Beginners Guide To Getting Cheap/Fast College Credit

[dfrecore]

Forgive me if I am off topic, but can someone tell me why any of the math Jumpcourse courses are not showing up in the Alternative Credit Project anymore? It looks like none of the Jumpcourse math courses are getting ACE credit right now unless I am wrong. Sadly, I am halfway through the Stats class.

I just looked and they're on there. You need to put Alternative Credit Project as the Organization name, and Jumpcourse as the course title. All of their courses are on there.

[bjcheung77]

Accreditation - In order of recognition and preference.
Regionally Accredited schools are the gold standard and most recognized.
Wikipedia Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_accreditation
Specialized Accreditation - Accrediting bodies that overseas special programs such as business, engineering, nursing, etc.
Link here: Our Members | ASPA-USA
Nationally Accredited schools may be of same quality, but perceived sub standard.

GAAP (Generally Accepted Accrediting Principles) - Overseas, Internationally Recognized educational institutions of higher learning similar to US accreditation. Example, Australia has accreditation by state/territory and Canada has accreditation by province, neither are by the Dept of Education within the country (not federally/nationally or regionally accredited). The Dept of Education is there for overseeing student loans and grants.

For some reason or another, you may be taking courses at a Nationally Accredited institution for undergrad studies or something. If you would like to transfer to a Regionally Accredited institution, it will be harder as it's less recognized unless the school fully recognizes those courses, has an articulation agreement or if it's either ACE/NCCRS recommended.

Don't worry much, as there are few yet enough schools out there that will accept your courses or undergrad degree into their programs, either by individual courses or block transfer/articulation. This is true for individuals with internationally recognized degrees, as long as it's evaluated, you may or may not need to take makeup courses.


Competency Based Degree - Exactly what it means, you get credit for what you know, how well you know it
There are several schools that have this type of degree offering, from undergrad to graduate studies.
Many of those programs are much cheaper than their in class or online counterparts, as it's "self study".
Essentially, you go through the courses at your own speed, and complete assignments/projects/exams.

Individuals may choose these programs over the Big 3 (credit by transfer) as you decide how much time it will take and how much the fees will be by going at your own pace and speed of completing assignments/exams. One reason I like these type of programs is, for example, is to transfer the majority of your courses into the program, if you finish the remainder of a degree in one term at one of these universities, it may only cost you 2-3 grand for that term. That is the beauty of competency degrees, the cost and amount of time finishing a degree is cheaper and faster.

Short example list of Competency Based Degree institutions/providers
Capella University : $2500/12 Weeks - FlexPath : Self-Paced Courses Online - Capella University
Northern Arizona University : $2500-3000/6 months - | Tuition | NAU Extended Campuses
Patten University : $2000+/4 months - Online College Tuition Cost | Price of Online Degrees | Patten University
Hodges University : $2500-$3000/6 months - UPOWER - Self-Paced Learning | Hodges University
Western Governors University : $2500+/6 months - Affordable Accredited Online University | WGU Tuition and Fees | Western Governors University

An example where this shines is for individuals interested in a BSIT from WGU. You get to do your general studies and transfer them in, while at the school, you get credit for industry certifications you will take anyways. The main reason I'm interested in it is, you get the recognition of a degree and also use your knowledge and expertise to gain industry certifications. The added value is that there's no need to pay extra for the exams as the tuition should cover them.


Evaluation - Time to choose that degree path/school and have your credentials evaluated for credit
The majority of the time, I will recommend to have your credentials evaluated when you're ready to transfer to that school.
These are for the general Associates and Bachelors BA/BS/BSBA, but there are special cases of course; for example, if you have a specific field of study where the transfers are unexpected or unknown (electronic/mechanical engineering, pilot license). For the odd reason you have credits from way back or from unusual cases of documented learning, it's best to send those credentials in earlier. Once you have your credentials evaluated, you'll be able to see where you stand and make the proper moves to obtaining the degree.

Fees - For many degree programs that allow transfer of courses, there will be fees involved in regards to residency
The main requirements are usually the capstone/cornerstone courses in addition to residency requirements.
Capstone - Usually the final course in a degree program that is a project, or thesis - documentation of what has been learned throughout the entire degree/major area of study.
Cornerstone - Usually a course in the first semester of a program to get the student acquainted with what will be the program, similar to an overview of upcoming coursework.
GPA - Grade Point Average attained at the school you are attending, transferred courses usually won't affect this.

