Three Colleges That Excel At Serving Working Adults
The challenges facing working adults returning to college are demands on their time, keeping up with financial responsibilities and confidently adjusting to the college environment. The stress of balancing the world of work, family and school can be overwhelming for most adults that make this transition. Fortunately, there are schools designed around the needs of working adults and provide these students with the support they need to manage and finish their study curriculum. As such, Supportive Colleges has analyzed three universities that have transformed the method in which they deliver instruction to serve working adults.
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University of Arizona Global Campus
Despite its name, the University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC) is an online institution that operates independently from the University of Arizona’s traditional campus in Tucson. UAGC emerged in 2020 from the acquisition of Ashford University, which had long served adult learners with flexible, online programs. With regional accreditation through WASC, UAGC has continued this tradition under new leadership, emphasizing accessibility, affordability, and academic rigor for working adults. It now supports tens of thousands of students—nearly all of whom attend classes exclusively online.
Time Demands:
UAGC is designed with flexibility at its core, offering asynchronous courses in accelerated 5- or 6-week formats, allowing students to focus on one subject at a time. This schedule is ideal for adults juggling family, work, or military service. Transfer credit is another strength—students can bring in up to 90 credits toward a bachelor’s degree and potentially more for graduate-level coursework depending on evaluation. UAGC also awards credits for military experience, prior learning, professional training, and standardized exams (like CLEP or DSST), allowing many students to drastically reduce their time to graduation. This model helps working adults stay on track while honoring their past efforts.
Academic Support & Student Success:
UAGC offers a wide range of support services tailored to non-traditional learners. Each student is paired with a dedicated Academic Advisor from enrollment through graduation, ensuring consistent guidance. The UAGC Writing Center, Math Center, and 24/7 tech support are core resources. Instructors are trained to be responsive and empathetic to adult learners who may be returning to school after a long absence. UAGC also promotes success through initiatives like the Student Success Center, peer mentoring, and career-focused services that prepare students for advancement or transition into new fields. Notably, the school integrates digital tools to proactively monitor engagement and reach out when students fall behind.
Financial Concerns:
UAGC promotes affordability through a fixed tuition guarantee, meaning students pay the same rate throughout their academic journey. The school is also military-friendly, offering reduced tuition rates for active duty service members, veterans, and their families. Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) opportunities and partnerships with online course providers (like Sophia.org and Study.com) allow students to earn credit at a fraction of traditional tuition costs. UAGC also evaluates professional certifications—including those from Google, IBM, and Amazon—for potential academic credit. According to data from OnlineU and College Scorecard, UAGC sits competitively among affordable online universities, particularly when factoring in the full spectrum of credit transfer and PLA opportunities.
Southern New Hampshire University
Despite the directional description, Southern New Hampshire University is a private, regionally accredited college located in Merrimack, NH. Its initial roots were also focused on adult learners as it started as New Hampshire College for Accounting & Secretary studies in 1932. Since the 2000s, it has restructured its curriculum around working adults and has grown to nearly 140,000 students. Almost 98%of which are online. Listed below is a snapshot of how SNHU supports working adult
Time Demands:
SHNU has revolutionized the credit transfer process and students can transfer up to 90 credits for a bachelors, 45 credits for an associates degree and 12 credits for a masters. Since most working adults have prior college credits, credits from the military or college eligible credits, this process dramatically minimizes time a working adult has to spend reviewing material they have already been exposed to. A good analogy of transfer credits in this case would be airline miles, and SNHU flys with minimal blackout dates. The reviews of their transfer team on reddit show high remarks in this regard. Link
Academic Support & Student Success:
SNHU academic advisement team has successfully integrated the use of data and analytics to intelligently engage students in an impactful way. Their advisement team proactively conducts outreach to students to mitigate any issues that may impact their learning. Because the school is geared toward adult learners, the knowledge gained in how to address these issues professionally, proactively and tactfully is key to students finishing SNHU in a timely manner. In addition, there are many student resources available including:
- Academic Advising
- Campus Accessibility Center (CAC)
- International Student Services
- Wellness Center – On Campus
- Career Development Center
- The Wolak Learning Center – On Campus
- Shapiro Library – On Campus
- Office of Diversity Programs
- Deborah L. Coffin Women’s Center
Financial Concerns:
In addition to having a world class transfer credit evaluation program, SNHU is a strong proponent of students leveraging their life experiences to obtain college credit. Since 2018, the school has saved students over $100 million in tuition by stressing its credit for prior learning programs. SNHU is also a firm believer in CLEP examinations and actively promotes this option to students. Students can also take courses on study.com, sophia.org or straighterline.com and have those credits transfer in. Finally, if you have professional certifications from Amazon Web Services or Google, SNHU will evaluate those as well. Finally, SNHU ranks #7 out of 10 according to OnlineU as one of the most affordable colleges in the United States.
Western Governors University
WGU started in 1997 to address a pressing concern identified by a group of governors, primarily in the rural west: “How can we ensure more of our residents have greater access to a college education that fits their schedule?” From its early inception in 1997 and its embrace of the internet as a mode of delivery, WGU was born. Today, WGU is one of the largest national universities in the U.S. with over 175,000 students. Particularly, WGU addresses the three needs of working adults in this fashion:
Time Demands:
WGU pioneered the competency based model in higher education. In traditional colleges, the schedule (time) drives the curriculum and does not adjust to the competency of the student. If a student is excelling in a course ahead of schedule in the old model, the curriculum could not advance the student until the time commitment was met. At WGU, their competency based model adjusts the speed in which the curriculum is delivered around the student. If a student grasps the material ahead of a traditional schedule, the student can demonstrate their competency and move on to the next course.
Academic Support & Student Success:
WGU has a professional support staff dedicated to student success. It first starts with the enrollment advisor, who guides the student through the admissions process to placement. From there, the student is assigned an academic advisor, who is responsible for ensuring the student is progressing in the program. Students can also access one on one mentors and join an array of communities centered around their studies. Because the school is centered around working adults, students naturally share a common bond with life’s complexities. Additionally, when peers are focused on finishing their studies, that sense of purpose is infectious. In addition to having an engaged advisor, WGU students can take advantage of the schools’ Student Success Center and for those contemplating enrolling into WGU, there is the WGU Academy that prepares students for WGU. At the Academy, students are assigned a success coach that will guide them through the student experience process.
Financial Concerns:
WGU has a flat based enrollment program based upon terms. This means that students can take as many courses as they can fit in. Layer in the competency based model and you have a method whereby students can complete their course work at an accelerated pace. In addition to learning that is based upon your grasp of the material instead of pure time, WGU offers students a wide range of scholarships, sourced and administered by WGU. Finally, tuition. According to OnlineU, WGU ranks #4 in the most affordable tuition of online universities nationwide.