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| Online College: Transferring Credits | Adult students who are considering an online degree who have already earned some college credits during the course of their careers can decrease the time it takes to earn an undergraduate online degree by transferring credits from another school. Many higher learning organizations, including online schools, allow the transferring of credits toward a degree. In view of the fact that each online degree program’s requirements vary, check before you enroll to make sure transferred credits are accepted.
A student that goes to a traditional college cannot move from campus to campus and expect to easily transfer credits. The same is with online schools. Students repeatedly take for granted that they can take courses from several institutions and that all those credits will transfer toward an education online. Even though consortium members typically work together to maximize the transferability of credits from one college to another, it is still up to you to ensure that credits earned elsewhere can be applied at your new online college.
What about taking courses at an online school that is not recognized or accredited? This possibly become a source of great frustration. Still, you might have some legitimate reasons to question and change the amount of credit you receive. You can formally request the online college if the registrar’s office won’t accept the credits you want to transfer. Nevertheless you are required to gather all your paperwork and be unrelenting. Your online education can be shortened by transferring credits and speeding up the completion of your degree.
Earning Credits Before You Even Enroll
Before enrolling in an online college, adult learners may already possess college credits through courses, examinations, or learning acquired in the workplace. Some undergraduate online degree programs, especially those designed for adults, give credit for knowledge and skills gained through life experience. Although the savvy typically comes through paid employment, it can be acquired through volunteer work, company or military training courses, travel, recreational activities, and hobbies and reading.
You must document the specifics of what you have learned. It’s basically not enough to say that you learned about marketing while selling widgets. As an alternative, you must demonstrate what you learned, for example, by showing plans for a marketing campaign that you created or implemented.
For learning to earn credit from life experience, assemble a file or portfolio of information about your work and other accomplishments. This file may perhaps include writing samples, awards, taped presentations or performances, copies of speeches, newspaper articles, official job descriptions, military records, works of art, designs and blueprints, films, or photographs. Then your portfolio is evaluated by an institution’s faculty member. Sometimes a student can earn as many as 30 credits - one quarter the number needed for a bachelor’s degree - as the result of a good portfolio review. Though, not often, will a portfolio allow you to earn a majority of the credits you need.
The amount of credits you receive depends on the online university and, within the institution, the policies of internal schools, departments, or programs.
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