Around the end of last year/beginning of this year, I decided to get a degree through TESC by testing out of as much as I could. I went through TESC's current catalog to determine what classes I would need and how CLEP/DSST/ALEKS/FEMA/StraigherLine would all fit into this degree plan. I posted my degree plan here on this site just to make sure I wasn't missing anything, and to get any other advice from the old timers here. Then I just started taking classes WITHOUT enrolling in TESC.
The yearly tuition at TESC is fairly expensive, and I wanted to make sure I would be able finish my degree within the one year that tuition covers. I REALLY didn't want to get into a situation where I paid the tuition, but came up short and wasn't able to test out within a year --- and would then have to pay for another years worth of tuition. As far as I was concerned, there wasn't any advantage to enrolling in TESC until I'd completed ALL of my testing accept their Capstone course. Then TESC threw a monkey wrench into my plans!
TESC announced that they were going to implement a major change to their degree requirements. If I wanted to use the degree plan I had designed that was based on their current catalog then I would need to apply for admission before July 1st. However, I wouldn't have to actually enroll, and pay their tuition, for another 6 months. So I still have a few more months before I actually need to enroll. Based on the rate that I've been completing courses, I will probably be just about done at the same time I need to pay tuition.
So...
The benefits of doing your own plan and not enrolling are that you can ensure yourself that you will only have to pay the yearly tuition once. Another benefit is that you aren't locked into TESC or a specific degree. I've changed my mind a few times about which college I was ultimately going to enroll in, the degree I was going to earn, and which courses I was going to take to earn the degree. So I initially started with a degree plan for TESC, thought about switching to COSC (they are cheaper), then went back to TESC (more convenient/easier). I wouldn't have this flexibility if I had enrolled in a school.
The drawback to not enrolling is that the school you are interested in can change their degree requirements on you. They can also raise their fees on you.
The yearly tuition at TESC is fairly expensive, and I wanted to make sure I would be able finish my degree within the one year that tuition covers. I REALLY didn't want to get into a situation where I paid the tuition, but came up short and wasn't able to test out within a year --- and would then have to pay for another years worth of tuition. As far as I was concerned, there wasn't any advantage to enrolling in TESC until I'd completed ALL of my testing accept their Capstone course. Then TESC threw a monkey wrench into my plans!
TESC announced that they were going to implement a major change to their degree requirements. If I wanted to use the degree plan I had designed that was based on their current catalog then I would need to apply for admission before July 1st. However, I wouldn't have to actually enroll, and pay their tuition, for another 6 months. So I still have a few more months before I actually need to enroll. Based on the rate that I've been completing courses, I will probably be just about done at the same time I need to pay tuition.
So...
The benefits of doing your own plan and not enrolling are that you can ensure yourself that you will only have to pay the yearly tuition once. Another benefit is that you aren't locked into TESC or a specific degree. I've changed my mind a few times about which college I was ultimately going to enroll in, the degree I was going to earn, and which courses I was going to take to earn the degree. So I initially started with a degree plan for TESC, thought about switching to COSC (they are cheaper), then went back to TESC (more convenient/easier). I wouldn't have this flexibility if I had enrolled in a school.
The drawback to not enrolling is that the school you are interested in can change their degree requirements on you. They can also raise their fees on you.
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