July 2018 current fees at the Big 3

[sanantone]

The comprehensive tuition plan covers all sources of credit. You only need 24 credits in online or guided study courses to receive a full financial aid award. The rest of the credits can come from TECEPs, e-Packs, and/or portfolio assessments.

Yes, the comprehensive plan is great for anyone who qualifies for financial aid, even if there are cheaper schools - because a large percentage is paid for, and it's 36cr rather than 30cr that you might take at another school.

For those who don't qualify, it's a good chunk of change to throw down, and as davewill says, life happens.  At least at a "regular" school with semesters, you're only paying for that semester at one time.  If something were to happen (car accident leaving you in the hospital, then several weeks of PT, then not really being 100% for another couple of months), the semester would be lost, but you could start fresh the next semester.  With TESU, you could lose several months of school time, but be out the full amount, and have to then restart everything, and try to cram more into less time.

But for someone who isn't doing a degree plan that can be tested out of, the comprehensive plan is a great way to save some money and take the courses you need for the degree.  It would just make me a bit nervous to gamble that much money at one time.

I don't know what their refund policy is for the comprehensive plan, but you can make three payments over a 6-month period.

I'd also like to note that taking 30 credits over two semesters is the norm, so taking 36 credits year-round is doable because it's similar to attending a traditional school during the summer.

[dfrecore]

The comprehensive tuition plan covers all sources of credit. You only need 24 credits in online or guided study courses to receive a full financial aid award. The rest of the credits can come from TECEPs, e-Packs, and/or portfolio assessments.

Yes, the comprehensive plan is great for anyone who qualifies for financial aid, even if there are cheaper schools - because a large percentage is paid for, and it's 36cr rather than 30cr that you might take at another school.

For those who don't qualify, it's a good chunk of change to throw down, and as davewill says, life happens.  At least at a "regular" school with semesters, you're only paying for that semester at one time.  If something were to happen (car accident leaving you in the hospital, then several weeks of PT, then not really being 100% for another couple of months), the semester would be lost, but you could start fresh the next semester.  With TESU, you could lose several months of school time, but be out the full amount, and have to then restart everything, and try to cram more into less time.

But for someone who isn't doing a degree plan that can be tested out of, the comprehensive plan is a great way to save some money and take the courses you need for the degree.  It would just make me a bit nervous to gamble that much money at one time.

I don't know what their refund policy is for the comprehensive plan, but you can make three payments over a 6-month period.

I'd also like to note that taking 30 credits over two semesters is the norm, so taking 36 credits year-round is doable because it's similar to attending a traditional school during the summer.

I wonder about the refund policy as well.

I did think that the 36 in a year is probably what a FT student taking summer school courses might take.  I also like that you can stagger the TESU courses, so that you can work around downtime or busy seasons at a job, planned vacations, or just not having to take all of your finals at the same time.  It provides a lot more flexibility for the non-traditional student.

[davewill]

We're all in general agreement, I think. It can be a good way to go if it works for you and you plan your courses carefully. Someone who just dives in because they think that will be easiest (kinda like I did) may end up spending more than they could have. I haven't really regretted it as it got me to the finish line, but I wasted part of my comprehensive year doing my PLA portfolios when I should have done everything else, then finished them afterward. It caused me to have to pay the capstone tuition separately, mostly because I didn't simply didn't know I could have taken it sooner. Also, I was very unsure of the PLA process and not knowing was kind of eating at my soul.

I wasn't active here while I actually did it, so I winged it.

[Mab81]

Hi, I have a question - if I am doing the TESU ASBA, there is no cornerstone or capstone, correct? So the fees would be the same but without that capstone tuition?

Application fee $75
Residency waiver $1800
Graduation fee $332

[Lewis.Yim]

ASBA is one of a few that doesn’t have a Capstone, there IS a Cornerstone for all degrees from Associate to Bachelors. The only options to waive the Cornerstone is to get the Study.com affiliate pricing by taking a course or two and transfer them in OR to transfer in 104+ credits.

[dfrecore]

Hi, I have a question - if I am doing the TESU ASBA, there is no cornerstone or capstone, correct? So the fees would be the same but without that capstone tuition?

Application fee $75
Residency waiver $1800
Graduation fee $332

The ASBA still has a cornerstone, it's just not listed on the website.  ALL degrees have the cornerstone.

I'm not sure why TESU doesn't have someone go through and update all of their degrees to make sure the cornerstone is on there, but they haven't.  They really should.

[Cdn-backpacker]

Excelsior has a StraighterLine partnership which brings down tuition by $100 a credit. It also brings the graduation fee down to $130 meaning you save $600 of the price it projects of $3275. That would make it $1000 cheaper than TESU if I’m not mistaken, paying for the necessary UL credits. Because I have 7 shmoop courses completed I’m looking at excelsior as TESU no longer accepts them.

[armstrongsubero]

Excelsior has a StraighterLine partnership which brings down tuition by $100 a credit. It also brings the graduation fee down to $130 meaning you save $600 of the price it projects of $3275. That would make it $1000 cheaper than TESU if I’m not mistaken, paying for the necessary UL credits. Because I have 7 shmoop courses completed I’m looking at excelsior as TESU no longer accepts them.

So what will be the total cost per course at Excelsior then? How much SL credits are needed? You have any links?

[dfrecore]

Excelsior has a StraighterLine partnership which brings down tuition by $100 a credit. It also brings the graduation fee down to $130 meaning you save $600 of the price it projects of $3275. That would make it $1000 cheaper than TESU if I’m not mistaken, paying for the necessary UL credits. Because I have 7 shmoop courses completed I’m looking at excelsior as TESU no longer accepts them.

Nope.  Excelsior partner pricing comes with a caveat: 

*The Enrollment and Graduation Fees revert to the non-partner rate if the student does not complete a minimum of twelve (12) Excelsior College online course credits prior to completion of a degree program.


So, the price for Excelsior does not change from my original post.

[Mab81]

ASBA is one of a few that doesn’t have a Capstone, there IS a Cornerstone for all degrees from Associate to Bachelors. The only options to waive the Cornerstone is to get the Study.com affiliate pricing by taking a course or two and transfer them in OR to transfer in 104+ credits.

Just taking classes at Study.com now isn’t enough to waive the cornerstone anymore. I just got this email from TESU:

“As of July 1st TES-100 is only waived for Study.com Working Scholars, Nursing Students, and/or those that have 104 or more credits on their initial Academic Evaluation. Those that have Study.com or any corporate code added after July 1st will need to take TES-100.”


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