Three-Year Degree Pathways

First-year and transfer students who plan to enroll at Ohio University may consider obtaining a baccalaureate degree in three years. Three-year degree pathways are designed to help students plan out in advance their required coursework. These degrees are not independent of the more traditional four-year plans, and any degree acquired in three years will involve the same requirements and hours to graduate.

Most three-year pathways necessitate that a student has already completed substantial college-level course work (30 semester hours or more) prior to enrolling at OHIO. These credits must be obtained from acceptable external sources and be deemed transferable by OHIO in order to be applied to a pathway. These external sources include the following:

• Credit by examination from one or more of the following options:
• • Advanced Placement (AP)
  • International Baccalaureate (IB)
  • College Level Examination Program (CLEP)
• College-level coursework taken at regionally accredited community colleges, technical schools or universities. Students may be enrolled at these institutions under one or more of the following options:
• • College Credit Plus (CC+)
  • Through dual enrollment or any college coursework delivered off site or in a secondary school that is transcribed by the college or university
  • Summer option or transient student programs
  • Any other degree or non-degree seeking option
• Courses taken at an adult career-technical education institution or secondary career-technical education institution that have been matched to the statewide Career-Technical Assurance Guide (CTAG)
• Credit from military training programs and coursework
• For some training programs taken through organizations that do not offer degrees but whose courses have been deemed college level by the American Council on Education

Application of Credit

Transferring in more than 30 semester hours of credit by itself will not guarantee that a degree can be earned in fewer than four years. External coursework must closely match the learning outcomes of an OHIO course in order for a specific course equivalency to be awarded. The evaluation and application of external coursework is the responsibility of the academic college that will confer the degree. External coursework must closely match the learning outcomes on an OHIO course in order for a specific course equivalency to be awarded.

For more information regarding the transferability of external coursework and equivalency matrices for examination credit, please refer to our transfer credit page.

Academic Advising

All pathways necessitate that students work closely with an OHIO academic advisor. In many cases, long-term advising prior to enrolling should take place. This will ensure that students are taking the proper courses and/or examinations to meet degree requirements. A list of academic advisors, broken down by major and college, can be found on the advising web page.