Best Colleges With 5-Week Courses

Popular Online 5-Week College Courses

These 5-week online college courses cover the same material offered in a traditional 14-week or 16-week course but in a shortened format. Continue reading to see what career options await after completing these 5-week college courses.

1. Accounting

Enroll in an online bachelor's in accounting degree to learn financial accounting, managerial accounting, cost accounting, and individual income tax accounting. As a degree-holder, you can become an accountant, bookkeeper, or accounts payable or accounts receivable administrator.

Getting into accounting quickly pays off since this stable career has a median annual salary of $79,880 — well above the national average — according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

2. Advertising

A bachelor's in advertising degree provides a fundamental understanding of portfolio development, branding, design strategy and software, advertising, and consumer insight. With this training, you can kickstart a career as a media director, promotion manager, or advertising manager.

Advertising and promotions managers enjoy financially rewarding careers with a median annual salary of $131,870. (BLS, May 2023).

3. Biology

You can study cell biology, genetics, ecology, evolution, microbiology, and biotechnology while earning an online bachelor's in biology degree. After graduation, you can launch your career as a laboratory assistant, research associate, or medical writer.

An accelerated biology degree quickly opens the door to careers in scientific research, higher education, the federal government, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies.

4. Business Administration

The broad curriculum in an online bachelor's in business administration degree covers managerial accounting, corporate finance, marketing, and business analytics. This degree gives you the tools to work as a human resources specialist or a project manager.

An accelerated business administration degree can help you kickstart your career in management, business and financial operations, sales, or office and administrative support.

5. Communications

Jump into a new career quickly as a market research analyst or a marketing manager after earning an accelerated online bachelor's in communications. This degree gives you a fundamental understanding of communication theory, mass media law, news writing, and visual communication.

With a major in communications, you'll enter a field where professionals make a median annual salary of $57,000 (BLS, May 2021).

6. Computer Science

If you get an online computer science degree, you'll learn all about technology — from programming languages to operating platforms to software development lifecycle and full stack development. This education gives you the tools to work as a web developer or mobile application developer.

Get an accelerated bachelor's in computer science degree and you can jump into a field where professionals earn a median annual wage of $145,080 (BLS, May 2023).

7. Criminal Justice

Criminal justice degrees focus on teaching you about how the criminal justice system functions. Courses on policing in America, violence, criminal law, and criminal procedures prepare you to work in corrections, forensic accounting, and fraud investigation.

Major in criminal justice, and you can enter high-demand and fulfilling careers deterring violence, crime, and fraud.

8. Education

You can start a career in teaching or administration faster after completing a bachelor's in education degree. The core courses cover school law, children and adolescent development, planning and instruction, student assessments, and classroom culture. You can focus your studies in elementary, middle school, secondary school, or special education.

9. Emergency Management

The curriculum of a bachelor's in emergency management degree focuses on hazard assessment mitigation, emergency planning, homeland security, and public budgeting. With this degree, you can become an emergency management specialist or homeland security officer.

An emergency management degree opens the doors to a career spent helping to coordinate resources and teams responding to natural disasters or emergencies.

10. English

Become a student of literary theory, critical approaches to literature, and the English language with an online bachelor's in English degree. You can gain the expertise to become an English teacher, communications or public relations specialist, or technical writer.

Earning a college degree in English offers versatile career opportunities. You can work in educational instruction, library sciences, or design and entertainment.

11. Environmental Policy

Environmental policy majors gain management and business skills to make a difference in energy policy, justice and sustainability, environmental management, and environmental impact analysis. An online environmental policy degree can lead to careers as environmental compliance inspectors and natural resource technicians.

People educated in environmental policy make a difference in creating new laws that protect the environment.

12. Finance

As an undergraduate finance major, you study corporate finance, financial markets, financial regulations and ethics, and portfolio analysis. An online bachelor's in finance degree preps you for banking or financial advising careers.

Business and finance careers enjoy a median salary of $76,850 (BLS, May 2022), which is above the national average salary for all occupations.

13. Fire Science

You can become a firefighter after completing an online bachelor's in fire science degree. You will learn firefighting tactics and strategies, building construction, fire officer company management, and engineer and ladder company operations.

Get ready quickly to enter code enforcement or fire investigation after earning a bachelor's in fire science.

14. Forensics & CSI

Pursuing a bachelor's in forensics and crime scene investigation gives you a foundation in criminology through courses in human anatomy, criminal investigation, and forensic science. But you can also specialize in different areas. You may be able to earn additional certification in underwater crime scene investigation, for instance.

