Interested in enrolling in Boise State University’s online Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Professional Studies but wondering how your prior credits or experience will transfer over? This customizable program offers ways to help you take advantage of your technical and prior learning credits, which can fast-track your interdisciplinary studies degree on your terms — and schedule.
The credit transfer process
The Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Professional Studies is a 120-credit program that contains required courses, concentration or emphasis area courses, upper-division electives and university foundation courses.
Transfer credits are a major player in how many credit hours you’ll need to complete your degree. There are three initial areas that your transfer credits can be pulled from. Working with a student success coach will help you assess and maximize your transferable credits.
- Community college credit: Boise State Online has partnerships with College of Eastern Idaho, College of Western Idaho, College of Southern Idaho and North Idaho College, allowing for the transfer of up to 80 credits — 20 more than the typical 60 credits — toward an online Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Professional Studies. This saves students an average of $4,000.
- Technical credit: Students can transfer up to 12 technical education credits from technical or trade programs as well as prior university credits.
- Credit for prior learning: Credit for prior learning combines your professional experience, training, certifications, licenses and even volunteer work into a portfolio, which is assessed by a faculty member. You can earn up to 15 credits toward your interdisciplinary professional studies degree depending on your evaluation.
You may have a combination of credits from each of these areas, so think of your student success coach as your accountant during tax season — there to help you get a bigger return. In this case, you can use your number of transferable credits to determine which classes suit your degree path.
Why choose interdisciplinary professional studies?
A bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary professional studies allows you to customize your education to fit your current professional needs by factoring in your prior experience and future career goals. The fully online program allows for part- or full-time scheduling to help you better balance your coursework with your daily schedule. The program also offers courses in manageable seven-week increments with six start dates per year.
So, how does customizing your interdisciplinary studies degree plan work? When working with your student success coach, you’ll have two options.
- Create a degree plan with one or more concentrations that align with your career goals or needs.
- Choose an emphasis area such as online community and social impact, online cyber operations management or online design and media management.
If you have multiple fields of professional interest, interdisciplinary professional studies may help you complete certifications or emphases needed to take your career to the next level.
When sharing his experience with the program, Boise State Online graduate Brian Coyle said, “The interdisciplinary professional studies degree opens up a lot more doors than a specific degree would for you. It’s not easy, by any means, but it will pay off in the end, for sure.”
Learn more about the interdisciplinary professional studies program
Earning an online Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Professional Studies from Boise State University can open doors to new opportunities and a brighter future — and we’re here to support you every step of the way. Whether you’re exploring if an online degree is right for you or need help transferring credits, connecting with a student success coach is the perfect first step.
Ready to learn more? Attend one of our online information sessions or contact a student success coach today.