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Undergraduate   

  • Take your first course for free
  • Earn up to 22 credits at no cost - and save up to $13,000 in tuition
  • Apply up to 102 transfer credits to your bachelor's degree 
  • Earn credit for what you already know, including professional and military training and certifications, credit-by-exam programs and other experiences
  • Flexible, stackable programs that work around you
  • Affordable tuition and scholarship opportunities
  • Personalized service - from admissions to career counseling and post-graduation support

Graduate

About Peirce College 
At Peirce College, we serve our students in ways that fit their lives, not ours. Based in Philadelphia, Peirce is a private, nonprofit institution dedicated exclusively to serving busy adults and nontraditional learners. 

Peirce was established in 1865 as Union Business College to provide career-focused education for soldiers returning from the Civil War, and was one of the country’s first schools to embrace women as students. The College is a pioneer in online learning and a leader in prior learning assessment and providing opportunities for students to earn credit for college-level knowledge they already possess. Based on Peirce College's most recent Customer Service Survey and Market Research study:

  • 96% of prospective students said their conversations about Peirce with employers was positive
  • 99% of prospective students said their conversations about Peirce with family and friends was positive
  • 94% of students rated their experiences with Peirce faculty as positive
  • 91% of students said the process for enrolling at Peirce was convenient and easy to follow

Take Your First Course for Free & Earn Up to 22 credits at No Cost

For a limited time, you can enroll at Peirce for no cost. We are waiving the cost of PRC 101, our three-week orientation course that is required for most undergraduate students and helps you explore career opportunities. It also makes you eligible to earn a Google Career Certificate, the Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate, or the IBM Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate as  well as additional courses through our partnership with Coursera - at no cost. This makes you eligible to earn up to 22 credits without spending a dime, which can save you more than $13,000 in tuition and even more in books. To get started, apply today. 

Learn more. Earn more.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, lifetime earnings are higher and unemployment is lower for workers who have a college degree.

Over the course of a 40-year career, those who possess a Bachelor’s degree typically earn more than $1 million more than those with some college but no degree, and approximately $1.2 million more than those with only a high school diploma.

Source:Career Outlook, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2023

 

Peirce College Accreditations and Approvals

  • Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
  • Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)
  • Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management (CAHIIM)
  • American Bar Association (ABA)
  • Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

How is Peirce Different? 

Everything we do is built around your unique needs as a busy adult and providing the personalized service you deserve to achieve your goals and advance your career. 

When you apply to Peirce, we will help you order your transcripts and complete a free, official credit evaluation for you that determines how your transfer credits will apply to your degree. In addition:

  • We will guide you through the financial aid process, including how to apply for scholarships, and see if you qualify for a corporate tuition discount.
  • We will show you how to lower your costs through prior learning assessment, including professional and military training and credit-by-exams, and alternate credit providers, like Coursera, Study.com, StraighterLine.com and Sophia.org.
  • We can also help you prepare to earn industry-recognized credentials that validate in-demand skills, and apply those credentials as credit toward your degree.  
 

Peirce College Named Best Bang for the Buck in the Northeast

Washington Monthly magazine has named Peirce College the #11 Best Bang for the Buck College in the Northeast. The Best Bang for the Buck College list ranks institutions of higher learning according to how well they help non-wealthy students attain marketable degrees at affordable prices. The list is created by isolating the social mobility metrics from the main rankings of four-year institutions. Peirce was also named among the top 20 institutions nationally in Washington Monthly's Best Bachelor's Colleges, which ranks an institution's contribution to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility, research, and promoting public service.
wm-2024-best-bachelors-badge      wm-2024-best-BBB-badge

Frequently Asked Questions

What programs does Peirce offer?

Peirce College offers a wide variety of online, career-focused programs that are each designed to work around the unique needs of adults and help maximize transfer credits, including credits earned at other accredited institutions, credit-by-exam, professional and military training and select professional certifications.

Business

  • BS in Accounting (ACBSP accredited)
  • BS in Business Administration (ACBSP accredited)
    • Concentration: Management
  • BS in Human Resource Management
  • BS in Organizational Leadership*
  • AS in Business Administration (ACBSP accredited)
  • AS in Leadership Development
  • AS in Office Management and Supervision
  • Certificate in CannaBusiness
  • Certificates in Client Service and Quality Service Management
  • Certificate in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB)
  • Certificate in Financial Operations
  • Certificate in Human Resource Management
  • Certificate in Project Management Administration
  • Certificate in Supply Chain Management and Logistics

Healthcare and Human Services

  • BS in Health Information Administration (CAHIIM accredited)
  • BS in Healthcare Administration
  • BS in Human Services Leadership*
  • AS in Health Information Technology (CAHIIM accredited)
  • Certificate in Medical Billing
  • Certificate in Medical Coding 

