Can you please help out a beginner. Any advice appreciated!

[Atomsk]

My first choice was TESU since I heard it was cheaper and I wanted to get the fastest major which looks to be business degree. Now I'm think about COC and getting a degree in liberal studies since the degree will help me out more with employers. Realistic how long would it take for me to enroll in COC and get a degree in liberal studies? What would be the price for this as well?

[dfrecore]

First of all, even the BSBA requires 2 semesters of English, so it's not as if you're not taking some of the core General Education courses that you need at every school to get any degree. Whether you get a degree in English or Math or Science or Business, they all require the same basic courses in the General Ed area.

I can't help you with COSC, but I think the BALS at TESU is still cheaper than COSC because you only have to take 1 course at TESU, and you have to take 2 at COSC. But I could be wrong on the price, I'm not sure how much the COSC courses cost.

I've also heard that the BALS at EC is going to start letting you test out of the capstone, so that could make EC cheaper than both.

So, in my opinion, you need to start taking courses that will count towards all 3 schools, and wait a little while to see which one has the best plan when you're ready to enroll. There are a lot of courses that will work for this, but I don't know COSC and EC well enough to help plan those out.

I could give you a spreadsheet for the BALS at TESU, with the cheapest routes to get your courses (through free courses, ALEKS math at $20/mo, Saylor courses which are $25 each, then using CLEP/DSST exams or SL to take courses). Then you could get some help from people more familiar with COSC and EC, and take all of the courses which will fit into all 3 schools.

[rebel100]

I haven't had a chance to read through the whole thread, but if price is a concern you really should apply to FAFSA.Gov and see where you are. If you qualify for significant minutes via a PELL grant I would recommend considering spending a little more time getting the degree utilizing as much b aid as you are offered. Free or very cheap would trump fast for me.

I chose COSC because they made the most of my PELL grant e-banking me to graduate debt free. You can still use test out and eventually even the big 3 to finish up.

Speed isn't everything. Complete your fafsa so you know where you stand.

[Atomsk]

Yeah I'd love that spread sheet! It would be extremely helpful. Can I take courses and CLEP exams without being enrolled in a college?

[Atomsk]

Yeah free is definitely better than fast. Thanks for the input. Getting any type of government help would be a plus which is why I want to get my GED.

[dfrecore]

Yeah I'd love that spread sheet! It would be extremely helpful. Can I take courses and CLEP exams without being enrolled in a college?

Of course. The only issue is that you have to pay for them. If you're planning on getting financial aid, you might want to finish the GED first, and then apply for FAFSA and then work out the tests and courses. There are experts on this forum who can help you figure out how to make the most of your financial aid money, I'm definitely not one of them.

But if you want to start on something inexpensive, here are some options:

Kaplan PLA (3cr free): https://openlearning.kaplan.com/kuopenlearning/LRC100/ (don't do the PLA, just take the quizzes, at least 70% on each one)

Insurance Ethics (2cr free): Preserve the trust on which insurance transactions are based with an understanding of ethics (you don't have to take the course, but you have to pass the quiz with 70%)

TEEX Cybersecurity 101, 201, 301 (2cr each, free): https://teex.org/Pages/Program.aspx?catI...ersecurity (10 total modules between the 3 courses, takes a while to get through them all)

NFA courses Q0118, Q0137, Q0318 (1cr each, free): Advanced course search

ALEKS math (up to 12cr, $20/mo): https://www.aleks.com/highered/math/course_products (start with Beginning Alg, then Intermediate Algebra, then College Algebra, then precalculus if you want, although it's necessary at EC for business degree, then statistics - you can take all of the 8 courses, but some duplicate depending on what school you're at - can't hurt to get them all on the ACE transcript)

Saylor (courses are free, proctored finals are $25 each): Earn College Credit | Saylor Academy (only the courses listed on this page are ACE-approved or NCCRS-approved

That should get you started on the least expensive options! Hope that helps.

[Atomsk]

Yeah I think I'll get my GED apply for fasfa, get financial aid and take the test above. Eventually enilist into one of the big 3. (Think of TESU or COC which ever would be best towards my goal) continue testing out and taking courses and end up with BALS. Does that sound reasonable? I would rather have it fast but free is always best way as said by rebel100. Realistically if everything seems right how long would it take and what would would I also have to pay for? Like college entrance fee or things that aren't CLEP exams or courses.

[KayV]

Since you will be taking the courses mentioned in dfrecore's excellent post above, you should also create an account with ACE so that you can have these classes put on your transcript.
https://www2.acenet.edu/credit/?fuseacti...ATION.main

Once you have created an account and signed in, you go to My Courses, then Add New Course to put classes on your transcript.

Also, since you are considering taking the post-2014 GED, scores above 175 on any component of the test will get you college credit (3 hours of College Algebra, 1 hour of Humanities, 3 hours of Physical Science, and 3 hours of Social Science). If you think you will achieve those sorts of scores on the GED, it might be worth taking for up to ten hours of college credit. Otherwise, I don't think the GED would supercede the high school diploma you already have.

[rebel100]

I still like the idea of using aid money at the cheapest place possible like your local CC or one of the online options out of New Mexico like Luna CC.... Then the grant money received back can fund things like CLEP and DSST.

[Atomsk]

Since you will be taking the courses mentioned in dfrecore's excellent post above, you should also create an account with ACE so that you can have these classes put on your transcript.
https://www2.acenet.edu/credit/?fuseacti...ATION.main

Once you have created an account and signed in, you go to My Courses, then Add New Course to put classes on your transcript.

Also, since you are considering taking the post-2014 GED, scores above 175 on any component of the test will get you college credit (3 hours of College Algebra, 1 hour of Humanities, 3 hours of Physical Science, and 3 hours of Social Science). If you think you will achieve those sorts of scores on the GED, it might be worth taking for up to ten hours of college credit. Otherwise, I don't think the GED would supercede the high school diploma you already have.

Yeah that sounds like it would be extremely helpful. So apply for FASFA, get my GED, make any ACE account so that the courses get added to my transcript, take some free and some of the courses mentioned above. Enroll into either COC or TESU. Apply for financial aid and use that to fund the CLEP test. Does that sound about right?