The Degree Completion Problem

By Steve  Bowler

A short time ago my sister decided to complete her Bachelors Degree. She received an Associates Degree in Accounting over 30 years ago but employment changes and a desire to improve her position led her to seek an online university that could get her over the finish line at a reasonable cost and short enough time frame to be meaningful. Next month she'll complete her studies and soon will have a Bachelors degree. Well done!

Example Search Result for "Degree Completion Programs"

There are millions of working adults who for whatever reason never finished their four year degrees. Some dropped out due to family or economic reasons. Some failed to accrue the required credit hours due to not taking it seriously in their youth. Some like my sister, didn't have the need at the time and had to balance work and a family.

There is also a large number of students who previously tried to attain an online degree but fell into the for-profit university trap. They were scammed. Either the degree they were seeking turned out to be useless, or the university terminated the program or went out of business. Part of the scam involved federally backed student loans. First the student is enticed into a program that won't help them or got terminated. Then when they defaulted on the loan, guess who's on the hook? Yep, you and I. 

A huge issue for these people is credit recovery. Universities offering degree completion will recognize differing amounts of previous coursework. Some have set up advisory services to help navigate through different degrees and credit requirements. Some offer remedial coursework to bring students close to their goals. Private industry has also jumped into the fray creating online tools to evaluate your previous transcripts and match you to programs at accredited schools that best fit your goals. A couple can be found here and here.

Online colleges also have available to them adjunct faculty who can strengthen weaknesses for students who wish to reenter the academic world and receive a higher level diploma, a Bachelors or Masters. They can tutor these students in math, reading or English language readiness. This untapped resource may be the key to restoring the dreams of millions of adult learners.

Counseling may also be needed to overcome the bad taste left by being taken advantage of by some unsavory for-profit colleges. Students may be reluctant to put themselves in position to be burned again. Rebuilding trust requires more than a sales pitch. Some trust building steps may be needed such as offering preparatory instruction for free. Forming peer study groups also helps, as students can learn and go through the entire experience together. Again, most online universities, especially ones with brick and mortar anchor schools, have student services counselors who are professionals at keeping or getting students on the right track.

Estimates are that there are millions of students who at one time or another gave up on their dream to complete a Bachelors or higher level degree. With the right help they can still get there.

Steve Bowler is a Co-Founder of HotChalk, Inc., Inc. an early pioneer in K12 EdTech and an Online Program Manager for Post Secondary Education. He also Co-Founded ProductFactory, Inc., a provider of enterprise Product Portfolio Management that was acquired and a Founder of Venalytica in Consumer Preference Analytics. Steve is an expert in Product Management, Program Management and Agile Development.