I don't have first hand experience with Excelsior but I did do a rough cost analysis for a bachelors degree. It is a BARGAIN!!!!! I estimated the final cost to be somewhere between $ 8-9,000. I spent nearly half that much on a Project Management Certificate class from the local state college. It looks nice framed.

Any business or institution will expect you to pay for the services you sign an agreement for (contract) and send you to collections if you don't. Most won't ask for a note from the doctor, but hey, these are educators. If you go the testing route you can complete the entire "degree" without paying any administration costs if you want to. Until you are ready for the diploma. If there is a cheaper alternative to obtaining an accredited degree, I would sure like to hear about it.

Bottom line is nothing in that post should scare you a away from Excelsior or any of the Big 3.

If you want to get a sense of how cheap it is, just tell the costs to someone who has student loan payments. When I told my date this weekend how much I expected to pay she said "DO YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW MUCH I PAID!" You can be sure I will never mention the cost of our dinner was almost the cost of a 3-6 credit CLEP test.

Just my $.02

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CLEP

Social Sciences & History..... ..- 69
US History I Col-1877............- 75
American Government ...........- 68
US History II 1865-Pres........ .- 77
Intro to Sociology................ .- 75
Intro to Psychology.............. .- 76
Human Growth & Development.- 74
Info Sys & Computer App........- 69
Analyze & Interpret Literature..- 79