Attending college can be difficult when you’re juggling multiple commitments. Maybe you’re trying to earn your degree while supporting yourself financially. Perhaps you are homeschooling your children and only have time to take classes at night. Let’s be honest—submitting quizzes, exams, and essays on a tight deadline, while working full-time or even part-time, can be stress-inducing and aggravating. If you want to commit to earning your degree despite the uncertainties of this difficult time, here are some reasons why earning an online degree may be the right choice for you.

Online Degree vs. Traditional Degree: What are the Differences?

Maybe you are looking into an online degree program, or maybe you are weighing the long-term options of earning an online degree vs. traditional degree. While a traditional, on-campus degree can have its perks, an online degree can offer unique benefits for your short-term and long-term academic journey.

Working at Your Own Pace

When you attend a traditional college, you will either be on a quarter system or semester system. You have to take a certain number of courses within a specific time frame to graduate on time. However, when you decide to earn your degree fully online, you don’t have to be confined to the typical on-campus timelines.

Pursuing an online degree through Pearson Accelerated Pathways allows you to set your own pace and work as quickly or as slowly as you want. If you have a slow week at work and want to focus entirely on studying, you can learn the content, take your quizzes, and complete your assignments. Earning an online degree in less time that it would take to earn a degree at a conventional four-year college can be appealing for many reasons. For instance, you may enjoy college, but want to start gaining professional experience in your career field of choice sooner than later. On the other hand, individuals who are already working full-time can take as long as they need to finish their online courses. They can enjoy the process of learning at their own pace, rather than rushing through courses while they are busy.

Saving Money on Tuition

Everyone knows that one of the biggest challenges of earning a college degree is the debt that comes with paying for tuition. Student loan debt in the U.S. has skyrocketed to $1.6 trillion in 2020, according to Forbes. Forty-five million college students have borrowed money and have to carry the burden of debt with them throughout their post-graduation adult lives. But there are options for students who want to earn a degree and avoid going into debt. You can save up to 36% of the cost of college by enrolling in an online degree program. Rather than paying tuition each semester and spending significant money on incidental university costs, you can just pay for each online course you take—whether you take one class or five. While the cost of one credit at a private university can be about $1,194, and a credit at an out-of-state university can cost about $796, one online credit can cost as little as $225. According to U.S. News and World Report, the average cost of yearly tuition at a typical private university is $35,087, while the average at a public out-of-state state college is about $21,184. Students can save even more money on tuition by earning a degree online. For full-time students pursuing a degree online through Accelerated Pathways, the yearly tuition is $6,750. Students can also choose the unlimited option, which allows them to take as many courses as they can in a year for $7,500.

Online Learning Trends

Some may think the benefits of an online degree compared to a traditional degree may be almost too good to be true. Let’s take a look at some trends and statistics about online learning. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reveals “In fall 2018, there were 6,932,074 students enrolled in any distance education courses at degree-granting postsecondary institutions.” As of 2018, 35.3% of all college students were participating in some form of distance learning, whether taking one online class or a few hybrid classes (classes that combine virtual and in-person teaching). In fact, 16% of all college students were taking classes fully online, with the amount of college students projected to increase by 2% between 2019 and 2029, according to the NCES. Seventy-eight percent of students believe their online education was worth the overall cost. This is according to a 2020 report by Aslanian Market Research and Wiley Education Services. The same study found “Thirty-eight percent of current students plan to take future online classes at their schools.” Trends and research data in both academia and society at large have shown online learning is not only growing, but thriving.

Are you looking for an online degree program tailored to your unique needs? Pearson Accelerated Pathways might be the right choice for you. With degree programs and tailored coaching to get you the degree of your choice from the school of your dreams, Accelerated Pathways is an online program with benefits not found anywhere else.

Dispelling Common Myths about Online Degrees

Even though you may be considering making the choice between an online degree vs traditional degree, you may have a few concerns. Let’s take a look at some common myths about online degrees.

Interacting with Professors and Peers

Often, people may think there will be little social interaction with professors and peers when pursuing an online degree. However, higher education experts in an online degree program will be actively involved in your courses. While online learning can be a somewhat hands-off process, and you don’t need to adhere to the same schedule or attend lectures at a set time, facilitated courses help cultivate effective relationships between students and professors. Course facilitators are available for feedback through email, video calls, and other mediums. Their role is to offer any help you may need while undergoing your self-paced courses. If you prefer more structure and interaction with peers and instructors, you always have the option to enroll in term-based courses that begin on a monthly or quarterly basis. In these courses, you can study with a cohort of peers and have more personalized support from your professor. These types of courses may work best for you, or you may decide to have a balance of some self-paced courses and some more interactive term-based courses. The takeaway is this: When you are working toward earning your degree online, you can choose the level of interaction you have with your professors and peers.

