10 Fastest Online Bachelor’s in Mathematics

For work­ing adults who want to com­plete their bachelor’s degree in math­e­mat­ics and enhance their career, accel­er­at­ed math degree pro­grams are a great devel­op­ment. A fast online bachelor’s degree in math­e­mat­ics can help prospec­tive pro­fes­sion­als get the degree they need to start a new career or advance in their cur­rent posi­tion quick­ly and rel­a­tive­ly pain­less­ly. You ben­e­fit in all sorts of ways from get­ting your math degree online.

One of the top ben­e­fits of an accel­er­at­ed online math­e­mat­ics degree is that they typ­i­cal­ly offer short­er peri­ods for you to com­plete the class­es. The quar­ters or terms for accel­er­at­ed math degree pro­grams com­mon­ly take any­where from 5 to 12 weeks to com­plete. Addi­tion­al­ly, an accel­er­at­ed math degree allows you to com­plete the same amount of cours­es in 1 to 3 years, as you would be tak­ing in 4 years while earn­ing a bachelor’s degree in the typ­i­cal way. A bach­e­lor of math­e­mat­ics online can often be com­plet­ed in just 1 to 3 years, but often offer 8‑week terms, rather than the long-drawn-out semes­ters most of us are accus­tomed to.

Methodology: How We Ranked the Best Accelerated Math Degree Programs

For work­ing peo­ple and oth­er stu­dents who want to fin­ish their math­e­mat­ics degree online fast, accel­er­at­ed online math degrees may be the best answer. Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter edi­tors began with accred­it­ed, rep­utable insti­tu­tions offer­ing accel­er­at­ed online math degree pro­grams, then ranked them accord­ing to their alum­ni salary, rep­u­ta­tion, and tuition cost.

1. University of Massachusetts-Lowell

The bach­e­lor’s degree in math­e­mat­ics from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts-Low­ell is one of the best accel­er­at­ed math degree pro­grams for stu­dents who want to com­plete a degree in a rea­son­able amount of time. The pro­gram allows stu­dents to trans­fer up to 90 cred­its from oth­er col­leges or uni­ver­si­ties to help accel­er­ate the process of com­plet­ing a degree. It also focus­es on pro­vid­ing a flex­i­ble sched­ule that allows work­ing adults to keep up with course mate­ri­als while man­ag­ing per­son­al obligations.

UMass Low­ell stands apart from oth­er pro­grams by empha­siz­ing the use of log­ic and crit­i­cal think­ing in math­e­mat­ics. It encour­ages stu­dents to learn the rel­e­vant skills they need to adjust to dif­fer­ent sit­u­a­tions. It also pro­vides a strong foun­da­tion in math­e­mat­ics, sta­tis­tics, and relat­ed skills to pre­pare stu­dents for the rig­ors of work­ing in a math-relat­ed field.

High­light: UMass Low­ell offers schol­ar­ships to help new stu­dents and trans­fer stu­dents in the math­e­mat­ics pro­gram with the costs of a degree.

Degree: Math­e­mat­ics, BS

Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts-Low­ell Math­e­mat­ics, BS

2. Ottawa University

The BA in Math­e­mat­ics from Ottawa Uni­ver­si­ty pre­pares stu­dents for the chal­lenges of work­ing in a rig­or­ous career. The accel­er­at­ed degree pro­gram gives stu­dents a strong foun­da­tion in the­o­ries, knowl­edge, and math­e­mat­i­cal thought process­es that allow them to work in a vari­ety of fields and industries.

Ottawa Uni­ver­si­ty allows stu­dents to gain the fun­da­men­tal knowl­edge they need to work in many careers. It encour­ages stu­dents to use log­ic and math­e­mat­i­cal the­o­ries in dif­fer­ent sit­u­a­tions to ensure that it is pos­si­ble to reach long-term goals. It also gives stu­dents the oppor­tu­ni­ty to improve their abil­i­ties in math­e­mat­ics and to focus on spe­cif­ic areas of math as it may apply to a career.

High­light: Ottawa Uni­ver­si­ty offers a con­cen­tra­tion in Actu­ar­i­al Sci­ence as part of the math pro­gram for stu­dents who want to work as an actuary.

