Do college credits expire after 5 years? A common question nowadays. Oftentimes, there are gaps in education or between getting hired and graduating in any online bachelor degree from a college. These gaps can arise from a number of reasons such as financial difficulties, time constraints, health issues, etc. However, the problems start to arise when the time frame goes beyond the 5 year mark.
The answer to this question is not as straightforward as some would like you to believe. Plus, there are a number of other questions that arise from it as well. For example, where do college credits expire after 5 years and why do they expire after 5 years. Apart from this, there is the question of which college credits don’t expire after 5 years.
So with the table all set, let us get cracking with these questions and provide you a few answers along the way.
Do College Credits expire after 5 years? Lets have a look
College credits don’t “expire” after 5 years. Your education will remain with you no matter how many years pass. If you have graduated a course, you will remain a graduate of that course irrespective of the passage of time. However, the same can’t be said about the validity of the college credits acquired.
Validity is not as straight forward as the simple expiration of the course credits. This is because a lot of colleges and higher education institutes require one to have the latest and best possible education in their fields. So while you might meet the criterion on subjects such as GPA, you might not be accepted based on the time that has elapsed since the time you got your credits.
This issue arises due to a number of reasons. The biggest and most important one is the constant change and updates within the coursework. The subjects which you might have taken up during your graduation may have gone significant changes over the course of time. So, to keep the admission process fair and relevant, a lot of colleges have this 5 year requirement. We guess your assumption about do college credits expire after 5 years is somewhat cleared.
Also, as touched upon before, the courses are continuously changing. As per common perception, there are significant course changes every 5 or so years. With major parts being either added or omitted, it stands to reason that a 5 year cut off period is set by colleges in order to keep the admission process standardized and uniform for everyone.
5 year rule college credits
As we have stated before in the topic regarding do college credits expire after 5 years, we learnt that college credits do not expire. However, they do lose relevance over a period of time. This is most commonly seen in college and university admissions. These institutes need a standardized admission process. So in order to keep the entrance exams and admission process uniform across the board, they often create a 5 year rule college credits.
Another example of this maximum time gap condition can be seen in licensing exams and other such certification exams. This is once again done to ensure a standardized exam. However, more importantly, 5 year rule college credits is done in order to ensure a certain standard of professionals. By ensuring a maximum time frame condition, they are ensuring that the aspirants have a certain standard.
In case they fail the exam, they will have a few opportunities for retakes. However, if the allotted time frame is exceeded, then the aspirants can be chalked up as substandard ones and be refused the licensing. This is a common practice worldwide to ensure proper procedures and allowing only qualified people to enter the workforce.
Colleges that accept old credits
Now that we have discussed why and where college credits seemingly expire after 5 years, let us take a look at the courses whose credits don’t expire after 5 years or except old credits. To give you a quick taste of things, here are a few examples of courses in colleges that accept old credits –
- Political science
- Arts
- Fine arts
- History
- English
- Linguistics
- Liberal arts
Now if you pay a closer look at the list above, you will notice that the courses mentioned for the topic do college credits expire after 5 years do not have a so called practical application. Where a course in medicine or architecture will have real life application and practical usage, these courses will seemingly not. This difference is a key contributor to why these courses have no expiry dates attached.
Another difference is the theoretical nature of these courses in colleges that accept old credits. Since there are no or limited practical applications of these courses, there is little to no need for updating the course work as regularly as it is in other courses. Plus, most of the course is derived from history. And while there is always the scope of new discoveries, the core of the course is rarely ever affected.
As a result of this, the course remains relatively unchanged over the course of the years. The prime example of this is the never changing aspects of Christopher Columbus finding the Americas. No matter how many years pass, his journey will remain the same and by extension, the studies done on his journey will remain the same as well.
Similarly, the Civil Rights Movement will still remain the same when taken into the context of either political science or history. No matter how much time passes, the events leading up to the Civil Rights Movement and its implications will remain the same. Similarly, the people involved with the movement will also remain the same.
Plus, in the case of liberal arts, the whole course revolves around analysis and hypothesis. These can be done for any subject in any given time frame or context. Plus, since students are individuals, there is no way for them to have the same thought process. So, the chances of having a standardized test such as those seen in places like medical schools, etc. are quite low.
However, do keep in mind that there will be a few cases of higher education courses within these courses having the 5 year or any similar time frame limitation. Despite this, for the most part, these courses have college credits that won’t expire over a period of time. And in case they do, there are a few ways around it as well.
How to prevent college credits from expiring
Now that we have discussed most of the reasons behind why do college credits expire after 5 years, let us now take a look at how you can prevent this from happening. The easiest and most effective way of doing this is by enrolling in more courses.
A simple degree in a post BACC course will prevent the expiration of your college credits after 5 years. Most of the colleges also allow exceptions for undertaking similar courses. So in case you want to elongate the life of your college credits, try enrolling in such short courses. Not only will they extend the life of your credits, but you will also have another degree to boast about.
Now since most of the causes behind the time gaps is financial or time or health concerns, these short courses address these issues as well. Then, how to prevent college credits from expiring. Most of them are extremely cheap and can be done from the comfort of your home through online courses as well. Plus, most of these courses offer time flexibility as well as course flexibility.
So all in all, they are the best possible way to extend the life of your college credits. Another way you can do this is through doing internships and other similar professional endeavors. Not only will the work experience hold you in good stead, but it will also impart some much needed practical knowledge for your course as well.
Apart from this, there is the whole aspect of making money from this as well. A little bit of earning has never hurt anyone and then it will also give you some knowledge about budgeting etc. as well. So when you combine these things together, you have a recipe for not only extending the life of your college credits but also for success.
College Credits – Conclusion
But despite all of this, there will still be a few cases where despite your best efforts, your college credits will expire. Well, the ultimate best thing that you can do in that case is to simply play by the rules. Apply on time and in case there are any exceptions that you can avail, then go for them If not, do a follow up course on the course losing its validity.
So, do try and apply within the allotted time frame. Apart from that, everyone has their own set of circumstances. So do try to be mindful of them. If it is simply not possible to do anything, then we believe we have listed enough options out for you to work your way around this problem. But once again, do try and apply within the allotted timeframe.
With that being said, we believe we have told you about why do college credits expire after 5 years over the course of time. And in case you have any more queries about the same, feel free to ask us about them! One can also find us at online schools near me for more information.