Preparing for a Career

One of the main reasons you may be pursuing a college degree in the first place is to prepare for your future career. You may be concerned that a future employer won’t value an online degree as much as a “traditional” degree. However, most of the time, employers are more concerned with whether you have a degree at all, and not where you earned it. In many cases, unless you offer information about where you earned your degree, an employer won’t even ask. Employers are more interested in whether you have taken courses, earned an education, gained experience, and have prepared to do an effective job in the workplace. Even if your future employer wants to know if you earned an online degree vs. traditional degree, studies have shown that employers do, in fact, value online degrees. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), “More than one-third of organizations (34%) reported that job candidates who have obtained their degrees online were viewed as favorably as job applicants with traditional degrees.” SHRM also found “79% of organizations indicated that they had hired a job applicant with an online degree in the last 12 months.” As long as you are enrolled in an accredited online program, your online degree is just as valuable as a traditional degree would be.

Making the Right Choice for Your Education

If you’ve already had to deal with the challenges of traditional classes—such as juggling your academics with busy work and life schedules—why not move fully online? Online degree programs are structured to accommodate a flexible schedule in which you can learn and study from anywhere, while working. You don’t have to compromise your work schedule, attend in-person classes, or stress about the due dates of quizzes and essays. If you’re interested in finding a flexible, practical option for your real-life degree needs, Accelerated Pathways offers a less expensive alternative to traditional college. Our advisors can help you create an academic plan that works best for you, your work schedule, and your career goals. Learn more here about how Accelerated Pathways can help you.

Want more posts like this? How to Find Online Classes While Social Distancing How to Make Friends as an Online College Student 14 Reasons to Avoid Student Loans for College

Earning a degree is not a quick process.

Over half of people pursuing a bachelor’s degree for the first time take longer than the standard four years to graduate.   Even more sobering are the statistics for students over the age of 30. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 84% take more than six years to graduate. Worst of all, half of students over 30 take more than 162 months to earn their bachelor’s degrees. Can you imagine spending 13 years of your life in college?

Every additional year that a student delays graduation, they lose money. Often, these students are balancing their long years of study with other priorities such as full-time employment and caring for their families. A traditional college program with mandatory attendance and scheduled class times makes it difficult to finish a degree quickly.

Is there a better way? Can college be shortened?

The answer is yes, and it's not as complicated as you might think. Here are 6 ways to drastically shorten your college experience:

1. Save your commute

Traveling to (or within) a campus can be a big timewaster. Think of the hours that students roam the halls, run across campus, or drive through traffic to attend classes. Even if you only commute for 30 minutes a day, over the course of a school year you’ll spend 75 hours just to get to class! With the ever-increasing popularity of online courses (about a third of all students take at least one online course during college), most colleges and universities are rushing to join the modern age. In summary: online courses eliminate commute time.

2. Don't take courses with fixed schedules

In-person classes typically involve a greater time commitment than online classes, but not all online courses are equal. Some classes have mandatory testing dates, require you to virtually attend lectures at fixed times, or spread the material over an entire semester. Students looking for a faster path to graduation should avoid courses with rigid schedules. Students in our Global Digital Classroom complete self-paced online courses in 8 weeks or less (as opposed to the 15 weeks required for a typical semester-based course) because they’re allowed to complete the material as quickly as they desire and study anywhere, anytime.

3. Don't spend two years on General Education courses

General Education or “Gen Ed” credits make up between a third and a half of every bachelor’s degree and cover a wide variety of standard subjects. These core education courses are typically unrelated to the major and often include information that many students have already fully or partially covered in high school. Because these courses tend to cover wider, more general topics, taking them in a flexible online format is a great way to expedite college. For example, when I had to repeat Precalculus for my bachelor’s degree, it only took me a few weeks to refresh my high school knowledge and complete the class.

4. Earn credit for what you already know

Another way to speed up college is by earning credit for skills or knowledge you already have. Many colleges award credit for expertise gained outside of a classroom with Prior Learning Assessments (PLA). Other institutions offer credit-by-exam, which test knowledge on a subject and award college credit via a single pass/fail exam.

Pearson Accelerated Pathways offers a quick way to enroll in courses and skilled advisors to help you graduate faster. Learn more about Accelerated Pathways and discover whether it is a good fit for you.

5. Transfer courses from other institutions

Most colleges or universities allow you to apply transfer credits from other institutions to your degree, as long as the transfer courses fit your degree requirements. While mastering the art of transfer credit takes a little work (or the dedicated support of our credit transfer experts) to make sure no credits go to waste, you can save time and money on your degree by outsourcing flexible college credit options.

6. Plan ahead so you don't take unnecessary courses

While transferring credits can be optimized to shorten a degree (as mentioned in the previous point), many students unfamiliar with the process lose college credits when changing schools or picking back up on a set-aside degree track. Colleges don’t have a one-size-fits-all degree template. In fact, every single college has different degree requirements. While pursuing a bachelor’s degree, the average student takes 12-15 extra credits that do not transfer. This amounts to wasting an entire semester on classes they had to pay for but didn’t count toward their degree at all. Students can save on both time and debt by creating a college plan in advance to minimize credit waste (or they can enroll in a program like Pearson Accelerated Pathways, which guarantees degree plans and protects the student from wasting their time, energy, and college funds.)