Degree: Math­e­mat­ics, BA

BA in Math­e­mat­ics from Ottawa University

3. Washington University in St. Louis

Wash­ing­ton Uni­ver­si­ty in St. Louis offers one of the best accel­er­at­ed math degree pro­grams at the under­grad­u­ate lev­el for stu­dents who want to excel in a math­e­mat­ics field. The degree pro­gram empha­sizes the prac­ti­cal skills relat­ed to math­e­mat­ics as well as the the­o­ries behind dif­fer­ent for­mu­las. It pro­vides stu­dents with a clear idea of the process­es involved in solv­ing math prob­lems in dif­fer­ent situations.

Wash­ing­ton Uni­ver­si­ty in St. Louis allows stu­dents to focus on two con­cen­tra­tions: math­e­mat­ics or applied math­e­mat­ics. The tra­di­tion­al math cours­es focus on pro­vid­ing stu­dents with the abil­i­ty to eval­u­ate prob­lems and solve prob­lems using for­mu­las. It is designed for stu­dents who plan to go into teach­ing or con­tin­ue into a high­er lev­el of edu­ca­tion. The applied math­e­mat­ics con­cen­tra­tion focus­es on allow­ing stu­dents to learn the rel­e­vant skills they need for careers in finance, actu­ary ser­vices, or relat­ed positions.

High­light: Wash­ing­ton Uni­ver­si­ty in St. Louis offers advis­ing ser­vices that allow pro­fes­sors to work with stu­dents on a one-on-one basis and to offer assis­tance with the process of get­ting the first job after graduation.

Degree: Math­e­mat­ics, BS

Wash­ing­ton Uni­ver­si­ty in St. Louis Math­e­mat­ics, BS

4. Mayville State University

Mayville State Uni­ver­si­ty offers an accel­er­at­ed math degree pro­gram that allows stu­dents to focus on their career objec­tives. The degree pro­gram empha­sizes flex­i­bil­i­ty by pro­vid­ing an online for­mat that allows stu­dents to work at their own pace. It also allows work­ing adults to com­plete a degree in math­e­mat­ics when they have oblig­a­tions or respon­si­bil­i­ties that lim­it their time.

The way Mayville State Uni­ver­si­ty stands out from oth­er pro­grams is the focus on devel­op­ing use­ful skills that stu­dents can apply to dif­fer­ent sit­u­a­tions. It gives stu­dents a strong foun­da­tion in math­e­mat­i­cal the­o­ries to pre­pare them for the chal­lenges of work­ing in a fast-paced envi­ron­ment. It also allows stu­dents to work on course mate­r­i­al part-time if they have lim­i­ta­tions on their time.

High­light: Mayville State Uni­ver­si­ty allows stu­dents to trans­fer cred­its from region­al­ly accred­it­ed col­leges or universities.

Degree: Math­e­mat­ics, BS

Mayville State Uni­ver­si­ty Math­e­mat­ics, BS

5. Western Governors University

The bach­e­lor’s degree in Math­e­mat­ics Edu­ca­tion from West­ern Gov­er­nors Uni­ver­si­ty is one of the best pro­grams for stu­dents who want to work as a math­e­mat­ics teacher. The pro­gram allows stu­dents to learn the skills they need to teach math­e­mat­ics at the mid­dle school lev­el and the per­ti­nent for­mu­las and math­e­mat­ics asso­ci­at­ed with teach­ing math to others.

West­ern Gov­er­nors Uni­ver­si­ty dif­fers from oth­er pro­grams by empha­siz­ing teach­ing skills and edu­ca­tion cours­es as well as math­e­mat­ics cours­es. Stu­dents are expect­ed to learn the skills they need to keep a class­room of stu­dents under con­trol while edu­cat­ing them on the skills they will need for nor­mal activ­i­ties in their lives. It empha­sizes the appli­ca­tion of math­e­mat­ics to real-life sit­u­a­tions, as well as the poten­tial chal­lenges that may arise when work­ing with students.

High­light: When stu­dents com­plete their degrees from West­ern Gov­er­nors Uni­ver­si­ty, they are qual­i­fied for licen­sure to teach at the mid­dle school level.

Degree: Math­e­mat­ics Edu­ca­tion, BS

West­ern Gov­er­nors Uni­ver­si­ty Math­e­mat­ics Edu­ca­tion, BS

6. Midway University

The bach­e­lor of sci­ence in math­e­mat­ics from Mid­way Uni­ver­si­ty offers the fun­da­men­tal skills stu­dents need to work in a math­e­mat­ics-relat­ed field or indus­try. The degree pro­gram empha­sizes crit­i­cal think­ing, ana­lyt­i­cal skills, and prob­lem-solv­ing skills to ensure that stu­dents are able to apply their knowl­edge of math to real-world situations.

