assistance with plan- continuing student with old credits and terrible gpa

[swillson]

Hi-
you guys seem to know all the things, and I've been reading a lot. I think I have a pretty ok handle on the process, but the details are not in focus yet. I'm hoping someone will take pity on me and help me out.

I currently have 45 credits from dual enrollment in high school, university, and 2 community colleges, from 1994-2007. I had a rough start, and went into university on academic probation from the high school dual enrollment courses- it didn't really get better from there. My gpa is 1.7. Now I'm married, two kids, and (I think) doing a much better job at adulting than I did when I was a 24 year old bartender.

Just had a birthday. One of the milestone ones with a '0' at the end. Decided I'd like to tie up this loose end of my degree.

So, here's the rundown- I'm a self employed commercial photographer. I shoot real estate, products, the occasional exec head shot. I don't mind finishing up with a lib arts/gen ed/basic degree, doesn't need to be an MFA or anything specific. I'm really checking the box on this one. It would be super easy to get the last 15 credits, I think, for the AA, but I'm curious to know how much more legwork I would need to do for a BA. Seems like if I'm in for a penny, I could be in for a pound.

I'm a confident tester. I don't mind doing online courses, but testing out would be my first choice.

I applied for FAFSA and I'm eligible for around 4K of pell grant. I know that this means I'd have to be enrolled full time to access the full amount, so maybe 12 hours online through NMCC? My local community college has in-state fees of $104 per hour. I'd pay more, but I could enroll there to access the grant. In my case, fast is better than free, I think. Depending on how much more than 'free' we're talking about.

Anyway. My credits are these (skipped all the Ws and Fs and etc):

ENC-1101 A freshman english 1
ENC-1102 B freshman english 2

MAC-1102 B college algebra
MGF-1202 B college mathematics

BSC-1005C A bio foundations

LAH-1021 C latin american history 1
LAH-1022 C l atin american history 2
AMH-1020 C modern american history

THE-1000 C intro to theater
SLS-1301 C career decision making
CLP-1000 C psych personal growth
ARH-1000 B art appreciation
PGY-1401C A photography 1

PSY-2012 B general psych
SYG-2000 B intro to sociology
HUM-2210 B world humanities


To the best of my reading so far, TESU will be the least expensive and quickest, but I am open to other suggestions if that's not correct. I think what I need at this point is a spreadsheet?
I already registered for an ACE registry account. Any advice pointing me in a forward direction would be so appreciated.
Thanks!