The traditional college experience isn't the right move for everyone, and the cost is far outpacing the average person's ability to pay for it. Here at Pearson Accelerated Pathways, we help forward-thinking students find a better, faster way to achieve their educational goals so they can graduate quickly, move forward in fulfilling careers, and build a life after school without debt.

College can be challenging, but it doesn't have to take up a tenth of your life. When you share your college objectives with one of our skilled advisors here at Pearson Accelerated Pathways, you'll receive a free customized degree plan designed by our credit transfer experts. Take a few moments to find out if Accelerated Pathways is a good fit for you!

How to Afford College: Tips for Getting a Degree on a Budget

Getting a college degree is expensive. How expensive, you ask? Well, Discover estimates that as of late 2018, the average cost for full-time tuition increased by approximately 143 percent since 1963.

Also notable is the fact that student loan debt is on the rise. U.S. News and World Report notes that a survey of the class of 2019 found that graduates borrowed, on average, more than $30,000 to cover four years worth of tuition and fees. In contrast, the average student loan debt for graduates of the class of 1989 was less than $2,000.

Let that sit for a minute - because, no, it's not a typo.

If you're among the many who aspire to go to college but are worried about how you'll pay for it, the good news is that earning a degree on a budget is possible. Below are just a few of the ways you can study (and save) at the same time.

Set a Budget

Learning how to set (and stick to) a budget is a skill that can help you throughout your life, and it's a lot simpler than you think.

To start, you'll want to calculate your net income (i.e., your monthly income after taxes) and determine your expenses. In addition to understanding what your fixed expenses are, such as your rent, cell, phone, and car insurance payment, you'll want to understand your variable expenses. Variable expenses include things like utility bills, clothing and entertainment expenses, and groceries. This is important, because when you set your budget, you'll want to account for monthly variations.

Pro tip: If you're concerned about wide swings in your gas and electric bill, ask your utility provider if they offer a fixed-rate program. With a fixed-rate program, the utility company takes the average billing from your address for the last 12 months and divides it into 12 equal monthly payments. Although you might owe slightly more at the end of the billing quarter, if you reduce your energy use, you may wind up with a credit.

Setting a budget can also help you keep track of (and be mindful of) your spending. For example, if you budget $40 each week for incidentals (such as eating out), you'll quickly learn whether you're spending that money on meals, or overspending on frozen mocha lattes. Understanding where your money is going can help you figure out which expenses are necessary, such as gas, groceries, and haircuts, and which expenses can be trimmed...like the $100 a month you realized you've spent on avocado toast.

Setting a budget will also help you understand how much money you can afford to allocate to college costs. Circling back to our original point, the more you can contribute out of pocket for college, the less you'll need to borrow.

Set Money Aside

If you're pondering how to afford college, you'll want to start setting money aside. Think of your savings account like a snowball that's sitting at the top of a very large snow-covered hill. It may be small now, but once it starts rolling and gains momentum, that snowball will start to grow.

Saving money for college doesn't mean finding hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars to sock into your savings account today. Savings can be as simple as emptying the spare change out of your wallet (or purse) at the end of each day and stashing it in a coin jar. In addition, some banks offer "round up" programs on debit card purchases, where your purchase is rounded up to the nearest dollar, and the amount rounded up is deposited into your savings account.

Whether you have $5, $50, or $200 a week to save for college, every bit counts.

Other Tips for How to Afford College on a Budget

Savings and spending wisely aren't the only ways to afford college on a budget. Other tuition hacks include researching employers that offer tuition reimbursement programs, and filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to learn if you're eligible for a Federal Pell Grant.

If you're working and concerned about losing income if you need to take time off to attend in-person classes, you'll want to research online college options.

Pearson Accelerated Pathways is one of those online options, learn more about getting your degree online and find out how you can get started today.

Not only will online college save you an enormous pile of money on room and board fees, distance learning can save you time (driving to and from campus), save you gas money (see previous point), and allow you to learn on your own schedule. Regardless of whether you want to study during your lunch break, read textbooks after dinner, or listen to lectures during your commute, online learning offers students lots of flexibility.

Are you interested in learning more about how Pearson Accelerated Pathways can help you develop strategies for affording college - including how to graduate debt free? Learn more.

Like this post? Try these other resources: Student Loan Debt: The Realities, the Consequences, and How It Will Affect You 14 Reasons Not to Take Out Student Loans for College How Does Financial Aid Work?

With a new year comes new opportunity for reinvention.  

Last year was hard. In 2020 we saw students all over the country struggle to balance life, work, money and academics. According to National Student Clearing House, higher education enrollment rates are down across the board. However, with a new year, comes new opportunity for change. 

We believe college shouldn’t cost a fortune or strap you with lifelong debt. We provide access to dozens of online courses without the burden of extra costs.

How it works

1. Talk to an advisor - When you are ready, you'll talk to an advisor about your college options. Unsure about what degree or school you want? No problem. Your advisor will be able to recommend college and major choices tailored to your specific needs.

2. Choose your courses - Your advisor will also help you build a degree plan designed to save you time and money while reaching your goals. This plan will show you which courses to complete, when to complete them and allow you to register and start studying all from one place.

