used to know the ropes

[GLC]

Everything has changed since I last looked into getting a degree through testing. I don't even know where to begin. It seems like all of the big three have fees that they didn't have before and new requirements. Is there anyone willing to hold my hand?

1. It looks like Sophia is the best place to begin for every degree. Is that correct? We both started our first class two days ago and are nearly finished. We'll slam out as many as possible before "free" ends.

2. Are there other resources like Sophia out there? Are CLEP and other testings still a good option? Are they even a thing anymore?

3. My son needs a degree in any discipline quickly. Which of the big three's degrees is the least expensive and quickest option? He has about 20 LL English credits from his wunderkind era 15 years ago.

4.  We're doing this together, but I'm not as quick as I was 15 years ago. Researching all the options again is overwhelming. Please, help if you can.

[natshar]

Everything has changed since I last looked into getting a degree through testing. I don't even know where to begin. It seems like all of the big three have fees that they didn't have before and new requirements. Is there anyone willing to hold my hand?

1. It looks like Sophia is the best place to begin for every degree. Is that correct? We both started our first class two days ago and are nearly finished. We'll slam out as many as possible before "free" ends.

2. Are there other resources like Sophia out there? Are CLEP and other testings still a good option? Are they even a thing anymore?

3. My son needs a degree in any discipline quickly. Which of the big three's degrees is the least expensive and quickest option? He has about 20 LL English credits from his wunderkind era 15 years ago.

4.  We're doing this together, but I'm not as quick as I was 15 years ago. Researching all the options again is overwhelming. Please, help if you can.

I think the first thing that would help is if you can list all credit your son has. That would give us a starting point as to which school to choose.

COSC is the cheapest right now. As far as the fastest there are basically the same. However, TESU might be a good option because they offer and English major

CLEP still exists the problem is a lot of centers are closed because of the virus. If there is an open center it could be a good option.

No matter what school have your son get started with Sophia right now. All 3 schools accept it and it is free.

List them like this

Name of school:
prefix ### name of course

[GLC]

Everything has changed since I last looked into getting a degree through testing. I don't even know where to begin. It seems like all of the big three have fees that they didn't have before and new requirements. Is there anyone willing to hold my hand?

1. It looks like Sophia is the best place to begin for every degree. Is that correct? We both started our first class two days ago and are nearly finished. We'll slam out as many as possible before "free" ends.

2. Are there other resources like Sophia out there? Are CLEP and other testings still a good option? Are they even a thing anymore?

3. My son needs a degree in any discipline quickly. Which of the big three's degrees is the least expensive and quickest option? He has about 20 LL English credits from his wunderkind era 15 years ago.

4.  We're doing this together, but I'm not as quick as I was 15 years ago. Researching all the options again is overwhelming. Please, help if you can.

I think the first thing that would help is if you can list all credit your son has. That would give us a starting point as to which school to choose.

COSC is the cheapest right now. As far as the fastest there are basically the same. However, TESU might be a good option because they offer and English major

CLEP still exists the problem is a lot of centers are closed because of the virus. If there is an open center it could be a good option.

No matter what school have your son get started with Sophia right now. All 3 schools accept it and it is free.

List them like this

Name of school:
prefix ### name of course

I don't even know what COSC is. I'm that out of touch with this thing. I'll have him look up his credits. And Thank you very much. We'll continue with Sophia and go from there.

[rachel83az]

With COSC (Charter Oak), you have to also take into account that you can only bring in 90 ACE credits for a degree now. Which means that you'll need 24 RA credits. That can raise the cost significantly.

If "any degree" works, the fastest/easiest would be a BALS (liberal studies) degree. Sophia will get you most of the way there, then there are other things you can do to get the rest of the credits. I've been told that an English degree requires a particular CLEP which could be a problem with so many testing centers closed right now. The next easiest/fastest would possibly be cybersecurity or something else related to computers. There are free TEEX cybersecurity credits and (right now) you can get the Google IT Support Certificate for free through Coursera if you have an accepted .edu email address. This certificate is good for ACE credits. TESU brings this in for 3 credits; not sure what COSC and Excelsior bring it in as.

Sophia courses do not have to be finished by July 31st, simply signed up for. You can push the start date ahead by months so you'll have plenty of time to finish them.

[GLC]

What are RA credits? This is helpful. Thank you so much.

[rachel83az]

RA = Regionally Accredited as opposed to NA which is Nationally Accredited. RA credits are considered superior to NA ones and most colleges/universities won't take NA credits unless they, themselves, are NA.

If you do want to go with Charter Oak, this could be a good way to get some of the necessary RA credits: https://ea.asu.edu/courses

[natshar]

RA = Regionally Accredited as opposed to NA which is Nationally Accredited.  RA credits are considered superior to NA ones and most colleges/universities won't take NA credits unless they, themselves, are NA.

If you do want to go with Charter Oak, this could be a good way to get some of the necessary RA credits: https://ea.asu.edu/courses

OP says their son might have 20 RA credits already. So they might just need 1 or 2 ASU courses.