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Rivet School is not a college or university. We partner with accredited universities to help students earn their bachelor's degrees while providing personalized coaching, accountability, and support throughout their educational journey.
Currently, Rivet School students earn their degree through our main partner Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), a nonprofit, accredited university.
Yes. Rivet School only partners with accredited, nonprofit universities.
Upon graduation, students earn a regionally-accredited associate’s and bachelor's degree from our university partner, Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU).
Regional accreditation is the highest form of accreditation possible in higher education and helps ensure your degree is recognized by employers, graduate schools, and other institutions.
Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) provides the accredited degree program, faculty evaluation of student work, financial aid processing, and transcript processing.
Rivet School provides the personalized support that helps students succeed, including:
Together, Rivet School and our university partners create a flexible, supportive path to earning a degree.
In partnership with SNHU, Rivet School offers the following degree programs:
Associate Degrees (AA)
Bachelor's Degrees (BA)
As a Rivet School student, you can choose to participate in one of our career-focused pathways to build industry-specific skills and connections. These include the Educator Pathway, designed for aspiring teachers, and the Healthcare Pathway, which helps students advance into non-clinical healthcare careers.
Most Rivet School students spend approximately 7–15 hours per week on coursework.
Because the program is designed for working adults and busy schedules, students can complete coursework when it works best for them.
In most college programs, you earn credits by taking courses that run for a certain number of weeks (typically 14-16 weeks). It doesn’t matter how well you know the material or how much you study — to earn your credits, you have to sit through 15 weeks of class.
Rivet School is different. Rivet School partners with university programs that offer “competency-based” degrees. Through a competency-based program, you earn credits not based on how long you sit in a seat, but on how well you know the material. As soon as you’ve demonstrated that you understand a concept or skill, you can move on.
By combining a competency-based degree and all the support that Rivet School offers, we can help you dramatically increase your pace to a degree.
We believe that college programs should be 100% focused on doing what’s best for students. We also recognize the troubling legacy of for-profit higher education in this country.
For these reasons (and others), Rivet School is a non-profit educational program with one mission: To help you earn a job-relevant degree as efficiently as possible.
If you’re located in the United States, have a high school diploma, GED, or equivalent credential, and are at least 18 years old, you’re eligible to apply to Rivet School.
Applying to Rivet School is simple. Here's what you can expect:
Take some time to explore our website and learn about the program. If you think Rivet School could be a good fit, request an application using this interest form.
After you submit the interest form, you'll be taken directly to the application. The application includes questions about your background, goals, and readiness for the program, and takes about 1 hour to complete. If you need to finish it later, be sure to save your progress by creating a username and password. You can return to your application at any time using the link sent to your email and your login information.
If you're accepted, you'll be invited to participate in our 6-week onboarding period, where you'll begin working on competency-based projects and experience what it's like to be a Rivet School learner. If you decide the program isn't the right fit or you're unable to meet program expectations during onboarding, you can leave the program with no financial obligation.
Yes. Rivet School welcomes new students throughout the year, with application deadlines approximately every six weeks. Each deadline corresponds with a new onboarding cohort, so accepted students can begin the program shortly after applying.
Our next application deadline is August 24, 2026. Students who apply by this date can begin onboarding as early as September 21, 2026.
The sooner you apply, the sooner you can make progress toward your degree.
Rivet School's tuition is $2,392 per 16-week trimester (approximately $7,175 per year). This includes both your university tuition through Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) and Rivet School's personalized coaching and support services. There are no additional costs for textbooks or course materials.
Many students qualify for financial aid and grants, which can significantly reduce their out-of-pocket costs.
Learn more about Tuition & Financial Aid.
Many Rivet School students qualify for financial aid, including federal grants and other funding opportunities that can significantly reduce their out-of-pocket costs.
During the admissions process, you'll work with a dedicated Financial Aid Specialist who will help you maximize available aid, understand your options, and create a personalized plan for paying for school. You'll also learn about resources available exclusively to Rivet School students.
No, we welcome all applicants (as long as you have a high school diploma, GED, or other equivalent). Students can apply whether they have never attended college, completed some college coursework, or already earned their associate’s degree.
If you’ve earned 60 or more credits from an accredited institution — or if you’ve earned an accredited AA or AS — you will likely be eligible to begin your studies directly with College for America’s BA program (skipping the AA and significantly reducing your time to degree).
If you have under 60 transferable credits, you have the option to have a course by course evaluation, and may be eligible to transfer credits to the “associate’s degree track”.
Each institution has its own rules about credit transferability, and so we can't 100% guarantee that credits you earn in the program will transfer fully to a future institution of your choice.
That said, previous students enrolled in Southern New Hampshire University have successfully transferred credits to schools in the University of California and California State University systems.