Information Technology

  • BS in Information Technology
    • Concentration: Networking, Administration and Information Security
    • Concentration: Programming Application Development
  • BS in Technology Management*
  • AS in Information Technology
  • Certificate in Cloud Computing
  • Certificate in Cybersecurity
  • Certificate in IT Support

Legal Studies

  • BS in Criminal Justice
  • BS in Paralegal Studies (ABA approved)
  • AS in Criminal Justice
  • AS in Paralegal Studies (ABA approved)
  • Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Paralegal Studies (ABA approved)

Liberal Studies

  • BA in Liberal Studies* (most of our certificates can be implemented into this program)
  • AA in General Studies

Graduate Programs

  • Master of Business Administration
  • MS in Healthcare Administration
  • MS in Higher Education Leadership
  • MS in Organizational Leadership and Management
    • Concentration in Nonprofit Leadership
    • Concentration in Operations Management
  • MS in Professional Studies 
  • Graduate certificates in Higher Education Leadership, Nonprofit Leadership, Operations Management, and Public Health Administration
  • Bachelor-to-Juris Doctor program with Rutgers Law School

*degree completion program that accommodates up to 102 transfer credits; all other bachelor degree programs accommodate up to 90 transfer credits.

How many transfer credits can I apply to a bachelor’s degree at Peirce?

Our degree completion programs can accommodate up to 102 transfer credits. The most flexible of these programs are the BA in Liberal Studies, which has 60 open elective credits, and the BS in Organizational Leadership, which has 39 open elective credits.  Our other degree completion programs are the BS in Human Services Leadership and BS in Technology Management. 

All other bachelor’s degree programs at Peirce can accommodate up to 90 transfer credits, including our baccalaureate programs in accounting, business administration, criminal justice, human resource management, health information administration, healthcare administration, information technology and paralegal studies. Up to 30 transfer credits can be applied to our associate degree programs. Up to 12 transfer credits can be applied to our master's degree programs. 

How can I earn credit for what I already know?

You can earn credit at Peirce College for college-level knowledge you already possess through the following methods:

  • Credit-by-exam
  • Portfolio assessment
  • Credentials, training and other programs that have been evaluated for college credit

Credit-by-exam programs, such as the CLEP®, the College-level Exam Program, and Peirce College exams, allow students to test out of a degree requirement. These exams provide significant savings in time and money for adults who know the material because they are a fraction of the cost of course tuition and typically take less time to complete.

With portfolio assessment, students develop a portfolio containing evidence that they possess college-level knowledge that is equivalent to what they would have learned in a specific course. Like credit-by-exam, portfolio assessment typically costs much less than course tuition and can save adults who know the material time and money.

Students can also earn credit for professional licenses and certifications, professional and military training and other programs that have been evaluated for credit by Peirce College or the American Council on Education and fit a specific degree program requirement. There are no additional costs to earning this credit for students who have completed the training or possess the credentials. Common examples include:

  • Students who have completed military training
  • Students who have completed Philadelphia Police Academy training
  • Students who have completed Philadelphia Division of Prisons training
  • Students who possess select IT certifications
  • Students who possess AHIMA Certified Coding Associate (CCA®), Certified Coding Specialist (CCS®), Certified Professional Coder (CPC®) or Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT®) certifications
  • Students who possess HRCI® Professional in Human Resources (PHR®); HRCI® Senior Professional in Human Resources® (SPHR®); SHRM® Certified Professional® (SHRM-CP®); or SHRM® Senior Certified Professional® (SHRM-SCP®) certifications
What are Peirce courses like?

Most courses at Peirce are structured on a 7- or 8-week timeline and feature weekly schedules that provide students the flexibility to complete assignments at times convenient for them. Courses are led by faculty who specialize in serving adults and other nontraditional learners. Each week, students have the option of attending live, virtual sessions with their professors. Courses are available via online and hybrid formats.

Can I embed industry-recognized certifications into my program at Peirce? 

Yes! Peirce College has evaluated several industry-recognized certifications that can be embedded into our degree programs, further validating you possess the skills and credentials employers are looking for. In many cases, these certifications can be completed at no cost to Peirce students, and save you both time and money.

For example, Peirce is a partner institution of Coursera and our students have access to several in-demand career certificates provided by Google, IBM and Meta. As a Peirce students, you can earn these certificates at no cost and earn credit for the certificates that apply directly to their degree programs. This provides you with the tangible benefit of validating that you possess the skills employers are looking for before you finish your degree. Below is a list of career certificates available at no cost to Peirce students:

  • Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate (3 credits)
  • Google Digital Marketing & E-Commerce Professional Certificate (up to 9 credits) 
  • Google IT Support Professional Certificate (up to 12 transfer credits)
  • Google Project Management Professional Certificate (up to 9 transfer credits)
  • Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate (up to 12 transfer credits)
  • Google UX Design Professional Certificate (up to 9 transfer credits)
  • Google IT Automation with Python Professional Certificate (up to 6 credits)
  • IBM Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate (up to 9 credits)