July 2018 current fees at the Big 3

[dfrecore]

The comprehensive tuition plan covers all sources of credit. You only need 24 credits in online or guided study courses to receive a full financial aid award. The rest of the credits can come from TECEPs, e-Packs, and/or portfolio assessments.

Yes, the comprehensive plan is great for anyone who qualifies for financial aid, even if there are cheaper schools - because a large percentage is paid for, and it's 36cr rather than 30cr that you might take at another school.

For those who don't qualify, it's a good chunk of change to throw down, and as davewill says, life happens.  At least at a "regular" school with semesters, you're only paying for that semester at one time.  If something were to happen (car accident leaving you in the hospital, then several weeks of PT, then not really being 100% for another couple of months), the semester would be lost, but you could start fresh the next semester.  With TESU, you could lose several months of school time, but be out the full amount, and have to then restart everything, and try to cram more into less time.

But for someone who isn't doing a degree plan that can be tested out of, the comprehensive plan is a great way to save some money and take the courses you need for the degree.  It would just make me a bit nervous to gamble that much money at one time.

I don't know what their refund policy is for the comprehensive plan, but you can make three payments over a 6-month period.

I'd also like to note that taking 30 credits over two semesters is the norm, so taking 36 credits year-round is doable because it's similar to attending a traditional school during the summer.

I wonder about the refund policy as well.

I did think that the 36 in a year is probably what a FT student taking summer school courses might take.  I also like that you can stagger the TESU courses, so that you can work around downtime or busy seasons at a job, planned vacations, or just not having to take all of your finals at the same time.  It provides a lot more flexibility for the non-traditional student.