BA in Liberal Studies

After several years in the workforce or several years out of it, you realize that you need a bachelor's degree in order to get ahead. Or perhaps getting a degree simply has more meaning to you at this stage of your life.

As you invest your time and money in completing a degree, you want to know your program is of the highest quality, flexible enough to suit your lifestyle, and oriented toward providing you with a broad, liberal arts education and the specialized skills you need in your chosen career.

The College of Arts and Sciences at American University offers you the faculty, courses, and academic resources to make completing your bachelor's degree a reality. Our professional academic counselors will help you tailor an individualized combination of our four return-to-school options that is suited to your background, interests, and skills.

• Take your first step
• Enroll in AU's Analysis of Experiential Learning (AEL) course (formerly known as the APEL Program)
• Transfer credits you have already earned at another college or university
• Investigate ways to earn credit for past learning through examinations
• Begin taking undergraduate courses right away

Take your first step

Your first step is to contact the CAS Academic Affairs Office (202-885-2453) to speak to and/or make an appointment with an Academic Counselor who works with adults interested in degree completion. Our counselors can answer your questions about degree completion at AU and determine when you should come in for an appointment and more detailed discussion of your plans as well as a review of your transcripts from the institutions you previously attended. Among the issues to discuss at a meeting would be the various majors that AU offers, including the option of pursuing the Bachelor of Liberal Studies (BLS) degree, a more flexible major available to adults who have been out of high school at least eight years.  The counselor will also help you to evaluate whether you should begin your studies in nondegree status before you formally apply for admission to an undergraduate degree program.

Enroll in AU's Analysis of Experiential Learning (AEL) course (formerly known as the APEL Program).

AEL is a special course for adults who have had substantive work and/or life experience. Working closely with the course instructor and other AU faculty members, you develop a portfolio describing, analyzing, and documenting your life experiences while reviewing contemporary research on issues facing the adult learner. Typically, students earn between 18 and 21 elective credits for their portfolio, but it is possible to earn up to 30 elective credits. Previous students have earned credits by documenting their learning from such varied activities as volunteer work and intercultural experiences at home and abroad. In addition to the standard tuition charge for the three-credit AEL course, there is a $250 portfolio processing fee. However, the portfolio credits you are awarded can then be added to your academic record for only $20 per credit — truly a bargain! Furthermore, students can enroll in the AEL course in nondegree status (i.e., before they are officially admitted as undergraduates) or in degree status.

Some recent student portfolio topics have included:

• Genealogy: From Slavery in Mississippi to Washington, D.C. (Anthropology)
• Watercolor Painting (Art)
• The Physiology of Alcoholism (Biology)
• Employee Participation in Decision Making (Business)
• Office Organization through Computerization (Computer Science and Information Systems)
• Photography (Communication)
• The Economics of a Labor Strike (Economics)
• Attention Deficit Disorder and the Learning Disabled Child (Education)
• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) (Health and Fitness)
• Experiences in Indochina, 1971-72 (International Service)
• Learning Japanese and Understanding Japanese Culture (Language and Foreign Studies)
• The Films of Ingmar Bergman (Literature)
• Journey through Jazz History (Performing Arts)
• Jewish Identity in Rural Southern West Virginia (Philosophy and Religion)
• Learning to Live with Depression (Psychology)
• Managing a Congressional Office (Public Affairs)
• Changing Roles for Women (Sociology).

Though very useful to some adult students, the AEL course isn't for everybody. Credits from a portfolio will be counted toward your degree as elective credits, not as credits towards your major. Depending on the major you choose and the amount of academic credit you transfer from another university, you may not have the flexibility to incorporate experiential learning credits into your program of study.

For your interview with an academic counselor, you should have some idea of the types of different things you would analyze, write about, and document in the AEL course. Your counselor will help you determine whether the AEL course is appropriate for you and can give you contact information for the current AEL instructor so that you can discuss the AEL option in more detail.

Transfer credits you have already earned at another college or university

You may already have completed courses at another institution but not enough to graduate. You can still put those hard-earned college credits to work for you. Transfer students may receive credit for courses appropriate for academic credit at American University completed with a grade of "C" or better taken at a regionally accredited college or university. A maximum of 60 credit hours will be accepted from a two-year college, and a maximum of 75 credit hours from a four-year institution.

Investigate ways to earn credit for past learning through examinations.

Discuss this option with your professional academic counselor at your initial meeting.

Planning is Everything

You can start working on your degree at the beginning of the next semester, either as a nondegree student or perhaps as a degree student. In either case, plan to meet with your academic counselor well before the beginning of the semester. That way you'll allow yourself enough time to make well thought out and timely decisions.

Some reasons to start as a nondegree student:

• If you can't get all of your paper work completed by the priority consideration dates, you can start at the beginning of next semester as a nondegree student. Work with your academic counselor to register for classes that will fit into your overall academic plan.
• If your grades were not something your mother was proud of, you can take classes in nondegree status to establish a current academic record. Adult students are more mature and more motivated than they may have been when they first started college. Thirty credits earned in nondegree status can be transferred into your degree program.
• If you're really not sure what you want to major in, you can take some classes to explore different fields. Work with your counselor to make sure that you can use the credits, along with your transfer and experiential learning credits, in your program of study, and don't exceed the thirty credit limit.

Some reasons to start as a degree student:

• As soon as you are accepted into a degree program, you become part of a group - a group of people who share similar academic goals. You will begin to take courses toward your chosen field of study and you will begin to develop relationships and networks that will last the rest of your lifetime.
• As a degree student, the world of financial aid opens up to you. Few financial aid resources are available to nondegree students, so if you need help with the costs of your education, the sooner you become a degree student, the better.
• Finally, the structure of a degree program is the surest way of guaranteeing that you will meet your goals.

AU offers students a great deal of flexibility in planning their programs - within certain parameters and schedules. To find out when classes begin and important registration dates, click here. You can also download an application and supporting documents when you're ready to apply for admission to a degree program. Be sure to pay attention to the priority consideration dates when you're ready to apply so you don't miss out on a semester.