You Simply Don’t Enjoy High School
A final reason you might want to graduate high school early is that you just don’t enjoy it. Some people feel lonely or out of place in high school, and others don’t feel that they’re learning a lot.
This can be a legitimate reason to graduate high school early, but make sure you understand that it’ll take time and effort on your part to plan it out, and you won’t be able to finish high school immediately.
Disliking high school could be a reason to graduate early.
Minimizing Your Other Commitments
Graduate From College Early By Planning From The Beginning
Speak with an advisor and inform them of your intentions to graduate from the program early. Many classes have prerequisites that need to be completed before enrolling.
If you dont organize your schedule very carefully, you may end up a semester behind in your planning. Lay out a base plan for the classes that you want to take from your first semester up through your last.
Also keep in mind that some classes are only available in one of the two semesters for the year.
Speak with your advisor every semester before registering to ensure youre on the right track to graduate from college early.
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Can You Get A Bachelor Degree In 12 Months Online
There arent any accredited colleges promising that you can quickly get your bachelor degree in 12 months, but that doesnt mean you have to take 4 years to finish your online degree either.
If you have existing college credits, you can transfer them to a university that offers fast online classes . You can also apply to get college credit for your work, military, or life experience that meets the universitys standards.
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Not all online schools offer this faster degree option, but a growing number do through a program generally referred to as credit for prior learning.
Finally, you can get a lot closer to the 12 month bachelor degree you were hoping for if you take CLEP exams, accepted by over 2,000 universities nationwide. These are low-cost, multiple choice exams that award college credit.
This can help you get college credit for a course without actually having to take it. This is a great time-saver when you are looking for fast college degrees so you can finish your degree quickly online.
Tip #: Choose The Right Program And University
Here are three things to consider that may help you choose the best online bachelors degree program for you:
Unsure of how to narrow down your selection? Identify your areas of interest and present them to the admissions officer. They can help direct you toward a path that will help you meet your ultimate career goal. Use the admissions resources available at your prospective university to determine the best program to achieve your goals.
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Fire Science Degrees Online
Firefighters go into fire science online degrees to jump into higher positions and earn larger salaries. A bachelors degree in fire science allows you to learn about emergency management, hazard detection, and coordinated response.
Its also about learning the new technology related to fire prevention and suppression. Firefighters work closely with law enforcement, so youll have courses in legal studies and investigation as well.
The main coursework in this fast degree program pertains to emergency service response. Graduates are able to go into fire inspection and firefighting with a fire science degree. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also projects that this job will continue to grow.
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If you are interested in working in the public sector and want to help law enforcement, firefighting and investigation are great ways to go.
Youll be able to earn an average salary of $50,000, but you can earn more as a fire inspector or fire investigator. There are also specializations in forest fire management and emergency medical technicians, or paramedics.
Factor In Where You’ll Be Working
Salary estimates you’ll find online are usually averages or medians that lump together folks from both high- and low-cost-of-living parts of the country. That can contribute to out-sized salary expectations, especially if you end up working in a smaller market.
“New York is different than working in Kansas,” says Beth Hendler-Grunt, president of Next Great Step, an early career counseling firm based in New Jersey. She says it is important that grads get a sense of what their local market payswhich can even vary dramatically across a state.
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Southeast Missouri State University
Southeast Missouri State University is training tomorrows leaders of industry and society through more than 145 undergraduate majors, 100 minors, and over 75 graduate programs. The school also leads the way in staying on top of changing needs in the market, with dozens of accredited online graduate degrees available through Southeast Online.
If youre a current or aspiring teacher, improve your education techniques and strengthen your credentials to lead with one of Southeast Onlines Master of Arts degrees. Choose an MA in areas like Elementary Education, Teacher Leadership, Exceptional Child Education, or Secondary Education to supplement your skills to and advance your career potential. Best yet, learn on your schedule part-time as you continue in your career or quickly complete the program full-time to prepare for a new job altogether.
