Free PLA Courses From TESC/Saylor

PLA 100 is required by TESC if you want to have a single portfolio evaluated for 3 credits. PLA 100 (1 credit) and PLA 200 (2 credits) are required if you want to earn more than 3 credits. Although PLA 100 and 200 can count as credits toward the intellectual and practical skills requirement in general education, they are $229 per credit hour for non-residents under the Enrolled Options Plan and $476 per credit hour under the Per Credit Tuition Plan. They are covered by the flat rate of the Comprehensive Tuition Plan, but this is over $8,300 and meant for people taking 24 or more credits in TESC courses per year.

QuickCS on the other forum brought to our attention the open course options for PLA 100 and PLA 200. They are non-credit courses, but they are free and fulfill the PLA course requirements. After completing them and notifying TESC, you can start the portfolio assessment process. TESC charges $350 for the first 12 credits and $200 for every 6 credits, or part thereof, thereafter. Each portfolio can only include courses in the same subject area i.e. Microbiology, Anatomy and Physiology, Genetics, and General Biology for a biology portfolio. You couldn't mix management and biology, for example.

Open Course Option for ASBA « Saylor Academy

This makes TESC's portfolio process cheaper than LearningCounts'. Learning Counts requires either an $895, instructor-led course or a $149, self-directed course. Each 3-credit portfolio is $125. That is around $41.67 per credit hour in comparison to TESC's $29.17 per credit hour for the first 12 credits and $33.33 per credit hour for every 6 credit-portfolio thereafter (more if your portfolio is only for 3 credits).

Keep in mind that if one completes 12 credits in residence for an associates or 24 credits in residence toward a bachelors, one can opt for the Per Credit Tuition Plan and not have to pay the $3,062 enrollment fee under the Enrolled Options Plan. Portfolio assessments, TECEPs, ePacks, and online/guided study courses count toward the residency requirement. In theory, one could get away with only forking over $750 to TESC plus the graduation fee to graduate with a business degree. For bachelor degree programs that require a capstone, one would pay $2178 plus the graduation fee. This is cheaper than COSC and Excelsior. The bonus is that the credits earned through the portfolio assessments (or TECEPs which are only $108 for non-residents) can be used to replace CLEPs, DSSTs, Uexcels, and much more expensive courses saving you even more money in comparison to COSC and Excelsior.

PLA-100 and PLA-200