Working adults will have an opportunity at Cal Poly next fall to start earning a bachelor's degree on weeknights and some weekends.

The Adult Degree Program is designed for up to 35 returning students at a time who have at least a couple of years of college credit.

It will be offered through the university's Continuing Education program. This route enables the university to better craft a degree program to the needs of older students who may already be working and have a family, said Margo Camilleri, spokeswoman for Continuing Education.

"It's not your typical undergraduate degree model," she said.

The degree would be in interdisciplinary studies, a type of liberal studies that begins with seminars on critical issues and analytical skills and includes course work from several departments on campus.

"The reason we chose (interdisciplinary studies) is that we feel a lot of people looking to go back to college are going back for a general studies degree," Camilleri said.

Courses would be taught by current professors and lecturers.

"This is a Cal Poly degree," Camilleri said. "You'll be walking down the aisle just like everyone else."

Course work in the three-year program includes classes in business, applied technology, English, philosophy, science, fine arts and several other disciplines. The degree could attract prospective elementary school teachers, Camilleri said, or anyone looking to advance in their current job or field.

Students in the program would be among peers who are older than the typical undergraduate collegian. They would be in a single cohort, Camilleri said, meaning they would take the same courses at the same time.

To be eligible, applicants must have done the following:

• Graduated from high school by 1999 or earlier;

• Earned at least 90 quarter units (or 60 semester units); and

• Met CSU eligibility and certification for either CSU General Education or the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum, or IGETC, which is an alternative path to fulfilling lower-division requirements at any CSU or California community college.