ers are offered to stu­dents who are focus­ing on a spe­cif­ic area of study. Both schol­ar­ships and grants are con­sid­ered to be gifts and do not have to be paid back to the orga­ni­za­tion or indi­vid­ual that offered them.

Employ­ee reim­burse­ment pro­grams are a great way for an employ­er to assist their employ­ees in fur­ther­ing their edu­ca­tion. When an indi­vid­ual makes the choice to return to school, it will ben­e­fit both them­selves as well as their employ­er. Many employ­ers will reim­burse the stu­dent for the cost of their edu­ca­tion if they pass their cours­es and agree to con­tin­ue to work for them after grad­u­a­tion. This makes it eas­i­er for the employ­ee to gain an advan­tage and the employ­er reaps the rewards.

Will a Human Resources Certification Help My Career?

Cer­ti­fi­ca­tions for Human Resources are an ide­al way for indi­vid­u­als to meet the require­ments for dif­fer­ent licens­es that they car­ry for their jobs. Online Human Resources cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­grams offer many of the same skills as an accel­er­at­ed degree pro­gram but in a much short­er peri­od of time. Although cer­ti­fi­ca­tions are not as in-depth as most degree pro­grams, they do offer valu­able infor­ma­tion that will keep the stu­dent up to date with the most cur­rent trends in the field.

A Cer­ti­fi­ca­tion in Human Resources also pro­vides the grad­u­ate with the cre­den­tials they need to back up their many years of expe­ri­ence. Indi­vid­u­als who have worked in the Human Resources field for sev­er­al years already have accu­mu­lat­ed skills they need to per­form their duties. Instead of spend­ing time in class study­ing things they already know, they can earn a cer­tifi­cate and be rec­og­nized for already hav­ing those skills. Some stu­dents who have been in the field for 20 or 30 years already have a wealth of knowl­edge that can be extreme­ly use­ful even though it may be some­what dated.

Online cer­tifi­cate pro­grams are con­ve­nient espe­cial­ly for stu­dents who work a full-time job and have to take care of their fam­i­lies. Online pro­grams are extreme­ly flex­i­ble when it comes to the stu­den­t’s sched­ule allow­ing them to study when­ev­er they can fit it in. Although dead­lines must be met in terms of assign­ments and tests, home­work can be com­plet­ed at any time so stu­dents aren’t restrict­ed to a class sched­ule. Anoth­er ben­e­fit is the fact that there is no trav­el time. Stu­dents can study any­where they can find a WiFi con­nec­tion and don’t have to wor­ry about being at the col­lege. They can study at home, while they are trav­el­ing, or on their lunch break at work.

What Is a Human Resources Manager?

With an online Human Resources degree or cer­ti­fi­ca­tion, stu­dents can become suc­cess­ful man­agers with­in their depart­ment. Human Resources has sev­er­al dif­fer­ent depart­ments under one. Some Human Resources man­agers work pri­mar­i­ly with the work envi­ron­ment. They address employ­ee con­cerns, resolve dif­fer­ences, set­tle dis­putes, match employ­ees with new job oppor­tu­ni­ties, and hire new employ­ees when new jobs are post­ed. They will also work to recruit new employ­ees who have spe­cif­ic tal­ents that are need­ed in cer­tain areas.

Human Resources man­agers also deal with ben­e­fits pack­ages like retire­ment plans and insur­ance ben­e­fits. This involves set­ting up new accounts, mak­ing any nec­es­sary changes to poli­cies and pack­ages, as well as, tak­ing care of all the finan­cial oblig­a­tions asso­ci­at­ed with each type of account. Account man­agers often times will need spe­cial train­ing in either finance or insur­ance areas to ensure that all reg­u­la­tions and guide­lines are being met at all times.

Achieve­ments and recog­ni­tion are also a part of Human Resources duties. Man­agers in this area are often con­cerned with han­dling paid time off, sick days, FMLA, and oth­er dis­abil­i­ty time. In addi­tion to the reg­u­lar perks that are offered to employ­ees, many earn achieve­ments and are rec­og­nized for exem­plary or out­stand­ing ser­vice. Some com­pa­nies reward employ­ees who have been with the com­pa­ny 5, 10, 15, or 20 years. Oth­ers may offer bonus­es who work for long peri­ods of time with­out any acci­dents or safe­ty vio­la­tions. Every com­pa­ny is dif­fer­ent in what it offers, but it is always up to the Human Resources man­agers to make sure every­thing goes smoothly.