least expensive Big 3 option for 18 year old if no college credit?

[EducationSeeker]

Hello,

My younger son is currently a 16 year old HS Sophomore student and we are trying to keep the out of pocket cost for a Bachelor's degree as low as possible. 

So, he is looking at getting as many dual credit LL college course credits as possible (as close to Associate degree) by the time he graduates High School. 

So far, if he does Cybersecurity and doesn't do the traditional college route, I think Sophia/Modern States, Study.com, and then WGU, SNHU, or Franklin University are the best options.

If for some reason, he does not feel ready and were to graduate HS without any college credit, what would be the cheapest Big 3 (or similar CBE option). He has several years to figure it out, but, if he pursues the Liberal Arts or Business degree major, I think the Big 3 might be an option for a student who would be 18 and not old enough to go for a BABA or Bachelor of Liberal Studies at UMPI which seems to currently be the cheapest option.

I have periodically lurked and been following Degree Forum several years and the popularity of TESU vs. EU vs. COSC in terms of cost changes. It currently seems like Excelsior or TESU might be the least expensive option. I did some research and found an older post about costs for each of the Big 3 options. This would presume he would do Modern States CLEP and/or Sophia.com for LL classes and Study.com for UL credits which seems to be the general advice. This would get him as close to 113/114 credits and then he would transfer into likely TESU or EU (seems to be better than COSC) at this point. 

I am wondering if this pricing is still current and realize it can depend on the student.

COSC (w/SL or Study.com discount)

Application Fee                                $50
Student Services Fee (Per-term fee)  $266
Technology Fee (Per-term fee)          $68
Cornerstone (3cr)                            $1,131
Capstone (3cr)                                $1,131
Graduation Fee                               $203
TOTAL                                           $2,848 (1 term) or $3182 (2 terms)
Work pays $2,262

EC (taking 12cr through them, and using SL or Study.com partner pricing)

Application Fee                                   $0  
Enrollment Fee                                   $0
Information Literacy (1cr)                    $410
- Technology Fee                                $20  
Cornerstone (3cr)                               $1,230
 - Technology Fee                               $60  
Capstone (3cr)                                   $1,230
- Technology Fee                                $60  
Any course (3cr)                                 $1,230
- Technology Fee                                $60  
Any course (3cr)                                 $1,230
- Technology Fee                                $60  
Graduation Fee                                  $260  
TOTAL                                              $5,850
Work pays $5,590


TESU (no discounts available)

Application Fee                                 $ 50
Cornerstone (3cr)                           $1,527

Capstone (3cr)                                 $1,527

Residency Waiver                             $3,192

Graduation Fee                                $298

TOTAL                                            $6,594

Based on what I can see here, it seems like COSC is the cheapest option, but, this is about 2 years old. However, it seems like the latest commentary I have seen is either EU or TESU is cheapest. 

Any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks,

Education Seeker

[rachel83az]

As of right now, forget COSC. It doesn't exist. You can't get a degree there cheaply any longer, due to the lack of viable UL credit from alternate sources.

As of right now, EC is more limited in the degrees that are offered, but they are the cheapest. That could change between now and then, but we don't know.

TESU can be almost as cheap, if one does the flat-rate-term, but not everyone is going to be up for that.

[bjcheung77]

@EducationSeeker, it's great you're trying to help your son out with his educational goals.  Reminds me of...well, me.  Haha, having said that, you're trying to use "older" data to make your decision for him.  It's akin to asking the car dealership for the same price on a car you saw 2 years ago, when the newer model just came out and is going for a very similar price (let's just say $100 more), wouldn't it be better to buy the new car and because they have stock?  

