Minimum age for alt-credit attainment?

[bjcheung77]

Yes, Homeschooling is a great option to get college credit and high school requirements met with alternative credits such as ACE/NCCRS and CLEP/MS, etc. I also highly recommend dual enrollment at a local college/university for courses that aren't offered by ACE/NCCRS or CLEP/MS, etc. Such as dance/theatre and so on... You may want to review post #2, I have a link to a lengthier post reply. Technically, you can get up to 90 credits at some colleges/universities, and at Excelsior, you can get up to 113 entirely when you're in High School!

[bellbaby]

Yes, Homeschooling is a great option to get college credit and high school requirements met with alternative credits such as ACE/NCCRS and CLEP/MS, etc.  I also highly recommend dual enrollment at a local college/university for courses that aren't offered by ACE/NCCRS or CLEP/MS, etc.  Such as dance/theatre and so on... You may want to review post #2, I have a link to a lengthier post reply.  Technically, you can get up to 90 credits at some colleges/universities, and at Excelsior, you can get up to 113 entirely when you're in High School!

Yep, we are shooting for Liberty which has a generous 90 credit transfer policy.

[Vle045]

How do you use Sophia for Dual Enrollment?

Just Homeschooling and using the gen ed to meet HS requirements.

Gotcha.   I am still struggling to get my high schooler to make progress toward college credit.  He doesn’t really like to do “extra” work.

[rachel83az]

How do you use Sophia for Dual Enrollment?

Just Homeschooling and using the gen ed to meet HS requirements.

Gotcha.   I am still struggling to get my high schooler to make progress toward college credit.  He doesn’t really like to do “extra” work.

I would probably offer to pay for every extra course passed. Adults get paid for doing overtime at work, why not kids? This could be especially effective if there is a video game (or two) that he wants but you don't want to purchase directly. 

[dfrecore]

How do you use Sophia for Dual Enrollment?

Just Homeschooling and using the gen ed to meet HS requirements.

Gotcha.   I am still struggling to get my high schooler to make progress toward college credit.  He doesn’t really like to do “extra” work.

I would probably offer to pay for every extra course passed. Adults get paid for doing overtime at work, why not kids? This could be especially effective if there is a video game (or two) that he wants but you don't want to purchase directly. 

I've been trying to get my high schooler to do this for ages, but he cannot be bribed into it.  BUT, he did see his classes that he needs for his AAS in Welding which is starting this fall (it's all starting to get real I guess), because he came to me and said "How can I get out of taking these stupid classes and JUST take welding?" and I said, CLEP! Since he's a good test-taker, he agreed.  He plans on taking one next week, and will take 5 before graduation.

[muu9]

Hi,

Does anyone know if there's a minimum age for use of sites like SDC, Sophia, Straighterline, etc?  I have a friend with an extremely precocious child who is interested in taking some classes over the summer (college credit is nice but not crucial.)

I took a quick look at Sophia's TOS and could not see any mention of age requirements.  I know she would not be able to get admitted to many colleges until 18 or 20, but could she earn alt credits between now and then?

I think she would find alt-credit providers to be boring, and they likely wouldn't transfer to her school of choice. How old is she and in which subject is she interested in taking classes?

[ss20ts]

I think she would find alt-credit providers to be boring, and they likely wouldn't transfer to her school of choice. How old is she and in which subject is she interested in taking classes?

The good thing about Sophia classes is that even if the topic isn't one that a person finds super interesting, the class is short. It's not a semester. Lots of classes can be completed in just a few days so if you're not into the topic, it's over pretty quick as opposed to a 15-16 week course at a college. Those draaaaaaaag on. If one is planning on taking ACE courses then typically they want to attend a college that accepts ACE credits. Lots of options are out there.

[bellbaby]

How do you use Sophia for Dual Enrollment?

Just Homeschooling and using the gen ed to meet HS requirements.

Gotcha.   I am still struggling to get my high schooler to make progress toward college credit.  He doesn’t really like to do “extra” work.

I will probably supply too much info and not exactly helpful to every scenario. My kids are enrolled at a private high school allowing us to take coursework at home. During covid they attended synchronously and did the coursework the school was providing. Because it is a school for "alternative learners," not every subject was meeting my kids' needs. For instance, my kids read and understand info on a higher level, but they are slow at progressing through subjects. To use Sophia as an example, an easy Sophia course that people here can get through in a day might take them a few weeks, and a course like US History that maybe some here have done in a week or two, might take them a month.

My daughter is 17, and she is motivated and works independently. For Sophia, I've found if I don't write her out a "pace chart," she doesn't work through the material as well. But with the chart, she is doing a challenge a day (or milestone if at that point.) I'm a stay-at-home mom so what I do for her is wake her up and pop in on her routinely to drop off a meal or retrieve a plate. She takes care of the family dog during the day. Her day is comprised of working through those two at-a-time sophia classes and taking care of him... she has high functioning autism so part of her day is also pacing back and forth and obsessing over her artwork (she wants to work in Character / Game Design.)

