Deciding on an order/financial aid/new here

[gingermama]

Hello all! I'm new here, 32 year old mom of 6, looking to re-enter the work force after 12 years out of it, and need a degree  . I've looked into getting my degree online in the past, but things have not worked out both financially and time wise.  

I'm just getting started here but I have done some searching and reading through threads looking for answers so forgive me if this is answered somewhere, but I couldn't find it...  I filled out the 2018-2019 FAFSA last night and based on initial assessment, it shows an EFC of $0 and a potential max Pell Grant Award, so I'm hoping to take advantage of as much financial aid as possible for the actual school costs of either TESU or COSC.  I have 6 or 9 elective credits from about 15 years ago, so not sure if they will transfer yet.  My question.... should I focus on Gen Ed CLEP/DSST/Saylor courses for the next few months and then enroll at one of them for the fall and then continue taking exams (more degree specific once ive nailed down degree path) and having them sent to the school? That is what my gut is telling me, but I wanted to double check with you all. 

Has anyone used Federal aid for this kind of degree path? Are you able to use your fed aid for testing fees?  I need to do this as inexpensively as possible as we are a one income household and every test will include a substantial childcare cost for me depending on when the test is taken.  Only 3 of my kids are in school.  

Another Q: Im trying to figure out what I need to study for... I signed up for Instant Cert but I would really like to do some practice tests.... I ordered Cracking the CLEP and the Official CLEP study guide, so I'll be going through those. Should I just focus on the Instant Cert units?  I must be getting some old info too because I thought there was one Get Ed test that could grant you like 30 credits if you scored high enough...?

Any help is so appreciated!

[Yenisei]

You might be thinking of the credit given by COSC for a high enough score on one of the existing GRE subject exams (I think that's 24 credits, IIRC). That's probably harder to study for than taking a bunch of CLEP/DSST exams or Study.com/Shmoop/SL courses.

[burbuja0512]

Hi and welcome!

I am going to give you a few tips, but there are many others here that are way more knowledgable. I relate since I was just a little bit older than you and also had a housefull of kids when I got both my COSC degree and then my MBA. (4 of my own and a special-needs stepdaughter.) So, I can say from experience that this is very possible. The kids will get used to your study and I personally felt like I was setting a good example showing my children that lifelong learning is admirable.

The very first thing you should do is to have a degree plan. There are tons on the site, but you can customize one to meet your needs. The degree plan should serve as a guide for everything that you're doing. It'll also help you avoid expensive mistakes like taking a test that you didn't need or accidentally skipping an important class. Since you don't know what you want to study, I would suggest that you mention some preferences. Do you have some background in a particular area? What do you want to do with your degree? Is there a job that you would love to get? Are you terrible at something and want to avoid it? And of course the most important on this forum, do you want a degree that you can mostly test out of or are you ok taking classes for a subject you really love?

Regarding CLEP, you can see all of my tests in the signature. I finished COSC back in 2011 before there were a lot of other options. However, though my DS and DH, I have seen many of the newer options and I still prefer the tests - IF you consider yourself a fairly decent tester.

When I was testing, I went though a fairly strict routine. First of all, I created a schedule and allowed myself only 10% deviation. It's just too easy to postpone, so do allow yourself some leeway in case of an emergency, but not much else. My schedule gave one week of study time for each test, but two for humanities (not difficult, but very broad) and maybe one of the other UL business courses. My thought was that if I need more than a week or two to study, I should just take an online class and be done with it.

When I studied, I relied heavily on the Instacert cards, but also VERY much on the feedback forum. Just be careful and look at the dates on the feedback. I would create notes for myself based on these two sources, then get out on the internet and research any concept they cover that I didn't know about.

Regarding Straighterline and Shmoop (I can't speak about the others.) I did take a couple of Straighterline classes and I found them to be ok. My DS and DH and taking Shmoop right now and I will say that it is the cheapest source of credits. $87 bucks a month for all the courses they have. However, I have yet to see someone here that actually enjoys them. From what I've seen, they are written in an extremely annoying manner (Yo - wanna learn some super cool history man?) and their tests are challenging because it feels like things just pop up that weren't in the material. However, for the price, you are allowed a retake of each test, I would say it's worth it to check them out since you're looking to go the cheapest way possible... even if you hate the experience, it'll pass, right?

Regarding federal aid, others can comment here. I didn't use it for the undergrad. I took out loans for my MBA, which was totally worth it, but SUCKS. They're especially tough to pay off if you don't immediately use your new education to get a job to help pay for the loans. But, I am not complaining, I've made more than enough of an ROI to pay. Just make sure that you're clear on the post-school plan if you need loans.


