An online associate degree in general studies is the degree you take when the college can't be where you are. The questions that decide whether it works are different from the campus ones: what the federal online label promises, which tuition rate a distance student is billed, whether the college may enroll you in your state, and where you'll sit your exams. The best online programs below are the highest-scoring of the 171 that can be finished without setting foot on campus, and the sections after them answer those questions one at a time.
Source: IPEDS, as of September 2026.
colleges offer an associate's degree in general studies fully online
215
median out-of-state tuition a year across ranked online general studies programs
$9,090
online programs on this list charge one tuition rate to every student
4 of 25
This online general studies ranking takes the 171 ranked associate programs that can be completed at a distance and shows the 25 with the highest scores.
The 25 Best Online Associate Degrees in General Studies, Ranked
The 25 best online associate degrees in general studies are the highest-scoring programs that federal records show can be completed entirely at a distance. Scores are the same ones each program carries on the full associate's ranking, under the weights on the methodology page.
1
New Mexico Junior College
Associate of Arts General Studies
New Mexico
90.4- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 58%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $1,920 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 185
About the Program
The 60 credit hours are designed mainly for transfer. NMJC calls the Associate of Arts a university parallel or transfer degree, and it usually fits majors other than science, math and engineering, which the Associate of Science serves. That split matters when you choose courses, so the page tells you to meet with an academic advisor or counselor before making degree plans.
Bringing credit with you is allowed up to a point, because a minimum of 15 semester hours must be earned at NMJC and the remainder may be transfer credit. What you finish here carries forward too. The general education requirements as a rule meet the lower-division general education requirements of all public bachelor's-granting colleges and universities in New Mexico, so that block of work is meant to count after you transfer.
Before you make degree plans, the college tells you to meet with an academic advisor or counselor. The finish has its own rules. Your cumulative GPA has to be at least 2.0, and transitional or developmental courses fulfill none of the degree requirements, which means time spent in them is extra to the 60 credit hours.
2
Brigham Young University-Idaho
General Studies (A.S.)
Idaho
85.5- Private nonprofit
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 55%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $4,656 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 866
About the Program
College Success and Writing and Reasoning Foundations are two courses the college names for this major, and the College Success courses teach you how to do well in your classes. Alongside them, the degree lets you explore many different subjects, from English and math to science and social studies, which is what the college offers if you aren't sure what to major in yet.
Once you hold General Studies (A.S.), general education at BYU-Idaho is done. The college says the degree covers every general education requirement, so you can get started right away in another major with no further general education coursework in your way. For you that means the exploring you do in the associate degree isn't a detour, because the college credit you earn can be used toward a four-year degree.
Beyond BYU-Idaho, the associate degree travels on the receiving university's terms. Universities often take General Studies (A.S.) in place of their own General Education credits, according to the college, but every one of them sets its own transfer rules, so confirm before you apply. The degree is awarded as General Studies (A.S.), so use that name when you ask a university how it will treat your credits.
3
Itawamba Community College
Associate of Arts in General Studies
Mississippi
83.8- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 50%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $3,420 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 198
About the Program
Studying this degree online means you take the same 60 hours as anyone else, with a core of 35 to 37 hours followed by 23 to 25 hours of electives, but you set the pace yourself, because the college lists the program length as variable. The core includes college algebra or a higher math and a lab science from fields like anatomy and physiology, astronomy, biology, chemistry, microbiology, physics and zoology, so expect a lab science in your plan even though you're studying from home.
Online delivery doesn't loosen the caps on what counts toward the core. History may be used for both humanities and social science, but the college limits it to six hours across the two categories, a foreign language covers at most three hours of the humanities requirement, and four non-academic activity hours are all that count toward graduation. Technical courses can't be applied to the degree, which means a course from a career program doesn't move you closer to finishing, though it can meet the computer competency requirement.
Passing your first online class does double duty here. Graduates must demonstrate basic computer competency, and one of the three ways to do it is to complete any online course with a grade of C or higher, which an online student does in the first term as a matter of course. The other early deadline is a College Life course, required for graduation since Fall 2012 and due within your first 12 hours, so don't leave it for the end.
Distance students choose electives the same way as anyone else: from the catalog of the university they plan to transfer to. Beyond the core, the college says to finish the remaining hours as that university's curriculum prescribes, so the 23 to 25 elective hours should be chosen with a transfer plan in hand rather than by browsing the online schedule. Because program length is listed as variable, you decide how many terms it takes, but not which hours fill them.
4
Arkansas State University-Beebe
Associate of General Studies
Arkansas
80.3- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 42%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $3,216 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 347
About the Program
The Associate of General Studies is listed as offered online and is designed for people who are already working. The aim is a degree plus specific skills for your current job or a job upgrade, and you work closely with your advisor to choose your electives. Plenty of the courses transfer, but a four-year institution isn't what the degree is particularly designed around.
