2027 Best Two-Year Degrees With Full-Time Online Options

Business Programs

An online associate in business administration or accounting can prepare students for office, customer-service, and bookkeeping-related work or provide a foundation for a bachelor's degree. Courses commonly cover accounting, management, business communication, and spreadsheets. Compare an AA or AS if transfer is the priority; an AAS may emphasize immediate workplace skills. Full-time students should check whether accounting courses have prerequisites and whether employers prefer experience or additional credentials for the jobs they want.

Healthcare Programs

Healthcare administration, medical billing and coding, and health information programs may offer online coursework with few or no in-person academic requirements. They suit students interested in records, insurance processes, or office operations rather than hands-on patient care. Verify whether an internship, proctored assessment, or certification exam is required and whether the curriculum aligns with the credential you want. A healthcare-focused degree does not, by itself, authorize clinical practice.

Information Technology Programs

Online IT associate degrees commonly cover networking, operating systems, cybersecurity fundamentals, and technical support. An AAS may emphasize hands-on troubleshooting; an AS may better support transfer into computing. Remote labs can make full-time online study practical, but check software, equipment, and scheduled lab requirements. Entry-level hiring often weighs demonstrated skills and experience alongside education, so look for projects and opportunities to build a portfolio.

Nursing / Pre-Nursing Programs

Pre-nursing coursework, including general education and some science classes, may be available online. An associate degree in nursing is different: students generally need supervised clinical training and may need campus-based skills labs. Completing prerequisites online does not guarantee admission to a selective nursing cohort. If becoming a registered nurse is the goal, confirm the program's clinical locations, nursing accreditation where applicable, state board approval, and eligibility for the licensing examination before enrolling.

Criminal Justice Programs

An online criminal justice associate degree typically introduces courts, corrections, policing, and criminal law. It can support applications for some entry-level public-safety or administrative roles and may transfer toward a bachelor's degree. Police and corrections jobs have separate hiring, background, training, and sometimes age or physical requirements; the degree alone does not satisfy them. Compare transfer agreements if your intended occupation usually calls for further education.

Psychology / Counseling Programs

An online AA or AS in psychology often combines general education with introductory psychology, research, and human development. It is usually best viewed as a transfer pathway, not a qualification to practice as a psychologist or licensed counselor. Some graduates seek entry-level human-services support work, subject to employer requirements. Before choosing a program, confirm that its courses apply to the intended bachelor's major, particularly statistics and laboratory science requirements.

The best fully online two-year degree depends on whether you want workforce entry or transfer. Business administration, accounting, IT, criminal justice, and psychology can be strong candidates for full-time online coursework. Healthcare administration and health information may also fit, but experiential requirements vary. Nursing is generally not a fully remote route to clinical practice.

The comparison below focuses on degree fields, not a ranking of colleges. "Online fit" describes how feasible remote academic study tends to be; it is not a promise that every school delivers that major entirely online.

If earnings are your primary concern, compare realistic entry-level roles rather than assuming a degree title predicts pay. A broader look at online programs that pay well can help frame that research, but confirm each occupation's actual hiring requirements.

Start with accreditation and the exact delivery plan. Institutional accreditation affects confidence in academic quality and can matter for federal aid and transfer. A regulated field may also require programmatic accreditation or state approval. Then request the full-time course sequence - not just a program page labeled "online."

These checks help uncover requirements that could prevent you from finishing on your intended schedule:

1. Confirm institutional accreditation and ask whether the specific major has additional accreditation or approval requirements.
2. Ask for every required campus visit, lab, clinical, internship, orientation, and scheduled live session.
3. Check which courses run each term, the full-time credit load, and whether prerequisites delay entry to major classes.
4. Get written answers about transfer-credit evaluation, bachelor's articulation, residency credits, and total estimated charges.

Students balancing school with caregiving may find additional scheduling questions in a guide to the best degrees for single moms. Regardless of your circumstances, treat "online" and "flexible" as separate claims: fixed meeting times can make an otherwise remote program difficult to complete.

Possible starting points include office assistant or bookkeeper-related roles for business students, technical support for IT students, and records or administrative work for health information students. Criminal justice and psychology graduates may pursue support roles, but eligibility depends on the employer and duties. These are career directions to investigate, not jobs conferred by the credential.

Match the program to job postings in your area: note required software, experience, certifications, and whether an associate degree is accepted. If your target is registered nurse, licensed counselor, or psychologist, map the complete training and licensing route first. Advanced healthcare and counseling roles may require further degrees; an associate program can be a starting point rather than the final qualification.

A full-time student may finish a roughly 60-credit associate program in about two academic years. That timeline can lengthen when prerequisites are sequential, required courses are unavailable, or clinical placements are limited. Summer study or accepted transfer credit may shorten it, but short course terms alone do not make the entire degree short.

