Online Bachelor’s (BA, BS) Degree

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Posted Jun 24th, 2014 , Updated Jun 29th, 2018 by College Atlas

What Is An Online Bachelor’s Degree?

An online bachelor’s degree, is an undergraduate degree offered by four-year private and public, not-for-profit or for-profit colleges and universities. An online bachelor’s degree program can take anywhere from 3-5 years of full-time study and requires between 120 to 128 credit hours of major, elective, and general education classes to complete; equates to approximately 40 courses.

Why Choose An Online Bachelor’s Degree?

According to recent data from the National Center of Education Statistics, approximately 16% of the nation’s almost 20 million undergraduate students opt to do their classes completely online and 14% through a hybrid of online and on-campus. The trend of students choosing online degree programs will continue to increase as online bachelor degree programs become more prevalent and more accepted by the academic community and employers.

So, why should you consider doing an online bachelor degree instead of a traditional on-campus bachelor’s degree? Online bachelor degree programs are attractive for a number of reasons.

Online degrees are good for students who:

  • Prefer their classes, homework, and tests to fit around their work and/or family schedule, as opposed to the other way around
  • Learn better in a self-paced learning environment
  • Value the flexibility of an online bachelor’s degree over the traditional college degree schedule and format
  • Live too far away from a university and cannot get to on-campus classes each week
  • Have a physical disability that makes it difficult or impossible to get to a campus

How Much Can You Earn With an Online Bachelor’s

Median Annual Earnings by Educational Attainment

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (above table), those with a bachelor’s degree earn 68% more than someone with only a high school diploma or GED and 42% more than someone with an associate degree. That’s an annual salary of approximately $59,124 with a bachelor’s degree vs. $41,496 with an associate’s or $35,256 with a high school diploma.

Need more convincing of the monetary benefits of a bachelor’s degree? The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce found similar data on the monetary value of a bachelor’s degree. They found that those with a bachelor’s degree earn about $2.3 million in their lifetime, on average, which is 35% more than those with an associate degree ($1.7 million) and 77% more than those with a high school diploma ($1.3 million).

Transferring Credits to an Online Bachelor’s Program

Some people start their college career with the intention of earning a bachelor’s degree. Others may earn some college credit or an associate degree, either at a community college or through an online associates degree program, and then transfer their earned credits to a 4-year institution in order to earn their bachelor’s degree.

Most Common Online Bachelor Degree Types

College students have the option of completing an Online Bachelor of Art (BA or AB) Degree or an Online Bachelor of Science (BS or BSc) Degree.

  1. Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated BA or AB) – These programs mostly contain course requirements in the humanities, social sciences, and other liberal arts subjects.
  2. Bachelor of Science (abbreviated BS or BSc) – These programs mostly contain course requirements in math and the physical and life sciences.

Other online bachelor’s programs include Bachelor of Legal Letters (LLB) and Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) programs.

Earn Your Bachelor’s Degree Online. You May Qualify For $6,095 in Grants!

Types of Online Bachelor’s Degrees

To learn more about specific online bachelor’s degree programs, select the type of online bachelor’s degree that you are most interested in below.

Earn Your Bachelor’s Degree Online. You May Qualify For $6,095 in Grants!

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