Lastly, because I am super annoying and extremely predictable (I constantly post this topic) I will also VERY VERY strongly suggest that you start to create a professional profile and have a professional presence. This is outside of the scope of this thread. I think that everything you mentioned should be covered first, but that once you get on your way, make sure that your resume is up to date, create a LinkedIn account if you don't already have one, look for other opportunities to put something one your resume. Having 6 kids is an incredible accomplishment, but in our day, employers don't really care, so women often have to be creative in making it look like there is no resume gap. BUT - this is a talk for another day. I just want to plant the seed so that all aspects of your future employment are covered. It's not enough anymore to just get the degree. But I and many others here can help if you don't already have that thought out. And if you don't wish to work outside the home, there are still things you can do now to help raise your salary once you do decide to work. OK, I'll shut up about the off-topic stuff now

Overall, you've picked a great forum. I consider the people here that were active in the forum during my study years my fellow alumni and have stayed in touch with several over the years. Everyone will genuinely try to give you the best advice and help as much as possible. Don't worry if you have lots of questions! We all did at first!

[gingermama]

Hi and welcome! Thank you!

I am going to give you a few tips, but there are many others here that are way more knowledgable.   I relate since I was just a little bit older than you and also had a housefull of kids when I got both my COSC degree and then my MBA.    (4 of my own and a special-needs stepdaughter.)  So, I can say from experience that this is very possible.   The kids will get used to your study and I personally felt like I was setting a good example showing my children that lifelong learning is admirable.

I sure hope so, lol!

The very first thing you should do is to have a degree plan.   There are tons on the site, but you can customize one to meet your needs.    The degree plan should serve as a guide for everything that you're doing.   It'll also help you avoid expensive mistakes like taking a test that you didn't need or accidentally skipping an important class.  Since you don't know what you want to study, I would suggest that you mention some preferences.  Do you have some background in a particular area?  What do you want to do with your degree?  Is there a job that you would love to get?  Are you terrible at something and want to avoid it?   And of course the most important on this forum, do you want a degree that you can mostly test out of or are you ok taking classes for a subject you really love?

So to answer these, my main goal is to put myself in a position to fully support myself and my kids, on my own... due to a potential marital status change.... so I want a BS or BA that will give me higher earning potential. I do have some what of a background in Marketing, and I held a WAH position doing digital and social media marketing for a year, and about a year running an at home business that relied heavily on social media marketing. I have been told that I have an "eye" for digital marketing as well. Prior to kids, my work experience was mainly administrative/customer service.  I also recently completed Real Estate School but haven't activated my license yet due to the costs and the fact that its a commission only business. So I think taking my strengths into consideration, I want my first degree to be in a business arena with a concentration on marketing if possible. That said, I would prefer to do this as quickly as possible.... so the ability to test out of the majority of classes is ideal. I don't like Math and science (I'm not bad at them but theres no joy there), and prefer English, history and liberal arts subjects so if I was able to get a BA instead of a BS, I would really prefer that because I think it would be more enjoyable. However, that aspect isn't as important with my end game being the ability to get a high paying job/career.  I do intend on continuing my education and getting my masters afterwards, but I have no clue what I would major in for that quite yet....

Regarding CLEP, you can see all of my tests in the signature.  I finished COSC back in 2011 before there were a lot of other options.   However, though my DS and DH, I have seen many of the newer options and I still prefer the tests - IF you consider yourself a fairly decent tester.    

I do consider myself a pretty good test taker, lol.

When I was testing, I went though a fairly strict routine.  First of all, I created a schedule and allowed myself only 10% deviation.  It's just too easy to postpone, so do allow yourself some leeway in case of an emergency, but not much else.    My schedule gave one week of study time for each test, but two for humanities (not difficult, but very broad) and maybe one of the other UL business courses.   My thought was that if I need more than a week or two to study, I should just take an online class and be done with it.

Good point! I agree with this, for sure.

When I studied, I relied heavily on the Instacert cards, but also VERY much on the feedback forum.   Just be careful and look at the dates on the feedback.    I would create notes for myself based on these two sources, then get out on the internet and research any concept they cover that I didn't know about.  

