I registered on this site before when I was wanting to earn my degree, but I had some family issues and wasn't able to begin any deep thought into the process. Now I'm ready. Basically, I'm wanting a RA AA degree in anything. General studies/humanities/liberal arts would be best. I'm not sure what I want to do, but I know I want a degree. And at this time, I want to just focus on a 2 year degree. I'm not really looking to CLEP any classes. I'd rather register for classes and then take them/do the work. Money is a factor, so I'd like to keep it as cheap as possible. I've done some research into some California community colleges...and they seem like a pretty good deal. (Even though I don't live in California.) I work strange hours (even though I work at home) so going to in person classes would never work for me. Any help will be appreciated! Thanks.
Are there any local community colleges where you live? Often they're supported by local or state tax levies and offer substantial discount to residents of the same county or state. For instance, my alma mater Sinclair Community College offers tuition to in-county residents for $45/credit hour. That's about rock-bottom. If you could reconsider the CLEP/DANTES/Challenge exam option, you could save lots of money and possibly time, too. I took two CLEP exams: American Government and Information Systems & Computer Applications. I did not study for the computer test whatsoever; I work as a database analyst and spend most my waking hours on a computer so I figured I could wing it; got an A. The American Government test covered material which I had in secondary school twenty years ago so I was nowhere near ready for a CLEP. So, I treated it like a class: I bought a used textbook (with the side benefit of discovering historian James Q. Wilson) and studied it. I had scheduled the CLEP so I had a definite date at which to complete the book, so with largely the same process as taking a distance class I would read a portion of the text on my scheduled study nights, finished a few days before the CLEP, then reviewed until the day of the exam. I received a B - there were several questions on Supreme Court decisions ('Plessy vs. Ferguson of 1896') which I had read but did not memorize which I evidently missed. Similarly I took two challenge exams (essentially the final exams of two classes offered at Sinclair) using the same process: buy a textbook, schedule the exam, develop a syllabus and plan, study, review and take the exam. That yielded two B's for the cost of the study materials. All of that is to day: If you regard CLEP/DANTES/Challenge exams the same as a distance class, if you put the same level of planning, scheduling and study effort into them, you will learn the material and pass the exam. It's an option that can greatly increase the flexibility of your overall degree program, save you money, and (in my case, at least) leave you with a feeling of accomplishment and pride in 'rolling your own class.'
You should choose FootHill College, they have varity of AA degrees. Besides, they have agreement with University of Illinois -Springfield, Franklin University, and CalState Eastbay for 2+2 degree. URL: http://www.foothillglobalaccess.org/main/programs.htm
