The 5 Best Online Computer Degrees
Today we’re going to talk about the five FASTEST Online Computer Science and Information Technology degrees. I’ll also share some guidance on how you can pick the best one for you. And, at the end of this post, I’ll share a link on how to earn the top degree on this list in under 6 months!
We’ll go in order from the one that will take the longest amount of time to the one that will take the shortest amount of time.
5. UMass Global
The University of Massachusetts Global has a competency-based Information Technology degree you can finish in just 12 months.
This degree is about 1/3 general education (basically just reviewing high school), 1/2 major courses in IT subjects, and the rest specialized classes within your chosen major.
Information Technology is different from Computer Science because IT focuses on using tech to support a business’s mission while CS focuses on designing the tech for IT to use.
Plus, this degree is very practical. It includes classes like Networking, Security, Web Design Tech, and Applied Project Management.
The really cool part, though, is that it’s competency-based, which means you pay $3,200 for a six-month term where you can take as many classes as you want. You study for each class, take a final exam that proves you’re competent in the subject, and earn the credit. If you already know the material, you can basically skip right to the final exam, take it, and start the next course. This means you’re not spending an arbitrary 8 weeks on every course. You can squeeze more courses into a term, which means you’re spending less per course.
Thus, you can go at your own pace and graduate super fast--potentially within a year and for under $7,000--if you put the work in.
4. Excelsior University
The fourth fastest computer degree is the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from Excelsior University. You can pick specializations in General IT, Cybersecurity, and Network Operations!
Unfortunately, Excelsior costs $510 per credit hour, which is expensive for online courses, but the secret with these guys is they’ll let you transfer in a ton of credit—almost your entire degree—and count some certifications and training as college credit!
Plus, if you use College Hacking to earn a few more credits, you may be able to transfer in the maximum 113 credits that Excelsior will accept. And even though “College Hacking” sounds like we’re breaking into their databases, what it really is is just earning third-party non-traditional college credits that are cheaper and quicker than classroom credits.
For instance, Excelsior accepts a lot of CLEP exams, and you can go pay $100 for a CLEP exam, study for a couple weeks, and earn three credits. Plus, there are online third-party course providers like Sophia or Study.com where you pay a monthly subscription and can take as many courses as you want, and some of these courses can be completed in under four hours and transferred. So, combine some non-traditional credit with work experience and you might be able to graduate Excelsior very quickly.
3. Thomas Edison State University
Thomas Edison State University’s Computer Science Bachelor of Arts blew my mind the first time I hacked it for a client. It’s not competency-based like UMass Global, but it is the fastest week-by-week Computer Science degree I’ve ever seen.
You can hack almost the entire 45 credits of general education and the 30 credits of free electives, but the pièce de résistance here is the very customizable 45-credit major area.
Seven of the major courses have specific requirements, but the other eight can be chosen from many different courses, which helps you transfer in a bunch of third-party, alternative credits from much cheaper places than TESU.
Excelsior is great for people with work experience, but if you’re starting from scratch and you prioritize speed over cost, TESU might be your best pick. You can graduate in under 9 months for around $7,000.
2. Purdue University Global
Purdue University Global might be the single fastest Computer degree out there, and it also has the benefit of being competency-based, so you can go at your own pace. Plus, you get the Purdue name on your diploma. This is cool because Purdue is basically one step below the Ivy League.
But what makes this degree so fast?
First off, they’ve got a generic general education with a lot of flexibility. Almost all of the credits can be hacked or transferred in from somewhere else.
Their major is about half the degree, but you can transfer in over half of these courses from Study.com or Sophia, which are really fast, inexpensive third-party alternative credit options.
The free elective section does have to include an IT specialization, so it’s not very big, but you still get some flexibility for transferring in.
So, why is this school only #2 on the list? There are four reasons.
Purdue generally requires students to have at least three years of work experience, so not everyone can apply.
While most competency-based programs have one final per course, Purdue has one final per credit. So instead of 40 finals, you have 180, which is a lot.
The final capstone course is actually a standard week-by-week course, not competency-based.
They’re pretty expensive for a competency program. They charge $2,500 for a 10-week term or $36/day, while somewhere like UMass Global only costs $17/day.
Despite all that, if you put the work in on this degree and transfer in all the outside credits you can, you can easily graduate with that fancy Purdue name in under 9 months for under $8,000.
Western Governors University
WGU is the King of competency-based computer degrees. You can choose from IT, Computer Sciences, Software Engineering, and a bunch of others.
Not to mention, their process is streamlined. They may charge more than UMass Global (over $4k for 6-months of self-paced learning, or $22/day), but they accept way more transfer credit. They’re also less of a hassle than Purdue.
WGU’s big con is that they don’t accept international students. However, if you’re in America, you can transfer up to 2/3’s of most WGU degrees from third-party sources like Sophia or Study.com, and then finish up the rest of your degree in as little as one term.
But the truth is, you don’t even need to use outside credits to hack WGU (though you should because you’ll save money and time). I was just on the phone with an Admissions rep who said he had a student working all day, every day to complete an entire WGU degree in 6 months.
You should know that WGU doesn’t have free electives. So while you get a lot of really cool specific courses from them like Data Management, Data Structures and Algorithms, it’s really hard to transfer credits to WGU from a different major. It’s generally a better school for people starting from scratch.
In total, you can graduate from WGU in under 6 months for $4,100, but I’d recommend spending a little more to hack some of those credits through alternative methods so you’re not pulling 80-hour weeks.
As promised, I’m ending this post by giving you a link to a detailed plan on how to use Study.com courses to hack most of your WGU Computer Science degree. You will literally save thousands of dollars and get your degree within a single year if you follow this plan.
