Southwestern College Professional Studies

Yes, Southwestern College and the Professional Studies’ programs (both on ground and online) are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association.

To graduate from Southwestern College with a bachelor’s degree, you must complete at least 124 credit hours, with at least 60 of those hours from a four-year institution and at least 30 from Southwestern College Professional Studies.

That depends on a lot of factors, including how many hours you transfer into Southwestern College and whether your work and family obligations allow you to take courses without long breaks. You may take one or two courses each session, and our advisors will help you make out a class schedule that will work for you. If you transfer in 60 credit hours and take one course each session without sitting out, you would complete your degree in a little over 2 years.

Absolutely! Many of our learners combine classroom courses with online courses, sometimes even in the same session.

There’s no difference. You’ll earn a bachelor’s degree, or a master’s degree, just like traditional students who go to college right out of high school. The only difference is in the way you go to class. Instead of semester-long classes which meet a couple of times a week, your classes typically will be online (so you complete them at the times most convenient for you), or once a week in a classroom. The classes themselves will be only six weeks long so they will be focused and intense. The difference between professional studies and a traditional campus isn’t what you learn, it’s how you learn. The degree is exactly the same.

Sure. We can work out a deferred payment plan as long as arrangements have been made ahead of time.

We try to keep additional expenses to a minimum. Online students and students taking computer-based classes will have a $35 technology lab fee per course. The only additional costs you will have are for your books. No other fees (parking, application, student activity, etc.) are charged in Professional Studies programs.

You can start as soon as a course session starts. We give learners the first six-week class session to get all transcripts from previous colleges to us; you can begin your classes even before they come in.

Everything you need to get started can be found on our Web site. Simply fill out and submit the Application for Admission, complete the Authorization for Repayment Agreement, then give us a call or send an e-mail and we will walk you through the first enrollment. If you need financial aid, we can help you with that application too.
If you prefer, you may come to one of our centers and meet with a program representative, and all of the paperwork can be completed at this time.

We do our best to make all of your past college work for you. If your transfer hours come from an institution accredited by a regional accrediting agency (such as the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges), and are not credits awarded for participation in athletics or development courses, they will be accepted for transfer. After official copies of your transfer credits have been received from the colleges where you accumulated them, one of our advisors will help you determine exactly how many more hours you’ll need.

No. Southwestern College Professional Studies does not require an application fee.

The average amount of aid awarded for all of the Professional Studies learners who have applied for Federal financial aid is $9541 per year. For more information on financial aid, please email finaid@sckans.edu