Ashworth College - $1299-$1399 Associate Degrees + Sophia

[Ares]

Looking around for something to fill in the gap for the Pierpont BOG degree, the cheapest I could come up with was Ashworth College.

Ashworth College allows you to transfer 75% of the courses for their Associate Degrees (45 out of 60 credits). This means only 5 courses (15 credits) or one semester would need to be taken at Ashworth which costs only $1299 (A.A. General Studies) of $1399 (A.S. General Business) and you have 12 months to complete them.

Using Sophia, some of their Associate Degrees should be easy and cheap to complete:

A.A. General Studies
A.S. General Business

Granted this is a NA schools so transfer options are more limited for the 15 Ashworth credits but Excelsior should take them and regardless the 45 Sophia credits are widely accepted. UMPI also accepts some courses from Ashworth.

From the Ashworth Degree Catalog 2024.

To enroll as an associate degree candidate, students must have successfully completed a high school diploma program, earned a GED or equivalent, or completed at least 12 semester credit hours of college coursework. [...]

In the associate degree program, students may receive credit for 15 courses out of 20 (45 credit hours out of 60) as a combination of transfer credits, prior learning assessment, and credit by exam. Credit by exam is limited to a maximum of 3 courses (9 credit hours). [...]

Ashworth degree programs are self-paced, and students are encouraged to set their own schedules for completing coursework. [...]

An associate degree program can be completed in approximately two years (no more than 12 months for one semester); however, students are allowed a maximum of six (6) years from the date of enrollment to complete their program. [...]

To earn an Ashworth College associate degree, a student must complete 60 credit hours with a minimum GPA of 1.00. [...]

At the end of each semester, students are required to take a proctored, online semester exam. [...] Students may use their textbooks, online and printed course materials, and notes during the exam, but may not use the Internet or previously saved electronic files. If applicable, students may access eBooks within their courses. [...] 

Semester exams are graded on a pass/fail basis and the semester exam scores are not factored into the individual course percentages or letter grades. The student must pass each section of the semester exam, earning no less than the applicable passing score of 70 percent for undergraduate semester exams to continue in the program. Students who fail the first attempt will be given one retake opportunity for each section in order to obtain the passing score. Students who fail a semester exam on their second attempt will be placed on academic review. Certain factors will be considered in determining whether the student will be permitted to remain in the program or be permanently dismissed. These factors include, but are not limited to, the student’s grade point average for the semester, the number of semesters completed, and the scores earned on the first and second attempts. [...]

The semester exam consists of five sections that cover the five courses taken in a particular semester; each section consists of ten (10) multiple-choice questions. Students are given three (3) hours to complete the semester exam.

Thoughts?

[ss20ts]

For $1400? No way. UMPI is $1700 a term and many people are completing a bachelor's degree in that one term. Some states have in state tuition at community colleges that will be less than $1400 or close to it. And that's an RA school. If you want to transfer from an NA school later it's not easy.

[Mint Berry Crunch]

Looking around for something to fill in the gap for the Pierpont BOG degree, the cheapest I could come up with was Ashworth College.

Ashworth College allows you to transfer 75% of the courses for their Associate Degrees (45 out of 60 credits). This means only 5 courses (15 credits) or one semester would need to be taken at Ashworth which costs only $1299 (A.A. General Studies) of $1399 (A.S. General Business) and you have 12 months to complete them.

Using Sophia, some of their Associate Degrees should be easy and cheap to complete:

A.A. General Studies
A.S. General Business

Granted this is a NA schools so transfer options are more limited for the 15 Ashworth credits but Excelsior should take them and regardless the 45 Sophia credits are widely accepted. UMPI also accepts some courses from Ashworth.

From the Ashworth Degree Catalog 2024.

To enroll as an associate degree candidate, students must have successfully completed a high school diploma program, earned a GED or equivalent, or completed at least 12 semester credit hours of college coursework. [...]

In the associate degree program, students may receive credit for 15 courses out of 20 (45 credit hours out of 60) as a combination of transfer credits, prior learning assessment, and credit by exam. Credit by exam is limited to a maximum of 3 courses (9 credit hours). [...]

