Cheapest/Fastest way to get 12 CR?

[joben]

Hi all! 

I've been perusing the forum a bit today after just stumbling across the site and it feels like a great source of information. But I'll cut to the chase here (hopefully; I have a tendency to be a bit long-winded)...

I am wanting to pursue an MSW with the long-term goal of achieving LCSW licensure. 
I do already have a BA in Psychology and Counseling, but it was about 10 years ago and my undergrad GPA was rather poor - approximately 2.4 I believe. This is of course below the threshold that most MSW programs will accept. 

Currently I work in a social work/case work type role on the inpatient psychiatric unit of a hospital. I had entertained the idea of a more counseling-focused degree path (leading to LPC/LCPC, etc) but in short I think in a clinical setting an LCSW will open far more doors. Additionally, my owner offers specific advancement-paths for persons seeking their MSW/LCSW and a sign-on bonus once you have completed your LCSW. They also have generally been pretty flexible in working with schools to accommodate their internship/placement requirements.

Initially I had applied for Liberty University's online MSW program. I have met all the requirements except for GPA. 
I inquired about "conditional admission," academic probation, etc but no luck. I was given three alternative options:
1. Apply as a "non-degree seeking" student, complete 12 credit hours, and "obtain at least a minimum GPA required for good academic standing in, and graduation GPA from your desired program"
2. Reapply to a different program (no luck) or a lower-level (undergrad) program
3. I was also told that if I obtained 12 "graduate level" credit hours that would meet GPA requirements then I would be able to be admitted. 

Option 1 is difficult as "non-degree-seeking" students are not eligible for any financial aid, so you pay the entire thing out of pocket. I have also received some conflicting information but in speaking with a few folks they made it sound like for a graduate-level program these would need to be graduate-level credits as well. That would be close to $7000 out of pocket by my count which is not really feasible for me. 

So of course that leaves options 2 or 3. 

I tried applying to a few different graduate level programs, and ran into the same thing - met all the requirements except GPA too low. However, I did get accepted into their BSW program, and was able to transfer in 60 credits, putting me at roughly halfway to completing a BSW. From here, assuming I do well enough, I'd be able to then enter the advanced-standing MSW program, which is only 31 credit hours. In roughly mapping out the credits, I don't think it would be huge difference (time-wise) to complete half a BSW then an advanced-standing MSW vs going straight to a non-advanced-standing MSW. So I am considering that route, though trying to see if there are any additional transfer credits I'd be able to bring in quickly to shorten the time to achieve a BSW as well.  I know they allow you to transfer up to 90 credits, so I'm still trying to hash that out. 

For #3, I'm pretty much open to any option. I didn't know if anyone had any ideas for strictly graduate-level credits that I'd be able to obtain quickly (and ideally at minimum cost) to pump up my GPA to gain admission directly to the MSW program.

Of course, I should caveat all this by saying that I'm not strictly married to LU, it's just who I've been most familiar with and have had the most correspondence with. I would certainly be open to other options if anyone can think of anything that would be a better fit, perhaps. 

I'll try and outline my existing/transfer credits in a post below, as I'm already going a bit long here (told you).

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My current/transfer credits - here is what Liberty has credited with me for incoming transfer credit towards a BSW.

