Best Degree Completion (Undergrad) Program for my Wife?

My wife has 96 credit hours from a four-year, regionally-accredited college. She is interested in a degree completion program to give her the credentials necessary to homeschool in our state.

That being said, an important factor is that she does not want to test out of the degree, so the Big 3 are out.

We have already looked at Fort Hays State, and it remains an option.

It needs to meet the following criteria:

1) Generous with transfer credit. We know that she will likely lose at least a few credits, but keeping the credit loss to a minimum is important.

2) Regionally or nationally accredited

3) Reasonable tuition. She does not intend to use this for a career, so it needs to be reasonably-priced.

4) Available completely online.

5) Subject matter doesn't matter. A Bachelor of General Studies or Liberal Arts is fine.


Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

Charter Oak is too expensive compared to Fort Hays. COSC is $275 per credit hour for out-of-state tuition. FHSU is $170.

 

Try Indiana University Online (Indiana University Online and Distance Education Degrees and Certificates) most degree programs are under 200 per credit and they have a BA in general studies that allow you to bring in classes from many other program fields, University of Wyoming ( Online Courses, Online Degrees, Certificates and Endorsements | Distance Education |Outreach Credit Programs | University of Wyoming) and they have a BA in Social Science degree which works the same way as the General Studies degree and tuition is at 135 a credit, and you can also look at the SUNY programs (State University of New York/http://sln.suny.edu/dg/dg_bachelors.shtml) Most programs are under 205 a credit. All the universities listed above accept 90 credits into their program. From my point of view I think these universities are better known compared to Fort Hayes but that is just my opinion. Finally one word of knowledge which you might already know, If you don't go with the Big Three, many universities will restrict you to credits that you can transfer into the program you choose. Many Universites limit the transfer credits to 90 and not all 90 will transfer into the program you choose. The Big Three opens the door to many areas that other universities restrict. Keep looking if these universities don't work for you. Don't get limited to just Fort Hayes (I am not saying Fort Hayes is less than par, It has a great Reputation).

 

If you want cheap then you want a DETC school....you may on get to use 90 hours. Aspen is a great school and they offer a BGS.

www.aspen.edu

 

If among those 96 credits your wife has accumulated 45 upper-division credits, then her quickest and cheapest path to a degree by far is Athabasca's 3-year BGS degree. Athabasca is a Canadian school, but it holds US regional accreditation, and as far as I know, is the only RA school that offers a three-year bachelors degree. It's sometimes referred to here as the fourth member of the Big 3, but because they require so much upper division credit (45 hours compared to 30 for a four-year bachelors from the other schools in the Big 3), you rarely see people complete the BGS. Basically, she would need to submit her transcripts, pay a CAD $180 fee, and wait for the diploma to show up in the mail. 45 upper-division credits is a tall order for someone who has only 96 credits and wasn't aiming for the BGS degree, but if she has them, I'd definitely look at Athabasca. Best of luck to you and your wife!

 

UMass Boston degree completion allows 90 credits to transfer and is of course RA with very good name recognition if that is important. Depending on how many credits transfer she may be done in year depending on spring, summer and fall course load.