I attended university after graduating from high school majoring in Psychology (1991 – 1996). After completing nearly 100 semester credit hours I burned out and was in a financial crisis.

I withdrew as a full-time student in 1996 with the intent to work full-time for 6 – 12 months and then return as a part-time student and complete my BS Psychology degree. I ended up landing what I considered a very good job; it paid better than what I was accustom to, it offered so many corporate perks and benefits, and above all, I simply loved what I was doing. Within a few months I was promoted, however the promotion came at a cost; I would have to travel extensively and at the time there were few (if any) online degree programs. The promotion essentially shut the door on returning back to school.

Years past and eventually I moved on to other major fortune 500 companies. Currently I work for a major global company as a software analyst. I absolutely love my job; it comes with amazing benefits; I work from home, and I earn a six figure salary.

Despite my good fortune and amazing career “explosion”, I’ve reached a point where, at a minimum, I need to complete my bachelors degree, and most likely my masters degree to be considered a viable candidate for promotion.

After working for 15 years, I’ve learned that I am passionate about and talented when it comes to software engineering and data analysis; therefore I would love to pursue a degree in either of those fields.

(Question 1) My concern is that both of these degrees are very different than Psychology. I fear that less of my credits will transfer compared to if I were to major in Psychology or similar field. Is that a correct assumption, or will choice of major have little impact on the number of transfer credits?

(Question 2) In either case, would you advise me to complete whatever bachelor degree I can most quickly obtain and then focus my energy and money on obtaining a software engineering or data analytics masters degree?

(Question 3) If my bachelors degree is in the social sciences, will it be a challenge to find a reputable school to accept me into a software/analystics masters program?

(Question 4) Lastly, my other fear is that my classes will be overwhelmingly difficult considering I lack university based formal education on the subject matter. Is that a valid concern, or will my 15+ years of software/analystics experience shore me up with others who have obtained a bachelors degree more inline with the masters program?

Thank you in advance for reviewing and answering my questions.