For cost context, the College Board's 2024-25 average of $4,050 in published annual tuition and fees applies to in-district public two-year college students - not to every online enrollee. Compare the school's price for your residency status, then add course fees, books, technology, exams, travel, and any clinical costs. Ask for a program-level estimate and compare it with your likely aid package; a low per-credit price may not produce the lowest total bill.

Federal aid eligibility depends on the school, program, enrollment, and student circumstances. If your career goal eventually requires graduate study, consider that longer education budget as well; affordable online master's programs may be relevant later, but they do not change the cost of completing the associate degree now.

Most associate degrees combine general education - such as writing and mathematics - with major courses. Business students might study accounting and management; IT students, networks and systems; and criminal justice students, courts and corrections. Psychology programs often emphasize introductory theory and research, while health information programs focus on records, terminology, and data practices.

The degree designation matters because it signals a likely purpose, not a guaranteed outcome. AA and AS programs often support transfer; AAS programs often emphasize employment skills. Read the actual degree map and compare it with your intended bachelor's requirements. If continuing beyond the associate degree is your plan, exploring the easiest bachelor degree to get is less useful than confirming which associate courses will satisfy that specific major's requirements.

Typical college admission starts with an application and proof of secondary-school completion or an accepted equivalent. Schools may request transcripts for placement, prerequisite review, or transfer-credit evaluation. Policies on testing and minimum grades vary, so do not infer that an online program waives academic requirements.

Admission to a college also may not mean admission to a selective major. Nursing and some allied-health programs can require prerequisite courses, minimum grades, background checks, or separate applications. Ask when major admission occurs and whether you can complete required courses full time while waiting for a place.

Sometimes - but the degree and the professional credential are separate. For registered nursing, graduates of an eligible, state-approved program must also meet state licensing requirements and pass the required examination. Other healthcare credentials may require an exam, experience, or a particular accredited curriculum. Public-safety jobs can impose agency training and hiring standards.

Before paying a deposit, identify the credential by its exact name and check the relevant state board or certifying body's requirements. Ask the school to explain how its online students complete any required in-person training and whether its program meets requirements in the state where you intend to work.

Pay and demand vary much more by occupation than by associate degree title. For example, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a 2024 median annual wage of $93,600 for registered nurses and projects employment growth of 5% from 2024 to 2034. Those figures describe the occupation as a whole; they are not the expected wage or job outlook for every associate degree graduate, and RN practice requires licensure.

Use occupational figures as a screening tool, then compare local openings and their qualifications. A role that pays well but requires experience, licensing, or a bachelor's degree may not be an immediate return on an online associate degree. For less regulated fields, evidence of practical skills can matter alongside the credential.

Online and campus-based associate degrees can cover comparable academic material, but they place different demands on students. Full-time online study can eliminate a routine commute and widen course choices; it still requires dependable study time, technology, and attention to deadlines. Campus study may make in-person labs and peer contact easier, while clinical programs may require local placements regardless of where lectures occur.

Choose based on the schedule you can sustain, not delivery labels alone. Ask whether online classes are asynchronous or live, whether exams need proctoring, and how quickly instructors and advisers respond. A common mistake is selecting the most convenient-looking format before checking required in-person components or whether the courses needed to graduate are offered each term.

• Cost of Attendance (Budget) | 2025-2026 Federal Student Aid Handbook https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/fsa-handbook/2025-2026/vol3/ch2-cost-attendance-budget
• Associate's degree - Career Outlook - Bureau of Labor Statistics https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/subject/associates_degree.htm
• Transfer Degrees | Colorado Department of Higher Education Home https://cdhe.colorado.gov/transfer-degrees
• Practicum and Experiential Learning Requirement | Northwestern University https://sesp.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/degree-requirements/practicum.html
• Course Policies | West Chester University Catalog https://catalog.wcupa.edu/undergraduate/academic-policies-procedures/course-policies/
• State Authorization | Office of Academic Affairs https://oaa.osu.edu/academic-administration/state-authorization
• Professional Licensure - State Authorization Network https://wcetsan.wiche.edu/resources/professional-licensure
• FAQs for Clinical Courses: Practicum, Internship, & Field Experience | Wake Forest Department of Counseling https://counseling.wfu.edu/faqs-for-clinical-courses-practicum-internship-field-experience/
• Understanding Internships, Practicums, and Clinicals | FNU https://www.fnu.edu/internships-practicums-clinicals-explained/
• What's the Difference Between Asynchronous and Synchronous Learning? | Ohio State Online https://online.osu.edu/content-hub/blogs/whats-the-difference-between-asynchronous-and-synchronous-learning/