Any advice? Maybe I'm just rambling

[xjarhead1999]

Hey everyone, I've been lurking around a bit and reading everything I can. Was wondering if someone could tell me if my thinking is sound or am I way off base. I've almost to the point where I have researched so much I've confused myself.
My situation. I recently enrolled at Ashford University for a bachelor's degree in business administration. The reason I chose there is simply because of a grant/agreement with my employer. As long as I am going for something related to work the whole program won't cost me a dime. All fees beyond my employer $5550 tuition reimbursement is waived.
I don't want to take the whole 4 years to get the degree, so I have been trying to plan out an approach that won't cost me an arm and leg.
I have contacted my student adviser for clarification on some policies and it has been explained to me. The degree requires 120 credits total. I can transfer up to 90 credits. Of those 90 credits I can transfer, 75 can be non traditional credits.
About 10 years ago I attended Axia for a few months. According to my transcript from there, I earned 12 credits. They also gave me 10 credits from military experience. I am still waiting for Ashford to decide if my credits transfer over and as what. I am working under the assumption that if nothing else, they would be considered electives.
So far I'm looking at 90 transfer credits minus the 12 means I'm at 78 maximum credits I can still transfer. I can only do 75 non traditional so I am losing out on 3 right there.
I'm not sure how many credits I'll get for my military but would knock down the 75.
I have looked at ashford's list of credits that are guaranteed to cover credits I need from Saylor, SL, and Sophia. It looks as if I could get around 30-40 credits that way. So I am going to have to figure out how to get another 35-45 credits (minus whatever they give me for military)
My plan is to do all free courses I can find that count as credit. I'm under the impression that even if they aren't part of my class path they should at least be electives.
To back up a little. I currently have 12 transfer credits (plus unknown military) and 3 credits from Ashford. In 1 year I should have a total of 30 credits from Ashford and whatever credits I can come up with through other means.
Here's where I need advice. How should I ask for my schedule to be set up? Just start from the top of the list that I don't know of guaranteed credit through other means?
What should I do for now? Take any and all classes I can find for cheap online even if not listed as guaranteed credit with Ashford?
Any advice really.
Thank

[rlw74]

Does your employer pay for alternative credit? Most won't. If they do, that's awesome. No reason not to accelerate the process. If they don't, are you ready to commit to paying for credits you could get if you just waited?

You'll be limited on elective credits so, while you can take electives, I wouldn't load up on courses if you don't know where they fall in your course evaluation. Some degrees don't allow for a whole lot of electives. How long before Ashford evaluates your credits? While I was at TESU, and before I knew where my credits would fall, I chose only courses I knew for sure I didn't have. So if you know you need Math or English, go ahead and take those now. Same with any other Gen Ed courses. Once you get your full evaluation you'll know better what you need.

[xjarhead1999]

I'll have to pay for the non traditional credits myself. If I just went with the route where it wouldn't cost a dime then it would take me about 3 years. I figure the 12 I have and military should knock off a year of the 4 years it normally takes.
The student adviser said it would take up to 4 classes before I'll know what my credits will transfer to. That's 20 weeks.
I have a general idea of what the 12 I earned at the other college might transfer as soon I can avoid those classes for now.
My degree path is like this:
General education requirements 19 credits total (6 classes, 1 is 4 credits)
General education competencies 21 credits (7 classes)
Major course requirements 45 credits (15 classes)
Electives 41 credits (no classes listed)
General education Capstone 3 credits.
At Saylor I know of about 8 classes I know will transfer over that I could do. Those are cheap. Several at SL I know has several I could do also.
I just finished the free Sophia statistics class, I take the ID milestone Monday. According to Ashford's flyer on Sophia that is supposed to cover my math requirement. It's only 2 credits so my assumption is it will add a credit for electives.
I would like to get the degree in 2 years or less. I won't mind spending a little out of pocket as the sooner I get it the sooner I can Advance at work.
Just trying to find the cheapest and simplest way I can do it. Simple as in smooth, not easy cheating or anything.

[bjcheung77]

I would recommend taking as many courses as possible with their affiliates, such as Ashford's partners, an example such as StraighterLine. I think Study.com is a partner as well if you take SL courses, there is a discount of 15% off Ashford's tuition. You need to take 4 courses at a minimum from SL to have that discount. https://www.straighterline.com/colleges/...niversity/

ASHFORD UNIVERSITY TUITION GRANT:: A special offer for undergraduate students who successfully complete at least 12 college-level credits through StraighterLine, the Ashford University StraighterLine Tuition Grant earns you a 15% tuition grant on a maximum of eight attempted courses at Ashford University (online modality). This is a savings of $213.75 per course, for a total value of $1,710.

