Hi folks Does anyone know any school (with any type of accreditation that's recognized by the U.S. Dept. of Education) with the cheapest DL bachelors degree completion program? The degree program could be in any field. Please share you thoughts. Regards Sam
>> This isn't exactly what you asked, but if you don't have to attend all 4 years at the same college- you'll be able to work on the first 2 years VERY inexpensively and then transfer to where you "want" your degree. My hubby and I are both back in college, and I have 4 kids who will be off to college over the next 10 years- so you can do it on a budget if you do your homework. Consider using CLEP exams for your 100 level courses, you can reduce your cost to even very expensive schools. Not all colleges take all CLEPs, use the policy of your "ending institution." Most CLEP exams yield 3 or 6 credits (except foreign language which can yield 14+) at a cost of $65 plus a small testing fee. To put it in black and white- I took 10 exams, 3 were for 6 credits each- and 7 were for 3 credits each. I earned 39 credits for $750 which is just under $20 per credit. (my college charges $159 per credit for the course) I saved a large amount of time as well. Some colleges allow you to use CLEP exams for 200 level courses, and a few don't cap the number you can bring in. (check the policy of your ending institution) There are at least 3 that don't cap exam credits (Thomas Edison, Excelsior, Charter Oak) but unless you use that option- you'll end up spending too much money. Finally, if testing isn't an option, 100/200 levels can be earned at a community college (by distance!). California has community colleges tuition rates of $20 per credit + books. I like a web site that has 2 free pdf books you can print off. Very helpful. http://www.lowestcostcolleges.com/
We're in the same boat. My kids are 10, 8, 6, and 2. Fortunately many high schools in Virginia offer dual enrollment with local community colleges, making it possible to graduate from high school with both a high school diploma and an Associate's degree. CLEP is a really good suggestion. Note that many schools have a limit of thirty credits from CLEP, but there are six-credit exams in English Composition, Social Sciences and History, Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Analyzing Literature. Together those five exams are thirty credits. Not bad for four hundred bucks! By the way, the language ones aren't fourteen credits. You take the exam, then depending on how well you do you either get six credits or twelve. There's a different ACE-evaluated foreign language exam scheme where you can get fourteen credits, I think it may be the FLATS exams, but I don't remember offhand. I took seven of them for a total of 27 credits. It easily shortened the time to my degree by more than a year. Note, though, that some colleges, including the Big Three you mentioned, won't accept credit for both the general CLEP exam and related subject exams. For example, if you take the single six-credit exam in Social Sciences and History, you may not be able to use both that exam and the ones for U.S. History I and II, Western Civilization I and II, Psychology, and Sociology. Since the latter are a total of eighteen credits, you can see how having taken the general exam might not make sense if you're attending a school that will accept a lot of credit from CLEP exams. True, but I believe only for in state students, whereas New Mexico's community colleges are inexpensive even for out of state students. San Juan College is especially worth a look, as they offer a pretty good selection and their tuition rate is thirty dollars per credit in state and forty dollars per credit hour out of state. -=Steve=-
<<By the way, the language ones aren't fourteen credits. You take the exam, then depending on how well you do you either get six credits or twelve. There's a different ACE-evaluated foreign language exam scheme where you can get fourteen credits, I think it may be the FLATS exams, but I don't remember offhand.>> It depends on the school. Scott Community college (where I work) awards 14 credits for passing a "2" language. ie. Spanish II, French II, etc. I don't speak another language- so I have not investigated beyond my back yard. I also found a local college here (Black Hawk College- RA and associated with Western Illinois University) that will award CLEP credit for scores less than 50. The rub though, is that they only give credit as part of the Associates Art degree....which means when you try and get your BA (they don't offer bachelor degrees), you'll be in trouble. My college doesn't award credits for all exam though! Also, you get 4 for biology (not 6 if I remember correctly). So again- find out the policy of your ENDING college before making a firm plan. <<Note, though, that some colleges, including the Big Three you mentioned, won't accept credit for both the general CLEP exam and related subject exams. For example, if you take the single six-credit exam in Social Sciences and History, you may not be able to use both that exam and the ones for U.S. History I and II, Western Civilization I and II, Psychology, and Sociology. Since the latter are a total of eighteen credits, you can see how having taken the general exam might not make sense if you're attending a school that will accept a lot of credit from CLEP exams.>> I don't know about EC or CO, but I don't think that applies to TESC. Speaking for myself, I have taken subject and gen exams- and been given credit for all of it. In social science, I had taken CLEPs in Psych, Edu Psych, Sociology, US History I and II (15 credits). At the suggestion of my adviser, I just passed Social Sciences and History yesterday (6 credits)- my adviser has already confirmed the credits do not duplicate, and included them in my degree plan.
Thanks for all the contributions. Well, i found out that Ashworth University(DETC) is going for $80/credit hour for their bachelors degree. Could there be schools with lower reates thean these? Just curious! Sam
