At a brick wall

[sweetcrabhoney]

Ugh.

My day sucks

Fasfa denied me
Student loan company denied me ( this means no Liberty University since it cost close to $17k a year )
My company is falling to pieces because of the holiday season
I have no job and won't until next year.
I can't afford CLEP, ALEKS or SL since I have no money at all.

The only option for college credits without money going out is saylor courses.... I'm afraid.... I'm unsure if the graduate school I want to go to will respect a degree from one of the big three or not. The last thing I want is to get a degree and the school look at me like I'm horrible because of the school I went to.

Plus if I do Salyor courses I can't use them at Liberty at all .

This is a massive brick wall... I really have nothing.

[dfrecore]

Those are all bummers - but don't let it stop you!

First of all, you can still get a degree from TESC or one of the other Big 3 for very little (to start with). Make a plan to get your AA from one of them first. Most 4-year colleges will look at an AA/AS from an RA school as a transfer student, without any restrictions.

Second, you can decide at that point if you want to continue on with your BA/BS from that same school, and start on the rest of your requirements. When you're done with that, you have 2 options:
1) Get a second degree (with way fewer requirements, maybe a year or less) at Liberty; or
2) Get your MA at Liberty instead.

There are people on this forum who got their degrees from all of the Big 3 and managed to go on to get their Masters (and even further).

I would not let lack of money stop me from doing this, even if it's not going to go as originally planned. There are so many other options out there for you to look at. Don't get discouraged, just make a Plan B (and a C and a D if need be)!

[sweetcrabhoney]

I appreciate the confident boost. I'm going to go back to the drawing board and figure out my next step and what my goal should be. I don't plan on giving up on this stuff...

[alleycat]

Reassess and reinvent. That's all one can do. You will make it. Maybe you can appeal your FASFA decision?

[the_cure]

The last thing you should do is give up. I know it is easier said than done but check some other options and I am sure everything will work out just fine. In the meantime, you might try to do some online jobs. I see in your signature that you are a writer. Try some forums where you can get an online job writing articles. If you would like some links, please PM me and I will send you some. Good Luck!

[clep3705]

I was convinced that a particular school was where I should go. Financial reality hit me smack in the face. I'm now spending half as much at a school I didn't think I'd go to and am quite happy with where I am and what I'm spending. This is an opportunity to find a more affordable way to a degree. Sometimes circumstances force good things upon us against our will.

[hsfamfun]

I agree that you should not give up! Have you taken the free ACE approved courses yet? Over my correspondence with Liberty, they said that they did accept the TEEX courses and they transfer as BMIS electives. There are also the NFA, Kaplan, and the Ethics courses that have been discussed in the forum and are ACE approved and free. Are you positive that Liberty does not accept the ACE approved Saylor courses? I was under the impression that they did. Liberty is a good school and it is my son's choice, but his career goal is in the Ministry. However, over the year that I have spent on this forum, I have seen that the Big 3 are very valid choices. My advice would be to get started with the free and low cost courses and reevaluate as needed. Have you taken the MOOC from Liberty? It is titled HIS 101, I think and is on their website. When completed, it is 3 hours of free electives. My son is probably taking it next semester. Good luck and DO NOT GIVE UP!

[sanantone]

FAFSA merely figures your EFC (expected family contribution). You usually won't know how much money you will qualify for until you apply for financial aid at the college you plan on attending. The awarding of grants and Stafford Loans is not based on credit history.

[cookderosa]

Removed by moderator, PM sent

[cookderosa]

I'm sorry to hear about your situation- Everyone worries about "getting in" to college, but the real issue is how to pay for it. I'm not going to suggest you borrow- because honestly, there is no guarantee that your debt will return back to you as added income; even if it's potential, I'm more in the camp of trying to find creative solutions for tricky problems. Let's see if we can't think of a few ideas- some may or may not make sense, but I'll throw out there what's on the top of my head:

Alternative Credit Project- The Saylor courses you complete could be used at a partner school. I don't know how many of those you can do or if any of them duplicate your credit- and frankly, without a degree plan, you could be wasting time. So, it's an option, but I'm not loving it as the best solution.

Free tuition colleges- I have a long list of these. The bad news is that the parameters that allow most people to take advantage require you being butt-in-seat. If you private message me your state, I can look up and see if anything is in your area.

College employment- This is a real option. There are thousands of non-academic non-teaching positions at every college in this country. Most will allow you to work and receive free tuition. You'd have to do a lot of careful planning to be sure that the job DID provide that benefit, and that the degree you're after is available either in-house or that you could transfer later. My next door neighbor has a very expensive liberal arts degree- she paid $0 for. Her mom was a cafeteria cook at that school, so free tuition for her depended was a benefit. Furthermore, beyond direct tuition benefits, there are colleges that belong to a reciprocal program called Tuition Exchange. If you work for one of those schools, not only will your tuition be covered as YOUR benefit now, but your children can get free tuition at any of the member schools (600 or so on this year's list). So, if I were starting from scratch, I'd look for employment within the TE group first. In fact, my husband did that- and we are taking full advantage. He is in progress on his own MBA, and all of our children are eligible for free tuition at his very-expensive university.
Start here: Tuition Exchange if there isn't a college in your area, then the second best is to work for a non-TE school that is in your area.
Try here: https://www.higheredjobs.com/

Military service- I know you have a family, but a very real option is serving as a reserve soldier. You'd be required to complete boot camp, and then serve one weekend a month. In return, however, you have education benefits and GI Bill (confirm that ahead of time, I'm not confident about the differences in reserve benefits within each branch.) One more lesser known option, you can even do the US Coast Guard Pre-Commissioning Initiative (it's their version of ROTC) which pays full tuition for your degree in exchange for your service as an officer. Just throwing that out there as another idea.

Overseas education- Again, another wild suggestion, but hey, maybe you guys like adventure: many-many-many countries offer bachelor and masters degrees in English and have $0 tuition. Examples are Germany, Finland, Argentina, Brazil, Norway, and others. If this sparks an interest, I can give you specific colleges to look at.

Employer reimbursement- there are THOUSANDS of companies that pay or reimburse tuition as long as you are an employee. In rare instances, you can work part time and still get this benefit. This is an excellent way to get through this with a job/income and free credit. Since it's the holiday season, I'll suggest companies that are probably hiring seasonal workers RIGHT NOW! These guys all pay your tuition if you work for them: Aeropostale, Barnes & Noble, Kohl's, Starbucks, Walmart, Best Buy, Home Depot, McDonald's, Lane Bryant, Target, Gap, and Macy's.