So, you’ve selected your college. Even chosen your major. You’ve got your finances taken care of. Now comes the big question: “How long does it take to get my business degree?” Well, depending on a few factors, that answer can be pretty simple to figure out.
Most business degree programs offered by colleges and universities – even those business degree programs at online colleges – can take just a couple years. But there’s more to earning a business degree than just taking a few classes in finance, administration and economics. In general, a Bachelor’s degree takes four years to earn. If you’ve already taken some college classes, you might be able to complete your business degree curriculum in as few as two years. There also are other factors you’ll want to think about that could help you earn your degree in a shorter amount of time.
Here are some tips you can use to figure out how long it’ll take to get your business degree:
- Do you have an advisor? If you have an academic advisor, this is the best place to start. Your advisor can create a business curriculum path for you to figure out whether you’re looking at two or four years to complete your degree. Your advisor can also look at transfer credits, explain the business degree requirements, and help create a feasible plan for completing your business degree.
- Do you have any transfer credits? If you took college classes already, whether at a 4-year institution, a community college or an online college, you might be able to apply those to your business degree program. Degree programs all have a list of requirements, and you might have already satisfied those by taking classes earlier in your college career. This is something you’ll want to talk to your advisor about. You’ll also have to provide official transcripts from previous schools, and have earned decent grades (usually a B or higher) to have transfer credits accepted.
- Have you completed your core curriculum? So you’re enrolled in a busienss degree program. Have you taken English and History yet? Yep, it’s probably true. Most business degree programs are broken into two parts: two years of “core curriculum,” which are basic classes in English and History (the Humanities) as well as science and math. These are the English 101, College Algebra, and Psychology classes most of us end up taking our freshman and sophomore years. In truth, you might not even start your business curriculum for a year or more. You’ve got to get the basics under your belt first, then you can start to think about the nuances of business, finance, economics and administration.
- Can you take summer classes? If speed is important to you, you can accelerate getting your business degree by taking classes in the summer. Most colleges offer summer programs in popular classes – those that tend to get filled during the traditional academic year – so students can get caught up on their degrees. If you go to school full-time during the academic year and also augment that in the summer, you could reduce your time in school by a year or more. Make sure you consult your advisor on your schedule in each semester, and also remember that you might need to apply for special financial aid for summer school.