Create An Initial Plan
Do not wait until the day of orientation to start thinking about what kind of classes you would like to take. The most critical thing you can do before you step foot on any campus or log on to any online school is to figure out what kind of degree you want to pursue. If you are trying to decide between a few, list out their education requirements to see if they share any required courses. Take the similar courses first, so you have a few classes to help you determine which major you want to pursue.
Graphic Stats: Since 2010, colleges have reported around 1,500 academic programs to the Department of Education. In an interview with MSCNBC, Dr. Fritz Grupe, founder of MyMajors.com, notes that 80 percent of college-bound students have yet to choose a major.
Many undecided students find it helpful to take an aptitude test or to spend a day assisting someone who works in a career field they are considering. Talk to your high school guidance counselor about available resources that can help you narrow your options. Its OK if you cannot decide exactly what major you are going to choose, but try to have a sense of what type of program you may pursue such as business, engineering, liberal arts, etc. so you can tailor your pre-college preparations to suit your needs.
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Practical Ways To Finish College Faster
If youre motivated to finish college quickly and dive right into your chosen career, there are some things you can do to help achieve that goal. At Rasmussen College, 67 percent of program requirements may be completed by transfer credits, course waivers or other meansso theres a lot of ways to potentially save on time in college.2 Not all six of these options will be feasible for everyone, but the right combination may help you find the fastest way to finish college.
Option 4 Get 15 College Credits For Your Life Experience
Yep. I said it. College credit for life experience. It doesnt get any easier than that!
I have a friend who was a stay at home mom for 17 years who was able to use her experience in management, organization, scheduling, and teaching to earn credit for a college degree. You have skills too that are JUST as valid as any classroom education.
Heres how to get college credit for your life experience:
Im going to use Columbia College in Missouri as an example of how the process works, but most schools will use similar methods to award credit. Also, each school will put a limit on how much credit for prior learning credit you can get. For some schools, its 15 hours, for others it can be as high as 30.
1 Check if your college awards credit for prior learning credits.
Always check first. Did you remember reading that anywhere else?
2 Read over the course descriptions.
Youll want to figure out which classes most closely align with your work and life experience.
As an example, Columbia College in Missouri has 45 classes that are available using credit for prior learning in classes that range from Watercolor to Personal selling
3 Meet with your academic advisor.
Youll want to get the full picture of what your school requires and familiarize yourself with the rules. Always important to follow the rules.
4 Write up your portfolio. This will take a lot of work. Just being honest. Youre welcome.
5 Hand in your portfolio to your advisor.
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Why Earn Your Degree Faster
For many, the challenge of an accelerated bachelors degree may not seem worthwhile. However, there are benefits to getting your degree in a shortened time frame, which include:
- Saving Money: By being enrolled for a shorter amount of time, you inherently save money on tuition and potential living costs. The exception to this rule is that if you choose instead to take online classes at an online university, this may not apply. For example, the University of the People is a tuition-free institution, so you cant technically save money on tuition.
- Saving Time: Naturally, the less time you are in school, the earlier you can enter your career of choice to be on your way to earning a higher income faster.
The 10 Fastest Online Bachelors Degree Programs
Four years is a long time to be in school.
The traditional bachelors degree takes at least four years to complete. But some accelerated college programs let you complete an entire bachelors degree in far less timesometimes under a yeardepending 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 degreeboth in tuition and time. There are several main ways schools can cut down on the time it takes to finish your degree. They can:
- Offer credits for life experiences, such as your employment history or volunteer work
- Allow you to test out of certain classes
- Let you complete courses at your own pace
If youre looking into fast degree programs, youre also bound to hear about degree completion programs or schools that accept the most transfer credits. We can tell you about those, too, but were not going to lie to you: degree completion programs arent faster. It just means you did all your work somewhere else. Its like some colleges are saying, You get to start this marathon at the halfway point, so youll finish faster. But theyre only letting you do that because you already ran the first half somewhere else.
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How To Graduate High School Early: 5 Key Steps
Are you a high school student who’s thinking about graduating early? Maybe you have an exciting internship offer, want to start college early, or are interested in jumping right into the workforce.
