As you click through, you’ll find that some of the programs are not listed as “completion” degrees, but all the schools on this list take a strong approach to helping students transfer in a large block of credits to get the degree finished much more quickly than a standard four-year bachelor degree. Some are also listed as “accelerated” programs.
General Business & Management
Business Management or Administration degrees are the most general programs that prepare a grad for with widest possible range of managerial positions, rather than drilling down into a particular specialty. This can provide a foundation in basic financial and personnel management skills, with exposure to other subjects like business law, organizational management, business technology, communications and marketing, as well as more theoretical subjects like macro- and micro-economics. This type of bachelors degree can qualify you for a senior management position in a smaller or self-owned company, or help get your foot in the door at a large business. To advance in a big enterprise, it may be useful to continue on to a graduate MBA degree, or ad a specialized concentration to your bachelor’s degree. Schools with completion degrees in general business and management include:
American Intercontinental University
Capella University
Grand Canyon University (Applied Management & Business Administration)
Western Governors University
Accounting
Accounting may be seen as a less glamorous career path, but it’s an exceptionally solid, in-demand specialty. Put simply: you don’t often find accountants out of work for very long. The recent increase in government business reporting requirements has actually increased the need to qualified accountants who have received their training since the passage of the very complex Sarbanes-Oxley rules of 2002. Courses in an accounting bachelor’s degree program will include a mix of training in technical areas like tax accounting, cost accounting and auditing, along with broader business training to prepare you to interface with various management and sales groups in a businesses. A basic comfort level with math is important in this specialty. Accountants are needed in just about every private, nonprofit or government enterprise large or small, and the training can be an excellent platform for more advanced business studies.
American Intercontinental University
Capella University
Grand Canyon University
Western Governors University
Applied Management
This is a broad-based business degree, offered by relatively few schools, that focuses on organizational issues. Students learn leadership, marketing, communication and accounting skills that can be applied to a wide variety of business positions.
Grand Canyon University
Entrepreneurial Studies
Some entrepreneurs tend to shun college. But there are so many startup companies emerging today, particularly in the technology field, that a fairly clear set of skills has emerged that define the kind of people who either raise money to find a new business or do the legwork to get it off the ground. The training in critical thinking, financial basics and communication is designed to those to wish to start anything from a small business on Main Street to a new division within a larger company.
Grand Canyon University
Finance
Finance is a basic, time-honored specialty pursued by students who want to get a foot in the door in banking, insurance, corporate finance or the investment world. Involves a mix of basic training in financial and managerial accounting, business law, marketing, management skills and business strategy, with more specialized courses in macroeconomics, monetary theory, international finance, banking and investments. Some finance programs include training for the Certified Financial Planner’s Examination, which qualifies you to be an investment advisor. Schools offering finance bachelor’s completion degrees online include:
Capella University
Grand Canyon University (Finance & Economics)
Healthcare Management/Administration
This is a fast-growing area of study, due to the explosion in complexities of every aspect of healthcare. Hospitals, government agencies and corporations are all finding it harder to make informed decisions on both the financial and more human aspects of healthcare, and need business managers with the expertise to advise them intelligently. The degree generally includes a mix of training in information technology, basic business skills like accounting, finance, operations and HR, coupled with more specialized study of current issues in health like privacy, ethics and community outreach. Healthcare completion degrees:
American Intercontinental University
Grand Canyon University
Human Resource Management
Virtually all medium to large-sized companies have a director of human resources who helps define policies on employee benefits and management, and takes care of issues that arise for people in the company in health insurance, retirement or vacation benefits and addiction or other workplace problems. Core study areas include labor relations, strategic management, occupational safety and health and workforce planning. HR is a moderately well compensated career generally, though some HR directors of large companies can earn very high salaries.
Capella University
Western Governors University
Information Systems / IT Management
Companies in banking, media, healthcare and just about every other category now have an IT staff with an ongoing series of tech projects to maintain and upgrade current systems, as well as new application build-outs to support new business launches. A business bachelor’s degree in this specialty is designed to qualify you to act as a team leader or manager of a data center or to direct individual projects, which generally involves a high level of communication with various groups in an organization. A foundation of technology courses are included in this type of degree.
Grand Canyon University
Western Governors University
International Business
Degree program for those who want basic business management skills in accounting economics. marketing and leadership, as well as specialized training in how international organizations operate, legal issues of doing business in foreign countries, trade issues and global operations techniques. The degree can be valuable for students who want to either work as salespeople or managers for the foreign branches of American companies, or to do management for a large multi-national corporation.
American Intercontinental University
Leadership
Leadership degrees provide general business management skills, with added training in the more subtle techniques of interpersonal dynamics, decision making and social psychology. Leadership skills can be applied to a managerial position in virtually any industry.
Capella University
Marketing
Marketing is a popular specialty, and one that’s critical in virtually all businesses. There are a very wide range of marketing jobs out there today in advertising agencies, direct marketing groups and corporate marketing departments. While entry level jobs are not tremendously high-paying, marketers can often advance to very high positions in a company. Consumer goods, pharmaceutical and media companies are examples of extremely marketing-driven businesses where a qualified marketer can occupy an important place. A marketing degree will mix study of functional skills like media planning and scheduling, financial management and forecasting with more intellectually stimulating topics in psychology and advertising. Marketing completion degrees online are available from:
American Intercontinental University
Capella University
Grand Canyon University
Western Governors University
Project Management
Students can pursue project management as either a business or technical specialty, since both are needed for the kinds of ongoing tech and business development projects that exist in most companies nowadays. The project manager is charged with assessing the costs and the viability of a project concept, getting key stakeholders in a company to agree on an approach and a schedule, and then making sure the work gets done on time and within budget. Graduates in this specialty can work on anything from the design of a new software application to the construction of a new company building, depending on their skill set. A career in this specialty requires a certain flexibility, since projects often involve unforeseen problems, and since each now project can require a new set of solutions.
Capella University
Sales Management
Good salespeople can sometimes rise into the managerial ranks and then find themselves somewhat limited by a lack of management knowledge. A sales management degree is designed to help you bring an intelligent perspective to the job of running a large sales team, with training in team building, operations, project management and sales communications.
Western Governors University
Sports Management
A relatively new specialty that attracts people who want to work somewhere in the massive American industry of people who operate sports businesses or sell goods and equipment to them. The specialty can also reach into the entertainment, media or event planning businesses. Specialized training is designed to equip students to manage a business group that operates in the professional or amateur sports area.
Grand Canyon University