An bachelors degree is traditionally a 4-year degree offered by every accredited university in the nation. It is the standard by which other degrees are judged. While an associates degree is fine for many jobs, a bachelors degree opens up dramatically more career opportunities.

Studies show that on average, people with bachelors degrees make more money than those with associates degrees or standalone professional certificates though of course a certificate can be combined with an actual degree as well.

Bachelors degrees take longer to complete than other degrees. You can reduce this time by placing out of a number of classes using CLEP or DANTES credits. CLEP tests are standardized tests that allow you to receive college credit for the knowledge you already have. Depending on your scores and the number of tests you take, it's possible to complete a full bachelors degree in under 3 months. This, of course, is the extreme, and most people will just want to use CLEP to save money on courses and add a little boost to the degree process.