Fastest online bachelor’s degree

[SmugKitten]

I'm completely overwhelmed on where to start. I don't really want to go back to a CUNY college due to the restrictions of in-person courses (traveling on top of working 2 jobs) and The courses available online are usually filled quickly. Not to mention the length of time it would take to still complete a BA due to the length of their semesters while being restricted to taking a couple credits at a time over multiple months. 

I'm not 100% sure about what my goal is. It used to be to go on and achieve a PhD but I feel I'm too old to start now, when I haven't obtained a bachelors yet. But I'm currently in human/social services and operations management, I believe its the field Id like to strive in. 

What online college would you recommend please? I likely missed any deadlines, so if I cannot start immediately, are there any online alternative credits I can work on now in the meantime?  

Your Location: NY, USA
Your Age: 27
What kind of degree do you want?: BA/BS Liberal Arts or Psychology

Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: None

Budget: I'd like to go the cheapest route possible, but will consider spending more for the easier/more convenient option.
Time available: I work fulltime, but I'm dedicated to put the work in every evening/weekends. That's why I'd prefer an online college where I can complete courses without a set schedule (but if that's not an option, I can definitely work with set schedule of evening classes are available)
Timeline:  I would like to finish within 1 1/2 years. 

44 credits total:
 
MAT 106 - Mathematics of Medical Dosages (2 cred)
SSY 101 - General Psychology (3 cred)
SCD 200 - Introductory Nutrition (3 cred)
ENG 102 - Writing Thru Lit (3 cred)
ENG 101 - Composition I (3 cred)
HUC 106 - Public Speaking (3 cred)
MAT 107 - Math in Modern World (3 cred)
SYF 101 - FYS for Psychology (3 cred)
SSN 187 - Urban Sociology (3 cred)
SSS 100 - Intro To Sociology (3 cred)
SCV 101 - Intro to Veterinary Technology (3 cred)
SCH 150 - Drugs & Behavior (3 cred)
SSH 101 - Themes Amer History I (3 cred)
SSY 230 - Abnormal Psychology (3 cred)
SSY 240 - Developmental Psychology I (3 cred)

[rachel83az]

Well, first off, plenty of people start doctorates when they're older. You're only 27, that's still pretty young! Depending on which Bachelor's and Master's degrees you got, you could theoretically start a doctoral program in your early 30s. That's actually about right for a lot of people.

But, first of all, you need that Bachelor's degree.

For Psychology (and Liberal Arts), you've got a few options:

• UMPI would probably be the fastest/cheapest. They allow you to transfer in up to 90 credits toward a degree. The remaining 30 would need to be taken with them. They're $1500 per 8-week session. You complete as many classes as you're able to during that time period, but there are otherwise no deadlines. The exception might be the practicum that UMPI requires. Depending on what kind of work you're already doing, this may not be viable. You may be able to work something out with them, though. If you decided to go with one of their BLS degrees, there would be no practicum.
  
• TESU allows you to transfer in everything but 6 credits. It does cost a bit more to do it this way, because then you need to pay the residency waiver fee, but it is an option. You already have 44 RA credits, so that's not a concern. You can transfer in everything you need from Sophia, Study.com, and Coopersmith. Their BA Psychology doesn't require a practicum. The final 6 credits of a degree will have weekly deadlines, but otherwise no set class times or anything like that. They require 15 UL credits + the capstone course (18 UL credits total) for their degrees.
  
• Excelsior University also allows you to transfer in everything but 6 credits. They may be slightly cheaper, but they're otherwise quite similar to TESU. The main differences are that Excelsior requires 24 UL credits + UL capstone & UL cornerstone courses for their degrees. Their capstone requires a group project, which is often not ideal for busy students. In addition, if you don't hit all degree requirements upon enrollment, they charge a $300 evaluation fee after the first month. This can become quite expensive, quickly eliminating the price gap between them and TESU.
  

Based on what you've said, I think UMPI would be the optimal choice for you - if you can work out the practicum requirements ahead of time. Second choice TESU. Distant third would be Excelsior.

You can see degree plans for UMPI here, to see what would be required for their degrees: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:UMPI

For TESU, you'd start here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap TESU can be a bit more confusing at first, especially with all the possibilities, but it gets easier once you've become an enrolled student and can see the real process.

For both TESU and UMPI, you should be able to finish in the 18 months you specified. You might even be able to finish UMPI in 8-10 months.

[bjcheung77]

@SmugKitten, Welcome to the board, great initial post with many details! If you want to complete courses without a set schedule, you can start with Sophia.org and work your way towards the UMPI BLS with a minor in management and psych, then ladder up to the UMPI MAOL (9 courses instead of 12), and be done within a year or less.

The BLS will get you a Liberal Studies degree and you can select a minor with Management, plus another in Psych too. You will need upper level credits to finish the degree anyways, in addition to that, you can add the 3 courses that can go towards the MAOL, so instead of finishing 12 MAOL classes, you only need to complete 9 courses.

This hits your Liberal Arts, Psych, and instead of Operations Management, you'll be well versed in Organizational Leadership.

[SmugKitten]

Well, first off, plenty of people start doctorates when they're older. You're only 27, that's still pretty young! Depending on which Bachelor's and Master's degrees you got, you could theoretically start a doctoral program in your early 30s. That's actually about right for a lot of people.