To graduate, you need a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or better and a minimum of 15 hours taken through ASU-Beebe. So if you're arriving with credits from another college, some of your remaining work still has to be done with this one. Talk to your advisor before you register, because electives for this degree are meant to be chosen together with them.
5
Southern Utah University
General Studies (AA/AS)
Utah
79.6- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 61%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $6,770 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 1,730
About the Program
Online Campus is one of the places the catalog lists this degree, alongside the Main Campus and Speedway Campus. Whichever you use, general education is the fixed part: 28 or more credits, with 12 or more in core courses and 16 or more in breadth areas. The Associate of Arts adds a language requirement, 8 credits of one foreign language beyond the 1010 level, so choose the AA if language study is something you want.
Bring credits from elsewhere and these rules apply. At least 24 of your 60 credit hours have to be completed through SUU, so whatever is left is the room you have for transfer work. And the GPA bar is set twice: a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 for everything you complete at SUU, plus a 2.0 for your SUU and transfer work combined, which means old grades still count.
6
Black River Technical College
Associate of General Studies
Arkansas
79.1- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 55%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $4,584 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 145
About the Program
Technical electives and general studies courses can share a place in the Associate of General Studies, because the college says the degree may be used as a basis for either or both. The college calls it less scheduled than the applied science degrees it also awards, so if you're weighing the Associate of General Studies against an Associate of Applied Science, expect fewer of your courses to be fixed in advance.
Transfer to all Arkansas public 4-year universities is what the college says the Associate of General Studies gives you, and it makes the same statement about the Associate of Arts, so the claim covers both degrees. But transfer isn't the sole purpose the college gives. The degree is presented for a student who wants direct employment or a baccalaureate transfer, which leaves you to decide which of those you're building toward when you choose courses.
7
Panola College
Associate of Arts/Science - General Studies (Multidisciplinary Studies)
Texas
77.6- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 43%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $3,960 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 231
About the Program
Sixty credits cover the whole Associate of Arts/Science - General Studies (Multidisciplinary Studies), because the Core Curriculum credits sit inside that total instead of being added to it. The college wrote this suggested degree plan for transfer to a four-year college or university.
Several slots in this plan give you a choice of courses. For speech you take Public Speaking or Interpersonal Communication, and for the second writing course you take Technical & Business Writing or Composition II, so different people on the same plan can finish with different coursework. The Creative Arts requirement can be met with Film Appreciation, if that's the subject you'd pick.
Government here has a state focus, and history can too, which you should know before you sign up. The plan requires Texas Government, and the American History elective can be filled with Texas History. Each Life & Physical Science slot carries 4 credits, so count those when you work out how many credits a term comes to.
Before you pick between the paired courses, talk to the university you're aiming for. The catalog encourages anyone planning to transfer to meet with an academic advisor at their intended transfer university, which puts your course choices in front of the people who'll receive your credits. You'll also take a Learning Framework course.
8
Snow College
General Education, Associate of Arts (AA) and Associate of Science (AS)
Utah
76.8- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 46%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $4,564 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 238
About the Program
Language study is what separates the AS from the AA in this General Education degree. An AS takes 60 credits to earn, and an AA takes the same total with the foreign language requirement folded in, so the AA leaves you less room for other courses. Pick with care, because you can't receive both general degrees from the college, and the version you choose shapes what you sign up for from the start.
Requirements for this associate degree were lowered from the previous catalog, with no requirements added, so the college says a change of catalog shouldn't set you back. What stays fixed is the general education floor. A minimum of 27 of your sixty credits must be specific general education credits, and the required list includes an American Institutions GE class. Plan those classes in before you fill the remaining credits.
When you're ready to move on, the college has agreements in place with each school in Utah. Before you get there, 15 of your credits must be resident credits, and AP, CLEP, PLA and exam credit don't satisfy that standard, which matters if you're counting on credit awarded by non-traditional means. Under your catalog, you have 3 years to complete the associate degree.
9
American Public University System
Associate of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies
West Virginia
74.9- Private for-profit
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 57%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $8,400 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 1,444
About the Program
Thirty elective credits sit beside 30 semester hours of general education in the 60-hour Associate of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies. You can use the 30 elective credits to build your own specialization or to sample broader interests, but the electives must be lower-division courses at the 100 to 200 level that you haven't already used. Additional general education courses can count as electives too.
Online is the format, with courses starting monthly and running from 8 to 16 weeks, so a start date is never far off. Inside general education, the communication block asks for 9 semester hours of writing, oral and multimedia courses. The catalog also says completing it can serve as a springboard to a baccalaureate degree.
