My journey and, issues. :)

[Drakemoore]

If you have FAFSA Pell Grant, take the most you can at your school while avoiding a loan.

I'm fully eligible for the maximum Pell Grant. So one thought I had was to CLEP out of general ed classes and take technical classes (as part of an associates such as AS:CS) then transfer all of that into a degree at TESC or elsewhere later. Which would be kind of useful due to all of the LL electives that TESC gives you and the somewhat fewer test out options available for tech oriented credits. I might be able to somewhat 'refund' myself for testing options because I've read from numerous sources that extra Pell funding at the end of the year is reimbursed to you for expenses.

Since I'm out of state, TESC would be nearly $9k a year for their comprehensive plan. It's so much more of a viable option I imagine for someone that's a NJ state resident, if I were I'd probably do it entirely there but I'm not.