Undergraduate Degree Completion Program

Undergraduate Degree Completion Program

Education has to be more than just courses on a piece of paper - it should be a life-changing experience! Instead of asking you to pick up where you left off, by matching your past courses with a set of requirements, we offer you a new educational opportunity quite different from the traditional undergraduate program you began some years ago.

There are many reasons why students don’t complete their initial undergraduate degree: family obligations, career opportunities, financial issues, and motivation. Perhaps for you the experience was not the right one at the right time. Now your situation is different. Now you want something more out of your career - advancement, fulfillment, professional respect, or career change.

Quality, engagement, innovation, integrity, and personal attention are the characteristics on which the University of Denver’s reputation is built. That’s what makes our program different from your past undergraduate experience, and other programs that view your education as a commodity.

At the University of Denver our aim is to provide you with the most up-to-date and relevant subjects delivered in a way that you can learn quickly and take pride in your success. Equally important is your total learning experience - the topics you study, the active learning environment, the insights and perspectives you gain, and the motivation and support you receive from other students, faculty, and staff. As a motivated working professional you will become part of a learning community of students like yourself. Whether you attend in the evenings on campus or study online, classes will be small and the instructor’s attention will be personal. This time you deserve an exceptional experience. Where you earn your degree does matter.

Some College, but no Degree?

Don't let the time, effort, and money you spent earning past college credits go to waste. If you are a working adult with at least one year of transferable college credits and three years of work experience beyond high school, you may qualify for admission to this program.

The Right Degree for a New Era

In order to be part of the creative and dynamic workforce so vital to the information age, you need the highly developed talents most valued by organizations today.

We asked business and civic leaders what those talents were, and they responded clearly:

  • Ability to communicate effectively
  • Solve problems
  • Think creatively
  • Handle multiple tasks
  • Make sound decisions
  • Understand and use technology, and
  • Be productive on teams.

Developing these talents is the focus of this degree.

If you are willing to be an active learner in stimulating courses with lively discussions, you will thrive in this program. Instead of asking you to repeat introductory first-year subjects, we present you with Common Learning courses that are more challenging and appropriate for your experiences as a working adult. Subjects are drawn from the real world and approached from the viewpoints of several relevant disciplines. You gain the ability to solve problems and make strategic decisions, by considering multiple options and weighing their possible outcomes. That’s what today’s professional needs for success in a highly competitive and increasingly global society.

Our mission, in short, is to offer you a 21st Century adult-level education.

Your Learning Experience:
The Six Critical Outcomes

The Bachelor of Arts Completion Program is designed to bring about six learning outcomes critical for your success at work and in living a satisfying and productive life.

  • Creativity: the ability to conceptualize and rework problems, and to generate solutions to those problems that open up new worlds of knowledge.
  • Critical thinking: the skill of analyzing and defining issues, developing an appreciation for multiple view points, and generating well crafted arguments.
  • Knowledge utilization: the ability to find useful information, ideas, concepts, and theories, to synthesize them and build on them, and to apply them in the workplace as well as personal life.
  • Decision making: the ability to analyze options and outcomes for decisions in terms of their values and effects and to make decisions that are rational, legal, and ethical.
  • Empowerment: the confidence that comes from knowing how to act, when to act, and how to respond to the opportunities and constraints that affect your efforts to get things done. With a sense of empowerment comes the ability to lead and bring about change for the good.
  • Effective communication: knowing your audience and learning how to empathize with it; reading, writing, and speaking effectively; making presentations that are persuasive and entertaining; and arguing to powerful effect.

Program Structure

You choose one of five interdisciplinary majors, all of which involve advanced study in arts and sciences subjects relevant to the careers of working adults. Regardless of the major you choose, you’ll begin directly with a series of courses that all students take called the Common Learning experience. It is here where you develop advanced skills in writing, critical thinking, problem solving, and scientific reasoning, as well as conversancy with key issues of the day - the intellectual skills needed for creative and strategic thinking in a global environment.

BA Majors

Writing

Writing! Every student will begin the program with the Writing Workshop. Even if you consider yourself a solid writer, this course will benefit you. This workshop will refresh or provide you with the skills essential for successful university study as well as workplace writing. This course is not just about writing mechanics. It sharpens interpretation, summarization, paraphrasing, and study skills. You will also learn the connection between writing and critical and creative thinking, and much more. This workshop will lay the foundation for your success in this program.

Time to Completion

The time for completion depends on the number of hours transferred initially and the rate at which courses are taken. For example, students who take two courses per quarter and transfer 90 quarter hours into the program will complete their degree in three years. The program does not have a campus residency requirement.

The recommended course load for working students is two courses per quarter. At this rate, a student can complete eight credits per quarter or 32 credits in a calendar year.

Conveniently Fitting Your Schedule

This program is offered both evenings on campus in high-tech University of Denver classrooms, and online. In both delivery modes, the eCollege course platform will be used to assist with the posting of the syllabus and course assignments as well as facilitating outside-of-class discussion. Whether you take courses online or on campus, you can expect to be actively engaged 5-10 hours per course per week, per class. You will receive guidance - early, regular, and timely feedback on your progress.

Bachelor’s and Master’s Planning

Although finishing an undergraduate degree is surely the highest priority, you might already be considering completing a master’s degree. That’s why we offer the combined bachelor’s and master’s program, which allows students to reduce the number of credits required for both degrees by nine credit hours. This combination will save students both time and money. University College advisors are prepared to help you link your master's and bachelor's degree course plans so that you make the most efficient use of credit hours. Contact an academic advisor to discuss what combinations of majors, certificates, and degrees may work best with your career plans.