Advice Please

[Brad3529]

Hello everyone-
I need some advise on a couple items and thought this forum would be a good place to ask.

Right now, I am looking to finish off a degree through Thomas Edison / testing out of as much as possible. Doesn't matter the degree but probably business. Right now I have about 36 credits so I still have a ways to go.

My student loans are now in repayment and unfortunately a little past due. I can start repaying them now but would like to use an "in-school deferment" if at all possible. There are no normal deferment/ forbearance left besides the in-school. I also qualify for a substantial pell grant as I have a family / qualify for it.

So.....what is the best way to do this?

I want to test out of all possible courses but need to be enrolled into school to defer my loans - while keeping in mind that I get pell money and to do it as fast as possible through testing out.

Please send me your thoughts and thank you in advance.

[cookderosa]

Hello everyone-
I need some advise on a couple items and thought this forum would be a good place to ask.

Right now, I am looking to finish off a degree through Thomas Edison / testing out of as much as possible. Doesn't matter the degree but probably business. Right now I have about 36 credits so I still have a ways to go.

My student loans are now in repayment and unfortunately a little past due. I can start repaying them now but would like to use an "in-school deferment" if at all possible. There are no normal deferment/ forbearance left besides the in-school. I also qualify for a substantial pell grant as I have a family / qualify for it.

So.....what is the best way to do this?

I want to test out of all possible courses but need to be enrolled into school to defer my loans - while keeping in mind that I get pell money and to do it as fast as possible through testing out.

Please send me your thoughts and thank you in advance.

So, keep in mind your loans are still accumulating interest while you're in school.

I qualified for a Pell, and the thing about using it as that the only way to get the max is to take a full load all year. At TESC that will mean 4 terms. I can't do the math, I don't have their numbers in the front of my mind, but let me give you a few thoughts.

You can test out and accumulate credit without enrolling anywhere. Further, when you enroll, your CLEP tests are an out of pocket cost- your Pell won't pay for them anyway. So, this brings us back to the purpose of your Pell being to push pause on your student loans- in this case, my suggestion is that you do NOT enroll at TESC ($400ish/credit) which will require more credits than you can pay for using your benefit. TESC distributes your Pell in 1/4 payments, which won't cover your classes. You'll have to come up with the extra cost.

A full Pell is about $5700, so divide that by 30 = $190. You need to find a program that charges less than $190/credit. The answer is your community college. So, this will get tricky- see if you follow me:

Enroll at your community college full time for 1 year. Choose their generic AA or AS degree, it doesn't really matter, whether or not you graduate with an AA is a side issue. You'll pause your loans, and max your Pell for 1 year. A community college Pell is divided in 2 distributions (about $2850 twice) and you'll take 12 credits both times at about $100/credit. These classes will be used to fill your degree requirements at TESC that you'll keep track of on a spreadsheet. Your overage will be around $1600 per semester. Being very very disciplined, you'll use that money to 1) buy books at the cheapest price possible. 2) paying for 2-4 CLEP exams per semester 3) deposit the balance on your student loan bill. You'll be on pause, but any money you send will help- and you can probably send at least $500 per semester.

Since you'll plan carefully, you can be sure the classes you take align with your TESC degree plan. I don't know where your 36 came from, but TESC caps community college transfer at 90 credits. It's hard to make 90 credits fit, but it's possible! Keep in mind CLEP isn't part of that 90. My point is that you can use TESC and use your Pell, but just don't use your Pell at TESC

Edit to add: if your 36 credits came from a 4 year school, you potentially have upper level credit and those will not be part of your 90, so you could potentially do that plan for either a third semester or maybe even a 4th depending. At that point, CLEP won't be upper level, so you'll use other brands of exams, but you can still use Pell refunds to pay for them.

This plan is not fast, but you'll earn your degree for $0

[rebel100]

What state are you in? I like Cook's plan, but some states have high tuition even at the CC level. If yours is high I would recommend a cheap alternative in New Mexico like New MexicobJunior College or Luna CC, your dollar goes farther there and more PELL funds could be left at the end.

IMHO, Charter Oak does the best of the Big 3 when it comes to use of Aid money, so keep that in mind down the road.... But the CC idea is spot on for now.

[rebel100]

Even if you only took 6 credits/semester you could get half the PELL, pause tge payment on the loans,only pay $200/semester and put the balance to CLEP and repayment of the loans...that's like $1000/semester to work with.
https://www.luna.edu/tuition_matrix/

[dfrecore]

Wow Jennifer, that's a lot of great advice. I wish I qualified for a Pell Grant just so I could use this info! Definitely follow this advice and use your money wisely.

I agree with rebel100 that you need to make your dollars go as far as possible, so going to the lowest priced CC is the best option. In CA, in-state tuition is only $46/unit (but out-of-state is $205/unit). NMJC is $744/12 credits, which is $62/unit - and if you take more classes, you don't pay more - BONUS!!

If you put your info on here about which courses you've already taken (course # and full name of the course), and where you took them (community college or 4-year), we can help you more.

[cookderosa]

Rebel and dfrecore are correct- I shouldn't have said "your community college" because clearly if you find cheaper tuition elsewhere, you'll be ahead.* Like Rebel, I also think the New Mexico CCs are the best price for out of state, CA has the best if you're in their state. Also, I second dfrecore's suggestion to open up your existing credit here for more targeted guidance.

*I'm inclined to like to say if your current 36 are on a CC transcript now, and that CC is in your town, there are some soft-advantages of staying there, as opposed to the hard-advantages of cost savings. We can talk more once we get more info.

[Brad3529]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I re-enrolled at Clovis to take 6 credits but have not picked classes yet. Maybe tonight depending on any advice I get today. Per your recommendations, here is a list of credits already obtained. Unfortunately, I only have 26. Wishful thinking when I said 30 something.
Any advice you could give on what classes to sign up for would be greatly appreciated. I will try to come up with a plan / roadmap in the next few days but need to pick those two classes asap as they are starting to fill up fast. Again- thank you in advance.

Ok- here is the list of credits:
MATH 098 Basic Algebra II TC- 3
PSY 101 Introductory Psychology- 3
SOC 101 Introductory Sociology - 3
ECO 151 Survey of Economics- 3
BIOL 211 UG Human Anat / Phys I / Lab- 4
BIOL 212 UG Human Anat / Phys II / Lab- 4
ENG 102 UG English Composition- 3
ENG 104 UG Eng Composition / Research - 3
PSY 106 UG Human Growth / Development- 3

[rebel100]

I would follow this:
http://www.clovis.edu/degree-plans/Assoc...tudies.pdf

and this:
Thomas Edison State College | General Education - 2016 or After

You want to take the courses that will move you closer to the desired degree.

Here is a list of how TESC looks at DSST/CLEP, know that Clovis should take CLEP at least, and there is nothing wrong with completing that AA degree at Clovis and transferring it to TESC or elsewhere:
CLEP - College-Level Exam Program
DANTES

Good luck,

[dfrecore]

There are so many courses you could take, so it's hard to advise you on it. I would think about the next level up of Algebra, you need to at least get to College Algebra to get a business degree at TESC. An Ethics course is required, American Government, Speech, Macroecon & Microecon, Statistics, Intro to Computers, Intro to Management, Intro to Marketing. Not to mention more GenEd courses. At least 1 science course (if you do a lab) or 2 science courses if you don't (need at least 4 credits of science).

If I were you, I would go to TESC and look at the requirements of the degree and then just start taking some courses.