Regarding Straighterline and Shmoop (I can't speak about the others.)   I did take a couple of Straighterline classes and I found them to be ok.   My DS and DH and taking Shmoop right now and I will say that it is the cheapest source of credits.   $87 bucks a month for all the courses they have.   However, I have yet to see someone here that actually enjoys them.   From what I've seen, they are written in an extremely annoying manner (Yo - wanna learn some super cool history man?)  and their tests are challenging because it feels like things just pop up that weren't in the material.  However, for the price, you are allowed a retake of each test, I would say it's worth it to check them out since you're looking to go the cheapest way possible... even if you hate the experience, it'll pass, right?

I've been looking at the Saylor courses for credit classes, but I will check out these as well! Thank you!

Regarding federal aid, others can comment here.    I didn't use it for the undergrad.  I took out loans for my MBA, which was totally worth it, but SUCKS.   They're especially tough to pay off if you don't immediately use your new education to get a job to help pay for the loans.  But, I am not complaining, I've made more than enough of an ROI to pay.   Just make sure that you're clear on the post-school plan if you need loans.

I definitely don't want to use loans for my undergrad degree(s)


Lastly, because I am super annoying and extremely predictable (I constantly post this topic)  I will also VERY VERY strongly suggest that you start to create a professional profile and have a professional presence.    This is outside of the scope of this thread.  I think that everything you mentioned should be covered first, but that once you get on your way, make sure that your resume is up to date, create a LinkedIn account if you don't already have one, look for other opportunities to put something one your resume.  Having 6 kids is an incredible accomplishment, but in our day, employers don't really care, so women often have to be creative in making it look like there is no resume gap.   BUT - this is a talk for another day.  I just want to plant the seed so that all aspects of your future employment are covered.  It's not enough anymore to just get the degree.    But I and many others here can help if you don't already have that thought out.    And if you don't wish to work outside the home, there are still things you can do now to help raise your salary once you do decide to work.  OK, I'll shut up about the off-topic stuff now  :

Very good seeds! Thank you!  I do have a Linkdin but need to update it, lol.

Overall, you've picked a great forum.   I consider the people here that were active in the forum during my study years my fellow alumni and have stayed in touch with several over the years.   Everyone will genuinely try to give you the best advice and help as much as possible.    Don't worry if you have lots of questions!  We all did at first!

Thank you so much! I am so happy there are others who came before me and paved the way! Awesome advice too, thank you!

[allvia]

Hello all! I'm new here, 32 year old mom of 6, looking to re-enter the work force after 12 years out of it, and need a degree  . I've looked into getting my degree online in the past, but things have not worked out both financially and time wise.  

I'm just getting started here but I have done some searching and reading through threads looking for answers so forgive me if this is answered somewhere, but I couldn't find it...  I filled out the 2018-2019 FAFSA last night and based on initial assessment, it shows an EFC of $0 and a potential max Pell Grant Award, so I'm hoping to take advantage of as much financial aid as possible for the actual school costs of either TESU or COSC.  I have 6 or 9 elective credits from about 15 years ago, so not sure if they will transfer yet.  My question.... should I focus on Gen Ed CLEP/DSST/Saylor courses for the next few months and then enroll at one of them for the fall and then continue taking exams (more degree specific once ive nailed down degree path) and having them sent to the school? That is what my gut is telling me, but I wanted to double check with you all. 

Has anyone used Federal aid for this kind of degree path? Are you able to use your fed aid for testing fees?  I need to do this as inexpensively as possible as we are a one income household and every test will include a substantial childcare cost for me depending on when the test is taken.  Only 3 of my kids are in school.  

Another Q: Im trying to figure out what I need to study for... I signed up for Instant Cert but I would really like to do some practice tests.... I ordered Cracking the CLEP and the Official CLEP study guide, so I'll be going through those. Should I just focus on the Instant Cert units?  I must be getting some old info too because I thought there was one Get Ed test that could grant you like 30 credits if you scored high enough...?

Any help is so appreciated!

Do you have any college credits earned already?  What type of degree are you looking to get?  Depending on your interest WGU may offer you a lowest cost option with financial aid.  If you test out as many of the low/free costs that transfer into them (WGU - https://www.wgu.edu) it could cost you virtually nothing out of pocket if you're eligible for a Pell Grant -  CLEP (Free w/Modern States - https://modernstates.org/) and Saylor ($25 exams for the credit courses - https://www.saylor.org/), Study.com (6 free courses w/Guardian Scholarship - https://study.com/blog/guardian-s-person...rship.html)

[gingermama]

Hello all! I'm new here, 32 year old mom of 6, looking to re-enter the work force after 12 years out of it, and need a degree  . I've looked into getting my degree online in the past, but things have not worked out both financially and time wise......

