State schools vs. other options

[rachel83az]

I did look up MIT policies before posting: https://firstyear.mit.edu/academics-expl...er-credit/

MIT departments may grant credit for study at other colleges and universities if the subjects are substantially equivalent to those taught at MIT & the grade earned meets MIT standards. However, each department sets its own policies and reviews each request individually.

Note: MAY grant. Not WILL grant. For at least math & science, you have to provide a ton of materials to prove that the "subjects are substantially equivalent" and you may still have to take an exam of some sort besides. Unofficial rumor has it that they rarely agree that the "subjects are substantially equivalent". I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but you can't just go to community college and then expect to transfer right into MIT, even if you have a 4.0 GPA.

I found the thread I mentioned in my last post: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...out-of-120 CLEPs and Saylor only. No other ACE credit aside from Saylor. It's not a terrible option, but a lot of students aren't able to complete CLEP exams and Saylor isn't exactly known for being coherent.

Again, CLEPs also do NOT count as ACE credit.

Also, if people are unable to afford college that would mean they are poor or low income. Hence, they should be applying for federal aid which fully covers community college education and state schools (in person or online.)

Untrue. This is only guaranteed if you take out loans. I just googled and the full Pell Grant amount is currently about $6500/year. This works out to slightly less than $220/credit. It also does not take into account books and the other fees that CCs tack on. There are a lot of local CCs that will eat up all your FAFSA money, and you still have to pay fees & whatnot. Oakton, for instance, charges $136.25/credit. Then there is an online course fee of $50 (I'm not sure if they charge this right now if you want to take in-person classes but cannot due to partial campus closures), a $15 per-course registration fee, $3/credit activity fee, and then a lot of courses charge a "lab" or other per-course fee between $10-50. So, we've got $660/credit from financial aid. Tuition eats up 408.75 of that. $251.25 left. $9 activity + $50 online + $15 registration = another $74 down the drain. $177.25 left. From past glances through the catalog, most courses seem to have a fee in the range of $25 - even if there isn't a "lab" component. You've got around $150 left from the Pell Grant and that might just cover your textbook and leave you with some pocket change.

But Oakton is one of the cheaper CCs. Tuition is pretty cheap and they don't have that many fees. $150-200/credit at CCs for local residents isn't uncommon. Anything above Oakton's price point and there is no way that financial aid will do more than partially cover your education. Unless you take out loans.

From some of the post that I have come across here, some hop college to college where they are collecting different credits in different areas which leads me to think they burned through their fin aid and maxed out their credit without earning an actual degree.

There are a lot of reasons why people might have hopped from college to college. Everyone can take out loans, but not everyone qualifies for Pell Grants. Promised parental support might have dissolved, leaving students stuck with the option of quitting school or trying to transfer to a cheaper school and pay for everything themselves. That doesn't always work out.

If you're only able to transfer in 45 credits and the remainder are $300-500/credit, you're looking at a degree costing $22,500-$37,500. Students come to this forum because they don't want to be $10,000-30,000 in student loan debt.

It's great that you were able to get your CUNY degree so cheap. But we do have students who come here because CUNY/SUNY is just not affordable.