There are several ways to earn a degree for adults nowadays. This mostly due to advancement in technology that allows quality distance learning and other options. This discussion will be mostly focused on the bachelors degree level while it could apply to more advanced degrees where that is appropriate.
There are several ways you can get a degree as an adult. We have to look at the accelerated ways and some traditional time based options.
1. Testing out - This may apply mostly in the US and means that you can take equivalent exams that matches existing College courses. While this can be done quickly and you get your degree, it is not so easy if you are not familiar with the subjects before starting out. The main college that offers this scheme 100% is Excelsior College. You could potentially get a degree in 6 months to a year but it takes a lot of focus. There are several Universities that would accept exams for credit as well, so look these up. Here is a great resource on this topic - BA in 4 weeks.
2. Distance Learning - This well covered nowadays in terms of availability pretty much anywhere. There are some good schools are well established in this field. The main ones to mention here are University of London, Western Governors University and University of South Africa (UNISA). However, pretty much all universities offer distance learning courses. In terms of cost, UNISA is way cheaper than all the others and they well accredited, so there is nothing fear in that respect.
3. Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) - This is an interesting and useful way to complete your degree but it is not as easy as it looks. The work that it takes to document your knowledge of each course is not trivial so again it could be an option combined with the other methods. In France it is possible to get a full degree through the VAE method this way but it does not mean you would not have had some academic experience in the past. For example lets say you have completed an associate level degree, this would allow you get a reasonable work position and advance to the degree level learning. The other thing is that PLA is not well accepted in the academic world, so its hard to find good support to pursue this route to a degree. The best courses to use for PLA would be occupational ones such as for example Java Programming or Computer Networking and so on.
In the end you can combine all the above means to shorten the time for your degree. If you are an adult of at least 10 years experience, you are going to be anxious to get this done sooner than later and that is why we will suggest other options in later postings.
There are several ways you can get a degree as an adult. We have to look at the accelerated ways and some traditional time based options.
1. Testing out - This may apply mostly in the US and means that you can take equivalent exams that matches existing College courses. While this can be done quickly and you get your degree, it is not so easy if you are not familiar with the subjects before starting out. The main college that offers this scheme 100% is Excelsior College. You could potentially get a degree in 6 months to a year but it takes a lot of focus. There are several Universities that would accept exams for credit as well, so look these up. Here is a great resource on this topic - BA in 4 weeks.
2. Distance Learning - This well covered nowadays in terms of availability pretty much anywhere. There are some good schools are well established in this field. The main ones to mention here are University of London, Western Governors University and University of South Africa (UNISA). However, pretty much all universities offer distance learning courses. In terms of cost, UNISA is way cheaper than all the others and they well accredited, so there is nothing fear in that respect.
3. Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) - This is an interesting and useful way to complete your degree but it is not as easy as it looks. The work that it takes to document your knowledge of each course is not trivial so again it could be an option combined with the other methods. In France it is possible to get a full degree through the VAE method this way but it does not mean you would not have had some academic experience in the past. For example lets say you have completed an associate level degree, this would allow you get a reasonable work position and advance to the degree level learning. The other thing is that PLA is not well accepted in the academic world, so its hard to find good support to pursue this route to a degree. The best courses to use for PLA would be occupational ones such as for example Java Programming or Computer Networking and so on.
In the end you can combine all the above means to shorten the time for your degree. If you are an adult of at least 10 years experience, you are going to be anxious to get this done sooner than later and that is why we will suggest other options in later postings.