The good news is that graduating high school early is often not as challenging as many people might think it is. This guide will give you all the tips and information you need to know about how to graduate from high school early in an easy and hassle-free way. It will also help you decide whether graduating early is ultimately the right decision for you.
College Level Examination Program Credit
Testing out of college classes may seem too good to be true, but thousands of schools across the country accept recognized examinations as a way for you to earn credit for college courses. The College Level Examination Program is one of the most widely accepted of these exams.
Here are some fast facts about the CLEP to help you get started:
- Over 2,900 colleges grant credit for successfully completed CLEP exams
- There are more than 1,800 testing centers around the country
- CLEP offers 33 different exams that cover a broad range of topics, including literature, mathematics, and science
- Each 90 minute test costs $85
Every college has different policies for the number of credits by examination that they will accept, so be sure that you check in with your advisor before proceeding with the CLEP. As a general rule of thumb, most colleges limit credit by exam to 15 credit hours which is typically about five college classes.
My college accepted up to 15 credit hours and I took advantage of every single credit!
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Florida Institute Of Technology
Teaching technical career skills since 1958, Florida Institute of Technology began in Melbourne, on Floridas Space Coast, with a purpose to educate working professionals. Today, the school is regionally accredited and respected for the degree and certificate programs offered both on campus and to students worldwide, online.
Florida Tech combines the academic skills of respected professors and leading researchers with innovative technology to deliver graduate degree programs remotely. The same faculty who teach on campus teach the online courses, drawing on extensive career experience in jobs with major corporations such as Xerox, Toyota, and Northrup Grumman. With this level of expertise on hand, Florida Tech offers strong masters programs in disciplines such as aviation management, psychology, cybersecurity, information technology, and business.
It should come as no surprise that Florida Tech is ranked among the nations best-value universities by Forbes and is recognized as one of the Best Online Graduate Computer Information Technology Programs by U.S. News & World Report.
Is It Possible To Get 15 College Credits Fast
Yes. And depending on your current knowledge and past experiences, you can even get 15 college credits in a single day.
It might seem far-fetched, but its true and we will walk you through the process step-by-step in this guide.
- If you have a great deal of work or life experience, use your life experience to get college credit.
- Feel confident taking multiple choice tests? Get 6 college credits in 90 minutes.
- Prefer taking actual college classes? Several universities offer fast-track courses online.
We prefer to use a mixture to maximize our credit opportunities: Test out of classes + Credit for experience + Accelerated classes.
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What To Expect From An Accelerated Degree
Ambitious and tenacious students can complete the fastest bachelors degrees in as little as one year. How accelerated programs cut time to graduation varies by school.
Competency-based programs let learners complete courses as soon as they master the material, rather than at the end of the term. These programs typically run online in an asynchronous format, allowing enrollees to study and complete exams at their own pace.
In fast-track programs, students can leverage work experience or training to test out of coursework. Some of the fastest bachelors degrees allow applicants to submit professional portfolios. To receive credit, students must demonstrate that their experience satisfies course objectives.
Ambitious and tenacious students can complete the fastest bachelors degrees in as little as one year.
The fastest online degree programs may also grant credits to learners with satisfactory scores on proficiency tests, such as the College-Level Examination Program or Advanced Placement exams.
Degree completion programs provide an alternative to accelerated online degrees. These programs allow students to apply previously earned credits toward their degree.
Below, we compare how fast online degrees typically stack up against traditional bachelors programs.
I Took College Classes In High School
When I was in my senior year, almost all of my classes were classes where I was earning college credit. I took AP classes and classes that earned me college credit from nearby private universities . I believe I left high school with 14 credit hours . This way I knocked out a whole semester of college.
Also, these classes were cheap. I believe it was around $100 per credit hour instead of the normal cost which was anywhere from $500 to $1,000 per credit hour.
My senior year in high school was a breeze even though I was taking so many college classes. I could have taken even more but I had early release each day from school and got out 3 hours early so that I could go to work instead. So, I had plenty of time to work, go to school, and earn college credits.
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