Paying for Cleps/Maximizing student loans

[cookderosa]

I did this since I qualified for a full Pell. I can't remember the breakdown of the numbers exactly (but that wouldn't matter since I graduated in 08) but I payed cash for almost every CLEP for about 6 months before enrolling at TESC. I did that by selling things on Craigslist/eBay, many yard sales, etc. and did a coin jar. I mentioned that to someone in another thread, I think they thought I was kidding; I'm completely serious btw. Our budget had $0 in it for school (and 4 children whose needs came first) so every time I had a dime or a dollar- it went in that jar. Every time I could pay for a CLEP, I'd take one.
I applied for my financial aid and when I did it, I can't remember exactly, but I think the enrollment fee made it hard for me to work out the Pell perfectly, so I ended up taking a student loan for $5k as well. I used TESC for all of my upper level CLASSES and CLEP for lower level exams. I continued to pay cash for exams and TESC kicks back overage every quarter or semester or something, so I put 100% of that into a savings account. I didn't need more than about $1k of my loan if I recall, so all of the "overpayments" were in the savings account and untouched. When I finished my testing, I kept doing my scrimp/saving plan and was able to get my savings account back up to 100% of what the student loan was during my 6 month grace period after graduation. On the day that my first loan payment was due I wrote a check for the entire amount.

You don't need loans to pay for this kind of degree if you already qualify for a Pell. You might need to deliver pizzas and pick up a second or third job until you stash some cash for exams, but this kind of degree won't cost you even $10,000 for the whole thing. You can make it work if you're motivated. Good luck!