Which of the Big 3 should I choose if CLEP will be paid for?

[ajunkyarddog]

The company I work for will pay for any CLEP classes and assist with tuition associated with approved courses. They will NOT cover student fees, enrollment fees, semester fees, etc.
Given this info, which school would be the best for me to attempt? I am wracking my brain trying to figure it out. Which will be the least out of pocket for me?

Thank you so much.

[KayV]

Welcome! There are several things to consider for us to help you better.

1. What is your ultimate goal? An associate degree? A bachelors? Do you have a major in mind? Or is the goal just any degree at all?

2. Will your company only pay for CLEPs or will they also pay for other exam programs (DSST/ TECEP/ UExcel)? Will they pay for Straighterline classes?

3. Do you have any college or testing credit already completed? Are you a member of the military or do you have any professional licenses or certifications?

[dfrecore]

Also, what degree are you looking at, and do you have any other credits? If so, list them. The only way to know which will be cheapest is to figure out a plan for each school, preferably for a single degree.

[ajunkyarddog]

I am looking to get a bachelors degree in business. I have starting from scratch.

[ajunkyarddog]

I am going for a bachelors degree, preferably in business. I already have a steady career, so I just want any degree.
It only shows CLEPS. I don't think other exam programs will be accepted. I possibly could get around it by doing the test out directly through a school where I instantly get the credit. But that will not work if there is a per semester charge.
I am starting from scratch with no credits.

[davewill]

The TESU Per Credit plan doesn't have per semester fees just per credit. The only real sticking point is the residency requirement. It costs $2k to waive it. However if your employer will pay for 16 credits (5 regular courses at approx $1500 each and the $300 cornerstone) then you would not have to pay that fee. You would be left with the $75 application fee and the $400 graduation fee as the only non-credit based fees left at TESU. Even with the $2k waiver it's still cheaper than COSC or Excelsior. Take a look at the spreadsheet for one of the BSBA degrees. Do you have any idea what kind of specialization you would want? Management? CIS? Others? Whichever one, the spreadsheet will list the the requirements and most of the choices available to fill each of them and their costs.

You will have to look over the various forms of alternative credit in the plan and decide which of them your employer might cover. You know about CLEP. From your last post, TECEPs may work as well since they are registered for like any other TESU course and appear on the same transcript. Maybe you can make the argument that DSST tests are not materially different from CLEP (since they aren't). Also some of the alternative credit sources are so cheap that you may just be willing to pay for them out of pocket.

[dfrecore]

Here is a spreadsheet that shows the cost to get a BSBA in General Management at TESU. It is normally the cheapest degree available through the Big 3. BUT, I'm not sure if it's the cheapest in your particular situation.

For instance, it utilizes ALEKS. Now, since it's only $20/mo, it's probably worth it for you to just pay out of pocket. BUT, it's almost certain that your company won't pay for it because it's a monthly fee rather than a set fee per course.

Same with Straighterline; SL is a great deal, but it's a monthly membership fee, and then a set amount per course. To get around that, you might be able to take a "bundle" where you pay $496 for 3 courses in 4 months, and then you can take additional courses within that time period, without paying the membership fee. Also, the Business courses all include the eTextbook in the price of the course, so you'd come out ahead that way as well. But you'd have to check with your company to make sure they'd pay.

study.com is also a monthly fee of $199, and you can take 2 courses. But, they don't have a set per-course fee, so it may not work.

DSST exams are popular and cover many courses CLEP doesn't, so you may want to talk to your company about that (I would imagine they will pay for DSST if they will pay for CLEP).

I think you best bet is to talk to your HR department about this, and take along the degree plan, as well as anything showing that the school will accept the courses/exams you plan on taking, so there's no question. SL has a page for each school showing that they will accept the courses. I know that TESU has a page for both CLEP, DSST & TECEP's.

CLEP - College-Level Exam Program
DSST (formerly DANTES)
About TECEPÂ Exams
Online Courses, Online Classes for College Credit | StraighterLine

Last but not least, you will want to see what the prices are at EC and COSC, since I don't know those. But for TESU, they don't have any semester fees or student fees, but they have recently added the Residency Waiver Fee of $2000. So you would have to pay that yourself; but if your company paid for all of your courses, then you would definitely get a lot of bang for your buck.

P.S. If they won't pay for SL or study.com, there are some additional options; more expensive, but a set per-course fee (JumpCourse, Sophia, TCC, CSU-Global, Penn Foster, Propero, Ed4Credit, and LowCostGenEd). My husband's company has the same rules as yours so I still found a way for him to make a plan using these courses instead of SL.

[bjcheung77]

+1, Good advice here. I would also recommend what has been advised already, especially since your workplace pays for CLEP, ask and see if they pay for DSST or another, such as Straighterline or Study.com, (ACE evaluated, yet business related courses). You never know, if they pay for IT certs as well, you can always ask HR or your manager to get these... I just found out after 8 years, lol, better late than never.