[KayV]

Official GPA is affected by transferred grades from courses at Excelsior and Charter Oak, but not at TESU.

[jsd]

Here's a self-paced/competency program I didn't see on your list...

University of Wisconsin, Flex option, $2250/3 months
UW Flexible Option: Competency-Based Degree Programs, Competency-Based Education

[davewill]

It'd be cool to add this info/update existing info to the wiki. The wiki is so dated, unfortunately.

I agree, the wiki is a much better place for this. That way it can be more easily found and edited to keep it up to date.

[bjcheung77]

I agree, the wiki is a much better place for this. That way it can be more easily found and edited to keep it up to date.

I was contemplating that earlier as well, I guess I'll create a wiki page on the degreeforum wikia site for this.

[bjcheung77]

Short Version - What is required and how to go about getting it, the CLEP/DSST way.
The information below is generally geared towards the TESU BSBA General Management
You can modify the AOS (Area of Study) accordingly if you're going for a different AOS concentration.
For individuals who like online testing, you would just substitute these or follow the attached excel spreadsheets as those are geared towards online testing and not testing by CLEP/DSST.

Recap - Steps to follow for maximum Transfer credit to Big 3 and/or WGU
1) Create an ACE Credit Registry account for transcripts for school you plan to attend
2) Complete Kaplan PLA (ACE Recommendation Expired 4/30/2016), Institutes Ethics, (FEMA, NFA and TEEX courses)
3) Get ACE for above & transcripts from old college/university and send it to your school of choice
4) Create a spreadsheet, course template/plan of action for credit transfer to Big 3 and/or WGU
5) If missing credits, use ALEKS for Math/Stat, Penn Foster, Saylor, Straighterline, and Study.com for the rest
6) Apply to Big 3 and/or WGU, get evaluation, and try to appeal as much credits as possible
7) Decide on which of the Big 3 and/or WGU you want to go into and finish degree as planned
8) Obtain degree requirements by following spreadsheet and completing courses according to plan/pace

Using the following info, create your spreadsheet or modify the one I have created
Find your requirements: BSBA in General Management Degree Program
General Education Info: Thomas Edison State University | General Education - 2016 or After
Available Courses TESU: Thomas Edison State University | Academic Courses & Schedules
Undergraduate Courses: Thomas Edison State University | Undergrad Course Offerings
CLEP Exam Equivalency: CLEP - College-Level Exam Program
DSST Exam Equivalency: DSST (formerly DANTES)
TECEPS Exams available: Thomas Edison State University | All TECEPÂ Tests

With this info, you should be able to map out where you are and what courses are required. Good luck.
You can then get yourself a calendar and schedule yourself, pace yourself, maybe do a few courses a month.
Generally speaking, the AOS is the hardest part to find the courses, don't spend too much time on deciding.
If you would like a different concentration such as the CIS, the only difference is the AOS. Just do it!
You can follow this plan to the T and get the degree you need, or make very minor modifications. Don't stall!

Side Note: If you find this helpful and you have completed your degree with this information, please PM me and send me a message or a picture of your success. I love reading success stories, I just warms my heart to see others happy and feeling great. I look forward to myself completing that elusive Bachelors degree as well and I can then work on the Masters.

For many of us, we're using this opportunity to study to better ourselves and improve our own knowledge. I hope you all have a great journey and get to complete something as elusive yet simple as this... When I look back at the times I've fallen, I've gotten back up and am still working hard to get this completed for my own benefit and self fulfillment.

[jsd]

2) Complete Kaplan PLA (ACE Recommendation Expired 4/30/2016)

Why recommend this at this point? It's literally wasting people's time since it can't be transferred. If they decide to renew, we should recommend it then, but taking it now is pointless.

[cisco4711]

The information on this thread is absolutely GOLDEN. Any reason why this thread isn't a sticky?

[jsd]

The information on this thread is absolutely GOLDEN. Any reason why this thread isn't a sticky?

I agree that this is super helpful and bjcheung77 has done good work. I'd be weary of making it a sticky, though, since this info is always changing and we can't go back to edit the first post to reflect the new info, and no newcomer is going to read through a thirty page thread when they're just starting here. It can be misleading.

This Kaplan PLA thing is a great example. The thread is only a few weeks old and already the first page has what is now bad info on it.

I think a better solution would be to add this as a page on the wiki, so it could always be up to date, and bjcheung77 can post a thread with a link to that page that we can sticky.

The thread can then be replied to when the wiki is updated, but the link is stickied to the relevant, up to date info.