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General studies — a degree designed with you in mind

Michael Bradford’s life is full of drama — and he couldn’t be happier.

The 45-year-old associate professor of dramatic literature and playwrighting at the University of Connecticut is a long way from his days aboard a submarine during a decade with the Navy. And he’s the first to admit he never would have imagined the way his current career path has evolved.

After leaving uniform in 1992, Bradford took a job as a system test operator, testing electrical systems on submarines for sub-builder Electric Boat in Groton, Conn.

But Bradford yearned for more.

He enrolled in the University of Connecticut in 1993 to pursue a degree in English literature. He switched gears after learning of the school’s bachelor’s degree in general studies.

“I thought, ‘I have a wife and child. I need to get a degree I can actually do something with,’” Bradford said.

The appeal

The program’s flexibility appeals to students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in general studies, or BGS, said Sheryl Cowan, assistant director of collegiate studies at the University of Miami.

“The degree is designed for nontraditional adult students,” she said.

Because many students have already completed some college, most BGS programs are upper-level, degree-completion programs, said Peter Diplock, associate director of the University of Connecticut’s Center for Continuing Studies.

Diplock said the majority of students in the University of Connecticut’s general studies program already have successful careers and are finishing their degrees for personal satisfaction or better promotion potential, or to switch careers.

Customize your degree

Bachelor of general studies programs allow students to apply previously earned college credit toward their degrees, said Dolores Shearon, marketing director for the University of Missouri’s continuing education program. In fact, many programs require that students have an associate degree or have completed at least 60 credit hours of college coursework as a condition of acceptance.

Students help create their own courses of study. In Miami’s BGS program, students develop their programs with an area of concentration consisting of 10 classes — 30 credit hours — of upper-level courses from any department at the university or a combination of departments.

“They can develop something that is going to help them professionally or personally or both. It’s interdisciplinary. It’s very individualized,” Cowan said.

Academic integrity

Concerned about the validity of a BGS degree? Don’t be. Because of its individualized nature, schools often take extra precautions to maintain the academic integrity of BGS programs. At Miami, Cowan said, BGS students are required to submit a two-page proposal justifying their area of concentration.

And perhaps more so than in other programs, BGS students work closely with academic advisers to ensure they stay on track toward graduation.

Finally, Diplock said, “I think there are many misperceptions that these students take different courses than traditional students. They don’t. They take the same.”

What’s it good for?

What can someone do with a bachelor’s in general studies? In a word — anything.

Bradford is a college professor and award-winning playwright. Other students have become attorneys and health care professionals.

“For a BGS student, at the end of the day, the burden they have is … conveying to a potential employer that they have the competencies and capabilities that flow naturally from a high-quality, well-grounded, broad education,” Diplock said. It’s the “same challenge all students have.”

Deciding on a program

Shearon has this advice: Ask yourself what your career goals are. Does the type of program you’re looking at lead to the kind of degree you can use to meet those goals?

Finally, she urges, keep an open mind.

“There are lots of jobs out there you don’t earn a specific degree for. People don’t go to college expecting to end up in [certain careers], but if they have a good, solid education, they can adapt and do quite well. They have succeeded in learning how to learn.”