Help with cheap bachelor degree please

[CrayCat]

@OP, you missed the addendum, could you update the info below with your details?

Update: In addition to the basic template above... It may be a good idea to expand the information you provide us to include the following, this will provide some insight into your particular situation.  We can either recommend the alternative test-out options COSC, EC (soon to be EU), TESU or competency based education providers such as PUG, UMG (UMASS Global - formerly Brandman), UMPI, WGU or another institution.

Budget: I have a max of $10K saved up.  I'd like to go the cheapest route possible, but will consider spending more for easy and fast.  
Commitments: Honestly, just kids/spouse and my pets. I currently work full time and can work on my studies part time or in the evenings/weekends.
Dedicated time to study: I can study as much as is needed during the night or weekends as long as my schedule is free. I estimate at least 3 hours every week night and on the weekends, maybe 6 hours, total would be roughly 15+12=27 hours or slightly more.
Timeline: Finishing the courses required for the degree as fast as possible would be ideal.  I would like to finish within 1-1.5 years (12-18 months)
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: Yes, my workplace partners with ABC XYZ university, I get free tuition for undergrad and half off for grad studies!

Please provide any relevant details you may have that may help us determine a option or path for you to investigate, such as your preference towards either test-out (you're a great test taker) or competency based education (because you like assessments, assignments and have test anxiety).  What other details you provide us can help determine your course of action suited for your educational journey...

Oh I'm sorry, I was at work when I edited the original post and missed this part.

Budget: I have a budget of around 4k  
Commitments: I have a full time job that occasionally requires overtime and I stream 2 hours a day - none of these commitments are negotiable as they generate revenue.
Dedicated time to study: The only time I have to study weekdays for sure is while commuting to and from work (writing anything is not an option during this time) and during one hour lunch breaks, on weekends I can study whenever I have free time.
Timeline: Cost is more of an issue than time required to finish but of course the faster the better.
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: My workplace has no tuition reimbursement.

[Flelm]

Out of the box suggestion: Is national accreditation an option for you? Would a UofPeople CompSci degree work for your needs? (This is the limit of my contribution.)

Honestly, if you don't have a lot of time and aren't comfortable with essays I would not do UMPI.

[dfrecore]

Honestly, if you don't have a lot of time and aren't comfortable with essays I would not do UMPI.

It's a single short essay for most courses.  A lot less work than even SDC's UL courses I thought?  I would not rule this out unless the OP said he did not want to write ANY papers (but then, the capstone is going to kill them at any of the Big 3).

[Flelm]

Honestly, if you don't have a lot of time and aren't comfortable with essays I would not do UMPI.

It's a single short essay for most courses.  A lot less work than even SDC's UL courses I thought?  I would not rule this out unless the OP said he did not want to write ANY papers (but then, the capstone is going to kill them at any of the Big 3).

That's a fair point. I think I might be projecting my own personality onto OP. I wouldn't do well in a competency based degree (or I would, but only for like a week or two, not a few months).

I still think if nationally accredited works a little bit of consideration should be thrown to UofPeople, especially if he wants a degree in IT/CompSci. It doesn't have to be serious consideration though.

[bjcheung77]

Honestly, in your situation, it really shouldn't matter if you're going for an RA or NA undergraduate degree, you can ladder that up to a Masters of IT at a RA institution latter, such as PUG MBA with an IT concentration or their MSIT.  You should look at your current goal and future goal, if you are NOT going for a Masters down the road, go for a better RA Bachelors.  If you ARE going for a Masters, then you just need the check the box for entry and a cheapo NA degree will work for some schools.

Flelm has a great point, I was going to recommend something other than UofPeople for a Computer Science degree which is also NA - Bottega University, 3 terms at $897/term, total is less than $2700, by transferring 90 ACE credits from Sophia.org and/or StraighterLine. Review this thread, especially post #7: Bottega U vs UofPeople - BS Computer Science 

In regards to completing the degree, if you really want RA, you can stick with UMPI BLS MIS option and maybe add another minor in Management for $4200. For reference, you want to review the details of a previous post of mine: UMPI TIME | Info regarding the UMPI BLS and a spreadsheet template for review, you also want to read the last post #29 UMPI BLS

Again, it depends on what your needs are, for the lady who commented on Bottega in my thread, she received her MBA from the university in Feb of this year.  I wouldn't usually recommend NA if there are RA degrees at the same price point, but if it floats your boat and gets you where you want, so be it! You can see it's in her signature and she created a thread too! Link: I Graduated from Bottega University!!!!

[CrayCat]

I'm not sure whether I need a NA or RA degree, the reason for getting a degree in the first place is so that I can get my Visa sponsored in case I want to work abroad.
Even if an NA degree would be fine for that purpose - I will have to look into it - UoPeople has a let's say questionable reputation so that school is out of the question for a degree unfortunately.
The degree type is more of a preference than anything, it technically doesn't matter I just prefer STEM and/or IT myself but if those are not an option I'll suffer
My issue with the competency based degree is that I'd need to write essays and how much I get done depends solely on me but I still have to pay the flat rate. Studying for an exam I can do practically anywhere but writing an essay would require me to sit my butt down and stay there until I'm done. On top of that I'm a procrastinator so depending on how its set up I might just get too lazy to do what I need to in order to stay within the timeframe for the. cost to be worthwhile

[bjcheung77]

@CrazyCat,  LOL x3... Lots of Luck, Learner Over-Load, Learner Over-Look... You have another thread open in regards to a BS Natural Sciences or BS Liberal Arts at Excelsior: BS in Science I think we're going into multiple directions and you're not really clear on which one you're looking at.  Your best bet right now is not competency based degrees at PUG, UMPI, etc.

