Masters degree without bachelors

Hey everyone I just had a thought well I was reading thru the forum. I've heard some schools will allow a student to work on and attain a masters degree without ever completing a bachelors. I'm sure some of you have heard this as well.

My question has anybody(or know anyone) ever received a masters w/o a bachelors?

Any schools you know of that offer this option?

 

Heriot-Watt University's Edinburgh School of Business (UK) offers a distance learning MBA and a number of business related Master of Science degrees that may be completed without an undergraduate degree (in this case, one must complete a Post-graduate certificate to be fully matriculated into the degree program). See FAQ section for more details.

EBS is a well regarded, internationally known school of business. Heriot-Watt (the parent university) holds a Royal Charter, which is the equivalent of accreditation in the US. Bear in mind that this is not an "online" program. Rather, it is distance learning. All work is done via correspondence. Essentially, you sign up for a course, receive the materials, study as much as you can and then take the exam(s) at one of hundreds of exam centers located throughout the world.

It is more common for schools outside of the US to admit a student to a post-graduate program without an undergraduate degree. I would recommend that you post more information regarding the subject area that you are looking to study. This will help us to make specific recommendations.

Best of luck,

 

Heriot-Watt MBA
Edinburgh Business School: Distance Learning MBA and Online Business Courses

Not masters or DL, but some accredited JD programs not necessarily requiring an undergraduate degree as a prerequisite for admittance:

Indiana Univ. School of Law
Frequently Asked Questions
Tulane Tulane Law School Prospective Students
Univ. Wyoming College of Law | Office of the Registrar | University of Wyoming
Humphreys College
University of Missouri - Kansas City : Admission to the Juris Doctor Program
University of Toronto - Faculty of Law: Prospective Students
UBC Faculty of Law - Contact Information and FAQ's

 

You can earn master's credit at Harvard (College of Continuing Education) without a degree in anything, however, in order to apply to use those credits toward a degree, you need to finish the bachelor's. A benefit of doing this, is that you *may* be able to then take your graduate credit and double dip it by using it IN your bachelor's program.

 

Athabasca in Canada offers two alternate paths towards earning an MBA without a bachelors, but you'll need a lot of work experience ... instead of a bachelor's they will also accept:

an accepted professional designation [ex, CMA, PEng, etc] and at least five years of managerial experience
or
a minimum of eight to ten years of substantial managerial experience

https://www.mba.athabascau.ca/titanweb/au/webcms.nsf/AllDoc/AE2B75971096593B8725756F00033B7D?OpenDocument

 

A little known (and even less advertised) exception to requiring an undergrad degree is seminaries. ATS allows seminaries to admit up to 10% of applicants without an undergrad degree and even with no undergraduate work at all. That being said the applicant has to be outstanding in all other ways.

 

Which subject do you want your masters to be concentrated in? Ex, education, business, IT, law, theology, etc ... that will likely help direct responses and narrow down your options. Some disciplines are probably easier entry than others ... ex, if you are hoping to get your MSW without a bachelors, you'll probably have a tough time finding one that will admit you.

 

Oh! I just thought of another idea. Are you interested in becoming a nurse practitioner? When I was researching alternate paths, I found a half dozen schools that had accelerated programs in which you did the undergrad and grad combined- at warp speed. In other words, you could begin without any college credit and you'd graduate with an MSN in ~3 or 4 years.

 

Wow! I wasn't expecting this many people to respond because I really didn't believe this was an option. But now that I see that it is I might as well see if anyone can help me out. I have about 50 credits(mostly free electives and social sciences humanities). I could never stick with B&M college because the whole idea of majoring in a topic and only taking about 30 credits of that actual subject didn't make sense to me and aggravated me.

My interest since I was a teenager as always been psychology. The criminal aspect of what makes killers kill, etc. If I could fast foward my education by getting a masters maybe then I could work into a phd/psyd.

Also I should add the program should be RA, because I plan to use said degree to get a professional job, not really a check-the-box situation.

 

Which schools have these programs?

 

Yeah, what he said! opcorn:

 

This is true, however, once you apply credit to any program at Harvard and you finish that program, the credits are considered closed and unable to be applied to any other program.

So if you apply your graduate credit to an undergraduate program, you will not get to apply it to any future graduate program. At least, that's how it works at the Extension. They also don't allow you to pursue second bachelors if you have one already or degrees considered similar to ones you already have at the masters level.

Of course, don't ask, don't tell in that case.

 

Yes, this is true at HArvard, which is why I said "may" be able to double dip. It depends on a few situations and as always, the school.

 

Maybe I misspoke, I thought Cincinnati, Vanderbilt, and Yale came to mind- but upon checking I don't think so. I think I got this mixed up with the accelerated paths for non-nursing degree holders. So, ignore my comment. Carry on lol. :headache:

 

Monash University (AUS):

Master of Business Management (MBM)
Master of Business Management

 

A little bumpity bump bump.

As suggested and maybe not clearly stated thru my last post I will try to narrow down what I am searching for.

Could anyone point me toward a masters degree program [in any discipline of psychology] that doesnt require you possess a bachelors degree?

From a US school with RA, my goal is to use it to get into a phd/psyd program in psychology.

 

I believe the answer is "no."

 

You have 50 credits in your subject, so you likely need only a handful upper level in your major and your gen eds. You can CLEP your gen eds, so the way I see it, you're 1 motivated semester away from graduation. Doing so makes you're options/choices endless...ESPECIALLY since you want to work in the field. You're going to have to earn your undergrad first.

I think you should consider a BA in Social Science from TESC. That's what I did, and you're classes would be a good fit. I started from 0 credits and it only took me 18 months. (uhm, a highly MOTIVATED 18 months)

 

Sound advice cook, I just figured if I could fast foward my education that'd be super duper but as you said I am not far from finishing so..

One question why would you suggest a ba in social science rather than psych? Ive thought of this as well but I don't know much about that degree plan.

Cook, would you be willing to share your degree plan with me for your BA in social science? In 18 months I assume you tested out of a very large majority of your classes so if you could share your degree plan that would be great!! If so I will pm you my email address if you like.

Thanks everyone