Cheapest RA or NA bachelor degree options

[StoicJ]

What are the least expensive paths to a bachelor degree from regionally-accredited or nationally-accredited institutions?

For this thread, assume you are a USA resident, high school graduate, no college credit, with a job, and you'll be paying for it out of your own pocket. No timeline, but say you are of average intelligence, and don't want to spend ALL your non-work waking hours studying.

The degree could be in anything. If you can run numbers for a business or computer-related degree that would be nice.

(total costs would include subscriptions, testing fees, tech fees, transcript fees, transfer fees, estimated BOOKS, application fee, proctor fees, graduation fee, etc., not just tuition)

[nomaduser]

Check Florida International University's online degree program:
https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...E-accepted

They charge only $345 per credit. That's the cheapest I've ever seen.

Their Bachelor of Arts in Information Technology program requires only 11 courses... the rest of them can be transferred in I guess.
https://fiuonline.fiu.edu/programs/onlin...nology.php

After completion of their online degree program, you'll get the same diploma as their main campus diploma.

[ss20ts]

FHSU is $218 per credit.

WGU is per term and many people can finish in one or two terms. They don't all spend every waking hour studying either. When working on a degree, it's much easier to get a degree in something you have some knowledge about. Say you've worked as a bookkeeper for 5 years. Earning an accounting degree is going to be much easier than earning a degree in nursing.

[StoicJ]

FHSU is $218 per credit.

WGU is per term and many people can finish in one or two terms. They don't all spend every waking hour studying either. When working on a degree, it's much easier to get a degree in something you have some knowledge about. Say you've worked as a bookkeeper for 5 years. Earning an accounting degree is going to be much easier than earning a degree in nursing.

How many credits are needed to get a WGU bachelor degree? My hypothetical was a high school grad with a job. He/She could go from 0 to degree in 2 terms you think?

[bjcheung77]

Hey, I've written about this in the past and on the sister board.  The cheapest/easiest/fastest is to get 90 credits from alternative credit options, such as CLEP/ACE.  Previously, I recommended doing 90 credits from Saylor or doing so through Shmoop.  However, I now recommend getting those 90 from Sophia.org or a combo of Sophia.org/Study.com or even Saylor - The only thing is, these courses must "fit" into the degree plans... the last thing to do is take the final 30 credits from the institution of choice.

Currently - Now, if you can finish 30 credits or two terms, it will only cost you $999/term for Ashworth OR Penn foster BSBA.
Initial Thread in 2017 Link: https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?thr...elp.51278/
Updated Thread in 2018: https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?thr...000.52514/

Cost: 90 credits from Sophia/Saylor, Let's say 79 x 5 months = $395 and then $25/UL course at Saylor
If you take 2 terms at Ashworth or Penn Foster, then it will be a little under 2.5-3 thousand or around there.
You can then go for a Masters at WGU or Walden, but not Brandman or others that only take RA degrees.

[ss20ts]

FHSU is $218 per credit.

WGU is per term and many people can finish in one or two terms. They don't all spend every waking hour studying either. When working on a degree, it's much easier to get a degree in something you have some knowledge about. Say you've worked as a bookkeeper for 5 years. Earning an accounting degree is going to be much easier than earning a degree in nursing.

How many credits are needed to get a WGU bachelor degree? My hypothetical was a high school grad with a job. He/She could go from 0 to degree in 2 terms you think?

Bachelor's degrees are typically 120 credits. Every program at WGU is a bit different. They don't follow the norms. That's what makes them unique much like how the Big 3 are outliers.

[StoicJ]

Hey, I've written about this in the past and on the sister board.  The cheapest/easiest/fastest is to get 90 credits from alternative credit options, such as CLEP/ACE.  Previously, I recommended doing 90 credits from Saylor or doing so through Shmoop.  However, I now recommend getting those 90 from Sophia.org or a combo of Sophia.org/Study.com or even Saylor - The only thing is, these courses must "fit" into the degree plans... the last thing to do is take the final 30 credits from the institution of choice.

Currently - Now, if you can finish 30 credits or two terms, it will only cost you $999/term for Ashworth OR Penn foster BSBA.
Initial Thread in 2017 Link: https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?thr...elp.51278/
Updated Thread in 2018: https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?thr...000.52514/

Cost: 90 credits from Sophia/Saylor, Let's say 79 x 5 months = $395 and then $25/UL course at Saylor
If you take 2 terms at Ashworth or Penn Foster, then it will be a little under 2.5-3 thousand or around there.
You can then go for a Masters at WGU or Walden, but not Brandman or others that only take RA degrees.

I remember there were some good posts on this a while back, but they seem to be quite outdated now. The Big 3 are more expensive. On the other hand, there seem to be more options for alternative UL credits. I just wondered if anyone had more recent info, maybe a spreadsheet that was up to date.

