Beginners Guide To Getting Cheap/Fast College Credit

[bjcheung77]

NOTES: Creating a Thread for New Degree Seekers (and a reminder for myself).

You can complete the following for FREE and it will give you the corresponding credits listed beside it.
Kaplan PLA LRC100 - 3
The Institutes: Ethics 312 - 2
NFA Q118, Q137, Q318 - 3
TEEX Cybersecurity 101, 201, 301 - 6
FEMA PDS Cert, 7 Courses - 7 (only for COSC and a small number of schools)
Other FEMA credits all are free - Again only usable at COSC and a limited number of schools

ALEKS - Beginning Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, College Algebra, Precalculus, Trigonometry, Intro to Statistics,
Business Statistics, Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences (each is 3 credits) for $20/month membership
- If you can finish the math classes faster, it'll be cheaper for you; these are NON proctored (use online calculators)

Saylor Academy - All courses are FREE (22 of them), but you pay a $25/proctored final for credits.
I tell people to think of it as a cheaper version of a CLEP/DSST/UEXCEL/TECEP etc exam, for the type of credit.
I would choose these and study with additional resources over the proctored exams, you can test at home too!
Unless of course, there is no equivalent exam for credit, i'll go for the CLEP/DSST/UEXCEL/TECEP

Straighterline - $99/month membership, $49-$74 per 3 credit course
They have many courses, if you can finish more than 5 a month, it's cheaper than taking exams.
Many people use this as you are graded on open book course work, the proctored final is 25% of grade.
Finish courses quickly and you save a bundle, if you have a mediocre final, it won't affect the grade as much.

Study.com - $990+/year for 72 credits (2 courses a month). This is a great option if you have the time.
You can take many of the required courses here and transfer them to the Big 3 or other universities.
These are courses with study material, but the credit comes from the final exam only, nothing else.
I would recommend them for several upper level courses in their transfer to TESU/COSC, etc.

CLEP/DSST/UEXCEL are done at test centers, CLEP/DSST are about $100 + sitting fee of $20
UEXCEL are done at PearsonVue centers, are more expensive, generally $145+sitting fee
TECEPS are done online, so it's great when you can do it at home for $114.
CSU-Global are online exams as well, great for Upper Level at $250/exam

Jumpcourse.com is very similar to Study.com, but it's $149/3 credit course
ed4online/Prospero/Sophia - $299/3 credit course, I would recommend them for hard to find Upper Level

Penn Foster - Although they are NA (Nationally Accredited), they have many courses that are ACE Recommended.
Each course is $237/3 credits and transferable to the Big 3. You should get pre-approval from the Big 3 first.
They are using "snail mail" correspondence style, good value - upper level credit for mainly Business Courses.

More to come...