“Our program is designed to allow students who already have earned college credits to complete their dream of earning a prestigious Auburn University degree.”                                                  — Jennifer Mueller-Phillips, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Harbert College

The Harbert College is committed to providing a superior student experience that produces highly
sought-after graduates and cultivates lifelong engagement.

Sarah Asberry wanted to go back to college. She’d tried the traditional classroom route, but needed something different to complete her degree.

She found the answer watching the 2017 Iron Bowl.

“I was watching the game in the living room with my family and reviewing colleges that offered online classes,” she said. “I decided to look up Auburn University while they were playing and noticed they offered on online business degree program and I literally told my mom, ‘If Auburn wins the Iron Bowl, I’m going to apply.”

Guess what? 1) Auburn beat Alabama, 2) Asberry applied, and 3) she became a charter graduate of Harbert College’s Bachelor of Science in Business Administration’s undergraduate online completer program last December.

Now, the Monroeville, Alabama, native’s education can take her anywhere.

“One of the best things about this program is its diversification with all of the different courses that I took,” said Asberry, now a Business Product Specialist at Redstone Arsenal Federal Credit Union in Huntsville, Alabama, with sights set on moving up in the profession. “I have experience with accounting, finance, management, business analytics, marketing and information systems management. It’s such a broad degree and I’ve been able to put in hundreds of applications for great jobs because of my education.”

Harbert College’s BSBA Completer Program offers students the opportunity to finish their college education – 100 percent online – with 22 courses that cover 60 credit hours.

“Our program is designed to allow students who already have earned college credits to complete their dream of earning a prestigious Auburn University degree,” said Jennifer Mueller-Phillips, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Harbert College. “The program is delivered 100 percent online by Harbert College’s world-class faculty so that it fits within students’ busy lifestyles.”

The degree is especially designed for students who have already earned credits toward their undergraduate degrees, and can help maximize professional opportunities by developing proficiencies in a variety of business disciplines.

“This degree opened more doors for me because of the educational opportunities in multiple areas,” she said. “If I had an accounting degree, or finance degree, or marketing degree, I would have had all my experienced focused on just one of those. This degree, with its diversification, is going to benefit me in a multitude of ways.”

Asberry began the program in the Spring Semester of 2018 and finished last fall – while working full-time as a personal banker in Monroeville.

“When looking at programs, I was looking for something that would allow me to work and have the freedom of time,” she said. “I was able to focus my time on work, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., go home and do school work until midnight most nights, then get up the next morning and do it again.”

How? Recorded lectures that allow students to work at their own pace.

“Recorded lectures are a luxury,” she added. “When you’re in an actual lecture, you listen and take notes, and if you didn’t get it then you didn’t get it. But with this program, if I didn’t understand something, I could hit the pause button, rewind and listen to what the professor said all over again.

“Freedom of time is such a great benefit of this program. You’re not required to be at a class at a certain time. You can take your test at 11 o’clock at night or 2 o’clock in the morning.”

Four students make up the first graduation class of Harbert College’s BSBA Completer Program, but Asberry felt like anything but a number.

“Auburn really is a family,” she added. “That’s what I appreciated throughout the program. I never felt like just another name in the computer system, or just another student ID. I felt like the professors cared about me and they wanted to see me succeed.”

She’s on her way.

For more information about Harbert College's Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Completer Program, contact Ashley Bond at 334-844-3833 or auburnonline@auburn.edu

Read about BSBA Completer Program alum Eric Armes' Auburn experience here.