Online HR Degree Bachelor’s in Human Resource Management

Yes. Learning online can be an excellent way for adults to pursue their degree while juggling work, family and personal commitments. By giving students the flexibility to access their coursework anytime and anywhere, online education can help make earning a degree accessible to most.

Just ask Adetokunbo Osinowo '20. Before she discovered SNHU, going back to school seemed impossible.

"Working full time, I didn't think I'd be able to go back to school and give it my 100%," Osinowo said. "I think another reason was the fear of failure and self-doubt. What if I do it and I fail? What if I don't finish? What if I'm not good at it? Those excuses were holding me back from taking that plunge."

Finally, she went for it – and soon realized just how much she was capable of.

"I could finally see that earning my degree was something I could achieve – something that I could give my 100%."

If you haven't taken online classes before, the staff at SNHU can walk you through the platform – and they'll be by your side throughout your program.

"The nervousness and anxiety associated with the unknown quickly dissolved," said student Nicole Thompson '23. "The professors and student advisors take great care in assisting me throughout the process to make sure I succeed during each term."

Earning a human resources degree online over attending traditional in-person classes is sometimes a necessity.

"I could continue to still work full time and then complete my degree at night," said Susan Jones '18. "I liked the online portion because I had small children at the time and I wouldn’t have to be away at night and have to worry about childcare. I could come home, still spend time with them and then complete coursework after they went to bed."

Earning an online human resources degree can open up a variety of career paths in the HR field, including:¹

• Human resources specialist: Represent the front line in a company's recruitment of skilled workers, handling all or part of the process of vetting, hiring and onboarding new recruits, as well as tasks related to benefits, training, employee relations.
• Recruitment specialist: Find, screen and interview applicants for job openings in an organization, by posting listings, attending job fairs and visiting college campuses.
• Training and development specialist: Work with executives, managers and employees to determine the skills workers need, and then design, organize and carry out necessary training programs.
• Compensation, benefits and job analysis specialist: Research and compare benefits policies and plans, classify position descriptions to set fair salaries and ensure your company complies with employment laws and regulations.
• Labor relations specialist: Interpret labor contracts and make sure that companies follow the agreements they’ve made when it comes to pay, pensions and management practices.

It's important to note, too, that an HR degree can help open doors in a number of different industries, for organizations both big and small. This gives you the ability to choose your work environment based on what you love. Let's say tech is your thing. You could be the recruitment guru for a software engineering company. How about sports? You could be the MVP who rounds up a dream team of marketers for a major league soccer club. Wherever you hope to go, a degree in HR can help position you to get there.

"A student’s decision to be in one industry or another has to do with their passions," said Deborah Gogliettino, SNHU’s associate dean for human resources. "I [personally] like mission-driven organizations. I like the multi-layers of complex issues you get in healthcare. But a student who’s adept at HR can work in any industry."

Learn more about what you can do with an HR degree.

Yes, it is. While human resources jobs were once considered administrative in nature, a changing workforce and developments in technology have made the HR roles of today much more complex.

Take, for example, the ways employee benefits have evolved over the years, from learning and development initiatives to stock options and other perks. The recruitment process has become more involved, too. A once-simple job description now lives on multiple digital job boards and social media channels, where user-generated reviews can make or break a company's image among current employees and job seekers alike.

Add to the mix a growing emphasis on work-life balance, and you have an entire workforce that expects more than a paycheck from their employers.

According to SHRM, HR professionals play "a vital role in perpetuating a strong culture, starting with recruiting and selecting applicants who will share the organization's beliefs and thrive in that culture."³

As business leaders are well aware: These cultures take work. Therein lies the need for a strong human resource professional to not only recruit talent but also give them a reason to stay. That means implementing sustainable career development opportunities, ensuring benefits that promote long-term health and wellness and offering initiatives that reward and recognize high-performing employees.

In other words, to really flourish in this field, an HR worker needs to be more than a people person with strong administrative skills – they need to be strategic leaders.

“HR interacts with every department at every level of employment,” said Deborah Gogliettino, SNHU’s associate dean for human resources. “In other careers, you only really interact with people in your department, doing the same thing the same way every day. HR interacts with everyone and every day is a new challenge.”

Becoming a certified human resources professional can give you a leg up when applying for HR jobs and indicates a high level of knowledge and skills.

The SNHU BS in Human Resource Management is aligned with 2 major HR credentialing organizations: HRCI (Human Resource Certification Institute) and SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management).

HRCI Content Partner

The BS in HR Management covers the 5 main content areas covered on the HRCI Associate Professional in Human Resources (aPHR) certification exam. Students self-study for the exam while progressing through HRM coursework. The aPHR is beneficial to business professionals both in and out of HR fields due to its integrated focus on people management.

