One-on-one support to help you earn your bachelor’s degree online, in as little as 2-3 years, and for an average of $10,000 total. All without leaving your job.
Try six weeks free.
Tuition through Rivet School is $6,500 a year, and most students are eligible for federal financial aid. Financial aid covers more than half of tuition for the average student (and can cover up to 98% of tuition). And you’ll never pay for a textbook, either.
If you’re accepted as a Rivet School student, you’ll begin a six-week, no-cost onboarding experience to ensure the program is the right fit. You’ll learn the ins-and-outs of the Rivet School program, meet other fellows, and start working on real college projects, 100% free.
Through our Pay it Forward program — an only-at-Rivet-School financing tool — you pay no upfront tuition, and pay back only when you earn more than $40,000 per year.
Earn an accredited bachelor’s degree in as little as two years. Go as fast as you can, earning credit as soon as you master the material.
Turn in your work when you’re ready. Use the support of a coach to set your own deadlines and access the resources you need to meet them.
Work online and from anywhere — home, work, or in between. Visit one of our coworking spaces to get work done alongside Rivet School staff and classmates.
Get personalized support from a coach who lives nearby and works with no more than 50 other students. Work with your coach to set goals, monitor your progress, and stay on track. No matter what happens, your coach will be there rooting for you and ready to help.
We realize the “small” stuff isn’t small. If you need a laptop to complete the program, we’ll get you one — free. On top of this, you’ll get a small stipend each term to cover school-related expenses like transportation and technology.
College is complicated enough. Have a question? You’ll always know who to call. Your coach is your single point of contact for all things school — from academics, to financial aid, and beyond.
Master job-relevant skills in business management, communications, information technology, and more.
Get customized support exploring career pathways, searching and applying for jobs, and preparing for interviews.
Access special career training programs like Rivet School’s
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Univisión interviewed one of our founders, Eli Bildner. Hear about a scholarship program we supported enabling Bay Area Dreamers to earn a tuition-free bachelor’s degree.
Have you ever heard of a college program with no tests or required attendance that lets you gain a degree on your own time and in your own way? The Standard dropped by an open house for Rivet School last weekend, held at the Leadership Public Schools on Bissell Avenue, and discovered a group looking to help turn the traditional learning model on its head.
As a single parent who worked full-time as a teacher’s aide, Tamea Bishop was determined to improve her economic prospects by pursuing postsecondary education. Because of her busy work schedule and child care needs, it was hard for Tamea to find classes she could attend. Online learning seemed to be her best bet, but she didn’t own a computer and lacked some basic computer skills. But Tamea was fortunate. Through her employer in Richmond, California she learned of a new college program designed specifically to support working adults.
It sounds too good to be true: Start with a flexible online education—one that allows adult students to speed through the material they already know rather than plod through prerequisites semester by semester. Then, combine that with all the real-world supports that online degrees don’t offer, including a community of fellow students, a coach who meets with you face to face, a quiet study space, and maybe even a free lunch. All with a sticker price that is mostly covered by the federal Pell Grant for low-income students.
We’re also keeping an eye on hybrid colleges, including Da Vinci Extension, Concourse Education, Match Beyond and PelotonU, that provide access to accredited programs while providing intensive wraparound student support, digital learning (often competency based) and funding models that mitigate student debt.
If you have a high school diploma or a GED (or other equivalent) and live in California, you're eligible to apply to Rivet School.
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.
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 smart you are, or 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 are “competency-based.” In plain English, in a competency-based program, you earn credits not based on how long you sit in a seat (or study), but on how well you know the material. As soon as you’ve demonstrated that you understand a concept or skill (for instance, by completing a project or taking an assessment), you can move on. By combining a competency-based degree and all the support that Rivet School offers (from accountability support, to supplemental teaching and tutoring, to many more resources), we can help you dramatically increase your pace to a degree. Around 25% of Rivet School students are on track to earn a BA in two years or less.
Yes. We only partner with regionally accredited, nonprofit universities. (Regional accreditation is the highest form of accreditation, and credits earned through regionally accredited programs are the most likely to transfer.)
Rivet School is not a university. We partner with accredited universities to enable our students to earn bachelor’s degrees. Currently, our two degree partners are Southern New Hampshire University and Brandman University. Southern New Hampshire University (or SNHU) is a private, nonprofit university established in 1932 and located in Manchester, New Hampshire (not far from Boston).
Rivet School students enrolled in SNHU participate in a special online program called College for America, which SNHU launched in 2014 in partnership with the United States Department of Education and the Gates Foundation. Brandman University is a private, nonprofit university established in 1958 as part of the Chapman University system. Brandman is headquartered in Irvine, California, but serves students across 26 campuses in California and Washington, as well as online. Students graduate Rivet School with an accredited bachelor’s degree from Southern New Hampshire University or Brandman University, and with a certificate of completion from Rivet School itself.