Finishing a degree you started elsewhere is one use the university names for this degree. You can transfer up to 45 credits into the 60 semester hours, and the university positions the degree for people who want to apply previous college credits or work experience toward an associate degree. So if you arrive with credits already earned, up to 45 of the 60 hours may already be behind you, depending on what transfers.
Cost is charged per credit, currently $360 per credit, $250 at the preferred military rate, or $324 with a Veteran Grant or Opportunity Grant. But read the note that comes with those figures, because the degree is not eligible for federal student aid. That means you'd be paying by other means, so work out the per-credit total for the credits you still need before you apply.
10
Utah State University
General Studies - AS, AA
Utah
74.5- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 59%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $8,305 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 767
About the Program
Your course of study here is personal, drawing on multiple departments, programs and colleges, so the degree is defined by what you put in it. Advisors work with you to design an individualized semester-by-semester plan that builds on your goals and experiences. You can take the degree at the Logan campus, at statewide campuses or through USU Online, which means you choose the setting as well as the courses.
Graduation requires a minimum 2.0 GPA, a total of 60 or more credits, and at least 20 USU credits. That last one limits what you can bring in, so transfer credit can't cover the whole degree. Most associate degrees at USU Eastern and USU Blanding are open without a minimum high school GPA or an ACT/SAT result.
11
Arkansas Northeastern College
Arkansas
73.6- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 49%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $2,850 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 43
About the Program
Blytheville, Arkansas is home to Arkansas Northeastern College, a public community college of 1,461 students. Tuition and fees run $2,850 a year in state and $4,250 out of state, which is the gap to ask about before enrolling from elsewhere. It conferred 43 associate's degrees in the latest reported year, which is more than 34% of the associate's programs ranked at this level. A 49% graduation rate puts the college at the 83rd percentile, though that figure counts every student who started there and not this degree alone. What lifts it most is price, where it reaches the 93rd percentile.
12
Weber State University
Associate of Arts in General Studies / Associate of Science in General Studies
Utah
73.0- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 46%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $6,391 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 1,484
About the Program
General education is what this associate degree settles, because finishing it lets you lock in your general education requirements for a wide range of Weber State bachelor's degrees. You study the humanities and creative arts, social sciences, and physical and life sciences, and build skills in computer and information literacy, math and writing. So you can clear the general requirements first and choose among a wide range of Weber State bachelor's majors afterward.
Both an Associate of Arts and an Associate of Science are offered in general studies, and the degree can be earned entirely online. If you later transfer to another Utah public university, the degree fulfills general education requirements for bachelor's degrees there. So if you aren't sure where you'll finish, the general education work carries to a wide range of Weber State bachelor's degrees and to other Utah public universities.
Holding the associate degree can help when you apply to a bachelor's, because many competitive bachelor's degree programs award extra points toward admission to applicants who already have one. If you stop at the associate degree, the college says you're qualified to pursue entry-level positions that require a general education foundation. So the degree works two ways, as a step into a bachelor's or as a finished degree for a first job.
13
Crowder College
Associate of Arts in General Studies
Missouri
72.8- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 49%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $5,784 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 291
About the Program
Not having a major yet is the situation this Associate of Arts in General Studies is meant for, because the college points undecided students to this curriculum when a major area of emphasis or a career goal isn't settled. That tells you what the degree is for. You follow the General Studies curriculum now, and you make the decision about a major along the way instead of before you begin.
Sophomore year is when the college says general studies students should contact the four-year institution they plan to transfer to, so that conversation belongs on your list while you're still taking courses at Crowder. Closer to home, help comes as counseling from Student Services and as consultation with an assigned faculty advisor.
14
Odessa College
General Studies, A.A.
Texas
72.2- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 37%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $3,912 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 424
About the Program
Electives carry the closing term of this plan. The General Studies, A.A. plan reaches 60 credit hours at Term 9, and Term 9 calls for 3 elective courses totaling at least 9 semester credit hours. So the end of the degree is where you choose your own courses, and you should confirm the current plan with the college before you build around it.
Core courses in the plan are THECB-approved Texas Common Core courses, so what you take comes from a state-approved set. Some slots give you room and some are fixed. The math slot names Contemporary Mathematics but allows another math course from the 020 Core Component Area, while Federal Government stands as the named course in the 070 Core Component Area.
Named courses show what the general education side of the degree looks like. Science appears as Biology for Non-Science Majors I, a 4-credit course, which means the plan doesn't assume you're heading for a science major. A World Cultures course fills the Language, Philosophy and Culture area, and Introduction to Physical Fitness & Sport adds 1 credit.
Term 1 opens with Learning Framework, a 3-credit course, so your opening term includes a course on learning itself alongside the subject courses. Near the end of the plan you're told to apply to graduate in the Wrangler Portal, which is a step the college leaves to you, so put it on your list before you start the final term.