Ashworth degree programs are self-paced, and students are encouraged to set their own schedules for completing coursework. [...]

An associate degree program can be completed in approximately two years (no more than 12 months for one semester); however, students are allowed a maximum of six (6) years from the date of enrollment to complete their program. [...]

To earn an Ashworth College associate degree, a student must complete 60 credit hours with a minimum GPA of 1.00. [...]

At the end of each semester, students are required to take a proctored, online semester exam. [...] Students may use their textbooks, online and printed course materials, and notes during the exam, but may not use the Internet or previously saved electronic files. If applicable, students may access eBooks within their courses. [...] 

Semester exams are graded on a pass/fail basis and the semester exam scores are not factored into the individual course percentages or letter grades. The student must pass each section of the semester exam, earning no less than the applicable passing score of 70 percent for undergraduate semester exams to continue in the program. Students who fail the first attempt will be given one retake opportunity for each section in order to obtain the passing score. Students who fail a semester exam on their second attempt will be placed on academic review. Certain factors will be considered in determining whether the student will be permitted to remain in the program or be permanently dismissed. These factors include, but are not limited to, the student’s grade point average for the semester, the number of semesters completed, and the scores earned on the first and second attempts. [...]

The semester exam consists of five sections that cover the five courses taken in a particular semester; each section consists of ten (10) multiple-choice questions. Students are given three (3) hours to complete the semester exam.

Thoughts?

There is also a cheaper alternative to Ashworth for those looking for an associate. With Pierpont not being a viable option anymore – unfortunately – students can still work with getting a BOG at West Virginia University (WVU) at Parkersburg:

https://catalog.wvup.edu/ProgramPage/BOG_AAS/8

For this degree plan, it requires 60 credits, of which, 40 credits can be from alternative sources, 12 credits must be from a regionally accredited institution, and 3 credits must be done at WVUP. Therefore, it is possible to obtain an associate from here at a reduced cost using the following: TECEPS (RA credits) or Eerie County Community College (RA credits), Sophia (ACE credits), and WVUP (RA credits). Additionally, the degree plan requires that students complete 15 credits of gen ed under the following: Communications (3 credits), Mathematics/Natural Sciences (6 credits), Social Sciences/Humanities (3 credits), Computer Science (3 Credits).

Costs:

Sophia: Costs $99 for a 1-month membership, though discounts could make it $76. A good portion of credits can be done through this.

TECEPS: Offered through Thomas Edison, these are regionally accredited and are recorded as CR (credit) or NC (no credit). Upon completion of the exam, official transcripts will show that it was successfully completed and show credits awarded. 1000 – 2000 level courses cost $52 per credit and 3000 – 4000 level courses cost $77 per credit.

Eerie County Community College: For the past couple years now, ECCC offers tuition free semesters during the summer time for students to capitalize on.

WVUP: You must complete a 3-credit course here, but whichever of your choosing.

Degree Plan:

Sophia (45 credits):
Communications (3 credits) – Visual Communication (3)
Math/Science (6 credits) – Intro to College Math (3) and Statistic (3)
Social Sciences/Humanities (3 credits) – Intro to Psychology (3)
Computer Science (3 credits) – Intro to Web Development (3)
Additional Courses (30 credits) – Choose any courses you like

TECEPS (12 credits):
Writing for Success [ENC-1010] (3 credits)
Writing for Success II [ENC-1020] (3 credits)
Intro to Political Science [PS-1010] (3 credits)
Marriage and the Family [SOC-2100] (3 credits)

Eerie Community College (12 credits):
You choose

WVUP (3 Credits):
You choose

Total Cost:
Sophia = $99 (Varies on speed)
TECEP = $624
or
ECCC = refer to link: https://www.ec3pa.org/tuition-and-fees
WVUP = $540

[jg_nuy]

Remember that you also have a small handful of free RA credits like Clackamas and Jacksonville State University out there, as well as low cost options like Tohono O’odham Community College and Dine College, so you could still use these with a place like WVU, other BOG or the Ashworth option in this thread:

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Fr..._of_Credit
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sources_of_Credit

[bjcheung77]

For those who aren't really looking at an associates, they can get an associates degree on route to their bachelors for free, if they're going for a bachelors at UMPI or TESU, for example. Even Excelsior would work, if they're willing to pay for a 10 credit residency tuition fee...

