Guide Content
Time Factors
Transferring in Previously-earned Credit
You may be able to apply credit earned from previous courses you completed to a program’s requirements, and thus lessen the number of courses you will be required to take in order to earn a degree. Any previous courses you took must match academically to any specific courses in the program under consideration. In other words, if you took a junior-level statistics course in the past from a different institution and a similar statistics course is required in the online program, then, in most cases, you can transfer in that credit you already earned. Keep in mind, however, that if the course or courses you took previously were not from a regionally-accredited institution, and you are enrolled in an online program that is offered by a regionally-accredited institution, that previous credit may not be transferable (please see “Accreditation Status”). (Link to internal subsection) In addition, all programs have a limit on the number of transfer credits you can apply toward a degree, and there may be fees that apply when awarding transfer credit into any degree program.
Work Experiences, Prior Learning, Special Training, and Special Tests
A variety of learning experiences, skills acquired, special training, certifications, and special testing results may be converted into credit earned and applied to both undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Every institution has its own unique policies and evaluation processes for the possible transfer of such credit, and most have a special department that deals exclusively with such transfer credit evaluations.
A variety of learning experiences, skills acquired, special training, certifications, and special testing results may be converted into credit earned and applied to both undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Every institution has its own unique policies and evaluation processes for the possible transfer of such credit, and most have a special department that deals exclusively with such transfer credit evaluations.
Credit awards from such experiences can include:
- Successful completion of College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams.
- Successful completion of Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) exams.
- Successful completion of military training, college-level course work, corporate training programs, and business-related certifications that have been reviewed and recommended for credit by the American Council on Education (ACE).
- Experiential learning demonstrating subject matter mastery through documented work experiences that reveal college-level learning has been gained.
- Constructing a portfolio that presents evidence from a variety of sources that support a student’s claim to specific knowledge. The portfolio then is assessed by the institution to determine eligibility.
In other words, there are multiple ways in which an adult learner can shorten the duration of time it will take to earn a degree. Each institution and program has its own transfer policies and variable credit and entrance requirements. Prior to enrolling in any program, communicate with counselors who will provide you with a fairly good estimate as to what kind of credit you may or may not be able to transfer in based on your background and experiences. This will help you determine more precisely how long it should take for you to complete a program and earn a degree.
Average Course Time
It is important for you also to understand how much time may be required to successfully complete an online course. The generally accepted formula for determining how much time you will need to spend on each course is provided by OhioLearns, which is part of the Ohio Learning Network’s consortium of colleges and universities. Generally, it is expected that students put in a total of three hours per week for every credit taken. So a three-credit course would require a minimum of nine hours of your time each week over the duration of the course. This, of course, can vary, especially at the graduate level, where the amount of time per week required in any given course can increase substantially over nine hours.
Curious About How Much Time You’ll Have to Devote to School? Take This Survey!
OhioLearns publishes an online “Time Usage Survey” tool that can help you understand how much time you truly have to devote each week to your education. This tool will really help you get a better feel for your time restraints!