15
John C Calhoun State Community College
Associate of Science in General Studies (General Education Concentration)
Alabama
71.7- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 41%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $5,060 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 799
About the Program
Transfer planning is built into the Associate of Science in General Studies (General Education Concentration). Of its 61 credits, 19 are transferable general electives, and they must be selected from the Area V page of an Alabama transfer school, so the university you're aiming for decides what goes into that part of the degree. If you're heading out of state, you contact the transfer institution for elective choices.
General education fills 42 credits of the degree, and some of it is fixed. You must complete a two-course sequence in either literature or history, which means staying with one of those subjects for a second course. Around that sequence, the core includes 8 credits of natural science electives and 6 to 9 credits of social and behavioral science electives, so you still choose the courses inside each area.
Math starts at finite mathematics or higher, for 3 to 4 credits. Because the requirement says or higher, a course above finite mathematics also meets it, which matters if the university you plan to transfer to asks for a later math course. The core also includes a freshman seminar, a 1-credit course that counts inside the 61 credits.
Before you pick electives, complete an official transfer agreement and an Area V program of study to an Alabama university, if a four-year university is your plan. Doing that early matters because the 19 credits of general electives are chosen from that university's Area V page, so until you've named a destination you can't know which electives belong in your degree.
16
Yavapai College
Associate of Arts
Arizona
70.7- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 34%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $2,838 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 328
About the Program
Inside the 60 credit hours of the Associate of Arts sits the Arizona General Education Curriculum, known as the AGEC. Finish all 32-35 credit hours of the AGEC with a grade of C or higher and you get recognition of completion on your transcript, plus guaranteed transferability of the AGEC upon admission to a state university in Arizona. The guarantee applies upon admission, so you still have to be admitted by the university.
Beyond general education you take 22-25 credits, and the college recommends five 200 level courses as required for the major. A couple of rules shape what counts. Written communication must be met with two semesters of English composition or their equivalents, but courses with the DAN, PHE and REC prefixes are limited to 4 activity-based credit hours each.
If you follow the Associate of Arts, your general education is set up to fulfill all lower division general education requirements at the Arizona universities. The college points you to ASU's Transfer Admission Guarantee, which helps you plan coursework to meet the lower-division course requirements for your ASU major, and to NAU's Jacks Path, which shows how your credits transfer. For the University of Arizona, UA Bridge is described as a partnership with several Arizona community colleges.
17
Coahoma Community College
Mississippi
70.3- Public
- Fully Online Option
- HBCU
- College graduation rate
- 41%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $3,490 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 85
About the Program
Coahoma Community College is a historically Black public community college in Clarksdale, Mississippi that enrolls 1,633 students. Tuition and fees hold at $3,490 a year for residents and nonresidents alike, which is what matters when you study from elsewhere. The program's last federal report shows 85 associate's degrees conferred, so it is larger than 54 in every 100 programs measured here. Its college-wide graduation rate is 41%, the 68th percentile, because the federal record tracks completion by institution. What lifts it most is price, where it reaches the 88th percentile.
18
Gadsden State Community College
General Studies A.S. Degree
Alabama
70.2- Public
- Fully Online Option
- HBCU
- College graduation rate
- 38%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $4,032 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 215
About the Program
Whatever you plan to study, an orientation to college course and a microcomputer applications course, or a higher computer course, are required for the General Studies A.S. Degree. You also need a two-course sequence in either Literature or History, so one course from each won't do. Beyond that, Area V gives you 19 to 23 credit hours of general electives, which is where the degree bends toward your intended major.
Choosing those electives is where advice matters, because the right courses depend on where you're going next. For pre-professional, pre-major and elective courses, you're told to consult an advisor and use the Alabama Transfers articulation system along with the degree requirements of your intended transfer institution. To reach an advisor, contact the academic division for your area of interest, which will also give you course suggestions for the degree.
19
University of Idaho
Associate of Arts in General Studies
Idaho
69.9- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 57%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $8,816 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 283
About the Program
The degree lets you explore the arts and humanities, in subjects like English, history, theater, music, art and philosophy. But the Associate of Arts in General Studies also asks for depth. The catalog requires a certificate or a 12-credit area of emphasis approved by an advisor, and the college's A.A. requirements name six more humanities credits, a nine-credit approved emphasis, or an academic certificate. Ask an advisor which applies to you.
Career planning is a required part of the degree, since you must take one career exploration course. The choices are Major/Career Exploration and Decision Making, a workshop, or Career Purpose and Insight. That suits you if you're starting college without a major in mind, because the degree gives you credit for working out what comes after it.
Online or on campus, the degree is 60 credits over 2 years, and applications open each September and are processed on a rolling basis. Check one rule before you apply. You can't become a candidate for the A.A. if you've already earned a baccalaureate degree or you're a candidate for another degree at the university. You can't earn two associate degrees in General Studies either.