3. Study on your schedule - All the courses you will take through our program are highly flexible. Take as many or as few courses as you want. There is no need to wait for a new semester to enroll and you can study at your own pace.

4. Transfer into your college - Once you've completed all your online coursework through our program we will help you transfer your hard-earned credit into your chosen college. There you will finish the remainder of your classes and graduate. No hassle or wasted time.

Student Debt is a Serious Problem

We've already written about the consequences of student debt. Most students (and/or their families) fall in the awkward financial spot where they don't earn enough to pay for college out of pocket (typically more than $200,000), but conversely, earn too much to qualify for financial aid (typically those making less than $50,000). So, choices when it comes to financing college can be slim for many.

Pearson Accelerated Pathways is the solution. We offer a way to go to college debt free. This just might be the chance you've been waiting to start your education on your own terms.

Reach out today to see if you're a fit and to speak with our team of advisors that can help you create a plan to match your life goals and your academic needs.

*Source: National Student Clearing House Research Center™

Deciding to go to college is about more than choosing a degree program. You’ll also need to decide which type of college experience is right for you.

For some, that means living at home, working part time, and taking general education coursework at a nearby community college. For others, it involves enrolling full time in an on-campus program, settling into dorm life, and figuring out how to make the most out of their meal plan dollars. Are you working full time and raising a family? If so, maybe neither of those options is viable, and you’ve decided that online coursework is your golden ticket toward educational advancement.

The bottom line is this: when it comes to going to college, there’s no such thing as a “one size fits all” learning experience. What works for you might not work for your sibling, your best friend, or the co-worker who sits at the desk behind you.

But how do you choose the best college experience for you?

Choosing Your Degree Program

If you’re exploring college options and you already know your career goals (e.g., you want to become a teacher, biologist, or engineer), then you’ll want to research which colleges have the best degree program for that particular study track. This isn’t about finding the “best school”; it’s about finding the school that’s best for you.

Creating a college plan requires matching your interests and career goals with an educational program. But again, choosing your degree is just part of the equation. You also need to decide how (and where) you want to complete your courses.

What to Know about Starting Your Degree at a Community College

If you want to save money on your degree, you may be able to complete your general education coursework at a community college. But if you go that route, make sure those credit hours will transfer.

One of the main reasons people choose to start at a community college relates to cost, which makes sense at first glance. For example, in the 2018-2019 academic year, the average cost to attend a public two-year school was $3,660 per year, compared with $9,697 per year for an in-state public four-year school.

Therefore, completing general education credits at community college might cost $7,320, compared with $19,394 at a four-year school. But if only half of your credits transfer, you’ll need to retake some courses, and that means paying for an extra year of tuition. Instead of paying an average of $26,714 for your degree, you’ll likely pay closer to $36,411. It’s all about dollars and cents—or, in this case, dollars and sense.

The takeaway? Going to college is expensive, so if you want to start at a two-year school to save money, make sure you choose your coursework wisely.

In-Person Learning vs. Online Degree Programs

When it comes to deciding between on-campus learning and an online degree program, the college option you choose will likely be based on your career goals, ideal lifestyle, and personal preferences.

For example, people who want a fully immersive college experience that has a strong social component may decide that living on campus works best for them. On the other hand, people who prefer to learn at their own pace and from the comfort of their living room, the local coffee shop, or a beach cabana in Cabo San Lucas may feel that online learning better aligns with their lifestyle.

Both options have pros and cons.

If you’re currently weighing the two options, take some time to list out your priorities. Do you prefer in-person lectures, or would you rather to study at your own pace? Do you have the ability to carve out time to drive to (or live on) campus and attend classes, or do you need the additional flexibility that comes with being able to stream lectures (and complete assignments) on your own schedule?

Flexibility in Learning: Benefits of an Online Degree Program 

Online degree programs were growing increasingly popular long before the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, a 2020 report by Aslanian Market Research and Wiley Education Services found that 78% of students who had taken in-person and online courses felt their online experience was as good as if not better than in-person learning. Seventy-nine percent of students who had earned a degree online agreed or strongly agreed that the cost was worth it. In addition to having access to multimedia content, video lectures, and/or podcasts, online students have the flexibility to learn when, where, and how they want.

Learning While You Work

If you’re taking courses to advance your career, an online degree program allows you to apply what you’re learning as you’re learning it. Plus, when you take online courses, you won’t need to worry about attending early-morning or midday lectures. You can study at lunch, stream lecture material during your commute, and complete your coursework on your own schedule. (Fact: studies have shown that the majority of full-time college students work between 15 and 35 hours per week.)

Learning While You Travel

Do you want to further your education without being confined to a classroom? If so, online college might be right for you. Why? Online degree programs allow students to study from anywhere they have access to a Wi-Fi connection. You can learn from the porch of your family’s vacation home, complete assignments in an airport lounge, or stream lectures from a rooftop café in France.

