Non-Credit vs For-Credit Courses

[eupharis]

Wow this community is crazy. I had no idea a place like this existed.

I read over https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Th...c_Approach

and did a deep dive on the wiki.

I'm someone who has taken a LOT of courses over the years. But all the for-credit courses I have taken have just been at the local community college / state university.

I thought I was doing really well going to an in-state school, taking AP classes, doing community college where I could, and picking up a few grants/scholarships here and there.

But yeah it seems like the approach here could have made things way cheaper? Like 10x cheaper?

Looks like I have ~280 undergrad credits and 73 grad credits. I have two degrees (BA and MA) and a smattering of certificates.

I ran some back of the envelope calculations, and right now at a cost of $250 per credit (tuition + fees, with residency), my undergrad alone would cost $70k today.

But you all are doing it for $5-10k? That's wild.

...

So I built this website for the non-credit online course space:

https://newcoursealert.com/

But after reading this forum, I wonder if pursuing non-credit online classes is really the way to go anymore.

With something like Sophia, the cost of for-credit courses seems like it's actually less than non-credit courses? Why wouldn't you pick up the college credits? Am I missing something?

So yeah, I am rethinking my website now. It feels like if you could send people alerts about new for-credit courses, that would be even more helpful?

[cerich67]

Wow this community is crazy. I had no idea a place like this existed.

I read over https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Th...c_Approach

and did a deep dive on the wiki.

I'm someone who has taken a LOT of courses over the years. But all the for-credit courses I have taken have just been at the local community college / state university.

I thought I was doing really well going to an in-state school, taking AP classes, doing community college where I could, and picking up a few grants/scholarships here and there.

But yeah it seems like the approach here could have made things way cheaper? Like 10x cheaper?

Looks like I have ~280 undergrad credits and 73 grad credits. I have two degrees (BA and MA) and a smattering of certificates.

I ran some back of the envelope calculations, and right now at a cost of $250 per credit (tuition + fees, with residency), my undergrad alone would cost $70k today.

But you all are doing it for $5-10k? That's wild.

...

So I built this website for the non-credit online course space:

https://newcoursealert.com/

But after reading this forum, I wonder if pursuing non-credit online classes is really the way to go anymore.

With something like Sophia, the cost of for-credit courses seems like it's actually less than non-credit courses? Why wouldn't you pick up the college credits? Am I missing something?

So yeah, I am rethinking my website now. It feels like if you could send people alerts about new for-credit courses, that would be even more helpful?

Read my signature, I could have save about $2500 had I done UMPI versus TESU for undergrad

Just saying

[Insert Name]

I think there is a place for non credit courses. A lot of them come with some sort of certificate/proof you took them. For instance my DCS programming classes can go a long way in certain circles, but a BS is going to go a decent distance in every circle. IT certs, from what I understand, can help a lot. But yeah, I’m general, I feel what you are saying. I’ve spent a lot of time taking courses, trainings, etc that only apply in my current job, and at some point a while back I decided to table that for a while and go after courses that finish a degree.

---

Dude! If you could run a section of for credit courses on that alert website, maybe even break down RA/NA/ACE/etc. that would be a powerful website. I feel like a lot of people that go this route, keep going in some form. They knock out degrees, then go for certs, then go for fun. By having an option for credit, non credit. It would keep people at your alert site too. Think about it, to see if you could pull it off, or even want to. But I’m picturing “tell me when a new ____ class comes available for ACE credits.” Then “tell me when any ____ class comes available.” I wouldn’t sweep the nation and monitor EVERY school. Just ones like they pay attention to here.

[eupharis]

I think there is a place for non credit courses. A lot of them come with some sort of certificate/proof you took them. For instance my DCS programming classes can go a long way in certain circles, but a BS is going to go a decent distance in every circle. IT certs, from what I understand, can help a lot.

Yeah good point about non-degree courses. I guess they do still have a role for sure. This place just kind of blew my mind yesterday

Dude! If you could run a section of for credit courses on that alert website, maybe even break down RA/NA/ACE/etc. that would be a powerful website. I feel like a lot of people that go this route, keep going in some form. They knock out degrees, then go for certs, then go for fun. By having an option for credit, non credit. It would keep people at your alert site too. Think about it, to see if you could pull it off, or even want to. But I’m picturing “tell me when a new ____ class comes available for ACE credits.” Then “tell me when any ____ class comes available.” I wouldn’t sweep the nation and monitor EVERY school. Just ones like they pay attention to here.

That's a great idea! Scraping just the "big" schools / sites here wouldn't be too terrible. And would probably catch like 90% of the courses people here are interested in.

[rachel83az]

Both credit and non-credit courses have their place. Non-credit courses are usually cheaper and are more likely to be self-paced. This is good for students who aren't 100% sure if they want to dump a lot of money into a paid/expensive credit course.

If you could figure out how to scrape the ACE National Guide, https://www.acenet.edu/national-guide/Pa...fault.aspx, that would also be useful. As it is right now, it's difficult to find new courses/providers if you don't go looking for them directly.

[MidLifeCrisis]

If you wanted to pivot slightly and set the site up for the 'efficient' degrees idea. I see an opportunity to take your credits, and have it prefill somewhat of degree plans based on known transfer equivalencies for various degrees at various institutions. It would be a lot of work, but it would be a point of difference for the website

[sanantone]

I only do non-credit courses when they're free or low-cost, but I've also been fortunate to receive free access to LinkedIn Learning via schools attended and my current employer. My current employer also gives free access to Skillsoft.

[SweetSecret]

I only do non-credit courses when they're free or low-cost, but I've also been fortunate to receive free access to LinkedIn Learning via schools attended and my current employer. My current employer also gives free access to Skillsoft.

I'm not sure if they still do this but Robert Half International used to offer all temps access to SkillSoft for free. I still have an account with access. With that said though I've never figured out how to use skillsoft to gain credits, although apparently that's possible. If anyone wants access to skills after I would definitely recommend going and just interviewing with Robert Half just to get the access.

[Vle045]

I only do non-credit courses when they're free or low-cost, but I've also been fortunate to receive free access to LinkedIn Learning via schools attended and my current employer. My current employer also gives free access to Skillsoft.

I am with you on that. I tend to sign up for most of the free courses that interest me.  Sometimes too many at a time.  I complete some of them but not all of them.   So many interesting opportunities for very little cost or free.

LinkedIn Learning - I have that through my current school.
Sophia - I have free as an Avon Rep until March 2023, but these would be technically for-credit for most people.
ASU - I signed up for the free 100 million learners courses.  Those can later be for-credit, but no one knows the fee for that.
USF - I finished the Diversity equity and inclusion certificate that was free last year.
Coursera Plus - This one is not free, but they usually have a nice discount in January for the year.
American Dream Academy - opportunity to get one free for-credit certificate.
Walden University - Finished free term with non-credit business essentials courses.  I was hoping to finish at least one for-credit course but didn’t quite get there.  I don’t think they offer the free term any more.
eRasmussen - they have several free certificates, but I have not signed up for any. 
Troy University - they have two free courses this summer starting on Monday.