20
East Arkansas Community College
Arkansas
69.8- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 51%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $4,128 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 33
About the Program
Some 1,401 students attend East Arkansas Community College, a public community college in Forrest City, Arkansas. Online students should check which rate applies to them, because residents pay $4,128 a year and nonresidents $4,920. The program's last federal report shows 33 associate's degrees conferred, so it is larger than 28 in every 100 programs measured here. Its college-wide graduation rate is 51%, the 86th percentile, because the federal record tracks completion by institution. On the graduation rate of its college it does best, reaching the 86th percentile.
21
University of Arkansas Community College-Batesville
Arkansas
69.6- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 66%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $3,918 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 10
About the Program
Some 1,192 students attend University of Arkansas Community College-Batesville, a public community college in Batesville, Arkansas. Residents are charged $3,918 a year in tuition and fees against $4,542 for nonresidents, and distance students do not always get the lower rate. During the most recent year on record it awarded 10 associate's degrees, a count at the 2nd percentile for size. A 66% graduation rate puts the college at the 98th percentile, though that figure counts every student who started there and not this degree alone. Its strongest mark is the graduation rate of its college, at the 98th percentile.
22
Northern Oklahoma College
Oklahoma
69.5- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 48%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $5,061 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 107
About the Program
Northern Oklahoma College is a public community college in Tonkawa, Oklahoma that enrolls 3,138 students. Tuition and fees are $5,061 a year for residents and $11,826 for everyone else, so ask which rate an online student in your state is billed. The program's last federal report shows 107 associate's degrees conferred, so it is larger than 61 in every 100 programs measured here. Its college-wide graduation rate is 48%, the 81st percentile, because the federal record tracks completion by institution. Strongest of its measures is the graduation rate of its college, which lands at the 81st percentile.
23
Casper College
Associate of Arts (A.A.) in General Studies
Wyoming
69.2- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 43%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $4,410 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 89
About the Program
The Associate of Arts in General Studies runs 60 credit hours, and the college also offers an Associate of Science version at 61. The college aims both at you if you're undecided on a major, or if you're a nontraditional learner who wants to make use of credits you've already earned. So the degree can start from what you bring.
Both degrees run in person and as a 100% online option, but online classes keep to the college's academic year schedule. That means classes in the fall and spring semesters with an optional summer semester, so your online degree moves term by term. If you were hoping to start and stop at will, plan around semesters instead.
Twelve credit hours, about four classes, makes you a full-time student, but the college suggests 15 to 17 credits each semester if you want to graduate in two years. So the full-time minimum alone won't finish the degree in four semesters. Advisors in the Student Success Center work with you one-on-one on course selections.
Transfer is where the college points this degree, through articulation agreements with the University of Wyoming and other regional partners. The aim is that you move into a bachelor's degree program with your freshman and sophomore requirements already complete, so tell your advisor your target early, because course selections are matched to transfer goals. For work, the college lists project coordinator or administrative specialist among the career paths.
24
Clovis Community College
Associate of General Studies
New Mexico
67.7- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 34%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $1,736 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 120
About the Program
Online study covers the whole Associate of General Studies, since the college says the degree is available completely online. The degree takes 60 credits in total. You build your course of study around your interests by selecting a variety of courses in one or more areas, so you can keep your courses in a single area or spread them across several.
Composition and communication courses appear by name in the degree's course sequence. The first English composition course is worth 3 credits, and for another 3 credits you pick one of two courses, public speaking or interpersonal communication. That sequence also has a third semester labeled summer, so the plan the college lays out includes summer study.
Experience outside a classroom figures in how the college describes this degree's students, because it speaks of people who have gained significant learning through their life or work experience. A second group gets a mention too. If you have a GED, the college says students who have a GED can satisfy military entrance requirements.
Credits from more than one place can be brought together, because the college says students with credits from multiple institutions in multiple disciplines can consolidate them. Military credits have a place too. According to the college, military students can use CCAF and other military credits as electives. Courses accepted through testing options can also count toward the degree, as noted in the college's course catalog.
25
Northern Wyoming Community College District
General Studies AS
Wyoming
67.5- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 42%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $4,830 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 114
About the Program
Electives fill the whole final term of the General Studies AS, because the spring semester in the plan is 16 credits of general electives. So a large block of the degree is yours to direct. The fixed parts are narrower, such as a required US and Wyoming Constitutions course, and Cultural Studies courses, which must be chosen from at least two areas: Global Diversity, Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Visual and Performing Arts.
Choosing between two versions comes first, because Sheridan College offers General Studies as Associate of Art and Associate of Science degree options. The General Studies AS totals 60 credit hours. The General Studies program is available in person and online. Settle which version you want before you register for courses.