Sometimes it's going to take a bit more $ to finish what you want, you may have a limit of $4K this year, after you're done with your first degree and get the VISA, you can try "upgrading" that degree to something you want later or ladder up to a Masters.  Paying for the degree now will get you up to a higher level pay grade later, the ROI/Value is better if you spend to get it done quickly.

Question, for your VISA, where are you trying to land? Do you need it for your stay in Japan?
Recommendation: COSC, Excelsior are your cheapest option to transfer in the max 113/114 credits
You can get a BSGS or BSLA with alternative courses in IT/Sciences and then save up for the Masters

[CrayCat]

@CrazyCat,  LOL x3... Lots of Luck, Learner Over-Load, Learner Over-Look... You have another thread open in regards to a BS Natural Sciences or BS Liberal Arts at Excelsior: BS in Science I think we're going into multiple directions and you're not really clear on which one you're looking at.  Your best bet right now is not competency based degrees at PUG, UMPI, etc.

Sometimes it's going to take a bit more $ to finish what you want, you may have a limit of $4K this year, after you're done with your first degree and get the VISA, you can try "upgrading" that degree to something you want later or ladder up to a Masters.  Paying for the degree now will get you up to a higher level pay grade later, the ROI/Value is better if you spend to get it done quickly.

Question, for your VISA, where are you trying to land? Do you need it for your stay in Japan?
Recommendation: COSC, Excelsior are your cheapest option to transfer in the max 113/114 credits
You can get a BSGS or BSLA with alternative courses in IT/Sciences and then save up for the Masters

Yes I made another thread when I found those options sorry if that was a bad move I just thought if I find something specific of interest I would ask in that schools forum page. I'm looking at everything and keeping my options open for now I guess because I'm not 100% sure I even fully understand how the system works. Where I'm from we don't get options, we pick a degree that sounds 'good' and they tell us which classes to take that's that and pricing is quite straightforward. When I started college years ago I wanted to do it the traditional way, get an AS at a CC then transfer to Old Dominion University for a degree in Modeling and Simulation engineering but that is not an option anymore financially due to family problems. I do want a bachelors degree though and I would possibly be going for a masters after, I love the flexibility of the degrees in the big3 and UMPI and similar schools and the fact they don't cost an arm and a leg with the alternate credit opportunities but the system is a bit confusing on the first go 

Regarding the Visa, I have permanent residency in Japan however I want to move in a couple of years just haven't decided where yet - options so far include Ca, Taiwan, Singapore - but virtually all countries require a 4 year degree for a company to be able to sponsor a work visa. What I'm unsure about is whether it the accreditation type would matter for that scenario or not plus I feel like having only national accreditation would limit my options later on if I do want a masters degree. 

I guess I'm too indecisive regarding my future plans but also don't want to burn any bridges for myself by choosing the wrong degree, sorry if I'm causing you guys confusion. I really do appreciate all the input and am looking deeper into everything that is mentioned by others in this thread, including schools and courses.

Between COSC and Excelsior which one would you recommend?

[rachel83az]

My issue with the competency based degree is that I'd need to write essays and how much I get done depends solely on me but I still have to pay the flat rate. Studying for an exam I can do practically anywhere but writing an essay would require me to sit my butt down and stay there until I'm done. On top of that I'm a procrastinator so depending on how its set up I might just get too lazy to do what I need to in order to stay within the timeframe for the. cost to be worthwhile

Unfortunately, the very cheapest degrees are going to be competency-based ones. Without CBE, you're probably looking at spending at least $5k Like bjcheung77 says, it's probably best to figure on spending $4k now and continuing to set aside money to finish your degree. 

Most of the cheapest UL credits require at least one paper; these are through Study.com. If you go through Excelsior, you can use things like Davar, LawShelf, or CIS Testing. You can bring the cost down somewhat, but you're not going to get it below $4k. With discounted tuition through the Sophia partnership, tuition for taking 12 credits would be $5954. Tuition for taking the minimum required 7 credits would be $3906. Two months of Sophia brings the total to about $4200 and you still need more UL credit. 

To get you started, I recommend signing up at Sophia. Take pretty much everything that doesn't overlap what you've already taken (I.E., no English Comp because you already have English Comp). Since you don't like papers, you'll also want to avoid almost anything with Touchstones. The exception would be Greek Philosophers followed by Intro to Ethics. (Greek Philosophers makes Ethics an easier class for most people.) Make sure you take Intro to Relational Databases and Intro to Web Design because those are super easy UL credit for Excelsior. https://excelsior.sophia.org/ You should be able to finish 60+ credits within 1-2 months. 

Once you've finished with Sophia, you can come back here and we can help you fill out the remainder of your credits for Excelsior.

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Between COSC and Excelsior which one would you recommend?

Excelsior. With COSC, you'd have to write at least as many papers as you'd have to do at UMPI. With Excelsior, there are more purely test-out options.

[allvia]

I'd recommend you go with Excelsior over Charter Oak (COSC) - as it will be Excelsior University (vs College) starting in August 2022.  The College vs University designation could make a difference in perceived value internationally. https://www.excelsior.edu/about/university-designation/