• Olivet Nazarene University - $50/credit ($150 per course) and you don't pay until you are done with the course. Self-paced but the courses can have a lot of work that needs to be done.
  
• TEL Learning - About $66/credit ($200 per course). Pay upfront. Self-paced. Can be a lot of work, depending on the course. 2 proctored exams are required for every course.
  
• ASU Universal Learner - $425 per course: $25 upfront and then $400 to transcript. More expensive and mostly not self-paced but these are mostly pretty easy to complete and only have one proctored exam to contend with. 
  

(04-18-2021, 12:51 PM)rachel83az Wrote: Sophia is, hands down, both the fastest and the cheapest way to get credits. End of story. You can get 90 credits in under 5 months and this is something that's difficult or impossible to do with other options. Some people may argue that the quality of those credits doesn't match up to other alternate credit options but that is a different point entirely. Sophia is entirely appropriate for adult learners who just need a degree to show what they know and can do.

StraighterLine is not as cost-effective and they require that you schedule their proctored exams ahead of time, which really limits how many credits you can complete in a set time period. They do offer some courses you can't get through Sophia but this is mostly a moot point when you are trying to get "any" degree".

CLEP: a lot of testing centers are still closed and/or have limited testing availability. Same with DSST (formerly Dantes). This is not a fast way to gain credits, Though, again, there are some credits that you can't get anywhere else, this is not a fast way to get credits.

FEMA: Most schools no longer accept these credits. If they do, it's an expensive and lengthy process. End of story.

Study.com: Limits you to approximately 15 credits (5 exams) per month. This is set in stone and you cannot go any faster than that. Sophia allows you to complete as many courses as you are able to while your subscription is still active.

I also understand the need for incremental steps. You never know if you're going to get sick or if something else might interrupt your degree process. This is why I suggested Pierpont. It is both the fastest and cheapest way that you can attain an associate degree. UMPI is arguably the fastest and cheapest way to obtain "any bachelor's degree".

(04-18-2021, 12:59 PM)bjcheung77 Wrote: Ricke95126 - I also do better with goals and reaching each milestone before moving onto the next one!  We're probably the same age (I'm in my mid 40's now) and we probably like to do things step by step, in orderly fashion.  I recommended to do an Associates and Bachelors from the Big 3 and then move onto a competency based Masters afterwards... the main reason is, if "life" happens, you don't have to worry about paying by a flat-rate "semester or term" and cramming your courses into weeks.

I agree with collecting credits from different ACE/NCCRS sources as well, that is where I usually recommend Sophia.org for Lower Level and Study.com for Upper Level requirements for the Big 3.  Depending on the college/university, I would recommend Coopersmith, Davar, Onlinedegree, for Excelsior/TESU, but for COSC, they no longer accept NCCRS sources, so skip these if you're going for COSC.

I love learning using various providers, CLEP are now available FREE using ModernStates, if you have an open test center somewhere nearby, this is a great option.  But Sophia.org would be my go to for lower level as they recently leapfrogged both StraighterLine and Study.com to be my number 1 recommendation, for the cost, ease, and speed to finish - $79/month for two courses at a time - all you can cram into that month subscription!

I was curious, do you have tuition assistance/reimbursement from work?  Are you more into taking courses or exams?  If you don't have a limited budget, I would suggest TESU.  If you're strapped for cash, COSC.  If you want the least amount of work, then Excelsior College..