ENGL 101 Rhetoric/Comp - 3CR
ASCS 1XX Academic Success - 1CR
BIBL 1XX Biblical Studies Elective - 2CR
BIBL 1XX Biblical Studies Elective - 4CR
BIBL 364 Acts - 4CR
EVAN 101 Evangelism/Christian Life - 3CR
BIBL 1XX Biblical Studies Elective - 3CR
BIBL 2XX Biblical Studies Elective - 3CR
BIBL 2XX Biblical Studies Elective - 4CR
PHIL 210 Logic - 3CR
BIBL 2XX Biblical Studies Elective - 3CR
CCOU 201 Intro to Christian Counseling - 3CR
CCOU 302 Christian Counseling for Children - 2CR
YOUT 2XX Youth Ministry Elective - 2CR
BIBL 110 New Testament Survey - 4CR
BIBL 425 Romans - 4CR
CHHI 3XX Church History Upper Lvl Elective - 3CR
PSYC 2XX Psychology Elective - 2CR
BIBL 2XX Biblical Studies Elective - 4CR
CHMN 2XX Church Ministry Elective - 3CR
CHMN 3XX Church Ministry Elective - 1CR
PLED 2XX Pastoral Leadership Elective - 2CR
BIBL 330 Life of Christ - 4CR
CHHI 300 Survey of Christianity - 3CR
COMS 101 Speech - 3CR
PHED 2XX Physical Education - 1CR
CHMN 2XX Church Ministry Elective - 2CR
CHMN 4XX Church Ministry Elective Upper Lvl - 2CR
GEOG 2XX Geography Elective - 3CR
PLED 421 Homiletics - 3CR
PSYC 430 Abnormal Psychology - 3CR
BIBL 3XX Biblical Studies Elective - 2CR
BIBL 4XX Biblical Studies Elective Upper Lvl - 2CR
ENGL 102 Comp/Literature - 3CR
CHMN 1XX Church Ministry Elective - 2CR
CHMN 2XX Church Ministry Elective - 3CR
CHMN 4XX Church Ministry Elective Upper Lvl - 2CR
HIUS 3XX US History Elective Upper Lvl - 3CR
PSYC 210 Developmental Psychology - 3CR
RLGN 3XX Religion Elective Upper Lvl - 2CR
ENGL 000 English Assessment - 0CR/Waived
MATH 000 Math Assessment - 0CR/Waived

From this point on I went and did a few Sophia courses and gained the following credits:
BIOL 102 Principles of Human Biology - 3CR
BUSI 1XX Business Elective - 3CR
MATH 201 Intro to Probability and Statistics - 3CR
PHIL 201 Philosophy and Contemporary Ideas - 3CR
PSYC 101 General Psychology - 3CR
SCOM 1XX Speech/Communication Elective - 1CR
SCOM 1XX Speech/Communication Elective - 1CR

Total: 57 credits

The total degree plan is 123 credit hours, of which 63 are "core/major" hours, so in other words I have basically knocked out all the non-"core" classes. If I remember correctly, the only remaining one was "Cultural Studies Elective" (3CR) which I planned to complete through Straighterline's "Cultural Anthropology" course, which I've checked is an appropriate transfer equivalent.

Remaining would then be:
PSYC 255 Intro to Research - 3CR
PSYC 354 Statistics for Social Sciences - 3CR
SOWK 101 Intro to Social Work - 3CR
SOWK 135 Social Work Professional Exploration - 3CR
SOWK 250 Health of the Social Worker - 3CR
SOWK 260 Chemical Dependency - 3CR
SOWK 270 Ethics in Professional Helping - 3CR
SOWK 294 Social Work Program Gate 1 (0CR)
SOWK 300 Human Behavior and Social Environment - 3CR
SOWK 325 Social Welfare and Policy - 3CR
SOWK 355 Social Work Practice w/ Groups - 3CR
SOWK 365 Social Work Program Gate 2 / Jr. Field Enrollment (0CR)
SOWK 370 Junior Field Experience and Seminar - 4CR
SOWK 410 Social Work Macro Practice - 3CR
SOWK 431 Social Work in Mental Health - 3CR
SOWK 450 Social Work Practice with Diverse Populations - 3CR
SOWK 465 Social Work Program Gate 3/Sr Field Enrollment (0CR)
SOWK 470 Senior Field Experience and Seminar - 11CR
SOWK 494 Social Work Program Gate 4 (0CR)
SOWK ### - 3CR (SOWK 425, 432, 435, 439, 495, or 497)
SOWK ### - 3CR ("choose from a 300-400 level course from HSER, PSYC, or SOWK not already required in major)

Now as I said above - I am not totally married to LU, but as you can probably tell from my undergrad/transfer credits, I got my BA from a Christian College and I have had some difficulty in getting some of those credits to transfer to other institutions in the past. Liberty (of course, being a Christian school themselves, I suppose) have generally been fairly generous/accepting of these credits; I've been concerned that it will be difficult to get nearly as many eligible transfer credits elsewhere.