Careers the college lists for students majoring in General Studies include store manager, administrative assistant, project manager and consultant. Those four are the college's own examples of where the major can lead. They're general workplace roles and not jobs tied to one subject, which fits a degree where a full semester is open electives.
How We Rank
Every eligible program at this level is scored out of 100. Each figure becomes a percentile against the 171 ranked programs, and the percentiles are weighted as below. The methodology page explains each choice.
- College graduation rate: 45%. Share of first-time, full-time students at the college who finish within 150% of the normal time. It describes the college, not this one program.
- In-state tuition and fees: 30%. Published in-state tuition plus required fees for a full-time year. Lower cost scores higher.
- Degrees awarded, latest year: 25%. General studies degrees the program conferred in the latest reported year. The one figure here that belongs to the program itself.
Reading the cards. Every program here is reported to IPEDS as available fully through distance education. Cost is published tuition plus required fees for a full-time year, 2023-24, shown for residents and nonresidents of the college's home state. Percentiles compare a program with all 429 ranked associate programs, online or not.
Source: federal IPEDS records for each college, as of September 2026. Scores are this site's own.
Can You Earn an Associate Degree in General Studies Fully Online?
You can earn an associate degree in general studies fully online at 215 colleges, which is 37% of the 588 that award the degree, on what each college reports to IPEDS. Among the 429 programs large enough to be ranked, 171 carry the online flag, so 40% of ranked general studies associate programs can be completed at a distance.
The flag has a precise meaning. IPEDS counts a program as distance education when all of its instructional portions can be completed remotely, and it says that in-person requirements that aren't instruction, such as orientation and testing, don't stop a program from being classified as exclusively distance education. So a college can report a fully online general studies degree and still ask you to sit an exam at a testing center. Federal regulation adds a second test: distance education has to support regular and substantive interaction between you and your instructor, synchronously or asynchronously, and a correspondence course, where you work through mailed or emailed materials with limited contact, is not distance education at all.
What that means for you is that the flag describes the degree, not your term. It says the college can deliver every required course at a distance. It doesn't say every section runs online every term, and it doesn't say the elective you want is among them. Lab science is the course to check first, since it's the one most likely to involve a kit, a simulation or a campus visit.
Ask three things before you pay a deposit: whether every course on the degree plan has an online section in the term you'd start, how the lab requirement is delivered to distance students, and whether any course or exam requires you to appear in person.
Do Students in an Online General Studies Associate Degree Pay In-State or Out-of-State Tuition?
Students in an online general studies associate degree pay in-state or out-of-state tuition according to a rule each college sets for its distance learners, and the kind of college is the best guide to what that rule will be. Across the 171 ranked online programs, 39 publish one tuition rate for everyone and the rest publish two. The medians are $5,544 a year for residents and $9,090 for nonresidents, fees included, on IPEDS published tuition and fees for 2023-24.
Private nonprofit colleges settle the question for you. All 23 ranked online programs at private nonprofit colleges charge every student the same rate, with a median of $16,850 a year. Public colleges are where the two rates live. 12 of the 106 online programs at public community colleges charge one rate, and across the group nonresidents pay a median of $8,540 against $4,962 for residents. At public colleges that also award bachelor's degrees the gap is wider, $6,700 for residents and $12,114 for nonresidents.
On the 25 programs ranked above, 4 charge one rate. The widest gap is at University of Idaho, where a resident pays $8,816 and a nonresident $29,784. Some public colleges bill every online student at the resident rate, and some set a separate distance rate that appears in neither column, so the published figures are a starting point and not a quote.
Get the number in writing from the bursar: the per-credit charge for an online student living at your address, whether a district or regional rate exists and whether you qualify for it, and which fees are billed to distance students. Two students in the same online class can pay very different amounts, and this is where the difference comes from.
Which States Have the Most Online General Studies Associate Programs?
The states with the most online general studies associate programs are Texas, Arkansas and New York, which between them hold 39 of the 171 ranked programs that can be completed at a distance. The whole set is spread across 41 states, and the eight with the most programs are charted below.
Where the college is based matters more online than it does on campus, for two reasons. The first is money. The college's home state is the state whose residents get the lower tuition rate, so a state with many online programs is worth more to someone who lives in it than to someone who doesn't. The second is oversight. Under the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements, a complaint you can't resolve with the college is taken up by the college's home state, not by the state you live in, so the state a college sits in is the state whose regulator will hear you if something goes wrong.
A long bar in this chart is a fact about public college systems, not about quality. A state where each campus of a system reports its own general studies degree shows more programs than a state where one college awards the degree for a whole region. Use the chart to see where your own state sits, then ask a college in it two questions: whether it counts you as a resident, and whether it holds a tuition agreement with a neighboring state if you live across the line.
Can an Online General Studies Associate Program Enroll Students From Your State?
