Where do I graduate from?

[bmills072200]

Okay, I am taking my first test on Saturday and I am am starting to question where I should go to school...I am currently registered at Strayer. In order to graduate from Strayer I need to take 12 actual courses at the school, which for Strayer translates to 54 credit hours. I am transfering in over 60 credits from previous schooling and I can CLEP out of enough so that I would only need to take the 12 other actual courses at the school or online through the school...

The problem is that Strayer is expensive and each class costs around $1200.

I have heard a few people talking about Excelsior and a couple of other schools.

Do these schools allow you to get all credits through CLEP or DSST or do you still have to take some actual courses through the school?

If so, then how does the school benefit from you being enrolled if they are not making any money from you paying tuition?

I hope this is not a stupid question. I just don't want to shell out any more money getting this degree done than necessary.

I APPRECIATE ANY ADVISE!!!

Thanks

[gcalvin]

The schools charge enrollment and graduation fees, which cover the costs of evaluating transfer and examination credits. They have quite low overhead for distance learning students, so the costs work out for everybody. At Excelsior, you can graduate with a Liberal Studies degree entirely by examination except for two requirements -- Information Literacy and Research & Writing. IL is a one-credit online course that you should be able to work through in a few days. The cost is around $300 -- not cheap, but when you consider it in context of the entire degree, it's not that big a deal. R&W is another one-credit course, so about $300 again, and according to the catalog, it revolves around writing one research paper in your major. Everything else can be done with a combination of CLEP, DSST and ECE exams.

If you want a business degree, there is also a three-credit, $900 Business Strategy course.

-Gary-

[bmills072200]

can you give me a feel for the registration and graduation fees? What are we talking about as far as total costs???

One advantage I have is that my employer pays $5000/year for any education related expenses and that includes CLEP exams, CLEP preparation materials, registration fees, books...anything, but once you go over $5000, you are on your own. I would love to get a business degree...

[GettinMyBA]

At TESC, you can get the degree without any classes at all (100% transfer or test or 'life experience'). I'm not quoting, so pls check into it to be certain, but I believe enrollment in the "Per Service" plan is around $1,100 for the year. "Per Service" and "Comprehensive" are the two options:

Per Service: Enrollment whereby you pay on a per credit basis for any classes you take. This would be the way to go if you will be testing out of most (or all) of your subjects.
Comprehensive: A pay one price per year program. It's around $7k (someone jump in if I'm far off) per year and you can take as many classes as you want, up to a limit of xx credits. (I think it's like 36).

As long as you are enrolled in either of the programs when you apply for graduation, you're fine. Graduation cost is about $250.

I realize I approximated all costs that I just wrote about. I believe that I'm close enough to to do your figuring. Certainly, the $5k is enough if you'll be testing out of most or all.

Good luck!

[PatsGirl1]

TESC:
Application fee- $75 (which gets you the evaluation as well)
Enrollment fee: if you’re not taking any classes $2300
Registration fee: I forget, I want to say $35
Graduation fee: $225

Per credit hour for non-NJ resident enrolled is $165/credit, so each class is $530 for a 3 credit.

You can transfer in all 120 credits like Excelsior, COSC

Personally, *I* like Edison, but there are limits. I’m only taking one class through them because I’m cheap, their customer service can be bad (if you’re used to dealing with slightly snotty customer service people you’ll be fine), and I liked their degree format better than Excelsior, plus they took my FEMA credits for free, and I have a lot (15, soon to be 16). I like their diploma better, my major requirements are better for me, etc.
However Edison does not take the GRE (for $130 you can get up to 30 credits through the GRE subject tests with Excelsior).

It’s up to what you like best. Most people here like Excelsior better.

[GettinMyBA]

wow - I guess I was off by $1000 on the per service. sorry!

[bmills072200]

Still a little confused...Do I have to be enrolled in the school while I am testing out? Or can I enroll just before I am ready to graduate?

I would appreciate any further opions of TESC versus Excelsior...thanks

[ShotoJuku]

Originally Posted by bmills072200

Still a little confused...Do I have to be enrolled in the school while I am testing out? No.

I would appreciate any further opions of TESC versus Excelsior...thanks. See Below.

Excelsior College-USNY
Application Fee: $75.00
Tuition: $895.00
Graduation Fee: $495.00
Total: $1465.00


TESC
Application Fee: $75.00
Tuition: $2,300.00
Graduation Fee: $225.00
Total: $2,600.00

[PatsGirl1]

Originally Posted by bmills072200

Still a little confused...Do I have to be enrolled in the school while I am testing out? Or can I enroll just before I am ready to graduate?

I would appreciate any further opions of TESC versus Excelsior...thanks

My opinion only:
Excelsior is cheaper if you are not planning on taking a lot of classes and are transferring in everything- they're $1100 or so less. If you are going to take a lot of physical classes, TESC's credit hour charges are less and they take FEMA for free (it's $60/credit with Excelsior since you have to actually go through Frederick Community College). Excelsior has the Writing 1 credit and Info Lit 1 credit that are $290/credit (you can actually take the Info Lit through another school, I believe Penn Foster, for cheaper but I digress), so that is extra cost. Adding that up, they're about the same.

If both are the same you may want to go with Excelsior (even though I didn't lol). They are MUCH more user-friendly, easier to understand, people here on the boards have posted a ton of Excelsior degree plans to help with what you should take/test out of. They also (if it matters) let you divide your enrollment fee into payments and pay it monthly for a bit, whereas TESC requires the $2300 all at once.

Reasons I went with Edison: I like their diploma much more, my degree (English) was easier for me to complete and I liked it more than Excelsior's Literature in English major, I wanted to have what amounted to a minor in Emergency Mgmt so I have a lot of FEMA classes, the grad schools I want to go to (I'm torn between 3) all said they preferred Edison degrees (no, they didn't really give me a reason). I'm not scared by bad customer service and I just liked the school better itself. But I definitely understand why people say Edison is not for everyone- you'll do fine if you already know what you want to study, want to pay your money and just finish. There's not a lot of handholding at TESC or guidance and they're extremely direct. Oh, and it took 7 weeks to get my evaluation until I complained to the Dean.