Starting from scratch..

[Mirsie]

My goal is to become a teacher. I want to finish my bachelor's at WGU, and I would like to admit to WGU with as much accomplished beforehand.
Because I work full-time, and have four daughter's, I want to prove to myself that I am ready to take this on by gaining all of the free credits I can first.
I know that some "free" credits don't transfer to WGU (onlinedegree being the first one I am interested in).
If I complete an associate's degree at one of the big 3 using these credits, will it be accepted by WGU?
What free or almost free credits would transfer?
I also plan on studying for the classes before enrolling in WGU, as I would like to attempt to finish in one, no more than two terms. Is it possible to find the information for studying for the courses before enrolling? Or would I just be studying on my own on the classes and hoping that the material translated between my studies and the courses?

I want to build my plan over the next few days.
I also plan to create a website outlining how I accelerated through my studies for others to learn from.

Guidance please!

[mysonx3]

I can only help with some of your questions, but nonetheless:

1. I can't tell if you're asking if Online Degree courses are accepted at WGU or stating that that aren't, but either way: they aren't.

2. An associate's from the Big 3 would transfer, however it'd be much less efficient than just getting the correct transfer credits at WGU to knock out your GenEds

3. As for free credits, WGU accepts ACE, so thinks like TEEX/Sophia should work, though I don't know exactly what courses will satisfy degree requirements. If you're comfortable with CLEP, you can get them for free through MS and I know that many of them work for WGU requirements.

Sorry I can't be more help, as I'm not a WGU student, but I hope this helps!

[lacussucceed]

You are about to set a great example for your daughters!
Be sure to check out WGU academy as this would be a very reasonable priced way to gain credit.
Skip the Associates.
Best of luck

[Mirsie]

I can only help with some of your questions, but nonetheless:

1. I can't tell if you're asking if Online Degree courses are accepted at WGU or stating that that aren't, but either way: they aren't.

2. An associate's from the Big 3 would transfer, however it'd be much less efficient than just getting the correct transfer credits at WGU to knock out your GenEds

3. As for free credits, WGU accepts ACE, so thinks like TEEX/Sophia should work, though I don't know exactly what courses will satisfy degree requirements. If you're comfortable with CLEP, you can get them for free through MS and I know that many of them work for WGU requirements.

Sorry I can't be more help, as I'm not a WGU student, but I hope this helps!

Thank you for replying!
I was trying to figure out if I did my GE at onlinedegree, and used those to put toward an associate's degree from the big three, if I could then transfer that to WGU and they would give me the credit for my those courses.

I really want to dip my toes before diving deep. The CLEP from MS is an amazing resource, but the nearest testing center is a few hours away. Can you do multiple CLEP tests at the same time? For what it would cost in gas, I could be paying for proctoring or whatnot and possibly end up cheaper if I can't take multiple CLEPs in a trip.

---

I will look into the WGU Academy, thank you!
Another option. That I have been toying with is getting my bachelor's and then going to get my teaching credentials.
I've seen a few people claiming that you can get the BSLA? For free or almost free, then it would be one term of paid study for the credentials.
Might end up cheaper and I would still be graduating from WGU (which my local schools have a partner ship of some sort)
Thoughts?

[mysonx3]

Even with able to use Online Degree for the Big 3 associate's, it's still going to be much less efficient (both from a time and $$$ perspective) to skip the associate's. If you had a goal for the associate's itself, that's one thing, but it will only make your bachelor's pursuit harder.

You should be able to take multiple CLEPs in a day, but your test center might have a rule against it - I heard of one that did. Also, note that MS will reimburse you for proctoring fees.

[natshar]

If your goal is being a teacher the cheapest and most efficient way to do it is to get a teaching degree. A BALS isn't free, the courses for it (clep, od.com, etc) would be. But a BALS from TESU would still cost like 4k or more.

Just work on cleps, TEEX and gen eds to transfer to WGU.

[bjcheung77]

Mirsie, being a teacher is a great profession. I love teachers, especially the ones who put care/effort into teaching the younger generation what they currently know and should know. Anyways, you're going to have to decide on a couple options, it's either going to be one/two of the three - cheap/easy/fast. Rarely will it be all three, but I like to add a 4th - value. I find from your posts, you're leaning towards doing the free courses and the cheap ones from onlinedegree.com towards a WGU degree.

That is where is where you're going for too much, onlinedegree.com are NCCRS credits, apparently, WGU will not accept those. It would be a waste of your energy/money/time to work on these courses. I would even venture to say, for the FREE/cheapo courses, if the courses do not transfer over, skip it! You just need the required credits to get your degree. For WGU, I recommend doing the StraighterLine/Study.com combo because both are ACE recommended for credit.

I would fork out the cash towards StraighterLine as many if not all of the people who I recommended to apply for a WGU scholarship, got the scholarship after taking a minimum of 4 courses. Essentially, it's $2000 split into 4 terms. I would only use 1 term of $500. That's roughly 10 courses at StraighterLine paid for... Find your degree at WGU (Teaching) and get the requirements, post them here and we'll try to provide all the transferable options. BTW, do you have tuition reimbursement? - BJ Out.

[lacussucceed]

Mirsie, being a teacher is a great profession.  I love teachers, especially the ones who put care/effort into teaching the younger generation what they currently know and should know.  Anyways, you're going to have to decide on a couple options, it's either going to be one/two of the three - cheap/easy/fast.  Rarely will it be all three, but I like to add a 4th - value.   I find from your posts, you're leaning towards doing the free courses and the cheap ones from onlinedegree.com towards a WGU degree.  

That is where is where you're going for too much, onlinedegree.com are NCCRS credits, apparently, WGU will not accept those.  It would be a waste of your energy/money/time to work on these courses.  I would even venture to say, for the FREE/cheapo courses, if the courses do not transfer over, skip it!  You just need the required credits to get your degree.  For WGU, I recommend doing the StraighterLine/Study.com combo because both are ACE recommended for credit.

I would fork out the cash towards StraighterLine as many if not all of the people who I recommended to apply for a WGU scholarship, got the scholarship after taking a minimum of 4 courses.  Essentially, it's $2000 split into 4 terms.  I would only use 1 term of $500.  That's roughly 10 courses at StraighterLine paid for...  Find your degree at WGU (Teaching) and get the requirements, post them here and we'll try to provide all the transferable options.   BTW, do you have tuition reimbursement? - BJ Out.

Wouldn't WGU Academy be the cost friendly SL plan?

[bjcheung77]

Wouldn't WGU Academy be the cost friendly SL plan?

WGU Academy is a good choice since they use the StraighterLine platform for $150/month, they only offer 4-5 courses, but that can go into the degree plan. For me, I don't like spending money and I think it's more worth it to get the $2000 SL Scholarship instead. If the OP would like, they can do the WGU Academy and then take more SL courses for the scholarship.

Example, I pay for the same courses or different ones at StraighterLine directly and apply for the Scholarship, it'll be $2000 over 4 terms. If I get the degree done in 1 term - scholarship will only be $500. It will pay for at least 8-9 SL courses and I save that $150/month, plus the term tuition is discounted further from $3500 to $3000/term or whatever the current term pricing is...

[allvia]

WGU is also financial aid friendly (a big plus if those 4 daughters make you eligible for a Pell Grant)