Learning While You Launch a Business

If you have an idea for a product or service and want to launch your enterprise now, enrolling in an online degree program has its benefits. You can apply what you’re learning to your day-to-day operations, and you’ll have the opportunity to grow your personal and professional network. There’s an old saying about success in business: “It’s not about what you know; it’s about who you know.” Completing an online degree while launching a business can help you feed both birds with one seed: it can help you expand your knowledge and your business contacts at the same time.

Designing a College Experience That’s Right for You

Like we said earlier, when it comes exploring college options, it’s not about picking the best college. It’s about picking the best college for you.

Are you ready to start learning on your own terms? Learn how Pearson Accelerated Pathways gives students the flexibility to choose their college experience.

Like this post? Try out these other recommended readings: How Does Financial Aid Work? Student Loan Debt: The Realities, The Consequences, and How It Will Affect You How to Make Friends as an Online College Student

In 1940, less than 6% of America’s adult population held a bachelor’s degree or higher. Today, college is a card-carrying member in the rites-of-passage club for the average American young adult.

Sure, we’ve all heard the stories of high school dropouts running multi-million dollar startups or non-degreed entrepreneurs passing up the Ivy Leaguers in the climb to the top. But college degrees are the norm, and the level of educational attainment in the U.S. is only climbing.

So, how are you to know what level of education you need? Is a high school diploma enough? Is the master’s degree really the new bachelor’s? Do you need a Ph.D. in order to be taken seriously in your field?

Let’s figure it out.

No Degree

“Should I even go to college?” This is a topic we’ve discussed before on the blog, and the answer remains the same.

It depends.

In the typical to-degree-or-not-to-degree soliloquy, proponents of skipping college eventually bring up the Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerbergs of the world. “If it’s good enough for Bill, it’s good enough for me.” The reasoning sounds convincing. After all, who are we to argue with billions of well-earned dollars?

But insanely-rich non-degreed entrepreneurs aside, what about all the business giants who succeeded with a college degree?

The fact is, most people need a degree. Not because it is impossible to succeed without one, but because landing a high-end job without college is a flashy news piece, not a social norm.

The American job market continues to rely heavily on college credentials. For the past decade and a half, those with some level of higher education have earned approximately 66% more than people with only high school diplomas.

Said another way, landing a satisfying career without a degree is still more of the exception than the rule.

It is possible to be wildly successful without earning a college degree, just like it is possible to give birth to triplets, become President, or qualify for the Olympics. But being possible does not make something common, statistically-likely, or the path of least resistance. If anything, by forgoing college, you have to be more clever and determined than rival job applicants because you’re rowing against the current.

Do you have what it takes to conquer the norm?

Associate Degree

The associate degree is a 2-year degree composed of 60 college credits, ranking between a high school diploma and a bachelor’s degree in education level. An associate is often used to satisfy a degree requirement in a healthcare, business, or education field without investing the time or money required by a 4-year degree.

Many people choose this option as a stepping stone to a later bachelor’s degree, since the 60-credit associate roughly parallels the studies in the first 2-years of a bachelor’s degree. (But beware. With any transition between levels of education, requirements are not identical and require advance research and planning to ensure successful credit transfer. Especially if you plan to earn your associate and bachelor’s from different institutions, you may wind up with earned credits that won’t apply to your degree.)

Associate degrees can be good options for students who:

1. Need to enter the job market as soon as possible

2. Have limited money to spend on higher education

3. Are unsure whether they want to get a bachelor’s degree

4. Are interested in field that only requires an associate level degree

Unfortunately, the associate degree is impacted by credential inflation—when so many people have a degree that it becomes the new normal. As the job market becomes more saturated with minimally-degreed applicants, more and more students feel the pressure to earn higher levels of degrees just to stand out from the crowd.

Bachelor’s Degree

The bachelor’s degree is the landmark college degree for most Americans. As of 2015, approximately one-third of adults in the United States held a bachelor’s degree or higher. By comparison, less than 10% of American adults held a master’s degree and only 2% had a doctorate.

A bachelor’s degree is an ideal launching point for either a career or further education, carrying enough street cred to be respectable on its own while leaving open the possibility of additional education down the road.

Business, finance, K-12 education, computer science, engineering, and the humanities are all ideal careers for bachelor’s degrees. Although master’s degrees can sometimes provide higher wages and wider career opportunities, a determined employee with a bachelor’s degree can often make up for the education gap by gaining hands-on experience. As an additional perk, bachelor’s programs are often eligible for scholarships, grants, and a multitude of economical online course opportunities.

If there is a con to the bachelor’s degree, it’s the unfortunate fact of credential inflation. Like the associate degree, the bachelor’s has to compete in a labor pool that increasingly includes graduates with even higher credentials.

Master’s Degree

Master’s degrees are 2-year graduate programs pursued post-bachelor’s. A master’s provides the credential leap that propels a student into the specialized knowledge required by some fields. Even in careers friendly to bachelor’s degrees, a master’s degree can help you bypass entry-level positions.

Since the 1980s, the popularity of the master’s degree has more than doubled, making it the go-to degree for career climbers. Higher education, business management, computer science, engineering, and mathematics are all good career options for a person considering a master’s degree.