---

So you can take a combo of Sophia and Saylor and earn 90 credits that would fit right into a bachelor degree program, including some UL? 

And then what's missing could be done at Ashworth or Penn Foster for probably less than $3000? That $3000 include all tuition, all fees, and books?

So for under $4000 one could earn a bachelor degree at either of those two?

Ashworth is NA, and Penn Foster is RA, correct?

[bjcheung77]

For NA schools, such as Ashworth or Penn Foster, I don't think anyone would have a spreadsheet completed for either school. I don't recall seeing anyone create it on either this board or the sister board. Their degree plans are very similar to the Big 3 but at a cost similar to COSC. For those who have RA credits already, stick with COSC for cost. If not, then I would suggest getting a NA Associates/Bachelors at Ashworth or Penn Foster, they're the same company now that Penn Foster bought out their biggest competition...

Yes, my suggestion above is to take 90 credits through ACE providers, then take the final courses at Ashworth or Penn Foster. They both accept 90 credits or 75% for transfer, including UL. The total cost includes tuition, books and fees, and that quote of $2.5-$3K is the total cost INCLUDING the 90 ACE credits. As I pointed out, the ACE credits would only cost $395 for all of Sophia.org, and if you need a few UL from Saylor, it'll only be $25 each. Add that to 2 terms at either school for $1998. Apply to a RA Masters afterwards...

[Merlin]

How many credits are needed to get a WGU bachelor degree? My hypothetical was a high school grad with a job. He/She could go from 0 to degree in 2 terms you think?

Bachelor's degrees are typically 120 credits. Every program at WGU is a bit different. They don't follow the norms. That's what makes them unique much like how the Big 3 are outliers.

All WGU bachelor's degrees require a minimum of 120 CU (competency units = semester hours) to graduate, which is an accreditation requirement at every college.

To complete a bachelor's degree in two terms (one year) is going to take some determination and time. Because of a few vocal people who like to brag about their accomplishments, many people get the mistaken impression that accelerating is normal and anyone can complete an entire degree in 1-2 terms. This is a fallacy and a dangerous idea to put in people's heads. In addition to my participation here, I am a regular on the WGU forums on Facebook and Reddit and there are always people lamenting about how they are unable to accelerate and how it is costing them money they don't have because they assumed they'd be able to finish in one or two terms like "everyone" else. Some then go on to ask for ways to cheat or somehow move through the courses more quickly since obviously that is how everyone else is doing it. That or they give up and complain about how the school sucks, or whatever.

The truth is that only a small percentage of the students at WGU are accelerators, and only a small percentage of them are able to complete a degree in a single term, or even two terms. WGU degrees are aimed at adult students who already have some experience in their career that they want to translate into a college degree. Given that, they require students to complete at least 12 CU per term to maintain good standing. They call this OTP (or on-time progress). So if you meet the minimum requirements, you'll complete your degree starting from zero credits in about 5 years (10 terms). Accelerators are generally completing their degrees in about half that time (5 terms or 2.5 years) or faster.

So, if your hypothetical high school grad is coming in with no prior credits, average intelligence, and average commitment/time availability, and is aiming to accelerate, you can assume they will probably complete the course of study in whatever degree program they are pursuing in about 2.5 years. If the person is more focused, more intelligent, or can put more time into the program, they will be able to move through the degree program faster. Never assume that anyone will be able to do it in two terms or less.

At the undergrad level, WGU courses generally require a time and study investment that is roughly equivalent to that required to finish a similar course at StraighterLine or Study.com. So, if you're the kind of person who can burn through a course on SL or SDC in a week or less, then you will probably be able to move through courses at WGU quickly and may be able to finish in 1-2 terms. But if it is taking you more than 3-4 weeks to complete a course at those providers, you're probably looking at 5 terms or more.

For reference, most 120 credit programs require ~40 courses to complete. This means that to complete a degree in 1 term, you'd have to be able to complete 3-4 courses every 2 weeks (6-7 courses per month) to have a chance of finishing within a single term. To complete the degree in 2 terms, you'd only need to complete 3-4 courses per month. This is still quite challenging, but far more reasonable. However, in either case, you're probably looking at investing at least 40-60 hours a week into studying or have a significant amount of prior experience in the subject. Which doesn't really meet your average student profile.

[rachel83az]

There are other competency-based degrees that can be a better choice than WGU, depending on what you're wanting: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Co...d_Programs

For Texas residents, the winner (for cost) would be Texas A&M.

NAU and UMBH are also cheaper per-week than WGU but may not allow as many transfer credits to be brought in. UMPI has a few degrees that WGU doesn't have, but they cost a bit more over all.

The absolute winner as far as cost goes would be NationsU. They are NA and only offer a Bachelor of Religious Studies but they are also only $450 per quarter which works out to $35/wk. If literally ANY degree will do, that's not a bad price at all.