ODUGlobal's online Bachelor of Science in Leadership is built for degree completers, letting you transfer up to 90 credits toward your degree and finish on a flexible, accelerated schedule that fits a working life.
Many people have a bachelor's degree they never quite finished. Life got in the way: a job, a move, a family situation or a tuition bill that didn't make sense at the time. The credits are sitting on an old transcript, earned but unused, and starting over from scratch feels too steep a hill to climb.
If that's you, here's the good news: at ODUGlobal, you probably don't have to start over. The online Bachelor of Science in Leadership, an interdisciplinary studies program, is built specifically for people who have some college credit and want a clear, flexible path to finishing the degree.
A degree designed around the credits you already have
This is what sets the leadership program apart. You can transfer up to 90 credits toward the 120 required for the degree. For many students, that means the work they did years ago counts, and the finish line is closer than they expected.
That was true for Taylor Ripley, who graduated from ODU in December 2025 while working full-time. She had credits from an older program and didn't want to repeat them.
"I was able to use all of my existing credits from an older program as elective courses and finish the leadership degree twice as fast as I would have if I had needed to start over," she said. She started a new job as an operations planner at Sentara Health on December 1, 2025, finished her finals shortly after, and walked at commencement days later.
ODUGlobal also makes the transfer process itself easier than most schools do. When you apply as a transfer student, you can authorize ODU to request and pay for your official transcripts on your behalf. It's a small thing that removes one more piece of friction between you and your degree.
Why leadership, and why interdisciplinary
The leadership major isn't narrow. Because it's interdisciplinary, it draws from multiple fields and focuses on skills that matter in almost any workplace: ethical decision-making, clear communication in both traditional and digital settings, critical thinking and the ability to identify and solve real problems. You graduate prepared to lead teams and make sound decisions, not for one specific job title but for wherever your career goes next.
That flexibility is part of the appeal. The same degree can sharpen the skills you need for a promotion in your current field or open the door to an entirely new direction.
Built to fit a working life
Most courses in the major follow an accelerated 8-week format, and they're asynchronous, so there's no set meeting time to work around. You access materials and complete assignments on your own schedule, within the deadlines your instructors set. For students already working or managing a full life, that structure makes finishing realistic rather than aspirational.
Eligible military-affiliated students can also explore a military pathway that may convert qualifying service experience and training into college credit, shortening the path even more.
Ready to finish what you started?
The hardest part of finishing a degree is often just believing it's still within reach. If you have credits from a previous program, a free transfer credit evaluation will show you where you stand and how close you really are. From there, an ODUGlobal enrollment counselor can help you map the rest of the way.
