You've heard of the fastest, quickest, cheapest ! How about the longest ?

Hi guys !

I know there's been alot of threads about the fastest, cheapest, easiest degrees to earn. But does anyone know which Uni offers the longest time completion for a degree program ?

I've checked with ASU. They have a 6 year limit.

Does anyone know of anything longer ?

In case I may have to stop my studies due to work commitments.

 

Most schools have some form of policy that allows you to put you studies on pause for a time. They may ask you to pay some small fee per semester but then you can just restart your studies. Speaking for myself, I would use this as a criteria for choosing a school.

 

It took this man 52 years to earn an undergraduate degree. He holds the Guinness record.

R. F. Patrick Cronin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And yes- there were extenuating circumstances -- lots! :smile:

I know of people who have completed 3-year Canadian BAs in 15 years - evening study, 6 credits per academic year. (2 3-unit courses or one 6-unit course, Sept-April.) Looking around US colleges, it varies with school and degree level. Master's degrees often carry a 6-year maximum and doctorates 8-10 years.

Johann

 

It took me 34 years to earn my BS - I first earned engineering certificates in the UK then I took additional courses from around a dozen US colleges accumulating sufficient additional courses to meet Excelsior (USNY) degree requirements.

 

I was told by my ASU consular that although I could stop at ASU and return in the future (with no time line stated), some of my credits in sciences might not be acceptable for future classes.
That kinda sucks if I need to take upper level classes that require the basics.

 

That would make sense if they changed the degree requirements. That's probably what the counselor was referring to.

 

In his splendid (and, sadly, out of print) book, Winning the Ph.D. Game, Richard Moore did a great deal of research on how long the average PhD takes in various fields at 50 or more major universities. In the sciences, an average of 10 to 12 years was not uncommon. Moore uses this wonderful line: "At the time he bludgeoned his thesis advisor to death with a hammer at Stanford, Theodore Strelewski had been a doctoral candidate for seventeen years. It would be hard to find a jury of his peers that would convict him."

 

I managed to cram a 4 year bachelors in 26 years of part-time study. I did earn a few of those 2 year thingies during that time.:happysad:

 

"I seem to be a perennial student" - The Cherry Orchard - Anton Chekhov

I guess the theoretical limit is governed by one's life-span. One can keep going practically forever, but it helps to watch out for some schools' limitations on age of transfer credits that they accept. One could be up against a 10 or 15-year rule, in some cases.

Johann

 

American Public University has a seven year limit for their masters program and I took a break for two years, but the seven year clock still runs out in 2017 e.g. the seven years was not extended.

It took me 21 years to earn a BS.

 

More "lifers" or nearly so, from Wikipedia:

A quote on one of them, who has spent over fifty years at the same University:

"Milton De Jesús has been a student at the University of Puerto Rico since 1963. .... It is not certain if he has a degree."

Perpetual student - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BTW - a Mr. Nicholson is mentioned, who has earned about 20 degrees. He's been featured on DI before. IIRC, he has for many years been employed in maintenance work etc. at his university and thus availed himself of free tuition for employees. One way to avoid student debt, I guess.

Johann