However, a master’s degree is not always better than a bachelor’s. A master’s could be the career launch you need, or it could be an educational delay leaving you years behind your colleagues in experience and saddled by graduate-school debt. Pursuing a bachelor’s instead of a master’s program, especially with a flexible study format like Accelerated Pathways, may add 2-6 years of valuable employment experience to your portfolio.

If you think a master’s will offer you a greater earning potential, consider taking a few years between your bachelor’s and master’s. Enter the job market and gain some hands-on skills. This way, when you return to pursue graduate education, you’ll have experience under your belt and a better understanding of what credentials your field actually requires.

Doctorate Degree

In the United States, doctorates are terminal-level degrees—that is, they are the highest education credential available in a particular field. The most widely-known doctorate is the Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy), but other familiar doctorates include M.D. (Medical Doctor), Ed.D. (Doctor of Education), Th.D (Doctor of Theology), and J.D. (Juris Doctor).

Ph.D.’s and other doctorates are the go-to degrees for academia: scientific and humanities researchers, medicine, and law. Doctorates are not required for many jobs, but when they are, the requirement is largely non-negotiable. While some research and academia can be entered into from a master’s degree level, a Ph.D. is by and large a prerequisite for serious work in these fields.

Since a Ph.D. places such a demand on the student’s time and intellectual ability, the light at the end of the tunnel has to be particularly bright. Unlike master’s degrees, doctorates are often fully funded and even pay small stipends in exchange for the student researching or teaching for the university. In addition to a high earnings potential, a Ph.D. or other doctorate represents a phenomenal personal educational achievement and offers an inroad into the groundbreaking conversations happening in your field of study. A Ph.D. represents the opportunity to be on the front lines of a discipline, establishing the academic or scientific cutting edge of tomorrow.

However, a Ph.D. isn’t all pomp and prestige. Doctoral students pay the opportunity cost of further delaying entry into the workforce. And unless they pursued a bachelor’s degree program that allowed then to graduate with their bachelor’s debt free, many Ph.D. students are also still paying off prior education, which can be a challenge on a small stipend.

Given all that, the most daunting feature of the Ph.D. is undoubtedly its length. It can take 5 to 7 years to complete a doctoral program, on top of the typical 4-6 years needed to earn the prerequisite bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

With so many years of commitment and demanding studies behind it, the doctorate commands respect. While this level of education is not rare, it is rigorous and thorough, and serves as a badge of honor and credibility in the world of research, academics, and elite services.

Entrepreneur Thomas Smale got it right when he explained the most important aspect of degree planning: “But those with drive knew what they were after and didn’t delay in taking steps to achieve in their career or business, regardless of education. They found their footing by design.”

While which education level you choose is important, what matters more is your determination in pursuing your future. Find your footing by design, by making a thoughtful choice and running after it with everything you’ve got.

At the end of the day—past all the pros and cons, promotion options, and earnings potential—a degree is a tool, a helpful set of letters behind your name.

What really makes those letters mean something is you.

We can all agree that going to college can be expensive. (This is especially true if you need to take out student loans.) But there are lots and lots of students who are inadvertently adding to their college bills.

 The point I’m trying to make is this: You’ll want to spend your money wisely. If you don’t plan ahead, what seems like a perfectly normal decision (such as transferring schools and/or switching majors) can send your college costs soaring.

So, what are the expenses in college that add up, and how can you avoid them? I’m so very glad you asked.

How to Make College Cheaper

1. Avoid Switching Majors

If you’ve ever been told, “Don’t worry about your major. You can always change later!”

...this can be very bad advice.

You see, college majors each require a specific set of credits for graduation. By the time you are in your junior or senior year, you’ve probably already completed a substantial number of course credits that are major specific.

Say in your junior year, you switch from a history degree to a business degree. Your new degree requires you to take a substantial number of business-related courses, but it has no use for the four history courses you’ve already taken. The result? You’ve amassed almost a full semester of wasted credit hours (read: wasted time and money). 

Now, every business class you take will essentially cost you twice as much money (the price of the new course plus the price of the old course you can’t use anymore). 

Just don’t do it.

Instead, take your time and do your research. By making a solid college plan before enrolling, you’ll save an average of $594 for every credit hour you don’t have to replace.

2. Carefully Plan Your Transfer Credits

Pursuing your degree by enrolling first in a community college isn’t a bad decision on its own. But it can cause a lot of problems when you’re trying to save money on your college education.

Usually, community colleges advise you to earn an associate’s degree before transferring to a new school to finish your bachelor’s. The idea is to earn your first 60 credits at a small, inexpensive school before finishing at your more expensive institution. Seems like a good deal, right?

Wrong.

Associate’s degrees and bachelor’s degrees have very different requirements for graduation.

Unless you’re attending a community college with a very good matriculation agreement, you may be wasting time and money earning credits that won’t transfer.

Just like in the last point, every credit that is not transferable is a credit that needs to be replaced—costing you hundreds (even thousands) of dollars per course.

Again, transferring credit isn’t the culprit here. Not understanding college course transfer policies is. Transfer credit only increases college expenses when it’s lost. As long as you have already verified that the school you want to graduate from accepts the community college credit you’re taking, you can breathe easy.