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Update: And yes, you should pay the "cheap/easy/fast" courses out of pocket. Then use your employee benefits for the "more expensive" courses from Ashford or some other provider as long as it's paid by the employer. Whatever that can be reimbursed as tuition assistance should be paid by the employer, as I think most companies will not pay for ACE recommended for credit courses.

[xjarhead1999]

The tuition grant thing from SL won't really benefit me any as I have to pay nothing out of pocket to Ashford anyway.
Study.com isn't listed as an affiliate with Ashford. I just got the email today about the guardian scholorship. I applied 2 days ago and wasn't expecting a reply that soon. I am going to take 6 classes through that. Not sure if Ashford will honor them like the affiliates but should at least be considered electives if nothing else.
I spoke to my student adviser a couple hours ago on the phone and we didn't see eye to eye on this. He wants me to wait until they have told me what I have before I started anything. I told him I only had 4 classes so I can avoid any possible duplicates. I didn't want to wait the up to 20 weeks for that. He then tried to tell me I had to have their permission in order to do any classes outside of Ashford.
Not so sure I'll be spending my entire time with them now but will learn as much as can at least for this year.

[rlw74]

Why are they making you wait 20 weeks? That just sounds crazy to me. I would rather know exactly how everything is coming in and what they will or won't take ahead of time. I know I had my entire degree planned out with TESU and it helped me stay on track. I'm almost concerned they are going to be difficult to work with long-term. But, I know plenty on here have taken courses with them so maybe this is just par-for-the-course with them? Maybe some other graduates can weigh in.

[bjcheung77]

Ouch, a 20 week wait. That sounds a bit sketchy with the admin/advisor. I would be cautious going with them, just like this person has most likely decided to go to another University. I recommend the Big 3/WGU, especially if you can transfer in 114 to 117 credits and up to 90 with WGU. If your employer pays for some tuition assistance, you're in better shoes than I have been.

Don't cheap out on your education, the return on a small amount invested would be much better in the long run. Basically, just get your "general education" courses done cheaply with the ACE credits, then find out what you want to do with your degree choice and school afterward. See previous Ashford link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-vent-Ashford-U

[xjarhead1999]

It may not take 20 weeks. I say that because he stated it may be up until I finish my 4th course before everything is evaluated and transferred. Each class is 5 weeks so in theory up to 20 weeks and knowing my luck it will take the full time.
As far as going to another school, that's kind of not an option right now. My employer benefits is up to $5550 a year. That doesn't get a lot at college. At Ashford it pays for almost 4 courses and I suspect it would be about the same at other places. Ashford's grant thing dismisses all costs after the $5550 for the rest of the year. So that kind of gets 6 free classes a year since I can take up to 10 classes a year.
So yeah, I could go absolutely free if I want to take about 3 years to get the degree. I should have close to a year with credits I already have. If I can spend about $1k-$1.5k or less for courses that would knock another year off I'd be happy to do it.
I would like to have about 90-100 credits finished by the end of the year. Started out with 12, plus I'm suspecting around 10 military credits, I have 1 from Sophia now and should have 2 more Monday so that's 25 now. I'll get 30 through Ashford between now and the end of the year so that would be about 55. So I'm hoping to get 35-45 more credits between now and then.

[davewill]

It may not take 20 weeks. I say that because he stated it may be up until I finish my 4th course before everything is evaluated and transferred. Each class is 5 weeks so in theory up to 20 weeks and knowing my luck it will take the full time.
As far as going to another school, that's kind of not an option right now. My employer benefits is up to $5550 a year. That doesn't get a lot at college. At Ashford it pays for almost 4 courses and I suspect it would be about the same at other places. Ashford's grant thing dismisses all costs after the $5550 for the rest of the year. So that kind of gets 6 free classes a year since I can take up to 10 classes a year.
So yeah, I could go absolutely free if I want to take about 3 years to get the degree. I should have close to a year with credits I already have. If I can spend about $1k-$1.5k or less for courses that would knock another year off I'd be happy to do it.  
I would like to have about 90-100 credits finished by the end of the year. Started out with 12, plus I'm suspecting around 10 military credits, I have 1 from Sophia now and should have 2 more Monday so that's 25 now. I'll get 30 through Ashford between now and the end of the year so that would be about 55. So I'm hoping to get 35-45 more credits between now and then.

I have to say this sounds like a solid plan. You just have to sort out what Ashford will and won't take. Are there any other fees to graduate, or will the cost of the alternative credit be your total out of pocket?

[xjarhead1999]

I have to say this sounds like a solid plan. You just have to sort out what Ashford will and won't take. Are there any other fees to graduate, or will the cost of the alternative credit be your total out of pocket?

Non traditional credits will be the only out of pocket expense for me. 100% of Ashford is covered.