But, first of all, you need that Bachelor's degree.

For Psychology (and Liberal Arts), you've got a few options:

• UMPI would probably be the fastest/cheapest. They allow you to transfer in up to 90 credits toward a degree. The remaining 30 would need to be taken with them. They're $1500 per 8-week session. You complete as many classes as you're able to during that time period, but there are otherwise no deadlines. The exception might be the practicum that UMPI requires. Depending on what kind of work you're already doing, this may not be viable. You may be able to work something out with them, though. If you decided to go with one of their BLS degrees, there would be no practicum.
  
• TESU allows you to transfer in everything but 6 credits. It does cost a bit more to do it this way, because then you need to pay the residency waiver fee, but it is an option. You already have 44 RA credits, so that's not a concern. You can transfer in everything you need from Sophia, Study.com, and Coopersmith. Their BA Psychology doesn't require a practicum. The final 6 credits of a degree will have weekly deadlines, but otherwise no set class times or anything like that. They require 15 UL credits + the capstone course (18 UL credits total) for their degrees.
  
• Excelsior University also allows you to transfer in everything but 6 credits. They may be slightly cheaper, but they're otherwise quite similar to TESU. The main differences are that Excelsior requires 24 UL credits + UL capstone & UL cornerstone courses for their degrees. Their capstone requires a group project, which is often not ideal for busy students. In addition, if you don't hit all degree requirements upon enrollment, they charge a $300 evaluation fee after the first month. This can become quite expensive, quickly eliminating the price gap between them and TESU.
  

Based on what you've said, I think UMPI would be the optimal choice for you - if you can work out the practicum requirements ahead of time. Second choice TESU. Distant third would be Excelsior.

You can see degree plans for UMPI here, to see what would be required for their degrees: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:UMPI

For TESU, you'd start here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap TESU can be a bit more confusing at first, especially with all the possibilities, but it gets easier once you've become an enrolled student and can see the real process.

For both TESU and UMPI, you should be able to finish in the 18 months you specified. You might even be able to finish UMPI in 8-10 months.

This was SUPER helpful! I was leaning towards UMPI based off what i read but there is so much info on here I wasn't sure which would be best between these 3. Thank you for laying it all out so clearly.

---

@SmugKitten, Welcome to the board, great initial post with many details!  If you want to complete courses without a set schedule, you can start with Sophia.org and work your way towards the UMPI BLS with a minor in management and psych, then ladder up to the UMPI MAOL (9 courses instead of 12), and be done within a year or less.  

The BLS will get you a Liberal Studies degree and you can select a minor with Management, plus another in Psych too.  You will need upper level credits to finish the degree anyways, in addition to that, you can add the 3 courses that can go towards the MAOL, so instead of finishing 12 MAOL classes, you only need to complete 9 courses.

This hits your Liberal Arts, Psych, and instead of Operations Management, you'll be well versed in Organizational Leadership.

Thank you! I really appreciate the advice with the minors. 
I have a question. I see that the Online Programs are divided into 2 sections: Online Degrees & Online YourPace Degrees.

The online degrees are only 3 options: 
eduction, history, and psych (from what I read I only see the mention of minors as an option on this section)

The online yourpace degrees have the BLS degrees: 
BLS - educational studies, BLS - Management, BLS - Accounting, BLS - Project Management, BLS - Management Information Systems.  It looks like the BLS - Management matches best with my desired field, but these YourPace degrees don't mention the option of minors from what I'm reading. 

Based on these options, what would you recommend? My career goal is mostly related to operations management in human/social services (I'm an operations manager at homeless services now, but may want to get my foot into HR/Department management as I rise in my career) that's why I was always leaning towards the psych major (especially if I go for my PhD in more towards the social work/clinical side of the field..)

 I'm not sure if the online degrees differ much schedule wise compared to the yourpace degrees. If yourpace is more flexible and faster than I'd prefer that.

[rachel83az]

Everything you see on this part of the UMPI site is YourPace: https://online.umpi.edu/

AFAIK, UMPI does have some traditional online classes that are charged at the standard per-credit-hour tuition rate and that have scheduled meeting times, etc. But none of the degrees listed on online.umpi.edu have scheduled times or any set deadlines aside from the end-of-session deadline.

If the BLS Management degree fits your desired field, you might want to consider the BABA Management & Leadership: https://online.umpi.edu/degrees/undergra...eadership/ It's traditionally been one of the faster YourPace degrees to complete, but there appears to be some degree saturation at this point. Long grading times may mean that this degree will take an extra session or two beyond what it used to (3-5 sessions instead of 2-3). It's still incredibly fast & cheap for a degree, but is something that students need to know about.

[bjcheung77]

@SmugKitten, Online = per credit, expensive. Yourpace = per session, affordable. You can use the Your Pace courses towards your minors, even though the minor is not listed, it can be done. There are many minors at UMPI, as long as the courses are in Your Pace, or transferred in, you're golden.

[Duneranger]

What are your goals? I know you mentioned you weren’t 100% sure but if you are thinking of a PhD you must have some sort of goals. Quickest/fastest and a liberal arts degree, may not always be the best route. Especially with grad school.

You are pretty young still. Actual PhD programs are no joke and 5-7 year commitments. Definitely explore what you want before pulling the trigger.

BA in business admin with an operations/management focus sounds like a good route.