One other random thing that speaks (IMO) in favor of going BSW>advanced MSW is that while I'm currently (~2 years) working "in the field" I still feel a bit "rusty" as it relates to my undergrad education. Part of me thinks that perhaps it would be beneficial to go back in to a relevant undergrad curriculum rather than diving right back in at graduate level having been out of school for 10+ years, but I don't know.

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Oh, I'll add this too, to try and make things a bit easier:

Your Location: IL, USA
Your Age: 33
What kind of degree do you want?: MSW, either directly/"traditional" or by way of BSW > advanced standing MSW
Current Degree, Credits ( of any sort): BA in Psychology and Counseling from Ozark Christian College
Budget: I don't really know. I'm open to taking out loan/aid. 
Commitments: Full-time employment. Married with two kids both under 4y.o. 
Dedicated time to study: I can put away a few hours in the evening and my weekends are generally fairly open. Can sometimes squeeze in some extra studies at work from time to time.
Timeline: ASAP! 
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: My employer provides up to $10,000 in tuition assistance/loan for employees of 5 years or less (I have worked here for ~2 years). At 6 years or more this increases to a max of $20,000. Post-LCSW, there is an additional $10,000 in forgiveness available. 

[joben]

Hi all, 

Bit of a cross post but here's the short version - i've applied to a master's program but my undergrad GPA is too low. I've been told I can take 12 credit hours "non-degree seeking" at the same institution OR 12 "graduate level" credit hours elsewhere and provided my GPA is high enough in either of those routes I'll have my admission approved. They need to be RA credits and actual graded classes. 

The program I'm looking at is in social work, so something along those lines or semi-adjacent to it would probably be my preference, but if there's something else much faster and/or cheaper I wouldn't be too picky about it. Any and all guidance is welcome!

[freeloader]

If you are certain that you want to attend the social work program that is asking for these 12 credits, I would do the 12 credits at that university as a non-degree seeking student.

You are going to be hard pressed to find 12 credits of graded, RA graduate credit for less than $300/credit. I think you be better served to spend that $3,600+ on your MSW rather than credits elsewhere. 12 graduate credits is going to take you at least a semester in a non-competency based program and could easily take you 2 semesters.

If you take your 12 credits at the school from which you want to earn your MSW, will these classes count toward the MSW/count toward pre-requisites which you haven’t already met? Again, I would rather start working toward my degree/meeting prerequisites rather than collecting credits elsewhere which may or may not transfer to the MSW.

Do you have specific prerequisites that you need? If there are specific classes that you need and can earn them elsewhere rather than at the MSW school while also upping your GPA, that might make some sense.

[karehiro]

Check to see if your program will accept Coursera's MasterTrack certificate for Social Work: Practice, Policy and Research directed by the University of Michigan for their MSW program: https://www.coursera.org/mastertrack/soc...h#overview

Cost of $2000 in total and lasts for 4-6 months. It states that if you get accepted into the University of Michigan for their Social Work Masters then it'll account for 15 credits. Perhaps your school would likewise accept it as well, but just need to ask them first.

[joben]

I'd have to look more into it to see if those 12 credits would be able to count towards that degree going forward. I assume as such, and that's what's been insinuated, but I don't have total confirmation on that. If that's the case, I suppose it's six of one, half a dozen of the other, but it's nearly $600/cr for graduate level so I'd be looking at close to $7000 out of pocket ("non-degree seeking" is not eligible for financial aid) which I can't really swing at the moment.

I've been meaning to look more into the UM Mastertrack program too (I think they recently changed the name of it or something, but same idea...) Honestly, might even just be as well to just go that route for the whole thing, I dunno.

Another route I've been considering and honestly kind of leaning towards is to go back and finish a second Bachelor's in social work as well. I've got an undergrad degree in Psychology, and in searching around it looks like I can transfer in (various places) around 2/3rds of a BSW degree already. Completing a BSW would also open up the option of doing an accelerated/"advanced standing" MSW, which is typically 1-2 years rather than a traditional MSW which is going to likely be 3+ years. Given that my undergrad was ~10 years ago I'm actually a bit more inclined to go this direction as my hunch says maybe it's better to get back into schooling at an undergrad level rather than trying to dive right back in at the master's level, but I dunno. My quick back-of-the-napkin math says the BSW>accelerated MSW route would be about $4,000 more expensive than a traditional/regular MSW, but that's not entirely including 12 "non-degree seeking" hours out of pocket either, so it may well be that price-wise it's a wash and would be close to the same in terms of time-investment as well. Just thinking out loud...

