Some people can’t wait to spend a full four (or more) years in college, but with tuition and living costs on the rise, graduating early can prove to be an extremely wise decision -- for both reaching your goals and protecting your wallet. Read on to find out the steps you need to take to graduate college in less than 3 years!

First off, there’s nothing wrong with taking the full amount of time to complete your college degree. Graduating fast is definitely not for everyone. But for me, graduating in 2.5 years has allowed me to save tons of money and valuable time which will allow me to move on to grad school faster. I’m now in my last semester of college and I definitely do NOT regret fast-tracking my college experience. If you are just starting college or have already been in college, you probably will agree with me that college is very much the same thing for 4 years straight. I’m here to help you avoid wasting time & money by shaving as much time off as possible!

Let’s get to the tips!

8 ways to graduate college in less than 3 years | productive gal

1. Take advantage of free local college classes in high school

This might not be offered where you live, but at my high school, we had a program called Dual-Enrollment where high school students can sign up for a number of different college classes at the local state college, both online and in person during the school year or in the summer. The best part: these courses were absolutely FREE. And I can tell you that not enough students took advantage of it. I wound up taking 3 of these completely free courses and all 3 transferred to my university. This was the equivalent of almost an entire semester of classes already taken care of while in high school!

Plus, since these courses were at a local community college, they were MUCH easier than taking those same courses at my private university.

I recommend that even if you have to pay a small fee, take these courses because it can save you a LOT of time and money. Paying for credits at your four year university will likely cost a lot more per credit hour.

2. Take AP courses and actually study for the exams

If you don’t have access to free or cheap community college classes during high school, make sure to take AP courses and make it your number one priority to get the highest possible score on the end-of-year exam. I took 7 AP classes and made sure to study hard for the exams, getting either a 4 or 5 on all of the exams. Since my university accepted credit for AP classes, I was able to save almost an entire YEAR because they transferred as classes that I needed for my general electives. Make sure to check out your future college’s transfer credit policy though, because my school had a cap on the number of credits that could be brought in through AP courses. I wound up not getting credit for every single AP class that I took, but by getting the highest scores on all of the exams that I had, I was able to choose which classes would satisfy the greatest number of courses.

3. CLEP classes

If you don’t know what a CLEP test is, it stands for the College Level Examination Program, which is a series of tests created by the College Board to help you earn credit for college courses by essentially testing out of them. These tests are generally lower level, introductory courses, and if you have prior knowledge on a certain subject or if you just want to study hard for a short amount of time to earn college credit, CLEP tests are the way to go! Not all schools accept CLEP tests and some only have a specific list of tests that they accept, but even taking one helps you save time! They are typically around $89 dollars, which is less expensive than taking a community college course.

4. Sign up for courses at your local community college during the summer

If you missed the boat for taking college level classes during high school, taking classes at a community college during the summer is one of the BEST ways for cutting your college time down. As I said earlier, community college classes are way less costly than classes at a private or four year university and they tend to much be easier as well. Plus, you can take classes that are in a shorter number of weeks and online, too, if you are looking for more flexibility. Make sure to apply through your college to do this, because they usually require an approval and they usually only allow a transfer of certain classes. If you took just one class during each summer of college, you can take off almost a whole semester of time!

Another option is to take a full credit load during the summer, so that in just one summer, you can save yourself a full fall or spring semester.

5. Plan your entire college schedule during the summer before your first year

Lack of planning is a mistake that WAY too many college students make that comes at a HUGE cost. You wouldn’t believe the amount of college students that I have talked to who have told me that because they went into school not knowing what classes they needed to take and what prerequisites each one needed, they wasted entire semesters taking classes they didn’t have to. This especially happens to freshmen! By planning out your entire college schedule so that you know exactly which classes you need to take and which ones you’ve already earned credit for, you can avoid wasting your time taking any classes that are not helping you to meet your general education credits and your major requirements.

Also, make sure to ALWAYS double check what your advisor tells you. I’ve heard horror stories of advisors recommending that students take certain courses and it turns out, they did not even need those courses! Don’t let someone else’s mistake cost you time & money! It’s best to always do your own research.

6. Don’t just take any major

If you are not sure of your major or if you just picked your major because it sounds cool, think again! Going into college with no clear direction or picking something that you aren’t well informed about can result in you changing your major multiple times which means taking classes that are not going to move you along to graduation. By doing your research and taking personality tests, you can figure out your passions and interests before getting to college or in your first year so that you can get right to meeting your major requirements.

7. Course overload

Another way that you can graduate in less than three years is by taking more credits than a “normal” college semester. In order to squeeze my college experience into 2.5 years instead of 3, I did one semester with an extra class, which was 5 classes and 20 credits at my school. Although it was a lot of hardwork and effort, it was definitely worth it!

8. Stay focused

If you are taking into account all of these suggestions to reduce your time in college, the most important aspect is to stay focused on your studies and use your time wisely, because failing a class or not getting the required grade to satisfy a prerequisite could set you back in your goals to graduate early. At the end of the day, graduating early is not something that is hard to do, but you have to stay on track and always be focused on your end goal.

There you have it! Doing these 8 things has helped me to graduate in only 2.5 years, so I hope they will help you too!