Interesting Scenario (advice welcome)

[cmoneyt8ker]

I have 100 hours at my state university as of right now. I have been offered a HUGE promotion that will require me to move away. The catch 22 is that I have to finish my degree. I don't care what it is in it just has to be a degree. How much time would it take for me to take the remaining 20 hours at one of the big 3 to get a general degree in anything? Will they even take my credits from another school (university of alabama)? Money is not really an issue at this point I just need to get this finished ASAP. Thanks for any help you can lend.

[cookderosa]

I have 100 hours at my state university as of right now. I have been offered a HUGE promotion that will require me to move away. The catch 22 is that I have to finish my degree. I don't care what it is in it just has to be a degree. How much time would it take for me to take the remaining 20 hours at one of the big 3 to get a general degree in anything? Will they even take my credits from another school (university of alabama)? Money is not really an issue at this point I just need to get this finished ASAP. Thanks for any help you can lend.

>>

Ok, first suggestion, is talk to your home college's adviser for your major and ask them if CLEP or DSST credits can be used to fill ANY of your remaining slots. If yes, don't transfer- just CLEP. A CLEP exam is self-paced and you could (in theory) test out of your remaining 20 credits this month. Done. Diploma.

If CLEP or DSST is not an option, ask the same advisor if any of your remaining courses are offered online. 98% of public colleges/universities offer classes online, yours might, and if so- just stay on your path but complete the classes at a distance. Done. Diploma.

Last suggestion. Take the remaining credits and transfer them back into your home college. Of course, this would have to be mapped with your advisor, however, I'm 99.999% sure that whatever credit you have remaining- we can find that same class offered online somewhere. It's up to your college to accept it in transfer. *of course, if you need clinical or practicum hours, that's out.

As for transferring to one of the big 3, that depends on a zillion things, but generally speaking- any credit that is from a regionally accredited college is transferable. So, in theory, you could send over your transcripts and test out of the last 20 credits. However, you risk the distribution being different. For instance, one degree may require x credits in an area, and so you can be short - while other credits can exceed the allowed max in another area. So, transfer at 100 credits is my "worst-case" suggestion. EVEN if you do decide to do this, you can't graduate right away because you'll need to apply-have an evaluation-complete the credit-get a new eval- and file for graduation. This process in the best of circumstances can take 3 months (and realistically, it depends on when the cut off dates for graduation are). That will cost about $3500 plus CLEP fees -assuming you can CLEP /test out of your remaining credits. If you can't, you still have to take the classes- so this option won't put you ahead imo.

I think it would be easier to help you finish your remaining 20 at your home school. I'll help if I can.

[croc870]

I know that U of A will accept 45 credit hours of credit by exam. If you can share what you current credits are and what degree would be most helpful for you, then you will likely get some very good responses.