[bjcheung77]

+1, I agree, check other MOOC options on Coursera, EdX, etc and see if there are comparable programs in addition to your institution, then check the number of credits transferable, etc. It may be beneficial to do a slightly different masters, then transfer to another institution to complete the masters... For example, you can do the MS Psych at Walden, have the classes transfer to your institution of choice, when you finish, you'll have two Masters instead of one. You want to make sure the requirements for entry is met for any MSW you're going for... There were a couple or more MSW's mentioned on the board, you can do a search and see if those fit your needs.

[artem]

You can do one ENEB master program and evaluate it as 25-30 graduate credits.

[Stonybeach]

If you are certain that you want to attend the social work program that is asking for these 12 credits, I would do the 12 credits at that university as a non-degree seeking student.

You are going to be hard pressed to find 12 credits of graded, RA graduate credit for less than $300/credit. I think you be better served to spend that $3,600+ on your MSW rather than credits elsewhere. 12 graduate credits is going to take you at least a semester in a non-competency based program and could easily take you 2 semesters.

If you take your 12 credits at the school from which you want to earn your MSW, will these classes count toward the MSW/count toward pre-requisites which you haven’t already met? Again, I would rather start working toward my degree/meeting prerequisites rather than collecting credits elsewhere which may or may not transfer to the MSW.

Do you have specific prerequisites that you need? If there are specific classes that you need and can earn them elsewhere rather than at the MSW school while also upping your GPA, that might make some sense.

I agree with Freeloader. Many schools admit students to their programs on a contingency basis, and after passing two to four courses, fully accept the student into the program. Does this school allow you to take the first four courses of the MSW program as a non-matriculated student, completing the coursework with a B grade or better? I was accepted to my master's in nursing program as a "Grad non-matriculated provisional nursing plan." After passing the first few courses, which were part of the degree program, I was fully matriculated and continued studies with my classmates. Completely uneventful! The only issue is that it indicates my non-matriculated status on my official transcript for the first semester of studies.... which is ridiculous but accurate.

[Hotdogman1]

Like Stonybeach mentioned, I thought conditional/provisional basis meant that the university accepts you into the program but monitors your GPA in your first semester or two like in SAP situations. Is the 12 credit hours "non-degree seeking" directly related to the MSW or just random graduate level courses at the school?

If it's completely unrelated courses at Liberty, isn't UMPI MAOL an option here since all you need is 12 RA credits that meet the minimum MSW program gpa? Several people on this forum have completed the entire masters in two 8 week sessions so 12 RA graded credits in one session ($2350) seems feasible.

Another option worth looking into might be Kairos University. Christian University, Flat $300 or $400 per month depending on the program. The website states "Go at Your Pace" but I don't know much more about it. The admission page does have "A cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher (or 3.0 for PhD, ThD, DPC, DMin, MACO, & MAMFT applicants)." but it might be worth giving them a call.
https://kairos.edu/academics/programs/
https://kairos.edu/kairos-project/why-ka...ffordable/
https://kairos.edu/tuition/

Have you applied to other universities? My best friend has a 2.0 gpa and wanted to get a master's degree for some reason. He went another route, but it was my understanding that MSW was one of the few graduate programs where there is a greater emphasis on the holistic application (essay+recommendation letters+work experience/volunteer work over just the GPA) due to the nature of the program. I spoke to a coworker that went to Florida State University (in person+in state) MSW program with a 2.6 GPA. She also got into several other schools including University of Kentucky (Online) and University of Chicago (in-person). Due to these programs requiring a 3.0 minimum GPA, she had to submit a 'Petition for Exceptional Consideration' where she had to write a 1-2 page essay explaining the low gpa and why it should be waived (copy and pasted to each institution). Your GPA might be low, but you have direct work experience: "I work in a social work/case work type role on the inpatient psychiatric unit of a hospital." She recommended going to the cheapest possible school (instate tuition) with CSWE accreditation.