Many Students Are Looking for Ways to Graduate From College Early

Here are 7 of the top ways.

College is a learning experience and the next step to take after you graduate from high school,

Many adults even opt to go back to college because they want to get a new degree in a different field or decided not to right out of high school.

While a typical Associate’s degree lasts two years and a Bachelor’s degree lasts four years, these are just estimates and averages.

It will be up to you to determine if you can graduate from college early.

The true determination that decides what degree you get is the number of credits you accumulate. You have full control over how long it takes to get from the beginning to the end of your college career and if you will be able to graduate from college early.

Best Ways to Graduate from College Early

• Graduate from college early by beginning in high school.

The best place to prepare is in high school. Many high schools allow juniors and seniors to take college level courses for actual credit in a partnership with a community college.

One or two college classes in high school eliminates the need to take them in college and gets a few general education requirements out of the way so you can pursue classes in your chosen field.

• Graduate from college early by testing out of introductory courses.

Many colleges have a testing phase that enables them to decide where to place you when taking basic courses in math or English.

If you have taken AP courses in high school or scored well enough on your standardized tests, you may be able to skip the introductory course to pursue the next level, which knocks another course off your list.

Check out more on this topic by reading the section on CLEP exams below.

• Graduate from college early by planning from the beginning.

Speak with an advisor and inform them of your intentions to graduate from the program early. Many classes have prerequisites that need to be completed before enrolling.

If you don’t organize your schedule very carefully, you may end up a semester behind in your planning. Lay out a base plan for the classes that you want to take from your first semester up through your last.

Also keep in mind that some classes are only available in one of the two semesters for the year.

Speak with your advisor every semester before registering to ensure you’re on the right track to graduate from college early.

• Graduate from college early by taking more classes.

Take more than the minimum number of credit hours that you are required to do to maintain your student status. Many colleges require you to take at least four classes or 12 credit hours each semester.

Take 15 or 18 credit hours if you can. Taking an extra class during your freshman and sophomore years as you obtain a Bachelor’s degree eliminates an entire semester from your senior year.

If you are really dedicated and take 2 extra classes, you can even obtain your degree an entire year early.

• Graduate from college early by taking CLEP exams

CLEP exams will help you get college credit by taking exams on courses you already know the most about,

Research the College Board CLEP exam website and ask your college or university how many CLEP units you can apply toward your coursework.

The course of your time in college CLEP units will help save you money since you’re not paying tuition for those courses plus give you the added benefit of earning the credits you need toward graduation.

• Graduate from college early to save thousands of dollars on tuition and other fees.

It also enables you to get into your chosen field of work faster than if you stayed in school for the average term, but will take hard work and determination.

• Graduate from college early by taking courses online if your college allows you to get academic credit for this.

Sites such as Coursera, Udemy and all the MOOC (Massive open online course) sites from various universities will give you a huge boost at far less cost that tuition you may be paying now.

Courses like Total Recall Learning™ also equip you with the strategies you need to know how to learn – necessary ground that school often doesn’t cover.

This course contains all the brain science proven tips and tricks you need to know how to succeed in every learning situation, and definitely help you graduate from college early.

You may not be able to goof off in your last year of schooling, but you will graduate from college early knowing that you worked hard every minute to get where you did and saved a ton of money in the long run.

Peter Savage is a career consultant and content contributor for SuperScholar.org

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[ Updated – October 22, 2020 ]