Multiple Bachelor Degrees Possible?

[StudiousTraveller]

Ok, I know I might be getting a bit ahead of myself here but I'm so excited to have found this forum to help me earn another degree for a fraction of the price of a traditional one and I know I'm going to want to keep learning more. 

I currently hold a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology from a traditional university. I'm now starting a Bachelor of Arts in History at UMPI that I hope to finish in about 12-18 months. (I know I could go faster to finish this, but I would rather take a little longer and work on my degree with other things I have going on in my life.)

After these two degrees, how does earning more Bachelor degrees work? For example, can I also have a Bachelor of Liberal Studies? 

If I wanted to study Criminal Justice with UMPI then I wouldn't be able to get their "BA in Criminal Justice" right? Would it be a Criminal Justice certificate... if this is possible?

I have retired early so I have many years of learning ahead of me and I'm not in a hurry (although I do want to keep costs down). I simply want to keep learning, but I like the challenge/goal of a degree to strive towards. 

My plan at the moment is to go for a MA in World Heritage Studies after this BA with UMPI but if that isn't possible, I'd love to know what my other Bachelor/Master degree options might be.

[ReyMysterioso]

Yes. You can get multiple degrees. I believe you can get more than one degree from UMPI if you want. A couple people have done it.

[ss20ts]

I have a BLS and a BA from UMPI. I don't have a bachelor's degree from anywhere else. You'd have to ask UMPI if you can complete a second bachelor's degree because you already have 2. Many schools have limits on how many bachelor's degrees you can complete in total. Like TESU has limits. Excelsior has limits. Also UMPI doesn't have certificates.


ETA:
I'm pretty sure you can't complete the BLS after a BA at UMPI. For awhile you couldn't complete a second degree if you completed the BLS first. I kept bugging them and they changed the policy. They eventually did. The BLS had to be conferred before beginning the BA so you had at least a 1 session break.

[Alpha]

There's no question that you can earn multiple Bachelors degrees.  One question I have is "Why would you want to?"  Most of the time people do it in order to enhance their career, make a career change, etc.  If "learning" is your goal, you can do that easily enough with earning a degree.  Just read the books.  How would you use the degree(s)?  If it's not going to impact your career or increase your salary, etc. then I'd say it would be better to to read the books and travel (another way of learning about the world).

[rachel83az]

Wondering why you'd want a BLS after getting History and science degrees! Those two are already awesome degrees. If you just want to learn for the sake of learning, maybe just pay for SDC and rack up credits there?

[bjcheung77]

I think a second degree is a great idea if you're breaking into another field or if it's really something you're interested in learning anyways, the degree shows your willingness to learn and have a credential to show for it... If you're going the UMPI route, you must take the BLS as a first degree, it can not be used as a second degree from them. You can take another BA & BABA from them though. For TESU, you can take 2 degrees from them max, if you want you can take a "double major" if the subjects are in the same school and then save the second degree for later.

[StudiousTraveller]

There's no question that you can earn multiple Bachelors degrees.  One question I have is "Why would you want to?"  Most of the time people do it in order to enhance their career, make a career change, etc.  If "learning" is your goal, you can do that easily enough with earning a degree.  Just read the books.  How would you use the degree(s)?  If it's not going to impact your career or increase your salary, etc. then I'd say it would be better to to read the books and travel (another way of learning about the world).

Personally, I like the structure that formal learning can give, instead of just reading books (which I also do a lot). I also like the sense of accomplishment/personal satisfaction with completing a learning goal, such as earning a degree or another educational milestone. My BSc was for my career and it served me well, but future degrees are simply for personal growth.

I definitely agree with you that travelling is another great way to learn about the world, and I have travelled pretty extensively already with many, many more places to explore in my future. Travelling to Normandy and the Western Front is actually what really prompted my love for history. In my school days, history was my absolute least favourite subject and I avoided it at all costs but after travelling and connecting with the places I have heard of, learning history is something I really enjoy now.

[Vle045]

Another great option for continued learning is Coursera. You can subscribe to Coursera Plus for only a few hundred a year. Then you can complete Certificates and Specializations in everything and anything you can find.

[Jonathan Whatley]

I get how another bachelor's is appealing, I really do. (My second bachelor's is in progress. I admit to looking at possible thirds…)

There are often better options! Think about what you want from it and whether you could get that another way. Several good options are mentioned above!

Another, graduate certificates, and graduate courses that permit transient course takers. You can often find these that admit students with bachelors in very different subjects. 4 to 6 courses typically can get you a graduate certificate, sometimes as few as 3 (e.g., Business Communication or Visual Arts at Harvard Extension; the courses are 4 sh each so these are 12 sh certificates).

These often can stack to a master's. They have value even if they don't. Even if it's outside of a graduate certificate, "Additional graduate credit in … from …" can be a résumé line.

Some people aim to earn 18 semester hours in each of several course subject codes to meet the rough standard minimum to teach at a U.S. college in a subject other than that of your graduate degree. Maybe this credentialing in adjacent fields e.g., art history, humanities, public administration, etc., could complement the OP's future goals.

[StudiousTraveller]

Thanks everyone for the additional suggestions! I'll certainly keep these in mind.

I have already taken courses from platforms such as Coursera, EdX, FutureLearn, OpenLearn, and Centre of Excellence and I imagine I will continue to do so, especially as some of them are quite niche topics not normally found as part of a Bachelor or Masters degree that I enjoy learning more about.

A few have asked me to think about what I want from an additional degree (or two), and for me, that is a sense of personal accomplishment and meeting a respected learning goal/milestone. Graduate certificates would certainly be another thing for me to consider.

I have no plans to enter the workforce again, however, I am interested in continuing with volunteering - perhaps at a provincial or national level - so while credentials to add to my CV for employment or career advancement aren't my main objective, I think education in different topics would help with future volunteer aspirations (e.g. National Trust for Canada is something I'm quite interested in).