Online accredited University Degrees
However, a few of these schools are the real deal. A select few accredited universities in the U.S. do offer life experience degrees. These colleges represent solid opportunities for seasoned professionals to jump-start a college degree by applying credits from work training and expertise gained through licensing and other external credentialing agencies.Four colleges in particular excel in helping adult online learners turn their professional knowledge into college life experience credentials. Nontraditional students should definitely explore these four colleges and what they have to offer.
Best Universities for Accredited Experience Degrees
Is it possible to earn an entire degree based solely on credit for life or work experience?
The answer is yes—but rarely. Most regionally accredited universities limit the number of life experience credits they will accept to 30 credits maximum (one year of college). Typically, the last 30 semester credits (senior year) of any regionally accredited bachelor's must be taken as formal courses directly from your degree-granting college. Thus, if your college is offering you an entire life experience degree based solely off of a resume review, it is probably a scam.
However, two regionally accredited, online universities, Thomas Edison State College and Excelsior College, operate primarily as assessment colleges.
These two special colleges were founded in the 1970s to help nontraditional and online students earn undergraduate degrees through credit-for-experience options. It is possible at these two colleges to earn an entire college degree without taking a single formal course.
(However, most who attend these two universities do complete some formal college courses as a part of their education.)
Adults who’ve had years of specialized military training or corporate training should explore both these colleges carefully. Both are great schools to consider if you’ve had a lot of technical training—such as aviation mechanics, nursing or electronics technology—and need a solid way to have these non-collegiate training programs “translated” into college experience credit and applied toward an associate's or bachelor's.
University Credit Through "Competency Exams"If you’re a well-read natural learner, both these schools will also let you take “competency exams” to earn college credit in areas such as American history, foreign languages, literature, business law and finance.
Connecticut-based Charter Oak State College is another online university that offers a wealth of opportunity for adult students who want to accelerate their education using challenge exams, military training and specialized business training programs.
A fourth, and newer, option is Western Governors University of Utah. Founded by the governors of 19 western states, WGU offers an outstanding online education program under the guidance of dedicated mentors.
WGU is a competency-based university. You earn college credits by demonstrating your knowledge or “competency” in specific subject areas. WGU students work with “online mentors” to develop personal academic action plans.
Rather than being required to study a subject for a 16-week semester, you’re only required to study a subject for as long as it takes you to acquire the knowledge needed to pass a competency exam. The competency method allows those who enter with advanced knowledge to move more rapidly than they would be able to with traditional online education.
More good news—all these “competency colleges” are ranked among the most affordable online universities in the U.S. by GetEducated.com’s national research team. If you’re a seasoned professional who seeks higher education that’s both fast and affordable, these online universities are well worth exploring.
Competency-based degrees, especially at the bachelor's level, are becoming very popular. Following the lead of the above four schools, more state universities are designing competency-based degrees to help professionals with hands-on experience "test out" of formal courses and accelerate their degree progress.
Life Experience Master's Degree
You didn’t say what kind of degree your friend earned. Most credit-for-experience programs apply only to undergraduate degrees—associate's or bachelor's. It is extremely rare for accredited online master's degree programs in the U.S. to award ANY credits for experience.
You might also like
German 1 Online Course w/ Teachers - Full Year - Accredited Online HomeSchooling Course - Christian HomeSchool Curriculum - 180 Daily Lessons - MultiMedia Rich - Private Christian School since 2001 Software (Learning By Grace Curriculum Provider)
|