22 Best Self Paced Online Colleges

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is a self paced online college that offers seven accelerated master’s degree programs in the areas of Business Administration, Education, Health Sciences, Social Work, Nursing, and Public Affairs. One year is the minimum amount of time needed to complete one of these programs, which makes it one of the most accelerated programs on our list of self-paced online colleges.

Central Michigan University offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees that are accelerated, reducing the time that students need to spend in school. Currently, the three most popular options include a Community Development program, an Administration program, and an Integrated Leadership Studies program. These options are all available completely online.

Azusa Pacific University provides a very popular Bachelor of Nursing degree where students earn a BSN, and can get college credits by working in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. working adults can choose from other bachelor degree programs, including criminal justice and psychology. Azusa Pacific happens to be a Christian University, and as a result they do happen to provide a well-known faith-based degree program as well. Of all the self paced online courses we researched, their acceptance rate and graduation rate topped all other online programs, at over 80% and 65% respectively.

At the University of Wisconsin, working students get the benefit of a custom accelerated curriculum, where you can choose just a two course course load for each term. they offer popular nursing programs (RN, BSN) where moving a piece that fits your lifestyle is encouraged. They also give online students all the bells and resources, including academic success coaches, flexible scheduling, and to top it off there are significant incentives for active duty and veteran military members.

Gwynedd Mercy offers Bachelor’s, Masters, and Associates degrees – all of which can be accelerated with five-week or seven-week sessions. The flexibility to work your own schedule is built in, so that personal life will not disrupt your school coursework. Some of the quickest degree programs can be found here, and although they are intense, support is given and every turn, and the accreditations are well-respected at this self-paced online college.

Northern Kentucky University focuses on degrees in the areas of healthcare, business, and nursing. This is one of the only online programs that offers an accelerated Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, and a certified nurse midwife certificate online, in an intensive 14-month program. In addition to these accelerated programs, they have one of the highest acceptance rates of all self-paced online colleges.

Arizona State University is an institution with a long history in higher education. Nowadays, they offer a wide range of online accelerated programs, spanning over 40 bachelors and over 10 self-paced masters programs. Distance education degrees from Criminal Justice to engineering to Global health or offered, and students can learn these degrees in around three years. There’s also the option where ambitious degree seekers can earn their bachelor’s and Master’s in as few as five years – all with the backing of a university has been around for a long time and whose online component is growing as fast as any of them.

Lewis University offers numerous distance education degrees, all of which can be completed faster than traditional degrees. Degrees in Information Security and Risk Management, information technology management, and computer science, span some of the technical degrees that are offered by this university. Because these programs are highly specific and of a technical orientation, students often matriculate here because of the unique offerings and modern coursework that can be completed here in an online capacity at their own pace.

California Baptist University has some online, fast-paced master’s and bachelor’s degree programs that can be completed in less than one year. They also offer some full-length degrees that can be completed on campus, however the personalization and extra control that students gain by utilizing the distance learning components in organizational leadership, accounting, and sociology have led to increased degree and certificate opportunities for online learners.

Champlain College Online offers a distinct catalog of associate degrees, undergraduate certificates, baccalaureates, master’s degree programs, and graduate certificates dedicated to the needs of adult learners. Through career focused academic programs, accelerated classes, and engaging online classrooms led by devoted scholar-practitioner faculty, students can expect more from Champlain’s innovative programs. Choose from 60+ programs in industries across business, information technology, healthcare administration, and cybersecurity, that are designed with the busy adult learner in mind.

Elmhurst College sports three main degree options for adults that can all be completed in one year or less. The school allows for significant amounts of prior credits to be added towards the degree, and students in Information Technology, psychology, and business administration are likely to go into the workforce armed with a decent level of work experience and classroom knowledge that allows them to transition well into the permanent workforce.

Florida Institute of Technology currently has a fantastic reputation through its Fast Track Department which gives accomplished students the ability to complete graduate level courses while pursuing a bachelor’s degree. Students who maintain atleast 3.4 GPA are given priority to this fast track path, and degrees in cybersecurity, healthcare, criminal justice, and accounting are offered in 8-week terms. This is one of the only schools in the country that offers an aviation program, so for future pilots, you may want to look into this institution.

East Coast Polytechnic Institute offers one of the wider ranges of accelerated self-paced online college programs, with classes that can be completed in 5 week patches. Students usually matriculate anywhere from one and a half to two and a half years for completion of their associate’s and bachelor’s degrees respectively. Courses in information technology, criminal justice, health science, and nursing are available, and RN and BSN nursing degrees are offered. The coursework has even been recognized by the U.S News & World Report as a top institution of distance education.

Columbia College offers terms that are all eight weeks long, and all accelerated and online. school has a fine reputation when it comes to distance education, and students are looking for well-rounded coursework, efficiency and thorough preparation for entering the workforce, Columbia College can offer it. Their degree programs span a wide variety, so students can have their pick when making choices for their careers later on.

Walsh University students can all complete their coursework in 8-week sessions, and that gives students of these bachelor’s and master’s programs an edge. all coursework is completed through the electronic course network, a proprietary, collaborative learning management system that allows students to write, discuss, and deliberate virtually, synchronously and asynchronously. This course network has been recognized by institutions such as the Business Education Alliance for its innovation and effectiveness.

University of Arkansas at Little Rock is well known for its online bachelor’s programs that focus in nursing and applied communication. One master’s degree program that stands out is the MA in Mass Communication. Most of this graduate program can be completed within 24 months.

Believe it or not, Albertus Magnus College has been offering accelerated, online coursework since before the 1990s, and so its curriculum and offerings have been able to mature and grow to fit the needs of modern students during that time. coursework is geared towards working adults and Professional Training to prepare students for future careers. Career planning and preparation are mixed in with the advice from experienced faculty and staff who can academically advise students based on years of worldly experience.

Indiana Wesleyan University is a Christian Institution that provides a well-rounded, faith-based education. They have accelerated nursing degrees, business programs, and education programs, among others. They seed their programs around service and leadership, and in that vein, there is a context, accountability, and a culture behind everything that they do, which hopefully becomes instilled in the students as they matriculate towards becoming contributing members to their communities.

Charter Oak State College offers degree programs whose terms can be completed in as little as five weeks. Like many self-paced online colleges on this list, they are known for accepting large amounts of transferable credits in the form of assessments, standardized tests, and training programs oh, so that students can get as much as a jump start on their cybersecurity and healthcare administration degrees. It always surprises people that this institution has been around since 1973.

Mercy College confers degrees that can be fully completed in under 15 months, spanning multiple 5 and 10 week courses. They’re virtual classrooms, project-based work, and academic resources provide a perfect backdrop for completing degrees in human resource management, marketing, nursing, as well as master’s degrees in criminal justice. something that stands out about this institution is it’s significantly higher than average job placement rates, that regularly come in at over 90% of students being placed. This may be because of their extensive internship program, which gives students real-world experience as they are completing their undergraduate and graduate coursework.

Saint Louis University is a self-paced online college that is Jesuit Catholic. They offer a bachelor’s to master’s program that gives accelerated students the opportunity to earn both degrees in fraction of the time that they are normally completed in. Computer science in nursing are a few of their most notable programs, and there are over 20 accredited programs they can fit to various schedules. The school is routinely ranked in the top 100 research universities in the US.

Western New England University’s most popular online program is its business administration degree. For students who have 60 or more transferable credits, you can greatly reduce the amount of time that your online bachelor’s degree takes to complete. They also offer a bachelor’s/master’s hybrid, Where in-depth coursework gets assisted by highly experienced faculty members, so that graduates are well-placed and prepared for matriculation into the job market.