Enrollment in the SNHU BS HRM program also includes discounted pricing on the aPHR examination as well as access to HRCI test prep materials for one year after graduation.

SHRM Alignment

SNHU's BS in Human Resource Management program is also aligned with the Society for Human Resource Management's Body of Applied Skills & Knowledge (SHRM BASK) competencies. Developed through a series of large-scale research studies, the SHRM BASK incorporates global HR viewpoints to collectively establish a grouping of critical HR competencies and content areas.

The SHRM BASK is also used to define the content areas for SHRM's two main certification exams, the SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) and the SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). Alignment within SNHU's program supports content preparedness for eligible individuals seeking either credential.

The certifications link directly to on-the-job scenarios and demonstrate that you can apply your learning to real-world situations. Both the SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP require at least a bachelor’s degree in human resources or a related field and varying years of professional HR experience in order to qualify for the exams.

Students interested in furthering their education can continue on to SNHU’s online HR management master’s degree program, which is aligned with SHRM competencies on employee and labor relations, legal and ethical issues, recruitment and technology and the changing workforce.

Earning a master’s degree in human resources from SNHU can reduce the number of years you must work in HR before taking certain certification exams.

A bachelor’s degree is typically required for most human resources roles. Earning an online bachelor’s degree in human resources management can serve you well in a variety of HR jobs.

As human resources becomes increasingly more strategic, a bachelor's degree can help you understand the various business systems at play within an organization and give you the skills you need to manage relationships between various departments and work as part of an organization’s leadership team.

SNHU also offers an online undergraduate human resources certificate program. This certificate can be easily stacked into the BS in HR Management, meaning your course credits will transfer directly into the program.

If you'd like to continue your education once you earn a BS in Business with a concentration in Human Resources Management, SNHU offers an MBA in Human Resources and an online master's in HR management.

Learn more about what degree you need to get into HR.

If you want a career helping others and making real change within an organization, then yes.

Human resources management is a growing, versatile field with many opportunities available for skilled workers across a variety of industries. Most human resources jobs require at least a bachelor’s degree, with some leadership positions seeking master’s degree holders.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), jobs for human resources managers are projected to grow 5% by 2032.¹ Professionals in these roles reportedly earned a median annual salary of $136,350 in 2023.¹ Similarly, training and development specialist jobs are projected to grow 6% by 2032, as companies seek to reduce costs by boosting employee retention and developing their existing workforce.¹ Professionals in these roles reportedly earned $64,340 in 2023.¹

With a human resource degree from SNHU, you’ll learn how to communicate effectively to diverse audiences, helping you lead strategic changes, act as a bridge between employees and company leadership and help form a positive team or organizational climate for all workers.

Learn more about what you can do with an HR degree.

We know that cost is a major factor when deciding whether or not to continue your education. That's why SNHU offers some of the most affordable online tuition rates in the country.

Undergraduate tuition rates at SNHU are $342 per credit hour, totaling $41,040 for a full bachelor's program (120 credits). This number, however, can be reduced, depending on your previous college credits, scholarships and grants. You can also reduce upfront costs by applying for financial assistance.

Affordability is one of the main reasons Laura Swedberg '21 was attracted to SNHU.

"Choosing SNHU for my college education was the best decision I could have made," she said. "I am not carrying financial stress from student loan debt."

That said, the actual cost of your degree will vary based on the specific courses you take, the materials they require and your previous college credits.

While our online college degree programs aim to make use of free resources whenever possible – including ebooks, websites and training videos – some courses will require textbooks.

SNHU also offers a generous transfer policy, accepting up to 90 transfer credits toward bachelor’s degree programs that can save you time and money.

At the end of the day, our goal is to make education accessible and affordable to you. That's why, in addition to the features we've already mentioned, we also offer grants and scholarships to eligible students.

Personal preferences, goals, academic progress, transfer credit eligibility, cost and time considerations are all factors to determine how long it takes to earn a bachelor's in human resources.

At SNHU, many earn their bachelor's in about 4 years. But if you're looking to save time, there are a few ways to finish faster.

• Transfer credits. At SNHU, we accept up to 90 credits for bachelor's programs. If you're eligible for the full 90, you could finish the remainder of your coursework in about 1 year.
• Take prior learning assessments. Through prior learning assessments, such as Pathways to Math Success, you may be able to get credit for what you already know.
• Consider becoming a full-time student. If you opt to become a full-time online student (taking 2 classes per term), you can progress much more quickly through the program.