Do you have any college credits earned already?  What type of degree are you looking to get?  Depending on your interest WGU may offer you a lowest cost option with financial aid.  If you test out as many of the low/free costs that transfer into them (WGU - https://www.wgu.edu) it could cost you virtually nothing out of pocket if you're eligicble for a Pell Grant -  CLEP (Free w/Modern States - https://modernstates.org/) and Saylor ($25 exams for the credit courses - https://www.saylor.org/), Study.com (6 free courses w/Guardian Scholarship - https://study.com/blog/guardian-s-person...rship.html)

Awesome resources!  Thank you so much! I do have either 6 or 9 credits that were earned about 15 years ago during a job training that are from a community college. A few years back when I was looking into starting online school, I was told that they would transfer as elective credits. I'm not sure if that is still accurate.  As for degree, I'm thinking something in business/marketing right now...

I'm looking into WGU now and I didn't know about Modern States or the guardian scholarship!  Thank you so much!

[davewill]

Financial aid doesn't go very far at COSC or TESU because of the high tuition. What people do to maximize their benefits is to use them at junior college. The tuition there is usually low enough that there is aid leftover that can be spent on either alternative credit or for the fees at TESU or COSC that you can't avoid.

[dfrecore]

There are some very cheap ways to earn credit, and I will try to list them all here:

1) Free courses: TEEX, Sophia, NFA, The Institutes

2) Study.com/Guardian Scholarship - apply, and you could get 6 free courses in 3 months (2 per month).  You should save these for the UL Marketing courses you'll need - they now have 6 courses that complete your Area of Study (AOS) - aka your Major.

3) ModernStates.org/CLEP exams - second choice for me due to the distance/time you need to put in to go take an exam, but if you can do 2-3 tests in a single day and really take advantage, this is definitely worth it (and doable).  Modern States will give you a voucher for the exam, and reimburse you for test center fees.

4) Saylor - only $25/exam, the courses are free (although not always great), you only pay when you're ready to take the test

5) Shmoop - $88/mo for unlimited course, as stated above, most people hate the layout/format, but love the price

I'm including a degree plan for the BSBA in Marketing from TESU.  I color coded it to show how you could do the courses for the cheapest possible pricing - and I did 2 paid months of Study.com - 1 for your Oral Comm requirement and International Business requirement, because there's no free/cheap way to get those, and the other because you need a 6th marketing course, and Study has one, so if you're doing that, you may as well do Prin of Finance while you're paying for it anyway.  It ends up being $475 for your courses (all 117 credits!!!), and then you'd pay for the Capstone course to complete your degree.

I also am including a degree plan for the BS in Marketing from WGU.  I think you may be better off doing this one, because you can use your financial aid here better than you can at TESU (at least, that's my understanding).  I also color coded this, to include using ModernStates/CLEP, Saylor, and Study.com for your courses, paying $675 total for your courses and then using financial aid for your tuition.  Not sure if you can finish everything in a single term, but it's certainly worth a shot.

Please keep in mind that I know absolutely nothing about financial aid, so take my spreadsheets, and you'll need to figure out the financial aid stuff yourself - I just have set pricing on there based on paying out-of-pocket for everything.  But there are others on here who can take what I gave you, and figure out financial aid for both, and tell you which one you're better off doing.

[Ideas]

If you're willing to put in more time, the cheapest is:

Use your federal aid and take at least 12 credits per term at NMJC (or some cheaper local school, if you are in a state with cheap community colleges). If you enroll soon, you can take credits this summer, which counts on 2017-2018 financial aid. Then you can use your full 2018-2019 aid for this fall and next spring (but then nothing for next summer).

NMJC will send you a check for the "overage" amount, which you can then use for some of the bigger fees. If you're attending TESU, use it for your residency waiver and graduation fee. Clovis Community College in NM is often recommended but the overage will be significantly less than at NMJC. (Don't compare only the tuition, the fees can add up.) To maximize your overage, you need to look at whether courses have expensive online access codes required, expensive books, or extra fees for that specific course. If you choose carefully, you can get classes that only need about $30 or less on average, for used books or rented books.

Then, you should probably do the BALS at TESU because it will cost you less in course fees, but a few other degrees might not cost much more, depending on what you take at NMJC, if you plan out your free Study.com courses well (assuming you get the scholarship), etc. If you do 3 terms at NMJC, you may be able to pay almost nothing out of pocket, although this depends on how much the Study.com affiliate discount ends up being after July 1st when the prices are expected to go up.

