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Regents Bachelor of Arts Degree Impact

Regents Bachelor of Arts Degree

Learning is a lifelong experience, and it's never too late to pursue or complete your college degree.

Fairmont State University's Regents Bachelor of Arts (RBA) Degree Program is designed specifically for adult learners. The RBA degree is a flexible, interdisciplinary degree that can be tailored to meet your needs. Whether your goal is to earn a bacheor's degree to advance your career, to change fields, to complete a degree you started earlier, or you simply want to take classes for your own personal fulfillment, this program offers a convenient and flexible way for you to continue your educational journey.

2024 WVROCKS/RBAS Dates

  • Summer term:  Monday, May 20 - Friday, July 12
  • Fall 1st 8 weeks:  Monday, August 19 - Friday, October 11
  • Fall 2nd 8 weeks:  Monday, October 14 - Friday, December 6

Requirements

  • 120 - Total Semester Hours
    • 30 - Upper Division Hours (3000-4000 level)
    • 36 - General Education Hours with minimums in specific areas of:
      • Communications (6)
      • Social Sciences (6)
      • Natural/Physical Sciences (3)
      • Humanities (6)
      • Math or Computer Applications (3)
      • Natural/Physical Sciences, Math, or Computer Applications (3)
      • Other General Education (9)
    • 54 - Free Elective Hours

A GPA of 2.00 or a C average is required.  For residency purposes, at least 24 credit hours must be completed in the West Virginia Public Higher Education System and at least 12 of those credit hours must be completed at Fairmont State.

Enrollment

Applicants are eligible for admission to the RBA program three years after graduation from high school. Students can be admitted into the RBA program in January, March, May, August, or October.

RBA F-Forgiveness

If an applicant has previous college credit, grades of F received four or more years before admission to the RBA program are disregarded from the student's GPA calculation once degree requirements have been completed.

WVROCKS/RBAS

Needed credit hours can be fulfilled with any Fairmont State classes. But, we also have a selection of online courses that are available only for RBA students. These 3 credit hour classes all have the RBAS prefix, are listed under Regents Bachelor of Arts on the schedule, and are all 8-weeks, online, asynchronous, and provide a convenient way to fulfill degree requirements using an online portal that provides access to courses taught across the state. 

The WVROCKS/RBAS courses are an option for RBA students and not a requirement. Students can instead choose to take any Fairmont State courses — either virtually or within a classroom — to meet the RBA degree requirements.

WVROCKS Login

WVROCK/RBAS FAQs

WVROCKS Course Catalog Info

WVROCKS-RBAS Master List of Classes

WVROCKS-RBAS Summer and Fall 2024 Schedules

Summer 2024 Registrar’s Calendar for WVROCKS-RBAS Classes

Fall 2024 Registrar’s Calendar for WVROCKS-RBAS Classes

Prior Learning Assessment

Alternative Ways to Earn Credit

RBA Portfolio Development Guidelines 2024-25

The RBA portfolio option allows enrolled students to receive credit for demonstrated college-level knowledge that has been learned in environments and agencies outside the classroom.  Therefore, knowledge gained though work experience or other training may translate to college credit if students can demonstrate knowledge of learning objectives equivalent to our courses.  To develop a portfolio for review, the first step would be to identify the college course or courses for which college-level learning can be demonstrated so that we’d be able to obtain the course syllabi and learning objectives to help structure the portfolio development.  I’ve attached the portfolio preparation guidelines.

The fee for portfolio evaluation is $300 regardless of whether or not credit is awarded.  If credit is awarded, then an additional $10 per credit hour processing fee is required to transcript the credit. 

Portfolios evaluations are completed by faculty members who teach the courses for which credit is sought.  The portfolios should be submitted prior to semester midterm to ensure that sufficient time is available for the evaluation.  We can also submit portfolios to other institutions in the West Virginia State System of Higher Education (i.e., WVU, Marshall, Concord, Bluefield, etc.) if credit is sought in a subject area that is taught at those institutions and not at Fairmont State.

Alternatively, if you have obtained any professional, state, or national licenses or certifications, we can review them to determine if you would be eligible to receive credit.  The review of licenses and certifications for standardized credit does not include any additional fees.

If you do have any professional, state, or national licenses or certifications, you would need to send me copies so that I could begin to analyze them for possible credit.  However, official evaluation and/or posting of credit via the portfolio option will not occur until after RBA students successfully complete at least one full semester.

Credit earned via portfolio or prior learning assessment does not count toward meeting the state or institutional residency requirement for the RBA program.

Students intending to develop a portfolio must complete RBAS 3350 (Portfolio Development), which is offered during the 1st 8 weeks of Spring or Fall semester.

Contact Information

Ms. Pamela Stephens

Assistant Provost for Advising and Retention Initiatives
248 Hardway Hall
1201 Locust Avenue
Fairmont, WV 26554
Phone: (304) 368-7005
rba@fairmontstate.edu

Model Schedule

Curriculum Sheet 2024-25