[Ares]

For $1400? No way. UMPI is $1700 a term and many people are completing a bachelor's degree in that one term. Some states have in state tuition at community colleges that will be less than $1400 or close to it. And that's an RA school. If you want to transfer from an NA school later it's not easy.

While this is true, realistically UMPI will require at least two terms at $3400 which is $2000-$2100 more than Ashworth.

Community colleges are far more work and almost all of them cannot be completed in less than two years, they also are not self paced or open enrollment.

UMPI can only be taken during one of their 6 yearly 8 week sessions, Ashworth is open enrollment at any time of the year.

UMPI sessions are only 8 weeks, Ashworth semesters are 12 months.

UMPI requires a 2.7 GPA to graduate, Ashworth a 1.0 GPA.

---

There is also a cheaper alternative to Ashworth for those looking for an associate. With Pierpont not being a viable option anymore – unfortunately – students can still work with getting a BOG at West Virginia University (WVU) at Parkersburg:

https://catalog.wvup.edu/ProgramPage/BOG_AAS/8

For this degree plan, it requires 60 credits, of which, 40 credits can be from alternative sources, 12 credits must be from a regionally accredited institution, and 3 credits must be done at WVUP. Therefore, it is possible to obtain an associate from here at a reduced cost using the following: TECEPS (RA credits) or Eerie County Community College (RA credits), Sophia (ACE credits), and WVUP (RA credits). Additionally, the degree plan requires that students complete 15 credits of gen ed under the following: Communications (3 credits), Mathematics/Natural Sciences (6 credits), Social Sciences/Humanities (3 credits), Computer Science (3 Credits).

Costs:

TECEP = $624
WVUP = $540

TECEPs are far harder than CLEPs and include essay sections. They are also far harder than doing 15 credits as Ashworth. There is also no guarantee if WVUP will accept TECEPs for RA credit.

WVUP tuition for out-of-state students is $1128.00 (not including any fees) which makes this route a minimum of $1752 for most people.

None of that is easier or cheaper than 45 credits through Sophia and 15 credits at Ashworth.

[ss20ts]

No one should be allowed to graduate with any kind of degree or certificate with a 1.0 GPA. That's a D which means you didn't learn or do anything.

[Ares]

No one should be allowed to graduate with any kind of degree or certificate with a 1.0 GPA. That's a D which means you didn't learn or do anything.

You do realize that is how many people graduated public High School? Knowing 70% of something means you did learn something and clearly had to do something.

Charter Oak and TESU take D- graded classes in transfer.

1 A + 1 B + 3 Ds gives you a 2.0 GPA.

Getting a D in a college class is no different than transferring in alternative P/F ACE credits for a degree.

[NotJoeBiden]

No one should be allowed to graduate with any kind of degree or certificate with a 1.0 GPA. That's a D which means you didn't learn or do anything.

You do realize that is how many people graduate public High School? Knowing 70% of something means you did learn something and clearly had to do something.

Charter Oak and TESU take D- graded classes in transfer.

1 A + 1 B + 3 Ds gives you a 2.0  GPA.

When I went for my bachelors degree, you could not graduate if you got less than a C- in a core class. If you got less, you had to retake it.

1 A + 3 F = 1.0

[Ares]

You do not get credit for F's.

Grades of D | Rutgers School of Engineering

There is no maximum or minimum number of times you can get a D grade at Rutgers. But, if at any point your overall GPA, or major GPA drops below a 2.0, you will be put on Academic Probation.

You can graduate with a 2.0 GPA in a 40 course, 120 credits Bachelors Degree program with 14 A grades and 26 D grades = 2.05 GPA.