Paying for TEC or Big 3

[mrobinson]

I apologize if I missed the thread but I have not been able to find the direct answer after a considerable amount of lurking here and searching for days.
I am not understanding how people are paying what I calculate 2-3K to transfer credits for a degree at one of the Big 3? Is it just a matter of saving the cash or putting it on Credit Card. I am assuming its due all up front to get your credits and degree transferred.

[cookderosa]

I apologize if I missed the thread but I have not been able to find the direct answer after a considerable amount of lurking here and searching for days.
I am not understanding how people are paying what I calculate 2-3K to transfer credits for a degree at one of the Big 3? Is it just a matter of saving the cash or putting it on Credit Card. I am assuming its due all up front to get your credits and degree transferred.

Great question!
If you have never earned a bachelor's degree, you'll first want to find out if you qualify for a Pell Grant. This is FREE college money awarded to you if you meet income requirements. You'll automatically be checked for this when you fill out the FAFSA student aid information. Everyone should do this, it only takes a minute and it doesn't obligate you to anything! Home - FAFSA on the Web-Federal Student Aid

Your FAFSA will also set you up to take out a student loan if you want. I'll reserve all my motherly "debt-free" lectures, but it's there if you choose to have it. Everyone (except drug offenders) qualify.

If you take federal student aid, any overage is refunded to you. In my case, I used that to pay for my few remaining CLEPs and books. I put the rest in the bank.

I'll also say that we were on a TIGHT and I mean TIGHT budget when I found this site. I had 4 kids and there was no "extra" in the budget for testing. I (literally) would sell something on ebay or craigslist, and then that was my testing money. Want to take another test? Sell more stuff lol. That's exactly what I did for the 6 months that I tested before I enrolled. I funded all my CLEP/DSST exams with cash, through selling stuff, having a yard sale, I even collected cans. I wouldn't have said it at the time, but I'm proud of it now.

Since then, other ideas, including part time jobs, seem to be common here on this board among members. I waited tables and that cash paid for my CLEP fees. I always thought long and hard about signing up for extras like Peterson's tests, because frankly, at $20 per pop, that adds up. Additionally, I tried my hardest to be prepared. Nothing sets a person back like throwing money away (failing). It happened to me once, but never twice.

I didn't use a credit card, and again, I won't try and sound high-and-mighty saying you shouldn't either, but this is an AFFORDABLE path. A motivated person (and you are, or you wouldn't be here!) can find ways to raise bits and pieces of cash to pay for this degree out of pocket. I took out a student loan (I shared that story in another thread) but only because I was about $900 short, so I took the overage, paid my remaining exams/books, and opened a separate savings account. Student loans are not repaid until 6 months after graduation (or taking fewer than 6 credits) so during that 6 months I kept selling stuff and socking away change. On the DAY - literally- that my first payment was due I paid my student loan in full. I can't imagine the burden many carry for 5, 10+ years.

Anyway, I wouldn't enroll until you have a good plan to PAY for your degree. You can do it, it just takes more planning. I'm sure you can do it!!

[Westerner]

Getting your credits to the school doesn't cost that much. You can get all your CLEP credits transferred for $20, and your DSST credits for $30. If you have credits you're transferring through ACE, the transcript is $40 for the first one and $15 for all subsequent ones. For community college credits, I'm not sure how much it would be to transfer them to the school, but I'm guessing it's not that much

You pay the big bucks when you're actually enrolling at the college and paying the fees for the classes you want to take. As far as paying up front or not, I'm enrolling soon so I don't have an answer quite yet

[sanantone]

In order to get financial aid at any college, you need to take a certain number of credits per term. At least 12 credits per semester or 6 months will get you the full award. At least 6 credits per semester or 6 months will get you half of the award. This means that you would have to take a few courses at TESC or Excelsior in order to have aid directly cover the enrollment fees. At COSC, you can get financial aid through a consortium agreement with another college; but, you're going to have to take at least 6 credits at COSC anyway with the capstone and cornerstone being required.

I received a grant to attend a community college. I used the leftover aid to pay for the enrollment fee at TESC.

[mrobinson]

Getting your credits to the school doesn't cost that much. You can get all your CLEP credits transferred for $20, and your DSST credits for $30. If you have credits you're transferring through ACE, the transcript is $40 for the first one and $15 for all subsequent ones. For community college credits, I'm not sure how much it would be to transfer them to the school, but I'm guessing it's not that much

You pay the big bucks when you're actually enrolling at the college and paying the fees for the classes you want to take. As far as paying up front or not, I'm enrolling soon so I don't have an answer quite yet

Ok, Good info, I was thinking that the cost mentioned on TESC website was per CLEP test so if I took 3 that were worth 3 credits each meaning 9x20 in the example was the cost, plus their enrollment fees at TESC or one of the Big 3.
I do already have FAFSA approval at 100% and am enrolled to get an AAS in paralegal studies but, Im older in my mid 40's and I didn't want to take 2 years or more to get the AA so I took 4 classes this fist quarter.
My goal if I could do some CLEP exams and reduce the years it takes to get a Bachelors in something easy like Criminal Justice or Liberal Arts so I can try getting into LAW school and use my GI Bill and FAFSA on the more expensive parts of school.
Thanks for all the tips from all-good discussion and gave me a couple good ideas on how people are funding this.

