The Duggars and CollegePlus

[EI2HCB]

I guess we've been round and round now about the merits or demerits of College Plus, paying for an external church community/Educational for profit ministry is fine for some folk. A vast array of people have commented on this topic and it will show up in the google searchpages fairly soon. Lets reassure readers that whatever the benefit of College Plus or lack of benefit many of us who use this site exclusively value the contribution of all test takers regardless of their membership in other online communities through the exam specific pages and also the free advice from the many who volunteer their time to dispense. I think its fair to say that everyone is welcomed here with open arms, believer or non-believer and if a question is asked most of us are glad to be able to point in the right direction and to share our experiences. I propose a moratorium on further comments and lets get back to what we're here for to get our education in a way we've chosen be it CP or DF flashcards or other avenues.

[Publius]

I guess we've been round and round now about the merits or demerits of College Plus, paying for an external church community/Educational for profit ministry is fine for some folk. A vast array of people have commented on this topic and it will show up in the google searchpages fairly soon. Lets reassure readers that whatever the benefit of College Plus or lack of benefit many of us who use this site exclusively value the contribution of all test takers regardless of their membership in other online communities through the exam specific pages and also the free advice from the many who volunteer their time to dispense. I think its fair to say that everyone is welcomed here with open arms, believer or non-believer and if a question is asked most of us are glad to be able to point in the right direction and to share our experiences. I propose a moratorium on further comments and lets get back to what we're here for to get our education in a way we've chosen be it CP or DF flashcards or other avenues.

Yep, I agree. Let's get back to doing what we're good at!

Conclusion on CollegePlus (in my eyes):
They're comparable to to a building contractor, or as Sanatone put it nicely, a tax preparing service. You give them big bucks, and they do the same thing you could of done for next to nothing. Some people want this, while knowing full well they could of done it. Trust me though, getting your degree is much much easier then preparing taxes. All your talking about is picking a degree, which tests you'll take (when you can choose), and in what order.
With that said though, CollegePlus is not a scam. Nowhere do they claim to be getting you the BEST price. They state "For faster, For Less" and that's what they end up doing. In the end scheme of things, they're still saving their customers thousands upon thousands of dollars, so it's hard to say all they are is a scam (but now, ethics, that's a different issue ). Also, if you come to them, and they think you're good to go, they'll say so, as cpenn had experienced.
CollegePlus seems to have a targeted audience, christian homeschooled highschool/college age kids, and they appear to be quite satisfied with what the 3K purchased. They're defending CollegePlus quite strongly, so heck, CP must be doing SOMETHING right.
Good, bad, or indifferent? Hard to say... they'll hold your hand and help you for 3K. If you want to use them great, if not great. That's one of the freedoms we have as individuals, we each get to pick what suits us best. A lot of the B&M mindset people dislike us and what we're doing... no need to be divisive amongst ourselves. So, with that said, we all have the same goal, just slightly different paths to reach it.

That my 2 cents, and all that's left in my pockets. Peace out.

[Cyrus]

So let's derail a discussion of whether a distance learning coaching and support program at $3000+ per student is overpriced, because you're more concerned about the separate issue of government spending.

Cyrus, this is a distance learning consumer board!

Please, if you're moved to talk about government spending start a thread in Off-Topic, but this line of criticism seems pretty misplaced here. The main subject of degreeforum is consumer-level, usually very cost-conscious nuts-and-bolts of earning distance learning degrees.



Meh, we're on the Internet. Internet's heard it all.

I was trying to make the point that the reaction to paying 3k for a degree, and much more, (per year) is way to big... that sort of reaction should for like... like government spending. In other words, sanantone, I believe that you are over reacting...

*whispers* Not what someone in the "know" can offer...

Welcome gmx0! I was hoping you would be around.

[bmills072200]

When did this CollegePlus start up? I totally had this idea 4-5 years ago... stupid me for not pursuing it. :-)

I have no problem with anyone making a profit on consulting fees for information even if the information that they are providing is readily available for free.

If you really think about it, all of the teaching and information provided in almost all college courses is available for free with a library card and internet access. You pay a school to provide a professor, first for the college credit and second for the information to be presented to you in a clear and intelligible way that is easier to process and understand than it would be to simply go figure it our for yourself.

Don't hate on people that provide a service that you do not need. Other people do need it or else the business would not be successful. Aw... the beauties of capitalism!