Mid­way Uni­ver­si­ty offers an online pro­gram in math­e­mat­ics that allows stu­dents to work at their own pace and com­plete their degree when it fits their sched­ules. It works around the needs of adults who may have a job or per­son­al oblig­a­tions that lim­it their time and require a flex­i­ble sched­ule for their cours­es. That flex­i­bil­i­ty ensures that stu­dents are able to focus on their goals and fin­ish a degree in a time­ly manner.

High­light: Mid­way Uni­ver­si­ty offers small class sizes with an aver­age ratio of 16 stu­dents for each teacher. The small class sizes allow stu­dents to reach out to pro­fes­sors when ques­tions or con­cerns arise.

Degree: Math­e­mat­ics, BS

Mid­way Uni­ver­si­ty Math­e­mat­ics, BS

7. Granite State College

The bach­e­lor of arts in Math Stud­ies from Gran­ite State Col­lege pre­pares stu­dents to apply their skills, log­ic, and crit­i­cal think­ing to dif­fer­ent sit­u­a­tions in their lives. The degree pro­gram is a field-based pro­gram, so stu­dents are expect­ed to work in a hands-on envi­ron­ment while com­plet­ing their degrees. It also empha­sizes the prac­ti­cal appli­ca­tion of math to dif­fer­ent fields or industries.

Gran­ite State Uni­ver­si­ty stands out by allow­ing stu­dents to qual­i­fy for cer­ti­fi­ca­tion as a teacher when they com­plete the degree. The online pro­gram offers stu­dents the skills they need to work as a math teacher and ensures that stu­dents are pre­pared for the process to become cer­ti­fied if they plan to work in the edu­ca­tion sys­tem. It also rec­og­nizes that stu­dents may decide to pur­sue oth­er career options, and pro­vides prac­ti­cal appli­ca­tion skills to help stu­dents suc­ceed in dif­fer­ent careers.

High­light: Gran­ite State Col­lege is accred­it­ed by the New Eng­land Com­mis­sion of High­er Education.

Degree: Math Stud­ies, BA

Gran­ite State Col­lege Math Stud­ies, BA

8. National University

The math­e­mat­ics degree pro­gram from Nation­al Uni­ver­si­ty is one of the best pro­grams for stu­dents who want to com­plete their degrees at an accel­er­at­ed pace. Each course is only four weeks long, which means that stu­dents are able to com­plete class­es at a fast pace and can fin­ish their degree in less than four years. Since the pro­gram is avail­able online, it pro­vides a flex­i­ble sched­ule that allows stu­dents to work when it fits their sit­u­a­tion and their needs.

Nation­al Uni­ver­si­ty stands apart from oth­er pro­grams by empha­siz­ing the use of tech­nol­o­gy as it applies to math­e­mat­ics. It pre­pares stu­dents to work with dif­fer­ent tools to improve their abil­i­ty to solve prob­lems at a fast pace. That empha­sis on the use of cal­cu­la­tors, com­put­ers, and oth­er tech­nol­o­gy ensures that stu­dents are able to work in dif­fer­ent envi­ron­ments when they are plan­ning to start a career.

High­light: Nation­al Uni­ver­si­ty is the top-ranked uni­ver­si­ty in San Diego for its math­e­mat­ics program.

Degree: Math­e­mat­ics, BS

Nation­al Uni­ver­si­ty Math­e­mat­ics, BS

9. Southern New Hampshire University

South­ern New Hamp­shire Uni­ver­si­ty offers a bach­e­lor’s degree in math­e­mat­ics that gives stu­dents a strong foun­da­tion in math skills, as well as prob­lem-solv­ing and rea­son­ing skills. It empha­sizes math­e­mat­ics relat­ed to sta­tis­tics, alge­bra, and analy­sis to give stu­dents the fun­da­men­tal skills they need to work in dif­fer­ent envi­ron­ments and sit­u­a­tions. The focus on spe­cif­ic areas of math­e­mat­ics ensures that stu­dents have a strong knowl­edge of the prob­lem-solv­ing skills that apply to the spe­cif­ic area of math.