Keep in mind that NMJC courses will require a lot of work unless you're only looking to barely pass (C grades). You can take subjects you already know to make it easier, but most online courses need a lot of writing.

[allvia]

I'm including a degree plan for the BSBA in Marketing from TESU.  I color coded it to show how you could do the courses for the cheapest possible pricing - and I did 2 paid months of Study.com - 1 for your Oral Comm requirement and International Business requirement, because there's no free/cheap way to get those, and the other because you need a 6th marketing course, and Study has one, so if you're doing that, you may as well do Prin of Finance while you're paying for it anyway.  It ends up being $475 for your courses (all 117 credits!!!), and then you'd pay for the Capstone course to complete your degree.

You would also need to pay the TESU residency waiver.  Which a Pell Grant would not cover - it could cover the Capstone and one other full course during the same term (possibly, as this would make you a half time student in the eyes of the government by having 6 or more credits).  Alas, there is no easy way around that residency waiver being an out of pocket expense.

---

If you're willing to put in more time, the cheapest is:

Use your federal aid and take at least 12 credits per term at NMJC (or some cheaper local school, if you are in a state with cheap community colleges). If you enroll soon, you can take credits this summer, which counts on 2017-2018 financial aid. Then you can use your full 2018-2019 aid for this fall and next spring (but then nothing for next summer).

NMJC will send you a check for the "overage" amount, which you can then use for some of the bigger fees. If you're attending TESU, use it for your residency waiver and graduation fee. Clovis Community College in NM is often recommended but the overage will be significantly less than at NMJC. (Don't compare only the tuition, the fees can add up.) To maximize your overage, you need to look at whether courses have expensive online access codes required, expensive books, or extra fees for that specific course. If you choose carefully, you can get classes that only need about $30 or less on average, for used books or rented books.

Then, you should probably do the BALS at TESU because it will cost you less in course fees, but a few other degrees might not cost much more, depending on what you take at NMJC, if you plan out your free Study.com courses well (assuming you get the scholarship), etc. If you do 3 terms at NMJC, you may be able to pay almost nothing out of pocket, although this depends on how much the Study.com affiliate discount ends up being after July 1st when the prices are expected to go up.

Keep in mind that NMJC courses will require a lot of work unless you're only looking to barely pass (C grades). You can take subjects you already know to make it easier, but most online courses need a lot of writing.

Financial Aid, especially the Pell Grant, does not work as you have described (in theory, yes - in real life application, no).  - Although the CC route is not out of the question, and she could use some of the extra money to pay for some of the testing out - financial aid refunds can be a very slow process, and there are financial aid loss risks when applying for a summer start (https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/s...ancial-aid).

Once you add in the CC tuition, fee, books (oh the book!), and other miscellaneous fees it is very unlikely that it would be 'cheapest' route.  Even through the NM CCs (which I have personally used because of the low cost). 

Also, in order to receive a the full value of a Pell Grant you must be enrolled full time, and the CC route is not self paced - they are traditional timeline format (even if taking online).  I'm going to suspect that with having 6 children to care for - even if it was a lower cost -  the chances of successfully being a FT student through a traditional school and trying to add on test-out credits are not likely...I shiver at the thought of it.

Full Time through WGU would provide 12 full months for a tuition of $6670, to complete 1 traditional year. It does not require the student to rush to complete the entire degree in one year, or single term (it just offers that option being a competency-based program, go at your own pace – all with no books or other supply expenses).  Based on her EFC of $0 and having 6 children it would be very surprising if she was not eligible for the full Pell Grant (currently $6095 the 2018/2019 academic); which would leave her $575 short for (or $287.50 per 6 month term) – but that is before any other grants, or scholarship she may be eligible for are applied.  

To speed things up spending this Spring/Summer filling in credit with the free sources to transfer into WGU could expedite completion.  dfrecore provided these on the WGU spreadsheet she made you. In the end the testing out in advance for the free credits that apply to the WGU program, combined with the Pell Grant would be nearly impossible to beat in terms of time and out of pocket expense (minimal, if any).  Just remember that you can apply to WGU at anytime (currently Free to apply too), you just cannot enroll before completing and transferring in any credits. Once you are enrolled you cannot transfer in any more outside credits.  

Oh yes, and those old CC credits probably do have value if they were general education courses.  You can put/replace them on the spreadsheet that dfrecore made you if they apply.