Life Experience College Degrees

Life experience college degrees are becoming more in demand as the need for job transitions increase. Cutbacks are forcing many career-oriented people to either increase the level of training or launch out into a totally different area of employment. This often requires obtaining a college degree in order to qualify for a position. Many higher level positions require at least a master's degree in the area of specialty. Some positions require a doctorate.

Many people are planning ahead to be prepared for job loss or the need for change by taking advantage of online education. Other people feel there is no way they can manage work and more education at the same time. It takes years to get a degree if you go to an on-campus site. The usual time is four years for a bachelor's degree, at least two more for a master's, and then two or more years for a doctorate.

What many people do not realize is that there are many colleges and universities offering credit hours for life experience as it relates to the field of study. If you have a lot of experience and expertise in a given area, you may qualify for enough credits to equal a year or more of education. For instance, if you are interested in becoming a writer with a major in journalism, you may qualify for credit hours in a variety of ways. If you are a member of a club or organization and you design and write the monthly newsletter, that writing could count toward some credit time.

Hobbies May Help You Get a Degree

If you do volunteer work in the area of your degree interest, many hours may be credited by the experience you have according to the intensity of the work. Keeping the record books for an organization and paying the bills will be counted as life experience credits toward a related degree such as business or accounting. Volunteer work in your church, school, or club will very likely be usable for life experience credits.

Hobbies are a great way to obtain life experience credits for a college degree. If you are an avid gardener and would like to get a degree in horticulture, you will probably have a lot of credits covered by life experience. It is important to realize that a degree is not out of sight just because you are already working full time. It may only take you a few months to complete the institution's requirements for a degree.

Most colleges and universities have a limit on the number of life experience credits that can be applied to a degree. It is fairly normal for at least 20 credits to be obtained from the issuing facilities. If you need 120 hours to qualify for a bachelor's degree, regardless of the amount of experience, you may still be required to take at least 20 and sometimes as many as 60 hours to fulfill the requirements.

Use Life Experience for College Degrees

There are some universities that are strictly online and offer degrees only from accumulated education and life experience credits. These universities do not offer or require additional courses to be taken from their facility. If all requirements are not met to qualify for a degree, it may mean enrolling in another institution to complete the required amount of work to be added to the life experience credits.

In order to qualify for a degree such as an MBA (Master of Business Administration), the applicant will generally have to provide proof of expertise in the area of interest such as marketing or accounting. This may include proof of a bachelor's degree combined with enough work experience to qualify for the degree. Proficiency exams may be given as proof of the level of skill. If the proficiency exam score is not sufficient to pass, more education or experience will be required before a degree is offered.