Cost, Financial Aid, Fees...

[Westerner]

So I could get financial aid to cover TECEPs, guided study courses and e-packs if I am going full time and choose the comprehensive tuition plan. Financial Aid said I am eligible for about $5700. Would that be enough? That's going for the AA at TESC. If it's covered, I think I can probably swing it. So it would be I guess a mix of TECEP tests and maybe some "actual" courses? (How would CLEP or Saylor etc. credits fit into that? Or won't they at all?) If I'm looking at an AA then I need 19 credits. So if I did 12 credits in 6 months and some of those are TECEP then maybe I can swing it.

Plan for the Financial Aid being split up into 4 sections, one per semester (CLEPs and Saylor won't be covered by the aid).

[sanantone]

But with the Comprehensive plan, you have to pay the $3000 enrollment fee. When I talked with TESC, they said it was possible to use some Financial Aid for that fee, but I didn't look into that much and didn't end up doing it that way. I paid the $3000 out of pocket, then used FA for my 6 classes (2 per semester).

Also plan for the Financial Aid being split up into 4 sections, one per semester (CLEPs and Saylor won't be covered by the aid).

There is no enrollment fee for the Comprehensive Tuition Plan. There is only an enrollment fee for the Enrolled Options Plan.

[sanantone]

So I could get financial aid to cover TECEPs, guided study courses and e-packs if I am going full time and choose the comprehensive tuition plan. Financial Aid said I am eligible for about $5700. Would that be enough? That's going for the AA at TESC. If it's covered, I think I can probably swing it. So it would be I guess a mix of TECEP tests and maybe some "actual" courses? (How would CLEP or Saylor etc. credits fit into that? Or won't they at all?) If I'm looking at an AA then I need 19 credits. So if I did 12 credits in 6 months and some of those are TECEP then maybe I can swing it.

Otherwise I would go for the AA at COSC and do some CLEP and Saylor to flesh things out.

Is it "harder" to do the TESC/TECEP track than using CLEP/Saylor/other testing for COSC?

TECEPs are generally harder than CLEPs and DSSTs, but you only need four for an associate's. You can still use CLEP, Saylor, etc. under TESC's Per Credit Tuition Plan. If you choose the Comprehensive Tuition Plan, I don't think that can be split in half. For non-residents, they charge a flat fee of over $8,300 per year. You will need a student loan plus the grant to pay for it. Your financial aid award will be split up by semester or 6 months. That means that if you only attend full-time for one semester or half of the year, then you will only receive half of your award.

The new COSC Bachelor's in Pscyh mentioned in that newsletter doesn't say if it's a BS or BA. ??

IIRC, it's a BS, but it doesn't matter. Almost no one will care. BAs in psychology are more common; therefore, when you look at the students in graduate psychology programs, most will have a BA.

[Taxandria]

Now I'm thinking going with the AA from COSC might be my best bet. I definitely don't have a ton of money for TESC

[sanantone]

Now I'm thinking going with the AA from COSC might be my best bet. I definitely don't have a ton of money for TESC

What works better is attending a community college full-time and using the leftover aid to pay for any needed courses at one of the Big 3 and tests. The maximum Pell Grant award is $5,730. ACCD will cost about $2,008 per year if you take the normal 15 credits per semester. They will cost $1,662 per year if you take 12 credits per semester; you will still be considered full-time and will receive the full award. This means you will receive a refund check for over $3,000 over the two semesters. COSC charges $346 per credit hour plus $245 per semester. That will eat up your financial aid quickly. COSC, however, does do consortium agreements where you can use your financial aid with them and another school at the same time. If you crunch the numbers, it will be cheaper to use your refund check to pay for TECEPs at TESC than to take the needed cornerstone and capstone at COSC. I've heard that you have to take the cornerstone for the associate's and again for the bachelor's, but I could be wrong.

[Taxandria]

Hmm. That's confusing as I used the COSC cost calculator and it came out really low as I planned to test out most of what I need. I'm starting to feel really discouraged. I was hoping to not have to deal with the local college system since it's just full of teenagers and I feel like the Big 3 are geared more toward what I want/need at this point in my life. I could do some distance learning from the local college, I just absolutely do not want to physically go there to take classes. Been there, done that.

If I want to test out most of the rest of the credits I need for the AA, can I just figure out what classes I need and do the tests, and then enroll in COSC or TESC? I am thinking most of the credits will be earned so it won't cost much in the end.

I'm getting all confused again just when I felt like I had a decision.

[Taxandria]

Hmm. That's confusing as I used the COSC cost calculator and it came out really low as I planned to test out most of what I need. I'm starting to feel really discouraged. I was hoping to not have to deal with the local college system since it's just full of teenagers and I feel like the Big 3 are geared more toward what I want/need at this point in my life. I could do some distance learning from the local college, I just absolutely do not want to physically go there to take classes. Been there, done that.

If I want to test out most of the rest of the credits I need for the AA, can I just figure out what classes I need and do the tests, and then enroll in COSC or TESC? I am thinking most of the credits will be earned so it won't cost much in the end.

I'm getting all confused again just when I felt like I had a decision.

[sanantone]

Hmm. That's confusing as I used the COSC cost calculator and it came out really low as I planned to test out most of what I need. I'm starting to feel really discouraged. I was hoping to not have to deal with the local college system since it's just full of teenagers and I feel like the Big 3 are geared more toward what I want/need at this point in my life. I could do some distance learning from the local college, I just absolutely do not want to physically go there to take classes. Been there, done that.

If I want to test out most of the rest of the credits I need for the AA, can I just figure out what classes I need and do the tests, and then enroll in COSC or TESC? I am thinking most of the credits will be earned so it won't cost much in the end.

I'm getting all confused again just when I felt like I had a decision.

You can't put into the cost calculator that you're transferring all of the credits except for the cornerstone and capstone. Remember that you'll need to take at least 6 credits per semester in order to be considered half-time. Half-time attendance is the minimum required for financial aid. So, your financial aid award is going to be $5,730. That means you will receive $2865 per semester as a full-time student. If you're a half-time student, you have to cut that in half. That means that 6 credits per semester will get you $1,432.5 per semester. Six credits at COSC is going to cost you $2,076 + the semester fee = $2,321. Your grant would not be enough to cover that; you would have to take out a student loan. If you were to attend a community college instead, not only would you not have to take out any loans, but you would have leftover money from your grant.

ACCD offers many online courses. They even offer several degree programs completely online. I took several courses there online; most of the online students were older than me, and I was in my mid-20s at the time.

[NAP]

What am I missing? Can the OP finish an associate degree with 4 TECEPs and a few CLEPs for $1000 out of pocket at TESC?

[Taxandria]

Thanks. It looks like that's what I'm going to have to end up doing. Now I will have to ask the local college if they will take credits from other sources and how many of my credits they will take. They will take CLEP, but I don't know about Saylor etc.

Ahh, money.