Fastest Online Bachelor’s Degree Programs

Fastest Online Bachelor’s Degree Programs-the traditional bachelor’s degree takes at least four years to complete. But some accelerated college programs let you complete an entire bachelor’s degree in far less time—sometimes under a year—depending on what you study and how aggressively you complete courses.

An online degree is usually more convenient than an on-campus degree, but an accelerated program can drastically reduce the cost of your degree—both in tuition and time.

Check out Schools with accelerated online bachelor’s degrees!

 

1. Capella University

 

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Start to finish, Capella University has the fastest path to a bachelor’s degree. If you’re ambitious and sharp enough (and you’ve got the spare time), you can complete four years’ worth of courses in less than a year. I hesitate to put an exact number on it—because you set the pace.

Capella University’s unique FlexPath system lets you sign up for two courses at a time—and as soon as you finish one, you can sign up for another. You get all your assignments at the beginning of the 12-week period (including tests and projects), and you can finish your courses as fast as you want.

Each bachelor’s program has its own price for Flex Path, but you can take as many courses as you want per quarter—just so long as you finish one before you start another.

There are only seven online bachelor’s degrees at Capella University, but there are 22 concentrations within those degree programs, so you’ll still have plenty of options.

Here’s what graduates had to say about the FlexPath system:

A lot of schools offer course demos to show you how their online classes work, but Capella University has a free one-week trial course that’s complete with assignments, so you can get a feel for what it’s like to be a self-paced online student. (It won’t give you any credit, though.)

In addition to the FlexPath program, Capella University has all the other time-saving options to shorten your degree. You can earn credit for relevant work experience and certifications, as well as some nationally-recognized tests. You can also transfer credits from another school. The amount you can transfer depends on the program you choose, but 75% of all bachelor’s degree students at Capella University have at least some transfer credits.

2. Colorado Technical University

Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado

In addition to a great selection of online degrees, Colorado Technical University takes a unique approach to prior learning assessments. They offer a Fast Track program that lets you test out of courses and receive credit for it. These exams can save 30% or more on your total degree time.

CTU’s programs are about 180 credits, and through Fast Track exams, you can earn as many as 73 credits. You can see how many exams are available in each degree program before you enroll, and you can even see which classes the exams are for.

Here’s what Fast Track programs can do for you:

Fun fact: CTU is one of those rare colleges where tuition has actually gone down in recent years.

3. American InterContinental University-Online

Location: Schaumburg, Illinois

American InterContinental University’s online campus offers a good selection of bachelor’s degrees, and their generous prior learning credit system can significantly cut down on the time it takes to finish a program.

You can earn credits for work experience and training that directly pertains to your degree. For example, if you’ve trained at a law enforcement academy—a training experience that typically takes six months or less—it’s worth 36 credits towards a criminal justice degree.

College Level Exam Programs (CLEP) cost $85 a pop, but if you can pass them, AIU substitutes these for relevant lower-level courses in their degree programs. Similarly, DSST exams can be substituted for lower or higher-level courses. They accept Advanced Placement (AP) tests as well.

If you have previous college credits, AIU lets you transfer up to 75% of your degree.

4. Northeastern University

Location: Boston, Massachusetts

Northeastern University offers a decent selection of online bachelor’s degrees, and several options to complete them faster.

You can submit exam scores from proficiency tests like CLEP, DSST, Excelsior, and AP. If you have relevant business, health, information technology, or liberal arts education or experience, you can apply for an assessment of prior learning to shave off some additional credit.

Northeastern University also has three online degree completion programs. Up to 50% of your degree can come from previous college credit.

To check out what the online learning experience is like at Northeastern, you can try a course demo. NU also has tips for being a successful online learner.

 

 

5. Colorado State University-Global Campus

 

Location: Greenwood Village, Colorado

Colorado State University’s Global campus gives students a decent variety of online degrees, but an even better selection of concentrations and specializations. You add these to your degree program a-la-carte. (If you do this though, it will increase the time it takes to graduate.)

To shorten the time it takes to graduate, CSU-Global has several ways for you to receive alternative credits. Like other schools, you can take college-level exams or submit relevant portfolio experiences which they will review.

Here’s how they describe the process:

“Non-Collegiate credit other than exam or military service credit, such as non-collegiate courses, corporate trainings, certifications, professional licenses, etc., may be considered for transfer toward a bachelor’s degree if it has been evaluated according to the ACE Guidelines, reviewed by the National College Credit Recommendation Service (CCRS), and does not duplicate credit already accepted in transfer.”

You can also earn credit through Sophia Pathways. And of course, you can always transfer credit. CSU-Global lets you transfer up to 90 credits—that’s 75% of your degree.

 

 

6. Liberty University

 

Location: Lynchburg, Virginia

Liberty University has one of the widest selections of online bachelor’s degrees, and they’ve got plenty of options to speed up your degree.

Certain job training can automatically earn you credit (including but not limited to licenses in aviation, law enforcement, insurance, real estate, and EMTs), and you can submit an Experience Plus Portfolio for credit as well.

Liberty University also lets you transfer up to 75% of your degree from another school, and they have online degree completion programs as well.

 

7. Albertus Magnus College

Location: New Haven, Connecticut

Albertus Magnus College isn’t a big university, but they have an online education program that surpasses many larger schools.

In addition to the usual degree completion programs and transfer credits, AMC lets you earn up to 45 credits from prior learning. This includes CLEP, ACT-PEP, and challenge exams, as well as a portfolio.

You can transfer up to 90 credits—including up to 64 credits from a community or junior college.

8. Indiana Wesleyan University

 

Location: Marion, Indiana

Indiana Wesleyan University’s online bachelor’s degrees are all business, management, or administration related.

If you’re interested in IWU’s baccalaureate programs, you can shorten them with a prior learning assessment portfolio. You can also earn up to 40 credits from relevant prior learning, and transfer up to 90 credits.

 

9. Concordia University-Chicago

 

Location: River Forest, Illinois

Concordia University-Chicago offers accelerated online degree programs that are faster regardless of whether or not you have any transfer credits.

Their accelerated degree programs can be completed in 16 months, and courses are only five weeks long. However, you need to have two years of full-time work experience to be eligible for these programs.

Here’s what graduates had to say about Concordia’s accelerated degree program:

Concordia’s online BS in human resources appears to be the only degree program where you can receive credit for prior learning.

You can transfer credits in most of these programs, but the amount you can transfer varies.