The University of Alabama External Degree Program

Welcome to the University of Alabama External Degree (EXD) Program. This website is designed to give you a close-up look at the EXD Program. The External Degree is a joint program in the colleges of Arts & Sciences and Continuing Studies.

The EXD Program is an interdisciplinary undergraduate program through which adults can complete requirements towards a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree from The University of Alabama. Simply stated, an interdisciplinary degree is one that allows students to blend several areas of educational interest into meaningful curricula to suit individual needs.

The degree earned by EXD Program students is the same University of Alabama baccalaureate degree awarded to the traditional residential programs. We use many of the same faculty who teach traditional courses on the campus, and our academic standards are rigorous and demanding. Our students also have the opportunity to earn academic credit for what they have learned from past experiences and to individualize their curricula using out-of-class learning contracts and other distance-learning methods.

More than 1700 students have graduated from The University of Alabama through the EXD Program. Students come to the program from every state in the nation, for a variety of reasons: to enhance their work performance, prepare for career changes, graduate school, and/or satisfy a personal goal of earning a college degree.

We know that adult students are different from traditionally aged students in many ways. Our program is designed to offer the kind of flexibility and individualized attention that adults need, and is based on the following concepts:

College-level learning can occur outside traditional classrooms.
Time and space need not restrict learning.
Adult learners can be given responsibility for making decisions about their academic programs.

The University of Alabama has institutional accreditation from the Commission of Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral degrees. The University is one of the institutions recommended by the Association of American Universities for the acceptance of its bachelor’s degrees at full value by the graduate schools in this country and abroad.

We welcome your interest in the EXD Program. Remember, it is never too late to get your college degree. We hope you will consider joining our community of scholars and become a graduate of The University of Alabama.