18 months ago I (44m) decided it was time to finish my degree. I had attempted to in my 30s but life and young kids doomed that. I began the process of re-enrolling (had been at UMUC post College Park) and figuring out what I needed to do.
I had a great success coach who was able to work with me to plot out my coursework. My goal was simple to finish as fast and as cheap as possible. I’m self employed, the degree wouldn’t matter. This was a point of pride.
After looking at my current transcript a business degree would be fastest and made the most sense for me.
All of the classes were degree specific and requirements so I didn’t have to decide what to take only the order in which to do it. Furthermore, I had. It exhausted all of my transfer credits and could complete 4 more which I did through another site. This is a great alternative especially for classes that are either harder than you think you can handle or just want to bang them out quickly. Plus the cost savings is legit.
I didn’t use student aid or scholarships and paid as I went. Usually only taking 1 class every 8 weeks although I did do some overlap and did take 1 4 week condensed course.
Overall I restarted this journey in January of 2025 and took a total of 14 classes or 42 credit hours. It wasn’t hard per se. but I didn’t put myself in a position to make it hard. It’s late nights and a lot of personal accountability. I don’t care about gpa but I got nothing lower than a B.
Graduation. Not doing it. Don’t care about it. In my opinion it’s basically a selfie booth you have to travel to in a cap and gown. I’ve got better things to do than drive to Adelphi.
Well…. That’s my story. Hope it helps. If you’ve got questions I’ll do my best to answer them.