I submit the course badges to her Principal at the private school and they are used for Dual Enrollment.

My son is 15. He is miles behind her in maturity. He's always been into gaming and being online but covid has wrecked him.   He is motivated but not disciplined at all. I have to shadow him all day, (many days are endless "close discord, we are not done") and pull info from outside sources to enrich coursework for him. He zoomed through the Sophia IT course but is on month two of US History. The Sophia US History questions are tricky so while some multiple-choice exams are a piece of cake for him, the trickier questions that "open-book" tests use have tripped him up. He is finally to the final milestone today and has a 78 because of those tricky ones.

I think by the end of May, both of them will have 30 credits or close to it. 7 of those were taken directly from an online dual enrollment program (SEU.edu) in the Fall and the rest with Sophia.

They are going to use their credits for an Interdisciplinary Degree at Liberty. Here is a link to the Degree Completion https://www.liberty.edu/registrar/wp-con...S-BS-D.pdf
(if you attend in person, there is a different degree completion plan) Since they are so young, they haven't really decided on their "Areas of Concentration" but my daughter's will include Art since that's her interest.

If something changes along the way, I hope they find a college that will accept the ACE/Sophia Credits, but I'm hoping we can just make the Liberty thing work out since I have heard that they could graduate with a BS degree from there for less than 10k with the transfer credits. Not the cheapest out there but a huge savings over typical routes.

I just wanted to provide that extra background info because these are "average" teens, not class valedictorian types who've got their crap together.

[ss20ts]

I will probably supply too much info and not exactly helpful to every scenario. My kids are enrolled at a private high school allowing us to take coursework at home. During covid they attended synchronously and did the coursework the school was providing. Because it is a school for "alternative learners," not every subject was meeting my kids' needs. For instance, my kids read and understand info on a higher level, but they are slow at progressing through subjects. To use Sophia as an example, an easy Sophia course that people here can get through in a day might take them a few weeks, and a course like US History that maybe some here have done in a week or two, might take them a month.

My daughter is 17, and she is motivated and works independently. For Sophia, I've found if I don't write her out a "pace chart," she doesn't work through the material as well. But with the chart, she is doing a challenge a day (or milestone if at that point.) I'm a stay-at-home mom so what I do for her is wake her up and pop in on her routinely to drop off a meal or retrieve a plate. She takes care of the family dog during the day. Her day is comprised of working through those two at-a-time sophia classes and taking care of him... she has high functioning autism so part of her day is also pacing back and forth and obsessing over her artwork (she wants to work in Character / Game Design.)

I submit the course badges to her Principal at the private school and they are used for Dual Enrollment.

My son is 15. He is miles behind her in maturity. He's always been into gaming and being online but covid has wrecked him.   He is motivated but not disciplined at all. I have to shadow him all day, (many days are endless "close discord, we are not done") and pull info from outside sources to enrich coursework for him. He zoomed through the Sophia IT course but is on month two of US History. The Sophia US History questions are tricky so while some multiple-choice exams are a piece of cake for him, the trickier questions that "open-book" tests use have tripped him up. He is finally to the final milestone today and has a 78 because of those tricky ones.

I think by the end of May, both of them will have 30 credits or close to it. 7 of those were taken directly from an online dual enrollment program (SEU.edu) in the Fall and the rest with Sophia.

They are going to use their credits for an Interdisciplinary Degree at Liberty. Here is a link to the Degree Completion https://www.liberty.edu/registrar/wp-con...S-BS-D.pdf
(if you attend in person, there is a different degree completion plan) Since they are so young, they haven't really decided on their "Areas of Concentration" but my daughter's will include Art since that's her interest.

If something changes along the way, I hope they find a college that will accept the ACE/Sophia Credits, but I'm hoping we can just make the Liberty thing work out since I have heard that they could graduate with a BS degree from there for less than 10k with the transfer credits. Not the cheapest out there but a huge savings over typical routes.

I just wanted to provide that extra background info because these are "average" teens, not class valedictorian types who've got their crap together.

There are other options besides Liberty for degree completion using ACE credits. There are definitely options that are less than $10K.

[bjcheung77]

I think she would find alt-credit providers to be boring, and they likely wouldn't transfer to her school of choice. How old is she and in which subject is she interested in taking classes?

The good thing about Sophia classes is that even if the topic isn't one that a person finds super interesting, the class is short. It's not a semester. Lots of classes can be completed in just a few days so if you're not into the topic, it's over pretty quick as opposed to a 15-16 week course at a college. Those draaaaaaaag on. If one is planning on taking ACE courses then typically they want to attend a college that accepts ACE credits. Lots of options are out there.

In addition to what ss20ts mentioned, you may want to review this thread post if you haven't already, AP/CLEP/ACE credit is increasingly more common at many colleges/universities: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid364783