Source: IPEDS, as of September 29, 2026. Cost is resident tuition plus required fees, 2023-24.
Bachelor's Degrees in New Hampshire
1
Meet the Ranking Threshold
1
Median Resident Tuition and Fees
$16,450
With a Fully Online Option
1
General Studies Bachelor's Degrees in New Hampshire
General studies bachelor's degrees in New Hampshire come down to one program, Southern New Hampshire University's online bachelor's in Manchester, which awarded 1,524 degrees in the latest year and ranks 96th in the national bachelor's ranking with a score of 46.5. No other college in the state, public or private, reports a general studies bachelor's to the federal government, so there is no in-state comparison to make at this level.
What the figures say about SNHU is consistent across both of its general studies degrees. The university graduates 43% of its first-time, full-time students, charges $16,450 a year in tuition and required fees to residents and nonresidents alike, and runs the program fully online. The 1,524 bachelor's degrees a year are what place it in the national ranking at all, because the score weighs degrees awarded alongside completion and price, and on those two measures a 43% graduation rate at $16,450 is middling.
Because SNHU is private, the transfer rules New Hampshire wrote in 2024 for its public universities don't bind it, which makes this an unusual bachelor's page: the state's one general studies bachelor's sits outside the system its transfer law covers. The sections below cover what the degree costs, what the law does and doesn't do for a student heading to SNHU, and what to ask before you enroll.
The Best General Studies Bachelor's Degree in New Hampshire
The best general studies bachelor's degrees in New Hampshire are ranked below by their national score, from the national bachelor's degree ranking. The number on each card is the program's place in New Hampshire. Each needed at least 10 graduates in the latest year to be ranked.
1
Southern New Hampshire University
New Hampshire
46.5- Private nonprofit
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 43%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $16,450 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 1,524
About the Program
Southern New Hampshire University is a private nonprofit university in Manchester, New Hampshire that enrolls 189,531 students. During the most recent year on record it awarded 1,524 bachelor's degrees, a count at the 99th percentile for size. Its college-wide graduation rate is 43%, the 31st percentile, because the federal record tracks completion by institution. Tuition and fees hold at $16,450 a year whichever state you come from. The degree can be finished entirely online, which suits anyone who cannot move or stop working. Nearly everyone who applies gets in, since 100% of applicants are admitted. On the number of degrees it awards it does best, reaching the 99th percentile.
How Much Does a General Studies Bachelor's Degree Cost in New Hampshire?
A general studies bachelor's degree in New Hampshire costs $16,450 a year in tuition and required fees, Southern New Hampshire University's 2023-24 published rate, and with one program that figure is the median, the low and the high. SNHU charges nonresidents the same $16,450. Over four years at that rate, tuition and fees come to $65,800.
The way most students in the state cut that number is to start elsewhere. New Hampshire's community colleges charge residents $6,720 to $7,200 for a general studies associate degree, so two years at White Mountains Community College at $7,050 followed by two years at SNHU comes to $47,000 in tuition and fees, $18,800 less than four years at SNHU. The one cost item written into the state's transfer rules is small but real: a community college graduate who applies through the New Hampshire Transfer Guarantee has the application fee and personal essay requirement waived at participating four-year colleges. Ask SNHU whether it participates and how it prices part-time study by the credit, since an online bachelor's finished a course or two at a time is billed differently from a full year.
How Does Credit Transfer Into a General Studies Bachelor's Degree in New Hampshire?
Credit transfers into a general studies bachelor's degree in New Hampshire on the receiving university's own terms, because the state's two transfer rules are written for the public University System of New Hampshire and the state's one general studies bachelor's is private. RSA 187-A:16-c requires transfer pathways whose general education and lower division major requirements are fully transferable as a block upon completion of an AS or AA degree to a university system institution, and an AA or AS graduate in a pathway is deemed to have met all general education and lower division requirements for transfer as a junior. No University System of New Hampshire campus awards a general studies bachelor's in the federal data, so that block transfer lands you in a different major, not this one.
The New Hampshire Transfer Guarantee is broader in one way: it promises guaranteed admission at the four-year institution the student chooses among participating colleges for community college associate graduates who meet a minimum GPA of 2.0, 2.5 or 3.0. Whether SNHU participates, how it evaluates a New Hampshire AA or AS, how many of your credits land as general education, and how many you must complete with SNHU before it awards the degree are all questions for SNHU. And even under the law, admission to a particular program remains competitive and no time to degree is guaranteed.
What Do Jobs With a General Studies Bachelor's Degree Pay in New Hampshire?
Jobs open to a general studies bachelor's degree in New Hampshire pay the state medians below, from the May 2025 federal wage survey, with the national median beside each for comparison. Each row links to the salary guide for that job.
How to Choose a General Studies Bachelor's Degree Program in New Hampshire
How to choose a general studies bachelor's degree program in New Hampshire isn't a choice among programs, since Southern New Hampshire University's is the only one, but a choice about whether to start there or arrive with two years of credit. Starting at SNHU means four years at $16,450, fully online, in a program that awards 1,524 degrees a year and graduates 43% of its first-time students. Starting at a community college means two years at $6,720 to $7,200 and then a transfer whose terms SNHU, as a private university, sets itself.
Three questions settle it. Ask SNHU how it evaluates a New Hampshire community college AA or AS, and whether it treats the degree as general education complete the way the state's pathways law requires of public universities. Ask whether it is a participating college under the Transfer Guarantee. And ask what the per-credit price is for a part-time online student, because the $16,450 is a full-year figure. If you want to weigh SNHU against online general studies bachelor's degrees in other states, the national bachelor's ranking lists every program that meets the threshold with the same three figures.
If you're starting with an associate degree, the general studies associate degrees in New Hampshire have their own page.