An online general studies associate program can enroll students from your state only when the college is authorized to operate there, and nearly every college gets that authorization through the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. SARA was established in 2013 by state regulators, accreditors, the U.S. Department of Education and colleges, and 49 states, all but California, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have joined. In fall 2023, more than 1.6 million students attended out-of-state colleges exclusively at a distance through it.
Membership carries conditions that protect you. A college in SARA has to be accredited, financially sound, and ready to offer a reasonable alternative or compensation if it closes a distance program before you finish. It can't hold you to an arbitration agreement as a SARA student, and a complaint you can't settle with the college goes to the college's home state for investigation. Those are the terms the college accepted to reach you.
California is the exception, and it cuts both ways. A college in a SARA state doesn't get automatic permission to enroll a student living in California, and a college in California can't join, because only colleges in member states may take part, so it has to get permission from each state it wants to enroll students in. If you live there, or the college you like is there, ask it directly whether it may enroll you.
Find the college's state authorization page before you apply, and check it against NC-SARA's directory of participating colleges, which lists them by state. If your state is missing from the college's page, the college can't take you as an online student, however well it scores here, and no amount of interest on your side changes that.
How Do the Courses in an Online General Studies Associate Degree Run From Week to Week?
The courses in an online general studies associate degree run in one of two ways from week to week, synchronously, with class meetings held over video at set times, or asynchronously, with weekly deadlines and no meeting at all, and the federal definition of distance education allows either. What it doesn't allow is a course with no teacher in it. To count as distance education, a course has to support regular and substantive interaction between you and the instructor, and substantive means at least two of these: direct instruction, feedback on your coursework, answers to questions about the content, or a discussion the instructor leads. A course that hands you a reading list and a set of quizzes and waits is a correspondence course, which the same regulation says is not distance education.
That standard is worth knowing because it's what you're owed. An instructor who returns work with comments, answers questions within a stated time and runs the discussion board is meeting it. One who posts the syllabus in week one and reappears to grade the final is not, and you can say so to the college with the regulation in hand.
Term length changes the workload more than the format does. A three-credit course delivered over eight weeks asks for twice the hours each week that it does over sixteen. If a college runs short terms, two eight-week courses back to back cover the same ground as two sixteen-week courses side by side, and they feel very different around a job.
Read the course schedule for the term you'd start in. It shows whether each section meets live and when, how long the term runs, and whether the courses on your degree plan are in it. Then ask what response time instructors commit to for messages, which is the figure that tells you how the interaction rule will feel in practice.
Are Exams in an Online General Studies Associate Degree Proctored?
Exams in an online general studies associate degree are proctored at many colleges, because federal rules require a college that offers distance education to have a process that establishes the student who registers for a course is the same student who does the academic work in it. The regulation doesn't say how, so the method is the college's to choose, and a proctored exam is one of the ways a college can meet it. The same rule requires the college to tell you, at registration or enrollment, about any projected charges for verifying your identity, so a proctoring fee that appears for the first time in week ten is a breach and not a surprise.
Proctoring is also how a fully online degree can still involve a room. IPEDS classifies a program as exclusively distance education as long as its instructional portions can all be completed remotely, and it states that in-person requirements that aren't instruction, such as testing, don't change that classification. A college can report the degree as fully online and require a proctored final in person, and both statements are true.
The practical questions are short. Ask which courses require proctored exams, whether the proctoring is online or in person, and if in person, where the nearest approved site to your address is. Ask who pays for it and how much. If it's online, ask what the service needs from you in the way of a webcam, a private room and a connection. Get the answers course by course, because the requirement can differ between two courses on the same degree plan.
How Does an Online General Studies Associate Degree Differ From the Campus Version?
An online general studies associate degree differs from the campus version in delivery and in little else the federal record can see, because the online flag is attached to the same program, awarded by the same college under the same accreditation. Comparing the 171 ranked programs that can be completed at a distance with the 258 that can't, the colleges behind the online programs have a median graduation rate of 36% against 33% for the campus-only group, median resident tuition and fees of $5,544 against $5,987, and a median of 82 general studies degrees awarded in the latest year against 75. The two groups are close on every figure.
Where they part is the kind of college. Public community colleges report 106 of their 255 ranked general studies programs as completable online, private nonprofit colleges 23 of 48, and public colleges that also award bachelor's degrees 40 of 124. If you want a public college with an online general studies degree, the community colleges give you the most to choose from.
The differences that matter to you are the ones the record doesn't hold. Ask whether online students get the same advising, tutoring and library access as campus students, whether the online sections are taught by the same faculty, and whether an online student can take a campus course, or the reverse, without changing status or tuition rate. A college that answers all three without checking has thought about its online students. One that can't is telling you something too.
Are Online General Studies Associate Programs Accredited?
