The College of Professional Studies’ Bachelor Completion Programs grew from the input of business, government, and community leaders, and the design meets learning outcomes critical for your success at work while fostering life-long learning.

The College of Professional Studies offers two pathways for adult working professionals who have begun but not yet completed undergraduate study: the Bachelor of Arts Completion Program (BACP) and the Accelerated Bachelor of Professional Studies (ABPS). Students in either program develop competencies in creativity, critical thinking, knowledge utilization, decision making, empowerment, and effective communication — skills that research consistently identifies as essential for career advancement across industries.

The two programs differ primarily in scope, credit requirements, and intended outcomes. The Bachelor of Arts Completion Program is a full 180-quarter-credit degree that follows a traditional academic structure, providing breadth across the liberal arts alongside professional skill development. It is well-suited for students seeking the widest range of future academic and professional options, including those who may pursue graduate study in programs requiring a standard undergraduate curriculum. The Accelerated Bachelor of Professional Studies is a 136-quarter-credit degree that emphasizes applied, career-relevant learning. It is designed for students who seek a more direct path to degree completion, with coursework oriented toward immediate workplace application. Students considering graduate education should be aware that the BPS is not accepted as a pathway for all master's programs; it is most appropriate for those planning to earn a degree to further their career path toward a promotion or seeking further education via professional certificates, microcredentials, or graduate programs that evaluate applicants holistically without specific undergraduate course sequence requirements.

Prospective students are encouraged to consult with the Student Success team to determine which program best aligns with their academic history, career goals, and future educational plans.

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the top skills and qualities sought in job candidates by employers include verbal and written communication skills, strong work ethic, teamwork skills, analytical skills, and initiative. Both our Bachelor Completion Programs and all majors enhance these skills through six critical outcomes that will have a lasting effect throughout your career and personal life: 

• Creativity: the ability to conceptualize and rework problems and to generate solutions to those problems. 

• Critical thinking: the skill of analyzing and defining issues, developing an appreciation for multiple viewpoints, 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 in 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 to bring about change for the good. 

• Effective communication: knowing your audience and learning how to empathize with them; reading, writing, and speaking effectively; making presentations that are persuasive and entertaining; and arguing to powerful effect.