South­ern New Hamp­shire Uni­ver­si­ty offers an online pro­gram that allows stu­dents to work at their own pace. The online for­mat ensures that stu­dents can work around a com­pli­cat­ed or chal­leng­ing sched­ule when they have oblig­a­tions or respon­si­bil­i­ties that lim­it their time. The flex­i­bil­i­ty of the pro­gram helps stu­dents focus on their goals and long-term objec­tives for a career.

High­light: South­ern New Hamp­shire Uni­ver­si­ty allows stu­dents to trans­fer up to 90 cred­its into the bach­e­lor’s program.

Degree: Math­e­mat­ics, BA

South­ern New Hamp­shire Uni­ver­si­ty Math­e­mat­ics, BA

10. Mercy College

The bach­e­lor’s degree in math from Mer­cy Col­lege is an accel­er­at­ed pro­gram that pre­pares stu­dents to keep up with a mod­ern work envi­ron­ment. While it teach­es the math­e­mat­ics skills and prob­lem-solv­ing skills asso­ci­at­ed with tra­di­tion­al math, it also rec­og­nizes the grow­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties in tech­nol­o­gy fields. It pro­vides stu­dents with a strong foun­da­tion in com­put­er lan­guage and applied math­e­mat­ics to ensure that stu­dents can take on careers in the tech­nol­o­gy indus­try. It gives stu­dents the rel­e­vant skills to keep up with cur­rent appli­ca­tions of mathematics.

Mer­cy Col­lege takes a flex­i­ble approach to edu­ca­tion and pro­vides stu­dents with online class­es as well as night and week­end class­es. Flex­i­ble sched­ul­ing allows stu­dents to keep up with their career goals by learn­ing the skills they need at a time that fits their sched­ules. It also allows stu­dents to focus on their cours­es when they are study­ing for their classes.

High­light: Mer­cy Col­lege has an accel­er­at­ed dual degree pro­gram for stu­dents who plan to obtain a mas­ter’s degree or a high­er lev­el of edu­ca­tion after fin­ish­ing their under­grad­u­ate degrees.

Degree: Math­e­mat­ics, BS

Mer­cy Col­lege Math­e­mat­ics, BS

What if I Don’t Need a Full Math Bachelor’s Degree?

The only thing faster than an online math bach­e­lor’s degree is a cer­tifi­cate. If you do not need a full degree, an alter­na­tive would be to get a cer­tifi­cate in math­e­mat­ics. Math­e­mat­ics cer­tifi­cates allow you to enhance and build upon your math­e­mat­ics in order to make you a more knowl­edge­able, well-round­ed can­di­date as far as your career is con­cerned. Cer­tifi­cates in math­e­mat­ics pro­vide you with a sound foun­da­tion for careers in math-relat­ed fields such as sci­ence. If you don’t have a strong ground­ing in high school math­e­mat­ics, though you’ll need more cred­it hours that you can get for cheap in com­mu­ni­ty col­lege. Admis­sion require­ments may include pre­req­ui­site cours­es you can get with an asso­ciate degree.

Addi­tion­al­ly, when com­pared to a full degree in math­e­mat­ics, math­e­mat­ics cer­tifi­cates allow you to take few­er online cours­es, while also pro­vid­ing you with more flex­i­bil­i­ty with regard to the cours­es you choose to take. Unlike get­ting a degree, online math­e­mat­ics cer­tifi­cates do not require any 500 lev­el cours­es, nor do they require a mas­tery of math­e­mat­i­cal proof writ­ing. Every under­grad­u­ate stu­dent and online stu­dent is eli­gi­ble for math­e­mat­ics certificates.

Alter­na­tive­ly, a grad­u­ate cer­tifi­cate in math­e­mat­ics offers grad­u­ate-lev­el instruc­tion for stu­dents who are inter­est­ed in pur­su­ing advanced skills in math­e­mat­ics. A math­e­mat­ics cer­tifi­cate online on the master’s lev­el pro­vides stu­dents with the exper­tise and knowl­edge nec­es­sary to inte­grate new math­e­mat­i­cal approach­es and con­cepts into the teach­ing realm. You are able to choose from cours­es such as alge­bra, analy­sis, topol­o­gy and geom­e­try, prob­a­bil­i­ty and sta­tis­tics, dif­fer­en­tial equa­tions and appli­ca­tions, and more.

