Int'l Student- New to CLEP, DSST, STRAIGHTERLINE etc- & can't decide

[clep3705]

A bachelor's degree, which is apparently what you are seeking, requires about 120-132 semester hours. Usually this takes about 4 calendar years. It can be done much faster, particularly so if you are successful in testing out of many semester hours.

Some people choose to earn an associate's degree on their way to earning a bachelor's degree. It is typically 60 semester hours, depending on the school. It usually takes two calendar years to complete. It is essentially the first two years of a bachelor's degree program. The nice thing about an associate's degree is that halfway through your bachelor's degree, you have something to show for your efforts. TESC offers an associate's degree.

If you take 18 semester hours from either Central Texas College or HCC Houston Community College - District Home and test out of the remaining 42 hours, you can earn an associate's degree. The cost of taking 18 hours at either of those schools is about $3,000. You would need to pass 14 (possibly only 12 or 11) tests at about $100/test to obtain credit for the remaining 42 hours. In other words, for $4,400 (does not include the cost of books), you could obtain an associate's degree from either of the two schools in Texas. There are colleges in other states where you might be able to obtain the degree for less. I'm only trying to throw out some numbers so that you can make comparisons, that's all.