Accelerated and traditional degree programs: A comparison of student academic outcome

Accelerated degree completion programs are being utilized by universities to increase student counts, address changing demographics of students, increase revenue, and meet certain economic demands. The degree attainment and the academic success of accelerated models have continued to been questioned. This study examined the degree attainment of accelerated and traditional business programs. This study also examined the cumulative GPAs of accelerated business degree programs and the cumulative GPAs of traditional business students for significant differences. Students who were selected were all accelerated students who either attended or conferred at a small midwestern university during 2008-2012 and all traditional students who attended from 2002-2009. The traditional student's data dates were expanded to cover the six year IPED definition.;The current research study was an ex-post facto study that used quantitative methods for analysis. Students in accelerated cohort programs, both online and in-class were compared to traditional students for degree completion and academic success. The independent variables included online accelerated business students, in-class accelerated business students, and traditional students. The dependent variable was the degree attainment, during the time frame 2008-2012, and cumulative GPAs.;The researcher compared percentages to determine degree attainment. This result revealed a higher percentage of accelerated business program students conferred in comparison to traditional business program students. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test for significant differences between the cumulative GPAs of conferred online accelerated, in-class accelerated and traditional students. The GPAs of online and in-class accelerated business students was significantly higher than traditional business students. A one-way ANOVA was used to test for significant differences between the cumulative GPAs of all accelerated business students, and all traditional students. Additionally, the difference in the means of the cumulative GPAs of online and in-class accelerated business students was significantly higher than traditional business students. Accelerated business degree students, both online and in-class had higher GPAs than traditional students.