Just browsing through the LSU website and their courses . it seems very cheap $229 per 3 credit hour course. Did I misread something or is this correct. What did they mean when they mentioned "there is a 9 month enrolment time but courses can generally be done a lot quicker than this". Can I start these courses right away and get credit quickly or do I need to wait the nine months. I emailed the college looking for an answer to this but have not yet received a reply. Thanks
You did not misread it. The total fee is $229, and you can pay for an extension after 9 months if you wish to remain enrolled but have not finished the course. The courses are mostly paper-based indendent study, and you are generally on your own throughout, but they do have an online area where you can check your grades and submit papers. Also, you can start the courses anytime you choose. Just fill out the enrollment form (you do NOT need to apply for admission), pay your fees and the course will arrive in the mail. You will have 9 months from that time to complete the course or ask for an extension. You will have all the information you need to complete the course up front. When you finish your lessons and tests, you are done. You do not have to wait the full 9 months to complete the course.
rince- I just signed up with LSU before I left for Iraq. I was able to get all of my materials and books before I left the mainland. For my situation (and probably yours, being in Sweden) it's great, because there is no requirement to get online for discussion groups, postings, or quizes. Everything can be done by mail. The way it worked for me, I faxed my registration and payment information to the school and within a week, I had my course materials. Then I went to Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc., searching for the books. The online book stores on the mainland are pretty quick, less than a week. One thing I will caution you on, it was VERY hard to find all of the books I needed. It may have been just my classes (Colonial America and the American Revolution), but I was most succesful buying my books direct from the LSU bookstore. Even then, they didn't have two of the books I needed and I had to go elsewhere to find them. If I could make a recommendation, you may want to look at Indiana University (www.iu.edu). They are a little more expensive, but they can send the books with your course materials for less than $100 extra. This saves you the hunt for the books and the extra waiting time (At LSU, they tell you not to order your books until after you have your courseware, increasing the amount of time before you can start). I haven't personally taken any courses at IU, so take my advice for what it's worth. I have convinced one of my Marines here to start school (hopefully another convert!) and he is starting at IU, so we'll see how it goes. S/F, Ryan IV
Yes, the LSU classes are $229. Most are paper based but they are beginning to offer more online options. Don't expect papers to be graded and returned in a hurry, but they are a great source to pick up really inexpensive RA credit toward a degree. Also, they provide a text book list when you enroll in each course. For the classes my wife and I have taken we've been able to find the texts for pennies on the dollar at half.com or other online used outlets. I think I literally paid $3 for my sociology text in great condition! I believe my wife paid something like $11 for her criminology text. Pug
<<If I could make a recommendation, you may want to look at Indiana University (www.iu.edu). They are a little more expensive, but they can send the books with your course materials for less than $100 extra. This saves you the hunt for the books and the extra waiting time (At LSU, they tell you not to order your books until after you have your courseware, increasing the amount of time before you can start). I haven't personally taken any courses at IU, so take my advice for what it's worth. I have convinced one of my Marines here to start school (hopefully another convert!) and he is starting at IU, so we'll see how it goes.>> I just went to the IU website and read through the FAQ. According to the FAQ text books are not included with tuition. You have the option of purchasing the books through IU and paying $8 for shipping. Tuition is about $150 more than LSU per class, plus some additional mandatory fees. Pug
Just discovered the same and so will stick to LSU I need to try gather 30 points from courses etc and will try to get as many of them at LSU as possible - most of the courses I want to do are available online so I will follow that option. Forgive my ignorance here but how do i then transfer these credits to Excelsior. I am not familiar with the American system (although quickly learning the benefits of sucha system)- do I just submit the grades(results of each course as I get them. Also I would like to do a few courses at the same time at LSU (maybe up to 5) is this possible. Thanks for the great answers folks.