3. Explore Alternate Credit Options

The internet has changed the way we engage with information. You don’t have to necessarily sit in specific classrooms for all your educational needs. You can build a college degree the way you’d build a playlist, using a variety of course styles from a variety of schools. 

And the exciting thing is, most of these alternative credit options are far cheaper than the traditional classroom experience.

You could pay $594 per class for the luxury of being taught in-person by a professor. Or, you could take a $150 competency-based exam. If you don’t like those options, you could perhaps try an online professional studies or self-paced online courses.

Generally, there are at least six ways to earn a college course credit. And most of them are less expensive and more flexible than taking a traditional classroom-style course. (Increased flexibility provides the ability to fit school around your job or life, so you can maintain your four-year college plan without sacrificing what’s important to you.)

Depending on how many transfer credits your college accepts, this method can help reduce the cost of your bachelor’s degree by thousands of dollars.

4. Explore Online Options 

Another way to save money on your college degree is to explore online options. If you’re skeptical about that, give me a second to explain. 

Let’s start from the top. Campus housing and meal plans are expensive. How costly are they? Data from the National Center for Education Statistics notes that for the 2018-19 school year, the average cost for room and board at public in-state institutions was more than $11,300 for the academic year. The average cost for students who attended in-state private institutions during the 2018-29 school year was more than $12,700.

That’s insane, right?

But the savings of online educational options don’t stop there. Taking classes online will also save you money on gas, campus parking fees, and lost wages. If you opt for on-campus learning and need to attend a class at 4:00 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, that’s going to take a valuable amount of time out of your work week. In contrast, when you take your coursework online, you can study around your work schedule.

Final Thoughts

Making small changes to your college plan can save you substantial money over time. By thinking outside the box and making a few adjustments to the way you approach college, you can dramatically reduce your college costs. For more information about how to save money on your college expenses, be sure to check out Accelerated Pathways.

Like this post? You might also enjoy How to Transfer Community College Credits

We’re big fans of flexible degree options that let you customize your electives to fit your interests. After all, why should you have to take a bunch of college classes you can’t use later in life?

Free electives are credits you need to graduate, but do not relate to your degree’s General Education or major requirements.

While Bachelor of Arts degrees have more free elective credits than Bachelor of Science degrees, almost every degree has room for at least one or two free elective courses. They’re a great place to explore and develop your interests in an area completely unrelated to your degree major.

Here are 13 free elective idea starters that just might put you on a path of discovery:

1. EMT/First Responder Training

Value: 3 credits

Why It’s Cool: Want to go beyond CPR? Whether you’re a world traveler, backcountry adventurer, or just someone who loves to help others, Emergency First Responder or Emergency Medical Technician courses are an essential skill in any medical emergency. They provide an excellent overview of emergency medicine so you can treat other people’s injuries, stay calm in a crisis, be a better parent, and help friends in need. It’s the college course that might help you save someone’s life.

Learn more: Offered at local colleges or in university courses like this one. In addition, some colleges grant credit if you already have this certification.

2. Study Abroad Programs

Value: 12-17 credits

Why It’s Cool: Have an itch to see the world? You can...and earn credit too! Tour France’s cobblestone streets and ancient castles, climb in the Swiss Alps, uncover China’s history, circumnavigate the globe in a sailboat with a student crew, or explore the rainforests of South America. Come home with new friends around the world, thousands of photos, lifetime memories, and oh...college credit. Not bad.

Learn more: CEA, CIS Abroad, Sea|mester

3. Employer Training Programs

Value: 3-9 credits

Why It’s Cool: Some companies will pay for your college and some will help you get college credit for employee training programs. Find out if your employer’s on-the-job training can get you closer to college graduation!

Learn more: McDonald's, Disney, Chili's, Georgia Power, Jiffy Lube, and others.

4. Microsoft Certified Training for College Credit

Value: 2-3 credits/course

Why It’s Cool: You can earn Microsoft certifications while getting college credit at the same time. Being tech-savvy is a necessity in today’s job market, and this ACE-recommended program can help you prepare. Courses on their site include Microsoft IT Professional certifications, administering Windows Servers, and training in HTML5, CSS3, and Javascript.

Learn more: Microsoft Learning program

5. Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

Value: 3 credits/course, 15/certificate

Why It’s Cool: Love teaching? You can get certified to teach English to students while simultaneously earning college credit!

Learn more: TESOL Certificate Program or individual courses from CALCampus

6. Project Management

Value: 1-3 credits/course

Why It’s Cool: Combining people skills with organizational savvy, project management is one of the fastest-growing career fields. Not only will you get college credit, but you will also develop an in-demand skill to boost your future employment opportunities.

Learn more: American Council on Education

7. Vocational Certifications

Value: Varies

Why It’s Cool: If you have earned one of these certifications recognized by Thomas Edison State College (or are interested in getting one), you can get college credit for it! Recognized certifications cover a wide variety of skills, including: UPS Driver Training School, classes from National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS), NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) training, some US Army and Navy courses, and the New Jersey Carpenters’ Apprenticeship.

