Regents Bachelor of Arts Degree Program
2023 WVROCKS/RBAS Dates:
- Summer term: Monday, May 22 - Friday, July 14
- Fall 1st 8 weeks: Monday, August 21 - Friday, October 13
- Fall 2nd 8 weeks: Monday, October 16 - Friday, December 8
Overview
The Regents Bachelor of Arts (RBA) Degree Program is a flexible nontraditional academic program designed for adults in the belief that they are distinctly different in their educational needs and pursuits. The program can be tailored to fit those who need a degree for career advancement, those who have an associate degree in a field for which there is no corresponding baccalaureate degree available, or those who seek intellectual development and personal fulfillment. The degree has particular appeal for persons who completed some college work in past years but did not obtain a degree.
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 four 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 2023 Schedules
- Summer 2023 Registrar’s Calendar for WVROCKS-RBAS Classes
- Fall 2023 Registrar’s Calendar for WVROCKS-RBAS Classes
Prior Learning Assessment
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.