[Jonathan Whatley]

I was trying to make the point that the reaction to paying 3k for a degree, and much more, (per year) is way to big...

For many families in the U.S., $3000 is huge.

I have no problem with services being offered for $3000 or much more to those who can afford them. Long live the marketplace!

But I do have a problem if people shut down the marketplace of ideas here, derailing a discussion about a $3000 service on a consumer board because $3000 doesn't seem like a high priority to them. This isn't $3000 in the federal budget: this is $3000 or more in the budget of every individual family that supports a member through CollegePlus.

Also, if I'm not mistaken the CP fee doesn't include "a degree, and much more." It includes some more that supports the student on the way to the degree. But I think every examination, course, and college fee towards the degree incurs an additional cost.

[sanantone]

CollegePlus seems to have a targeted audience, christian homeschooled highschool/college age kids, and they appear to be quite satisfied with what the 3K purchased. They're defending CollegePlus quite strongly, so heck, CP must be doing SOMETHING right.

It could be a psychological thing. People will strongly defend something that they spent a lot of money on whether it was worth it or not. They have to justify in their minds and others that it was worth it. It's a defense mechanism to try to put their subconscious at ease.

[bmills072200]

It could be a psychological thing. People will strongly defend something that they spent a lot of money on whether it was worth it or not. They have to justify in their minds and others that it was worth it. It's a defense mechanism to try to put their subconscious at ease.

So, Sanantone... I have finally read through all of this thread and I think I understand your point of view. I am not going to argue that $3,000 is a reasonable fee for CP's services. But I do not think that is really relevant to the conversation. The market gets to decide what is a fair fee for their services.

I would just like to ask you a simple question. If the mission of all of us on this site is to build knowledge and awareness about college education options, specifically DE, and to help people save money, which it appears that you have admitted is something you enjoy doing, than would the fight for this cause be better or worse if CP did not exist?

If CP did not exist, many people that are ignorant to the options that are out there would never learn about them because they are not resourceful enough to find this site or other similar sites. One thing that I think has been discounted throughout this discussion is that what CP does is not without its overhead. They have a staff of people and they obviously spend a lot of money marketing the company in order to get their customers. Most of those customers are people that would likely have never learned about different DE options if not for CP.

So, because CP charges a fee that you find personally egregious, you slam them on a public forum??? This does not compute for me. Your motivation to help others is clear based upon the number of posts that you have contributed and the amount of time that you have been on this forum and I'm sure many other forums. I just think it is unfair to deride a company that is making a profit by providing information that we provide for free. How much money have you spent marketing your knowledge about distance education? Have you gone to homeschooling conventions and spent the time and money to teach others about what you know? If you had spent the time and money to do those things, would you not want to be compensated?

I applaud CP for what they have done and I am hugely jealous that I did not think of it first!

[Publius]

It could be a psychological thing. People will strongly defend something that they spent a lot of money on whether it was worth it or not. They have to justify in their minds and others that it was worth it. It's a defense mechanism to try to put their subconscious at ease.

Sure, but at the same time though, you'd think that a dozen or so people out of thousands would be kind enough to say "STAY AWAY!!".

[Publius]

When did this CollegePlus start up? I totally had this idea 4-5 years ago... stupid me for not pursuing it. :-)

I have no problem with anyone making a profit on consulting fees for information even if the information that they are providing is readily available for free.

If you really think about it, all of the teaching and information provided in almost all college courses is available for free with a library card and internet access. You pay a school to provide a professor, first for the college credit and second for the information to be presented to you in a clear and intelligible way that is easier to process and understand than it would be to simply go figure it our for yourself.

Don't hate on people that provide a service that you do not need. Other people do need it or else the business would not be successful. Aw... the beauties of capitalism!

I think they were started back in 03 or 04???? Which, btw, folks, was before this board existed and free help and info was readily available.

[Westerner]

Most of those customers are people that would likely have never learned about different DE options if not for CP.

Exactly!!!! :coolgleam:

So, because CP charges a fee that you find personally egregious, you slam them on a public forum??? This does not compute for me. Your motivation to help others is clear based upon the number of posts that you have contributed and the amount of time that you have been on this forum and I'm sure many other forums. I just think it is unfair to deride a company that is making a profit by providing information that we provide for free. How much money have you spent marketing your knowledge about distance education? Have you gone to homeschooling conventions and spent the time and money to teach others about what you know? If you had spent the time and money to do those things, would you not want to be compensated?

Agreed again. You said it perfectly