Online general studies associate programs are accredited through the college that awards them, and for an online program there is a second check worth making: a college takes part in SARA only if its accreditor's scope of recognition from the U.S. Department of Education includes distance education. The Department recognizes each accreditor for a stated scope, and distance education is either inside it or not, so a college that is both accredited and in SARA has an accreditor that is recognized for the way the college teaches you.
Accreditation is also the condition for money. The Department states that an institution must be accredited by a nationally recognized agency for its students to receive federal student aid, and an online student's federal grant or loan rests on it exactly as a campus student's does. Confirm the college in the Department's accreditation database, and be careful with any college whose accreditation you can't find there.
Transfer is where accreditation matters most for this degree, and the online flag doesn't change the rule. The Department is explicit that accreditation does not provide automatic acceptance of credit earned at another institution, and that acceptance is always the prerogative of the receiving one. What a receiving university looks at first is who accredited the college your credits came from, so the accreditation question and the transfer question are the same question asked twice.
Before you enroll, ask the university you hope to transfer to, not the college you'd enroll at, how it treats credit from that college and whether it publishes a course-by-course equivalency list. Keep every syllabus, because a receiving registrar can ask for one course by course, and a course taken online is evaluated on the same syllabus as one taken in a classroom.
How Were the Best Online General Studies Associate Programs Ranked?
The best online general studies associate programs were ranked on the college's graduation rate, weighted 45%, in-state tuition, weighted 30%, and general studies degrees awarded, weighted 25%, and then the ranked programs were filtered to the 171 that can be completed fully online. Every percentile is measured against all 429 ranked associate programs, online or not, so a program's score is the same number here as on the full associate's ranking. Nothing is added for being online and nothing is taken away.
The filter changes who appears without changing anyone's score. 10 of the 25 programs above are also among the 25 best associate programs overall, and the list reaches down to national rank 55 to fill its 25 places. Graduation rates on the list run from 34% to 66%, and every figure is the college's own, reported to IPEDS.
Out-of-state tuition is on every card and outside the score, so a public college can sit high on the list on a resident rate you'll never be offered. If you'll be billed as a nonresident, read the chart of tuition by kind of college above first, then the out-of-state column on the cards, and treat the order as a shortlist rather than a verdict. The full model, and the reasoning behind each weight, is on the methodology page.
What Does This Ranking of Online Associate Programs Leave Out?
This ranking of online associate programs leaves out how each college teaches at a distance, which is the thing an online student most wants to know. The graduation rate is the whole college's, campus students included, and IPEDS counts students enrolled exclusively at a distance for the college as a whole, not for any one program, so nothing on federal record shows how online general studies students in particular fare.
The online flag is a yes or a no. It records that the degree could be completed at a distance in the year reported, and it doesn't record how many students did, whether the online sections filled, or whether a course has since moved back to campus. It is a report the college makes about itself, and not an inspection.
Nothing in the score measures the interaction rule, the proctoring arrangements or the response time of the faculty, and those decide whether an online course works around a job. Ask the advising office for last year's online course schedule and the current proctoring policy, and treat the list as a way to choose which colleges to ask.
Common Questions About Online General Studies Associate Degrees
Are Online General Studies Associate Degrees Cheaper Than On-Campus Ones?
Can You Finish an Online Associate Degree in General Studies While Working Full Time?
Do Online General Studies Programs Accept Transfer Credits?
Will an Online General Studies Associate Degree Transfer to a University?
Is Financial Aid Available for an Online Associate Degree in General Studies?
Do You Have to Go to Campus for an Online Associate Degree in General Studies?
Can You Take an Online General Studies Associate Degree From a College in Another State?
What Happens if an Online General Studies Program Closes Before You Finish?
Where Do the Figures on These Online Programs Come From?
- Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
- Distance Education in IPEDS, National Center for Education Statistics
- 34 CFR 600.2, definitions of distance education and correspondence course
- 34 CFR 602.17, verification of student identity in distance education
- About NC-SARA, National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements
- SARA for States, NC-SARA
- Key SARA Student Consumer Protections, NC-SARA
- SARA for Students, NC-SARA
- Fast Facts, NC-SARA
- Accreditation in the U.S., U.S. Department of Education
- Overview of Accreditation in the United States, U.S. Department of Education
- Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs
The figures on these online programs come from federal records that each college reports about itself, as of the dates shown.
Show the federal record for all 25 colleges ranked, in 12 states and territories
New Mexico Junior College Brigham Young University-Idaho Itawamba Community College Arkansas State University-Beebe Southern Utah University Black River Technical College Panola College Snow College American Public University System Utah State University Arkansas Northeastern College Weber State University Crowder College Odessa College John C Calhoun State Community College Yavapai College Coahoma Community College Gadsden State Community College University of Idaho East Arkansas Community College University of Arkansas Community College-Batesville Northern Oklahoma College Casper College Clovis Community College Northern Wyoming Community College District