The Big 3 listed in the Top 50 Schools for Post-9/11 GI Bill and TA

[Life Long Learning]

Looks like Excelsior, TESU, and WGU are all about 3k.

Sounds the same to me in my public school math?milelol:

[bjcheung77]

If only I could do the same with my master's degree but I don't think I can manage to do it in one semester.

I'm already looking, you might be able to finish it in a term (6 months) and it'll be extremely cheap at 3K from WGU.
If you are a speed demon and finish in 4 months, Patten will only be 2K, If you take 8 months, then Patten will do at 4K.

Looks like Excelsior, TESU, and WSU are all about 3k.

Sound the same to me in my public school math?milelol:

Yup, these are the three I like most TESU, WGU, Excelsior, COSC coming in as #4 on my list.

[Thorne]

I'm already looking, you might be able to finish it in a term (6 months) and it'll be extremely cheap at 3K from WGU.
If you are a speed demon and finish in 4 months, Patten will only be 2K, If you take 8 months, then Patten will do at 4K.

Trouble is that very few people can complete any Master's program in a 4, 6, or 8 month period. I'm thinking about paying my way into one of the Harvard Extension courses (holy heck are they expensive) or a VESi course (holy cheap credits Batman!) just to get a feel for graduate-level coursework. If it's not that fundamentally hard, maybe a rapid Grad program is a good idea.

[Ideas]

I'm already looking, you might be able to finish it in a term (6 months) and it'll be extremely cheap at 3K from WGU.
If you are a speed demon and finish in 4 months, Patten will only be 2K, If you take 8 months, then Patten will do at 4K.

Do you know if WGU is usually possible? I read about some of courses having team projects and sometimes they are slower? I don't know if what I read was WGU only. I think most of those programs could suffer from that program.

[Thorne]

Do you know if WGU is usually possible? I read about some of courses having team projects and sometimes they are slower? I don't know if what I read was WGU only. I think most of those programs could suffer from that program.

Depends on the degree. An MBA has cohort projects (group/team projects) that do take more time. You can apparently get yourself put in a project group that is interested in fast-tracking their degrees, but you're still limited by other people.

[sanantone]

IIRC, Life Long Learning is a vet. How much you pay depends on how many transfer credits you have that apply to your degree, what discounts and scholarships you qualify for, your major, and your military status. Can someone complete an emergency management degree from scratch at Excelsior for less than $3500? Absolutely not.

[gator9595]

Thorne, I would like to know more if you are going to try the Havard Extention option. I am surprised that the graduation rate is only around 7%. Maybe someone else on here can debunk that graduation rate. It appears anyone can get in but not everyone can stay. Like you mentioned it is not cheap at 30k but what a great degree to hang on the wall.

[Life Long Learning]

You are 100% correct.

I applied to the Big 3 as I have a ton of Gov't schools (JST and civilian EM/HLS ACE courses). Doing 30 SH at ASU (my other option) is a waste of my time for the same degree. The Big 3 were not designed for newbies going from 0 to 120 credits. They were originally designed for older adults with many real B&M college credits and experience in career fields, but without a degree. Think 1970's. The fact that a 16 year old can enroll today is excellent, but that is a collateral benefit.

If WGU had a degree that I wanted at this stage of my career I would have applied there also. I think they are a great new option.

$3k is for students who can transfer 116 of the 120 needed credits at Excelsior.

IIRC, Life Long Learning is a vet. How much you pay depends on how many transfer credits you have that apply to your degree, what discounts and scholarships you qualify for, your major, and your military status. Can someone complete an emergency management degree from scratch at Excelsior for less than $3500? Absolutely not.

[Thorne]

Thorne, I would like to know more if you are going to try the Havard Extention option. I am surprised that the graduation rate is only around 7%. Maybe someone else on here can debunk that graduation rate. It appears anyone can get in but not everyone can stay. Like you mentioned it is not cheap at 30k but what a great degree to hang on the wall.

My guess is that those numbers are legitimate. Amongst a slough of drawbacks, one benefit of HES is that you bypass the strict admissions requirements in lieu of passing a few courses.

Unfortunately, most of these plans require 4-5 courses on-site (though one of their programs only requires the capstone to be taken on campus, I'll let you find out which one it is). I would wager that many people either do these courses poorly on or never get around to finishing the program due to the fact that you must move to Boston for 6-16 weeks to finish up a final class.

[sanantone]

You are 100% correct.

I applied to the Big 3 as I have a ton of Gov't schools (JST and civilian EM/HLS ACE courses). Doing 30 SH at ASU (my other option) is a waste of my time for the same degree. The Big 3 were not designed for newbies going from 0 to 120 credits. They were originally designed for older adults with many real B&M college credits and experience in career fields, but without a degree. Think 1970's. The fact that a 16 year old can enroll today is excellent, but that is a collateral benefit.

If WGU had a degree that I wanted at this stage of my career I would have applied there also. I think they are a great new option.

$3k is for students who can transfer 116 of the 120 needed credits at Excelsior.

If one wants to give an honest cost of a degree, one would include the cost of earning the transfer credits.