2027 Best Online Two-Year Degrees With Scholarship Options

Business Programs

An online AA, AS, or AAS in business can cover accounting, management, and business software. Choose a transfer-focused curriculum if a bachelor's degree is your goal; choose a career-focused option if you want to build skills for administrative, sales-support, or bookkeeping work sooner.

Compare scholarships offered by the college's business department as well as general institutional awards. Ask whether required courses run online every term: limited course availability can extend your time to graduation even when the catalog calls the degree online.

Healthcare Programs

Online healthcare administration and health information associate programs may suit students interested in records, scheduling, or office operations rather than direct patient care. An allied-health degree with laboratory or clinical training may instead be hybrid. Check whether a scholarship covers required software, background checks, or placement-related expenses.

Before choosing a clinical specialty, verify that the program meets applicable certification or state licensing requirements; a healthcare-related associate degree alone does not qualify you for every healthcare occupation.

Information Technology Programs

An online IT, computer networking, or cybersecurity associate degree may combine general education with hands-on labs completed through remote software or approved equipment. Look for scholarships from technology departments, local employers, and community foundations.

An AAS can support entry-level technical preparation; an AS may offer a clearer bachelor's transfer path, depending on the college. Compare the curriculum with actual job postings, and budget separately for optional industry certification exams unless the school explicitly includes them.

Nursing / Pre-Nursing Programs

Pre-nursing AA or AS programs generally provide prerequisites for later admission to a nursing program; they do not confer eligibility to practice as a registered nurse. An associate degree in nursing includes supervised clinical requirements, so an "online" listing may refer only to classroom coursework.

Nursing admission can be selective even at an open-admission college. Ask when students enter the clinical sequence, where placements occur, whether the program meets your state board's requirements, and which scholarships remain available during clinical terms.

Criminal Justice Programs

An online criminal justice AA, AS, or AAS can introduce law, courts, corrections, and public-safety systems. A transfer pathway may be preferable if your intended role typically calls for a bachelor's degree; a career-focused program may better serve an immediate training goal.

Check college and local public-service scholarships, but do not assume a degree replaces academy training, background screening, or employer-specific hiring requirements. Ask whether any advertised internship can be completed near your home.

Psychology / Counseling Programs

An online psychology AA or AS is usually a starting point for bachelor's study, not a qualification to practice counseling. It can also provide a foundation for some entry-level human-services work, subject to employer requirements.

Prioritize transferable statistics and general education courses if graduate study is your long-term goal. Departmental or community-service scholarships may help, but first confirm how the destination university will count each course. Licensed counseling roles generally require substantially more education and supervised experience.

The best online two-year degree with scholarship options is the one that meets your career or transfer goal at the lowest manageable total cost. No field is universally best, and scholarship availability varies by school, residency, eligibility, and deadline. The comparison below shows where each field is most useful and what to verify before treating an award - or an online format - as part of your plan.

This comparison focuses on degree types rather than ranking colleges. Use it to narrow your search, then compare actual program requirements and aid offers:

If you need one specific skill rather than a full degree, compare the cost and hiring relevance of online certification programs. A certificate may be faster, but it may not provide the general education or transferable credits you need later.

Start with the full price of the credits you still need, mandatory fees, books, equipment, and any travel for labs or clinicals. The College Board's 2024-25 average of $4,050 in published tuition and fees for in-district public two-year students is a useful benchmark, not a quote for an entire degree. Out-of-district or out-of-state rates, private-college prices, and part-time enrollment can change the comparison.

Your net cost is the amount left after scholarships and grants; loans reduce what you pay now but must generally be repaid. Request a term-by-term estimate from each school and ask whether an award renews, requires full-time enrollment, or covers summer courses.

If you plan to transfer, compare the combined cost of both degrees - not just the associate program. A low-cost start may lose its advantage if credits do not apply at your destination; published prices for affordable online colleges are only one part of that longer-term calculation.

Yes, online associate degrees can be accredited and transferable, but neither status follows automatically from the word "online." Check the institution's accreditation in the U.S. Department of Education or Council for Higher Education Accreditation directories.

For nursing or another regulated field, also check the applicable program approval or accreditation and your state's licensure rules.

Transferability has two tests: whether the next college accepts a course and whether it counts toward your intended major. Request a written degree plan or articulation agreement before enrolling. AA and AS degrees are often built for transfer, while AAS degrees often emphasize employment, but exceptions exist.