A cer­tifi­cate may not offer gen­er­al edu­ca­tion cours­es or all of the elec­tives of a bachelor’s though. Full-time learn­ers may take math edu­ca­tion cours­es like:

• abstract alge­bra
• lin­ear algebra
• cal­cu­lus I, cal­cu­lus II and cal­cu­lus III
• pure math­e­mat­ics

How­ev­er, you may miss out on col­lege-lev­el cours­es like

• math­e­mat­i­cal modeling
• num­ber theory
• real analy­sis
• dis­crete mathematics

Oth­er spe­cial cours­es include his­to­ry of math­e­mat­ics. Course­work in areas like com­put­er sci­ence or com­put­er pro­gram­ming add a cre­den­tial or spe­cial­iza­tion that can help.

Do I Need Experience to Get a Job in Mathematics?

If you are con­cerned about whether you need expe­ri­ence to get a job in math­e­mat­ics, it depends on the type of posi­tion you are seek­ing. Career paths in math­e­mat­ics may be twisty. How­ev­er, there are quite a few entry-lev­el jobs for math majors that you can take on with lit­tle to no expe­ri­ence. For instance, actu­ar­ies are those who help orga­ni­za­tions by cal­cu­lat­ing the like­li­hood or prob­a­bil­i­ty of things. To get a posi­tion such as this, you typ­i­cal­ly need a master’s degree or Ph.D., how­ev­er, there are some entry-lev­el posi­tions avail­able to those who pos­sess a bachelor’s degree.

Becom­ing a finan­cial ana­lyst is anoth­er posi­tion that allows entry-lev­el can­di­dates to get hired as long as they have a min­i­mum of a bachelor’s degree. These jobs involve stay­ing knowl­edge­able on mar­ket trends as well as the per­for­mance poten­tial of var­i­ous types of invest­ments as a method of help­ing their clients make the best choic­es to build their finan­cial portfolios.

Addi­tion­al­ly, math­e­mati­cians are anoth­er exam­ple of jobs for math majors with no expe­ri­ence. Math­e­mati­cians are tasked with ana­lyz­ing facts and fig­ures in order to find the best solu­tions to busi­ness prob­lems. While these posi­tions typ­i­cal­ly require a master’s degree, there are some entry-lev­el jobs for math majors with lit­tle to no experience.

Oper­a­tions research ana­lysts are tasked with using data to help orga­ni­za­tions solve prob­lems, cre­ate poli­cies, and make deci­sions in gen­er­al. A bachelor’s degree is required for most entry-lev­el posi­tions. How­ev­er, some advanced posi­tions do require a master’s degree.

You may be able to become an entry-lev­el sta­tis­ti­cian, pro­vid­ed that you have a min­i­mum of a bachelor’s degree as a math­e­mat­ics major. Over­all, there seems to be a way to break into any indus­try with­out expe­ri­ence, as long as you are will­ing to work at the entry-level.

Are there Government Jobs for Math Majors?

The Bureau of Labor Sta­tis­tics shows an array of gov­ern­ment jobs avail­able to math majors. How­ev­er, most of these require some expe­ri­ence as well as advanced-lev­el edu­ca­tion. Nev­er­the­less, there is a vast array of oppor­tu­ni­ties for those who have math­e­mat­ics degrees and cer­tifi­cates, as many gov­ern­ment jobs require the use of num­bers in the forms of sta­tis­tics, com­plex equa­tions, and much more. For instance, com­put­er sci­en­tists can work in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and more.

On the oth­er hand, if you are seek­ing jobs for math majors in gov­ern­ment, sta­tis­ti­cians also can acquire fed­er­al gov­ern­ment jobs for math majors. Sta­tis­ti­cians often work for gov­ern­men­tal depart­ments such as the Depart­ment of Ener­gy, the Depart­ment of Agri­cul­ture, the Depart­ment of Labor, the Depart­ment of Trea­sury, and more.

If you are more inter­est­ed in work­ing as a researcher, you may take on jobs as a gov­ern­ment researcher, which involves using math­e­mat­i­cal sta­tis­tics and equa­tions to help the gov­ern­ment make more effec­tive deci­sions. Their job duties include things such as deliv­er­ing pre­sen­ta­tions, explain­ing com­plex ideas in layman’s terms, ensur­ing the qual­i­ty con­trol of research, and more.

Relat­ed Rankings: 

25 Best Bach­e­lor’s in Mathematics

15 Best Online Bach­e­lor’s in Mathematics

10 Most Afford­able Bach­e­lor’s in Mathematics

15 Best Online Actu­ary Degree