Masters Degree in ?? Weeks

Long time reader, first time poster.

I'm interested in finding out about accelerated Masters degrees. Is there an equivalent to 'BA in 4 Weeks' for a Masters degree ?

I'm not really sure what I'm looking for yet just that I'd like to keep to a 12 month study duration if possible. I took a look a the AIU MBA but for $30k I'd rather spend more time studying and get better name recognition !

thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

Are you seeking a RA or NA ( like DETC ) MBA program? If a DETC MBA program would work, you could check Aspen University.

 

The "BA in 4 Weeks" is a concept, that's all. It is based on the notion of tying together all your college credit, along with demonstrated learning that can be credited (like experiential portfolios, military training, testing for credit, etc.).

These processes are, generally, not used in graduate school. So the short answer is "no." Even in schools with liberal transfer policies, or those that have competency-based programs, expect it to take the better part of a year or more. Sorry.

 

I finished my Master's degree in one academic year (about 18 months), which is about as fast as realistically possible. I took 3 courses for 3 semesters, and 2 courses in the summer, for the 33 credits necessary.

It took a pretty heavy toll on me, mentally and physically, and only reason I did it that way was to make an inflexible deadline for an education incentive at work. I strongly recommend against doing it the way I did, I would take no more than 2 courses at a time if I had to do it over again.

 

I completed my MBA and a graduate certificate in accounting in 16 months, which was three 15-week terms, one 10-week term, and 1 8-week term. The total semester hours earned was 39 (13 classes). I took the courses as follows:

2 classes Spring 04
2 classes Summer 04
5 classes Fall 04 (1 class was an accelerated 8-wk course)
4 classes Spring 05

Needless to say, this was EXTREMELY difficult and drained me. I do not work full-time, but do take care of my two children (ages 3 & 2 now) and work part-time. My husband is in the military and was deployed for 7 months during those 16 months that I worked on my education, so I spend every spare moment studying to help keep my mind off of missing him.

It CAN be done.....but I wouldn't recommend it.

 

I'm aiming for somewhere between 15 to 18 months (Jan 05 to July 06):

Spring 05, 6 Hrs (2 courses)
Summer 05, 12 Hrs (4 courses)
Fall 05, 12 Hrs (5 courses)
Spring 06, 6 Hrs (Internship+1 course)
Summer 06, 6 Hrs (2 courses)


This is for a MEd program at West Alabama.

 

Yikes. I hope you survive this . Good luck to you

 

Short duration masters degrees

I like the Colorado Tech Online programs -- they have a very good Executive MBA that takes only 15 months, and other 15-month masters programs as well (both MBA and MSMs in areas like IT mgmt). Their on-ground schools offer doctoral programs and are NCA/HLC accredited, and have a good reputation. I think having "Colorado Technical University" on the diploma sounds good!

Best wishes to you in your search!

 

I think that the California state approval standards mandate residence, D/L or physical, of not less than nine months. University of London has a minimum "residence" requirement of two years for the Master of Laws.

Part of the problem is that reputable schools virtually never award graduate credit for "life experience" or "portfolio assessment" and usually limit transfer credit to no more than nine semester hours out of the 30-45 s.h. a Master's requires. Thus, the Master's program student must complete at least two full time semesters of coursework alone.

 

The masters programmes at Aspen University can be completed in 12 months if you take 2 courses at a time and use independent learning mode rather than on-line interactive. Aspen offers five terms per year so in theory you could go the on-line interactive route but not every course you might need is offered every term.

I would recommend taking one or two courses in sequence not concurrently at first to determine whether you are up to the demands of a master degree.

As mentioned by others Aspen University is Nationally Accredited through DETC. At USD250.00 per credit hour the entire degree, excluding books, costs approximately USD9000.00 and with books might top out around USD10000.00.

 

Grantham University (www.grantham.edu) is a NA accredited school which maintains open enrollment. So you can start at anytime. I can speak from personal experience that with GU you can complete a course as fast as you want. In just over 3 weeks I had already slammed through 3 classes and I must say it wasn't overly difficult.

GU is NA so there may be some degree utility issues. I also ran into some very frustrating customer service issues with them as well. They recently gave their business programs a name. It's the Grantham University "Insert Name Here" School of Business so I guess that helps it 'sound' better.

I'm not speaking for nor against GU because each person must decide for themselves what will work, but if you're looking for a quick & LEGITIMATE degree I can think of no faster option (not even AIU).

 

I'll jump on the NA wagon, too. If it will suit your purposes, Ashworth College offers two or three different Masters degrees, including an MBA. The main attraction here is price. I think the total cost for the program is $5,000. I have read that you can move through the program as fast as you want, but it is not considered an "accelerated program". When you finish one course, you move on to the next. The payment terms are $99 down, and $99 a month.

If you are looking at RA Masters degrees, there are a few places that advertise 15 month MBAs, but I think those are really a selling point, not a realistic expectation of how fast the program can actually be completed.

One question: why the rush?

 

Troy University offers 7 or 8 online master's degree programs consisting of five 10-week terms per year. By taking 2 classes per term you can realistically expect to finish a master's degree in about 12-15 months (30-36 semester hours). The nice thing about Troy's master's degree programs is that the required courses in each program are offered several times over the course of the year so you shouldn't have to wait very long to take the classes you need for the degree. Troy's tuition is currently running $290 per semester hour and one can begin a degree program during any of the five terms throughout the year.

Troy is regionally accredited by SACS and allows up to 12 semester hours to be transferred into most of their master's degree programs, including up to 6 hours from a previously completed master's degree. Troy will also accept senior level military training courses in certain master's programs.

abnrgr275

 

Why so many courses?

I thought all the MEd programs at UWA were 33 or 34 semester hours. You have 42 listed. Are you required to do some levelling work?

clint

 

I think that this is good advice, especially for those who have been out of school for a while or who have family obligations.
Jack

 

I finished my MBA in about 9 months from NCU. I was very motivated to get it done! With NCU, you can generally go at your own pace.

 

42 (MEd) or 48 (MAT) is required in my oncampus program for Alternative Certification, since my undergraduate degree was in history. More coursework is required if you don't have enough undergraduate work in your certification field.


Most of the courses required for this program are avaliable online, with the exception of methods and field experiences courses. I don't understand why those haven't been made avaliable, since the online courses are the same as the oncampus versions and both often require you to do work in school systems. It would be great if UWA addressed this and made the entire alternative certification program avaliable online.

 

Try Western Governors University. You may finish the MBA in a single semester ($~3500) if you really have it together. Since they are assessment based, credits and seat time is not an issue.

 

Since graduate level credits can't be clepped, it is unlikely that one could get a graduate degree in four weeks.

 

12 months for a masters by distance is really, really tough. Florida offers their Internet MBA in a "one year" option, but it actually takes 16 months. If you can attend on-campus, it can be done in as little as 10 months. Best of luck in your search!