If you attended college but didn’t finish your degree, you’re not alone. Nearly 37 million Americans under age 65 have some college credit but no degree, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
The good news is that each year, more than one million former college students re-enroll to complete their degrees. The benefits speak for themselves – college graduates will earn two or three times more than those with a high school diploma over the course of their careers. A typical college grad will realize gains of over $1 million in earnings over a lifetime.
If you want to earn your degree but are concerned that working full-time and managing family responsibilities while attending school is too much, consider online, competency-based education.
Whether you stopped taking courses because of financial reasons or personal issues, a competency-based program like UW Flexible Option will reward you for previous college coursework. With a competency-based program, your progress is based on your ability to show that you have mastered the content – not based on how much time you spend in class. The self-paced format allows you to finish your degree as quickly as you’d like, based on your unique needs, transferable credit, schedule, or life experience.
Returning to College After a Challenging Experience: Meet Antwaun
Antwaun Sanders finished his University of Wisconsin-Parkside Bachelor of Science in Business Administration a decade after starting college as an undergraduate – when he was forced to drop out for personal reasons.
“I had several challenges in my undergraduate program the first time around,” Antwaun recalls. “My identity was stolen my very first semester of college. He got a hold of my Social Security number, and he opened up a whole bunch of accounts in my name. And I was getting calls from creditors.”
The following semester, a relative was arrested for criminal trespassing with a firearm, and used Antwaun’s name, birthdate, and address – which meant Antwaun had to go to the police department and get fingerprinted to prove he was innocent.
“It was a nightmare,” he says. “I did have the support of UW-Parkside police and my residence life advisers, and there were professors in my corner, so that helped.”
During his second year at UW-Parkside, things got even worse. Right before the start of second semester, Antwaun was in a horrible car accident near campus.
“It was really bad,” he says. “They had to transport me to a hospital in Milwaukee because they found out that I was bleeding internally from my liver.”
Antwaun finished the semester and did well, but needed a break. “I didn’t intend on staying out of school as long as I did, but life got in the way. I was working. I moved to New York. I had rent, bills. That took precedence.”
Now that Antwaun finished his degree, he is in graduate school to earn his MBA.
How UW Flexible Option Helped Shannon Return to School While Working Full-Time
Shannon Fitzgerald also found UW Flexible Option after attending two different colleges for a short time and serving in the Marines. As a full-time technical accounts manager for UniFirst, he needed to find a school that would allow him to study while working.
Fitzgerald did a Google search, and found the online University of Wisconsin Associate of Arts and Sciences degree offered through UW Flexible Option. He enrolled after speaking with an adviser, who was able to help him transfer some of his credits from Lakeland College and UW-Manitowoc, a two-year branch campus of UW-Green Bay. Once he completed the associate’s degree program, he continued with the online UW Flexible Option Bachelor of Science in Business Administration program with UW-Parkside.
A day in his life includes work, school, and time for his family. He spends the majority of his time visiting customers, and when he’s not, he’s working remotely or in the regional office. Typically, he’s in front of the computer by 7 a.m., finishing around 4 p.m. when his girlfriend gets home from work and the kids return from school. They eat dinner together, and then he reads and works on assignments. “It depends on what other things I have going on at home, but usually I try to put two to three hours aside for schoolwork.”
How to Get Credit For Your Previous Coursework – and Save Money
Like Antwaun and Shannon, if you have prior coursework, UW Flexible Option will make every effort to award as much credit as possible. Your prior credits will be assessed for transfer upon admission and are awarded if it is similar in level and content to coursework within your chosen UW Flexible Option program. This will save your valuable time and money.
With UW Flexible Option, you’ll also benefit from the Tuition Guarantee, which means you’ll pay the same rate until you graduate, as long as you are actively enrolled in the program. Financial aid is also available, and veterans of U.S Armed Forces and active duty service members may use their educational benefits with UW Flexible Option programs.
Ready to finish your degree? Call one of our enrollment advisers at 608-800-6762, or email flex@uwex.wisconsin.edu, to learn more.