[mrobinson]

Great question!
If you have never earned a bachelor's degree, you'll first want to find out if you qualify for a Pell Grant. This is FREE college money awarded to you if you meet income requirements. You'll automatically be checked for this when you fill out the FAFSA student aid information. Everyone should do this, it only takes a minute and it doesn't obligate you to anything! Home - FAFSA on the Web-Federal Student Aid

Your FAFSA will also set you up to take out a student loan if you want. I'll reserve all my motherly "debt-free" lectures, but it's there if you choose to have it. Everyone (except drug offenders) qualify.

If you take federal student aid, any overage is refunded to you. In my case, I used that to pay for my few remaining CLEPs and books. I put the rest in the bank.

I'll also say that we were on a TIGHT and I mean TIGHT budget when I found this site. I had 4 kids and there was no "extra" in the budget for testing. I (literally) would sell something on ebay or craigslist, and then that was my testing money. Want to take another test? Sell more stuff lol. That's exactly what I did for the 6 months that I tested before I enrolled. I funded all my CLEP/DSST exams with cash, through selling stuff, having a yard sale, I even collected cans. I wouldn't have said it at the time, but I'm proud of it now.

Since then, other ideas, including part time jobs, seem to be common here on this board among members. I waited tables and that cash paid for my CLEP fees. I always thought long and hard about signing up for extras like Peterson's tests, because frankly, at $20 per pop, that adds up. Additionally, I tried my hardest to be prepared. Nothing sets a person back like throwing money away (failing). It happened to me once, but never twice.

I didn't use a credit card, and again, I won't try and sound high-and-mighty saying you shouldn't either, but this is an AFFORDABLE path. A motivated person (and you are, or you wouldn't be here!) can find ways to raise bits and pieces of cash to pay for this degree out of pocket. I took out a student loan (I shared that story in another thread) but only because I was about $900 short, so I took the overage, paid my remaining exams/books, and opened a separate savings account. Student loans are not repaid until 6 months after graduation (or taking fewer than 6 credits) so during that 6 months I kept selling stuff and socking away change. On the DAY - literally- that my first payment was due I paid my student loan in full. I can't imagine the burden many carry for 5, 10+ years.

Anyway, I wouldn't enroll until you have a good plan to PAY for your degree. You can do it, it just takes more planning. I'm sure you can do it!!

Jennifer love the answer great stuff and some good ideas. I agree with you I have FAFSA but used 100% taking 4 classes the first quarter trying to get it done ASAP. I also got a job via FAFSA as a work study at the college I am attending its only 9.00 HR but its not counted towards future earnings when applying for grants again I found out. I am limited to 20 hours max as per FAFSA guidelines so I do well in school also. The college I am attending has several of these kinds of P/T jobs but they rarely advertise it you just have to ask the Financial Aid office.
You gave me some fresh inspiration though thanks

[cookderosa]

Jennifer love the answer great stuff and some good ideas. I agree with you I have FAFSA but used 100% taking 4 classes the first quarter trying to get it done ASAP. I also got a job via FAFSA as a work study at the college I am attending its only 9.00 HR but its not counted towards future earnings when applying for grants again I found out. I am limited to 20 hours max as per FAFSA guidelines so I do well in school also. The college I am attending has several of these kinds of P/T jobs but they rarely advertise it you just have to ask the Financial Aid office.
You gave me some fresh inspiration though thanks

>>

Ok, so now I understand your story a little better. You should use your FA to take your classes that you CAN'T test out of. In other words, a specific law class instead of Sociology 101 if that makes sense. In AAS degrees, there are often only a handful of classes that you can test out of, so be sure not to enroll in those or you'll miss that opportunity.

[JohnnyHeck]

Cookderosa, my admiration for you increases with almost your every post! You are so kind to keep posting so much after you have already won the prize.

[Westerner]

Soooo...when you enroll (in TESC), do you have to pay the whole enrollment fee up front? Or can you pay some first and the rest later...?

[cookderosa]

Cookderosa, my admiration for you increases with almost your every post! You are so kind to keep posting so much after you have already won the prize.

I need to go to bed, I think I'm reading too much into whatever that means.