Any courses you take at LSU will be recorded on your transcript. At the time you enroll at Excelsior (or any other school) you'll have to request that LSU send an official transcript to the new school. The new school will evaluate the transcript and apply the credit into its program. If you are already enrolled at Excelsior please check with your academic advisor. Some schools require that you submit transfer credits within a certain time period before graduation. I believe that LSU has no limitations on the number orf courses you can take at once. One word of caution...if you are working a fulltime job I don't think I'd try more than 3 at a time. Depending on the courses you select they can be time consuming. And don't forget about CLEP exams. If you are considering Excelsior you may be able to pick up really fast, really cheap credit by passing a few CLEP tests. Pug
Problem with CLEPS is that in Europe there are not that many available that I can get to. A school in London has them on May 18th and I cannot find anywhere else at the moment. Excelsior said that I can do their tests in Europe but I cannot find their test locations anywhere. They said they would send some info that included test locations - I got the stuff today but no locatiosn werre mentioned. TECEp said that I could probably do their tests in an international high school located near enough to where I live. LSU said I could do tests in that same place. Seemingly I can enquire to AP about setting up a similar thing for them but CLEPS and ECE are the valuable ones for me. I have just registered to do the GRE in Psychlogy in April.
There have been some extensive threads on that matter. There may be at least one testing site other than the one in London but I don't recall.
LSU is very easy when it comes to finding an acceptable proctor. While they prefer a testing center they will allow a local librarian to act as your proctor as well. All you have to do is ask. Pug
Can't say enough about LSU. If you choose to use the "course route" to some courses, LSU is cheap, the study materials are great, and they are responsive. I wish they offered more than the BGS degree. If they did I would transfer my credits there.
Technically, they don't even offer the BGS. You have to transfer to UNO to get that. But LSU does offer a TON of courses that can transfer anywhere into virtually any degree major or concentration: psychology, sociology, english, business, etc. Pug
There is a testing center in Geneva (www.webster.ch). I believe Webster also has a testing center in Austria, although I'm not 100% sure. AFAIK you take the Excelsior Tests through Thomson Prometric (http://www.prometric.com/Default.htm) . Once I tried to sign up for the Excelsior tests online but I couldn't pick any testing centers in Europe. Maybe if you call them you could arrange something .... Brandon
CLEP/DANTES Testing in Europe: MST college in London seems to be abandoning this, but you might still contact them if you intend to take any CLEP exams within the next few months just in case. Geneva recently replied to me, they do both but think they said they charge $175 per exam. They are the only place left in Europe that i know of for this. Re Excelsior College examinations Excelsior recently said they would could arrange for me to take an exam in Spain at the extra cost of $100 but only IF one is currently enrolled in Excelsior. The above, as far as I know, are the only options for you in Europe for these tests.
LSU sure has a large selection of interesting courses, and the $229 is very affordable. Wonder if there are extra costs for postage to European countries? Anyways, the only drawback is that many of the courses require 2 exams with several essays! Found this re postage: Postage Fees You are responsible for paying postage on all lessons you mail to the Office of Independent Study. Corrected lessons are returned by first-class mail at our cost; however, there is an air mail service charge of $50 per course if you live in a foreign country. If you live in Canada or Mexico, you do not need to pay additional postage.
Yes, but many of the classes can be online so there would be no postage except for the exam itself. Even if you had to pay for some postage, how much could it be? Remember, the class is only $229. Pug
I have taken several classes with LSU and had very positive experiences. All of my work was submitted online and I used my local librarian as my proctor. The drawback with LSU is that you can only do three assignments a week. Also, it sometimes took a week to get my assignments returned. I prefer BYU classes because most of the assignments are done using Speedback, multiple choice quizzes that are graded instantly. Also, you can resubmit an assignment ( for a $10 fee). Also, you can finish a class as quickly as you want. I did a graduate counseling course in three weeks.
My wife just enrolled in the LSU Western Civ class - (side note: it only took me three years of telling her that she could do it via DL, etc to finally get her to sign up for her first class. So if you are trying to encourage someone, don't give up. It may take awhile, but you can still have a positive influence. end of side note) Since we are in Estonia, we had to pay the extra shipping stuff, even though it is an online based course. Total: $279. Still not too shabby. clint
