Why are you earning credit this way?

[2L8]

- Cost (I basically earned credit for FREE! So that was a very big deal.)
- Time ( I'm loving the whole college thing but , I feel that if I have knowledge of a subject why sit through it)
- Flexibility ( I was homeschooled so studying for CLEP came much easier than sitting in a classroom)

As selfish as it sounds my motives for college are to : go to school primarily for my major , get in little to no student debt and master the subjects/major.

I have pretty much the same answer as you 2L8.  

When I was 18 I really didn't want to follow the crowd straight into college.  I also didn't feel that I was college material.  Unfortunately, the career I wanted requires a degree (and I wanted one for redundancy).    Anyways, after high-school I decided to work for a bit and start saving up money that I could potentially use in college later (I also checked out a community college but moved before starting any classes).   I personally don't like the culture on most college campuses today... I believe there is a lot of partying instead of learning, and a lot of group-think.  I moved to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and checked out the local state college there.   At $500 a credit hour, I didn't think I would ever afford it.   In addition to that, I didn't want to rack up a bunch of debt for something that I really wouldn't cherish anyways, I just wanted a degree.   After a bunch of research I found an article by Jay Cross on The Art of Manliness.  From researching that, I found you guys here. 

-Cost:  I still can't believe that there are third-party businesses that offer courses that are accredited, and that schools will accept them.  I will end up paying around $6.5K for my degree and will exit college without having debt hanging onto me for decades.

-Time:  I would say I have a "type A" personality, add that to the long winters in the U.P., and I thought I found a way to hack the system (Using self-paced learning methods meant for adult learners to take their time, but go 110% at them).  I'm going to be graduating sooner than peers that started college way before me.  I really started studying in November 2016 (I did a few free courses before that to chum the water).  I spent a whole three weeks in November  *attempting* to deer hunt, I went to firefighting training over the winter, I worked full-time for a month in early-summer, and then I finally moved to South Carolina in mid-summer.  I am now almost done with my degree.  I'm not bringing all these things up to make excuses, but to show that someone could potentially knock out a degree in half a year with the absence of interruptions.  This kinda ties into flexibility as well.  

-Flexibility:   The whole idea of really planning your degree is awesome.   I know people that go to the CC and take whatever courses are required and lots of "fun" electives.  Unfortunately, those electives might not transfer to 4-years as they expect.  The fact that I can choose which course  I want to take (e.g. for social science, Psychology, sociology, etc..) and then decide how to learn it (study for a CLEP, take a course through SL, read read read and PLA) --  I mean the whole thing is just amazing!

This fulfills my wants of really learning, but as fast and affordable as possible.  It also fulfills my goals of having a degree.  The only thing about using our method is the issue of "hands-on" degrees.  I think learning about fisheries and/or wildlife management, forestry, fire science, etc... would all be cool, but they require a lot of hands-on work.  Really though, it's the degree that matters the most to me and criminal justice will definitely suffice.

Great thread cookerosa!

 Exactly! CC is the way to go but many people don't want the " same/status" thing that goes with it. I had people tell me I'm throwing my life  away because I'm not going to a 4-year institution in which some big-named person graduated from. Today our educational situation is in a mess. But what most don't understand is that the mess is the message. All my life I was so worried about chasing this perfect 4.0 and getting a phenomenal score on my SATs (which I'm sorta glad I didn't take) , CLEPs made me realize just master it and just put in effort without stressing yourself. I adore everyone on this site because it doesn't feel a forum it feels like family