Learn more: Thomas Edison State College Academic Program Reviews

8. DSST Exams

Value: 3 credits/exam

Why It’s Cool: Research your favorite subject while getting credit -- and best of all, you can take the test as soon as you’re ready. A wide range of fascinating tests include Criminal Justice, Astronomy, Fundamentals of Counseling, The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, and even Fundamentals of Cybersecurity.

Learn more: DSST Test Taker Bulletin

9. Hospitality

Value: 3 credits

Why It’s Cool: If you’re interested in learning more about hospitality on a business-scale, you can get credit for that, too! Learn the principles that hotels and resorts apply as they care for their guests.

Learn more: The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI), offers online courses on topics including food service, hospitality management, housekeeping operations, accounting, and technology in the hospitality industry.

10. Foreign Language

Value: 3-16 credits (depending on proficiency and test taken)

Why It’s Cool: Tune up those rusty foreign language skills and get credit for them! Not only will you get closer to earning your degree, but your language skills can open employment opportunities. Our research manager says, “One should not underestimate the value of the being a credentialed multilingual professional. This is HUGE!”

Learn more: CLEP (offers Spanish, French, and German); American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (offers credit for written tests in over 18 languages, and oral proficiency tests in over 100 languages); New York University (tests proficiency in over 50 languages)

11. Scuba Dive Training

Value: 1-2 credits/course

Why It’s Cool: Whether you’re interested in search and rescue or the Great Barrier Reef, SCUBA training could come in handy. These courses allow you to tour the ocean floor and earn college credits at the same time.

Learn more: PADI Diving Courses

12. Interior Design

Value: 3/course, 9/certification

Why It’s Cool: Discover color schemes, furniture arrangement, lighting, and other elements of interior design. If you have a love for hospitality or decorating, this could boost your skills and your degree!

Learn more: Colorado State University’s Residential Interiors Certificate

13. Graphic Design/Digital Media Courses

Value: 1.5-3 credits/course

Why It’s Cool: Have a penchant for digital arts, illustration, photo/video editing, or graphic design? Get a jumpstart on your art and get credit for it!

Learn more: Sessions College Design Courses

These are just a few examples of the creative elective options available to students today. Don’t forget: not every elective will fit into your degree.

Ask a school registrar or talk with your Accelerated Pathways advisor to see if your chosen electives will work with the degree you have in mind.

What out-of-the-box electives do you plan to fit into your degree?

I received an awesome email from a reader the other day.

Before reading 11 Practical Ways to Sharpen Your Communication Skills, she thought being a good communicator was all about having the right genetics or personality. When she realized it’s possible to learn communication skills, an entire realm of possibilities opened up.

As a result, a fire was lit under her. She’s now enrolled in a public speaking course and sent me an email asking for a list of great books on the topic.

What about you?

Are you motivated to improve your communication skills too? If so, here are six great books to help you boost them. These books will help you learn from the best, cultivating top-notch verbal communication skills which will set you apart.

1. Made To Stick

by Chip and Dan Heath

If you wonder why even the best ideas can be quickly forgotten, this book is a fascinating study of the topic. Written by a brother duo, Made to Stick is filled with interesting stories of successful strategies on how to make ideas more memorable and “sticky.”

2. On Speaking Well

by Peggy Noonan

Noonan was a speechwriter for Dan Rather and Ronald Reagan. This instructional book simplifies the process of public speaking with the seasoned wisdom of an expert who has helped leaders and presidents get their ideas out to the world.

3. How to Speak, How to Listen

by Mortimer J. Adler

This book recommendation came from Ryan Yamane, Accelerated Pathways' Vice President of Academic Partnerships and Product Development. An “oldie but goodie,” this book has practical application for anyone—from executive to student to parent and everyone in between!

4. How to Win Friends and Influence People

by Dale Carnegie

This one might seem like a no-brainer, due to its classic status. No list of books on communication would be complete without it, so here it is. Aptly named, this book discusses how to “express ideas, to assume leadership, and to arouse enthusiasm among people."

5. Writer's Guide to Powerful Paragraphs

by Victor Pellegrino

Written and oral communication are closely related because paragraphs are the building blocks of successful ideas. This book helps you begin to structure ideas more effectively.

6. Tongue Fu!: How to Deflect, Disarm, and Defuse Any Verbal Conflict

by Sam Horn

Funny title and cover straight from the 90s aside, this book is “exceptionally good for working on improving verbal communication skills,” according to one of our Accelerated Pathways coaches.

Now that you have your list—where to begin?

Before you get all excited and order every book off this list, It’s important to remember learning verbal communication doesn’t happen by osmosis. You don’t get better by buying books on Amazon and putting them on your shelf. You have to actually read them. Better one book actually read than six collecting dust on your nightstand.

And don’t forget you also need to develop your new skills with real, scary practice.

Whether through a local speech and debate club, Toastmasters, or a public speaking course, you need an outlet where you can receive constructive criticism as you’re applying what you have been reading about.

By listening to the wisdom of experts and then putting into practice what you learn, you’ll be well on your way to being an excellent communicator!