This is my suggestion, using your time on deciding what's more important - You need to go to the respective school website and get their fees to make a correct and informed decision!  Here's an example I did a few days ago for TESU (I suggest them over COSC/EU just because I like them more due to other reasons and because your sons work pays over 5K), you need to do something for the Big 3, COSC, EU, TESU: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid376838

Essentially, since he's still such a young one, I would have him continue on with his dual enrollment and CLEP/MS or Sophia.org courses to get him more acquainted with college studies and gaining credit the alternative way.  Further to that, he should be taking some time to do the Coursera/TADA option as this provides him more hands on or online training that provides ACE credit and industry recognized entry level certificates.  The timing right now is to get him to continue studies, my focus would be that and you can look at the wallet "afterwards" because you've got tuition assistance or reimbursement from work.

---

Edit to Add: COSC has a small yet specific alternative credit providers they take now, here's their list.  https://www.charteroak.edu/catalog/curre...e_prov.php
For upper level exams, you can take TECEPS,  here's the master exam list https://www.charteroak.edu/catalog/curre...ograms.php
Here's another example of a freebie cert he can take: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...through-is

[dfrecore]

I think you're looking at fairly old data. I also don't see what "work pays" means - does his work pay for tuition? If so, do they also pay fees? Because if not, then TESU will be much more out of pocket than what you say.

EU
7cr tuition $3,906
Graduation Fee $125
Total $4,031

TESU (per-credit plan)
Application Fee $50
6cr Tuition $3210
Residency Waiver $3,288
Graduation Fee $298
TOTAL $6,846

TESU (FT/FR plan)
Application Fee $50
16cr Term $4778
Graduation Fee $298
TOTAL $5,126

If it's me, I'm probably going to choose based on degree, rather than cost; for a BSL/BALS, I'm doing EC. For a BSBA, I'm probably choosing TESU because the math requirements are a bit easier to meet, and because they have concentrations I like.

I'm also going to have my kid think about where they work, and what kind of tuition benefits they can get. For instance, Pizza Hut offers a great discount at EU. Any Guild Education partnership school opens up your options, and they will pay for those Cybersecurity courses at other schools like Bellevue University, Purdue Global, SNHU, EU, Wilmington University - and a lot will pay for Sophia and/or Study.com as well.

[bjcheung77]

@EducationSeeker, in addition to what was mentioned above, as I mentioned earlier, your child is still young, he needs to get his feet wet with subjects he's interested in. To motivate him, I recommend the pathway of doing 3 things that I mention many times, Certs, Degree, Experience. Go for the Coursera/TADA certificates that interest him, use the employee tuition benefits for COSC, Excelsior, or TESU, but you need to "strategically" select the max use for these and take the least courses required at the institution to finish... Depending on which company he works for, he can do a "two" year reimbursement to pay the entire education, such as 5K this year, 5K next year and be done with a cert, degree, and get experience while he's at it.

[EducationSeeker]

@EducationSeeker, in addition to what was mentioned above, as I mentioned earlier, your child is still young, he needs to get his feet wet with subjects he's interested in.  To motivate him, I recommend the pathway of doing 3 things that I mention many times, Certs, Degree, Experience.  Go for the Coursera/TADA certificates that interest him, use the employee tuition benefits for COSC, Excelsior, or TESU, but you need to "strategically" select the max use for these and take the least courses required at the institution to finish... Depending on which company he works for, he can do a "two" year reimbursement to pay the entire education, such as 5K this year, 5K next year and be done with a cert, degree, and get experience while he's at it.

@bjcheung77 and  @dfrecore

Sorry about the "work pays" line. I was copying and pasting old info from about 2 years ago after searching for tuition for Big 3. 

Certificates, Degree, Experience is good advice. What is TADA. I know Pizza Hut was mentioned. The idea of part time employment that pays for a college like Target, Chipotle, Starbucks, Walmart, etc. is a great idea to pay for college for a part time employee with little to no debt. How would we see what other companies work with COSC, TESU, and EU?

Thanks,

Education Seeker

[rachel83az]

Certificates, Degree, Experience is good advice. What is TADA.

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Coursera

[bjcheung77]

@EducationSeeker, If you have time, you should review this post, actually, the entire thread: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid377463