When comparing institutional accreditors, including schools described as nationally accredited online colleges, ask the receiving university to evaluate the exact courses rather than assuming an accreditation label settles transfer.

Healthcare and IT are worth investigating when job demand matters, but broad demand does not mean every associate major leads directly to an opening. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects registered-nurse employment to grow 5% from 2024 to 2034.

That outlook supports examining an approved nursing pathway, not assuming that a pre-nursing degree alone qualifies you to practice.

For a more immediate employment goal, compare health-information, business-support, and IT-support curricula against local postings: note the software, experience, credentials, and schedules employers request. If the job requires a license, bachelor's degree, or substantial experience, map those additional steps and costs before choosing the associate program.

Possible roles depend on the specific curriculum and employer: business graduates may pursue administrative or bookkeeping support; IT graduates may seek help-desk work; health-information graduates may look for records-related roles. Criminal justice and psychology graduates should check local entry requirements carefully because job titles in those fields span very different qualification levels.

For salary context, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a May 2024 median annual wage of $93,600 for registered nurses. That is an occupation-wide median, not an expected salary for associate degree graduates.

Registered nurses must meet state licensure requirements, including an examination; a pre-nursing degree is not an RN credential. Compare occupation-level pay with local entry-level postings and the cost of every credential you will need.

Look for institutional merit and need-based scholarships, department awards, community foundation funds, and employer or hospital-sponsored assistance relevant to your field.

Federal Pell Grants are grants, not scholarships, but they can be important: the maximum award for 2024-25 was $7,395. Your actual eligibility depends on federal rules and your circumstances, so do not subtract the maximum from a school's price unless your aid offer confirms it.

Complete the FAFSA, then ask each college's financial aid office which awards online and part-time students can receive. Check deadlines, residency restrictions, renewal grades, and whether a scholarship can be combined with other aid. An employer benefit or payment plan may help with cash flow, but confirm its conditions and distinguish it from aid that does not require repayment.

Many associate degrees require roughly 60 semester credits and can take about two years at a full-time pace. Part-time attendance, prerequisite courses, limited course rotations, and clinical placement can lengthen that timeline; accepted transfer credits may shorten it. A short online course term describes the length of a class, not the time needed for the whole degree.

Ask for a plan showing when every required course is offered, including summer options and in-person components. If a school advertises unusually rapid completion, request the assumed starting credits and weekly workload in writing.

Do not assume that pacing models discussed for competency based masters degrees apply to its associate programs; verify the format of the credential you would actually enter.

Most applicants need a high school diploma or equivalent and must submit the college's application; placement, prerequisite, and transfer-document rules vary. Some schools do not require SAT or ACT scores, but that does not remove program-specific requirements.

Nursing and other clinical majors may use separate applications, prerequisite grades, health documentation, background checks, or competitive selection.

Before paying an enrollment deposit, ask whether admission places you directly in the major or only in the college. Have the school evaluate previous coursework and explain which credits satisfy degree requirements. If a scholarship has a GPA or enrollment minimum, check that you can maintain it through the program's required course sequence.

Build a shortlist around your goal, then request comparable answers from each school. A reputable option should make its accreditation, required credits, online delivery rules, complete price, aid conditions, and transfer or licensure implications clear. Student support matters too: ask how online students reach advising, tutoring, technical help, and career services.

The most costly mistakes are assuming that "online" means no in-person attendance, that a scholarship renews automatically, or that accepted transfer credit will count toward a bachelor's major.

Ask for a written cost estimate, course schedule, transfer evaluation, and, where relevant, confirmation from the destination university or state licensing board. Choose the program whose documented requirements fit your budget and next step, not simply the one advertising the lowest tuition.

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• Don't Miss Out on Federal Pell Grants | studentaid.gov https://studentaid.gov/articles/dont-miss-out-on-pell-grants/
• Financial Aid Glossary - California Student Aid Commission - CA.gov http://www.csac.ca.gov/financial-aid-glossary
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• Scholarships | Admissions - The University of Utah https://admissions.utah.edu/financial-aid-scholarships/scholarships/
• Mode of Instruction | The Center for Excellence in... - Queens College https://www.qc.cuny.edu/cetll/mode-of-instruction/
• Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid - Georgia Institute of Technology https://finaid.gatech.edu/undergraduate-types-aid/scholarships/institutional-scholarships
• Course Modes & Definitions | OUR - Office of the University Registrar https://registrar.washington.edu/classrooms/course-modes/
• Modes of Instruction | Lehman College https://www.lehman.edu/online/modes-of-instruction/