How in the world do you pay for all of these exams?!

[LaterBloomer]

Do you have a cell 'phone? Why? How much does it cost? Get a land line with limited calling. Do you have cable TV? Get rid of it. Antenna is fine. What about the Internet? Can you get rid of it (use the library) or get a less expensive (slower) service? How often do you eat/drink items that you did not make or bring from home? Stop that. Do you walk to work? Don't tell me it's too far. If your work is 25 miles from home, drive 24, and walk the rest. What about your make up? Can you buy less expensive brands? (Same for shampoo, etc.) (Okay, and a personal rant. Can someone PLEASE explain to me why women's deodorant is more expensive per ounce than men's? You'd think it would cost less for those of us made of sugar and spice verus snails and puppy dog tails.)

What I'm getting at is examining EVERY cent that you spend, and find a way not to spend it. As BF said, a penny saved is a penny earned. Good luck.

[alleycat]

Openroot SNHU is not cheap. Not a cost affective school to get your degree done.

[OpenRoot]

Sorry - go ahead and disregard that then. Like I said, its been a while since I've checked them out. I just now went and googled it and its actually only a few bucks per course more than what I'm paying at my in-state university, so that's probably why I considered them "reasonable" to begin with.

[rebel100]

WGU has an interesting model....but it's NOT for everyone.

The "Big 3" are by far the most cost effective When tested out of.

[Lindagerr]

Do you ever get Birthday, Christmas, or other gifts from friends or relatives? I would tell them you are returning to school and need cash. Tell them how much you appreciate the time and effort they put in to picking you presents, but for now the greatest present would be cash for exams. My family is big on going in together to buy bigger presents for one person. So let several people get together and buy you one test. It may seem like you are asking for money, but if you explain it as test are the items you most need for the foreseeable future. You are not just saying I don't want your junk I want money. When members of my family were having hard times we sometimes haad a jar I put change into, then when it was a holiday we cashed in the change and got a gift card to a food store. This is the same type of help you need now, explaining that makes you smarter, anyone who dosen't like that idea or feel comfortable with it can still just give you a present and if you don't need it you can still sell it online.

[ronaldemail1]

Start with the cheapest options available online first like ALEKS, SAYLOR, TEEX. Then after that, you can start by worrying of the most expensive options.
Try to follow a plan. And study a lot in order to pass on the first try.

[Ohrenberg]

I just wanted to thank everybody for all of the great options and feedback. I'm definitely going to put it to good use!

[ryoder]

I am kind of shocked when people say that $100 to take a test is a lot of money considering that most peoples' monthly cell phone bill is right around $100 and that college tuition is more like $6000 per year. I know it does add up if you take 3-4 tests per month but at two tests per month you can rack up 72 credits over the year at a cost of about $2400. It would take 3 years of serious part time attendance at a university to get 72 credits. I would recommend that people prepare a budget and see where their money is actually going. Cut out Starbucks, tanning, nails, cable if you need to.

[cookderosa]

Ryoder, I think it's because people don't know until they need it. Side story, when I was testing, I told my dad about a test I was taking, and HE WAS FLOORED at paying (I think it was $60 when I was testing) and couldn't believe I would pay that. He's never taken a college class, and certainly has never looked into anything like that, so when I explained to him what the CC charges he just couldn't believe it. I think it takes a bit of time to consider all the costs, I mean really, tuition is only about 60-70% of the cost of traditional college- they have book fees that blow the budget as well as all kinds of made up crap on top of it all. Anyway, after you spend a bit of time studying the costs, you can see the benefits, but for many people they never even know the tuition of where they attend. My brother didn't. True story.

[ryoder]

My tuition was $47 per semester hour in 1994. I remember that well since I was paid $6.50/hour. Sorry to hijack the thread but CLEP costs are a steal. You should see how much a PhD level course costs. $2000+ for 3 credits.