After completing a bachelor's-level program, you may be able to become a crime scene photographer, evidence collector, or CSI technician.

15. Health Sciences

Earning a bachelor's in health sciences requires common courses such as community health implications, medical terminology, health information management, and biomedical ethics. Upon graduating, you can start a career as a community healthcare worker, patient care advocate, or research associate.

Professionals as community health workers are in demand and have opportunities to work in outpatient care centers, hospitals, religious and civic organizations, and individual and family services.

16. Information Technology

You can choose from versatile career opportunities such as a software developer, an information technology consultant, or a computer network architect with a bachelor's in information technology degree. The curriculum covers computer programming, organization and architecture, data structures, networks, and operating systems.

There is a high demand for computer and information technology professionals, with a whopping 377,500 new positions projected to pop up from 2022-2032 (BLS, May 2022).

17. Legal Studies

Earning an online bachelor's in legal studies degree can introduce you to a career in law. The required courses focus on legal research and writing, litigation practices, and legal ethics. This curriculum primes you for a career as a paralegal, law clerk, or legal assistant.

With a degree in legal studies, you can work in legal occupations; management, office and administration support; or business and financial operations.

18. Liberal Arts

Unlike other majors, a liberal arts degree covers a multidisciplinary education in English, history, philosophy, math, and social and natural sciences. This degree opens the doors to a variety of careers as a human resource specialist, fundraiser, or teacher.

Studying liberal arts offers varied career opportunities and allows you to further pursue an area of interest in a master's program if you so choose.

19. Mathematics

A bachelor's in mathematics degree covers linear algebra, advanced calculus, mathematical statistics, and operations research. You can work as a math teacher, data scientist, or actuary after earning your degree.

Math can lead to a stable career, as employment in the field is projected to add 33,500 jobs per year over the next decade (BLS, May 2022).

20. Marketing

A bachelor's in marketing degree helps build your knowledge of consumer behavior, marketing research, marketing management and leadership, and business-to-business marketing. This degree can help you secure positions as a public relations specialist or a marketing assistant.

This field offers competitive salaries — the top 10% of earners made over $200,000 a year (BLS, May 2023).

21. Nursing

With a bachelor's in nursing degree, you can qualify for the national exam to become a registered nurse. The degree gives you foundational knowledge in nursing and hands-on experience through clinical rotations.

Nursing offers a personally rewarding career in a fast-growing industry that pays more as you learn more. Nurses with a bachelor's degree can go on to earn their master's or even doctorate in nursing.

22. Nutrition

After completing a bachelor's in nutrition degree, you can become a dietician, nutritionist, or wellness expert. The curriculum explores food safety, food and beverage management, nutrition planning, and nutrition across the human lifecycle.

With an accelerated degree in nutrition, you can start quickly in a field where the top 10% of professionals make more than $98,830 (BLS, May 2023).

23. Political Science

A political science degree covers courses in American government and politics, global politics, and literacy and critical inquiry. Your classes will help train you to work in business, education, government, journalism, and public service.

As a political scientist, you can research how policies affect communities and how to make positive changes. Graduates with this degree can also go on to work in law, public policy, nonprofit organizations, and government.

24. Project Management

Project management majors learn to manage the lifecycle of a product or service from inception to execution. You'll take courses in leadership and project management, including monitoring and control, quality and risk, and business analysis. This degree offers opportunities in advocacy, law, and public policy.

Project managers make a median annual salary of $98,580, with the top 10% of earners making more than $163,040. (BLS, May 2023)

25. Psychology

Examine why people think and behave the way they do in a psychology degree. You'll complete courses in personality theory, abnormal psychology, research methods, and physiological basis of behavior. After graduating, you can work as a postsecondary teacher, career counselor, or human resource specialist.

The psychology field is very popular and employs more than 3.4 million professionals (BLS, 2021).

26. Public Administration

Learn how you can make a difference in communities — and greater society — through a bachelor's public administration degree. The courses in this program cover public fiscal management, policy analysis, and American policies.

This degree can help prepare you for a career as a budget analyst or legislator.

27. Public Relations

A bachelor's in public relations (PR) teaches you about advertising, client engagement, communications, media research, and communications. With this degree, you can become a medical coordinator, public relations specialist, or media coordinator.

If you go into public relations, you can work fields like advertising, politics, or journalism.