How long does the IT bachelor's degree realistically take if you're working full-time?
I'm currently juggling a 40-hour work week as a help desk tech and just enrolled in an IT bachelor's program. I've got 18 transfer credits from community college, so I'm not starting from scratch. My advisor says I need 120 total credits to graduate, which puts me at about 102 left. At 6 credits per semester that's theoretically 8.5 more semesters, or just over 4 years.
The problem is I'm already struggling to carve out 2 hours a day for coursework after work and family obligations. Networking fundamentals wasn't bad — I finished with a 91% — but I've heard the database and programming courses are a completely different level of difficulty. My first mock exam for the intro programming course put me at 67% and that was a wake-up call.
I'm also trying to figure out whether to stack certifications alongside the degree or wait until I finish. I already have CompTIA A+ and I'm thinking Security+ next. Not sure if doing both at once is overkill or actually a smart career move given how much hiring managers seem to weight certs in IT right now.
If anyone's gone through an IT bachelor's program while employed full-time, I'd love to know how you paced yourself. Did you ever take summers off or push through year-round?
The database course took me about 15 hours of outside study per week on its own. Don't underestimate it. I dropped from 9 credits to 6 that semester just to keep my GPA above 3.0, and I'm glad I did.
I finished mine in 4 years and 3 months while working 38 hours a week as a sysadmin. The trick was taking lighter elective courses during busy work seasons and harder technical courses when things slowed down. Never pushed more than 9 credits in a semester — that was my hard limit and I stuck to it.
Year-round is the way to go if you want to finish faster. I took one summer class each year and shaved a full semester off my timeline. Summer sessions are 6 weeks though, so the pace is brutal if it's a hard technical course.
I did Security+ during my third year and it actually helped with a cybersecurity elective — about 40% of the content overlapped. Definitely worth stacking if you can manage the load, just don't try to cram both in the same 8-week window.
I finished mine in about 3.5 years working full-time, so it's definitely doable. The thing that actually moved the needle for me was treating practice tests like a full-time job the month before each certification exam. I didn't just skim them -- I went back and figured out why I got each wrong answer wrong, not just what the right one was. Sounds obvious but I wasn't doing that before and I was barely passing my practice runs.
With your transfer credits you're in a better spot than I was. Just don't let the workload compound on you -- 6 credits while working 40 hours is manageable but it's not forgiving if you fall behind. You'll find a rhythm.
Honestly, I almost dropped out after my second semester. I was doing 6 credits a semester like you're planning, working full-time, and by month eight I was exhausted and convinced I'd made a huge mistake. The coursework wasn't even that hard -- it was just relentless. You finish one assignment and three more are waiting.
But I kept going, scaled back to 3 credits during crunch periods at work, and ended up finishing in about five years total. Passed my finals, got the degree, and it was worth it. If I'm being real with you, the timeline doesn't matter as much as just not stopping. You've already got transfer credits, which puts you ahead of where I started. Just don't quit during the semesters that feel impossible, because that feeling passes.
Honestly, I almost dropped out twice in my second year. The workload hit me way harder than I expected, and there were a few semesters where I seriously questioned whether it was worth it. I was doing 6 credits a semester while working full-time and I won't sugarcoat it -- it's brutal. Some weeks you're running on four hours of sleep and whatever coffee you can find.
But here's the thing -- I kept going, and I passed my cert exams while finishing the degree, which I didn't think was possible when I started. Your 18 transfer credits actually help more than you think, especially once you hit the upper-division courses and realize you're not as far behind as it feels. Just don't try to rush it. Six credits at a time is enough when you've got a real job pulling at you, and slower progress is still progress.
I tried doing 9 credits my first semester while working full-time and completely crashed. Didn't sleep, missed deadlines, failed my it database management course because I wasn't keeping up with the practice tests and just thought I could wing it. Worst mistake I made.
Second time around I dropped to 6 credits per semester and it's been so much more manageable. With 18 transfer credits you're already in a decent spot, so don't rush it. If you're consistent at 6 credits a semester including summers, you're looking at around 3.5 to 4 years, but you'll actually pass your classes and not burn out by month two.