Excelsior Degree Plan - questions on UL credit sources

[ddillenberger]

I am first time poster and have greatly appreciated all the valuable information so please be patient with me.

I am encouraging my wife to potentially return to get her Bachelor's in Liberal Arts or Business after 20+ years.  The key is we are paying out of pocket and do not want to use student loans.  She applied to COSC, TESU, WGU, and Excelsior.  We received the credit evaluation/advising worksheet for each institution aside from WGU and hope to receive this one soon.  We are leaning towards Excelsior as they seem to be the only Big 3 school to accept Nationally Accredited credits and she has credits from a state university and 2 year Art School that ACCSC/CHEA accredited. They are awarding her about 57 credits total.

I have the following questions:

1) If I am seeking help with specific degree plans for COSC, TESU, WGU, and Excelsior, what is the protocol to post her specific courses that will be awarded credit at each university and what courses you recommend?  I put together a spreadsheet on targeted courses for her to finish, but, want to get confirmation on the quickest and least expensive route?  Should I attach the spreadsheet or post it in the body of the thread?

2) Can you please recommend sources of UL credit at Excelsior?  After reading other posts, it sounds like Excelsior will not award much ACE/NCCRS credit for taking courses on Study.com or Saylor that are considered UL?  It looks like the HIS 306 Civil War Era is the only ACE/NCCRS course that Excelsior recognizes? It sounds like Study.com or Saylor Academy is a good place to register for the course, but, I am required in most cases to take the corresponding CBE UExcel or DSST option?  Obviously, the $50-200 month Study.com or free Saylor course is a lot more cost effective than a DSST (Cost = $85 fee + $25 Pearson Vue fee) at $110 or UExcel ($110 for most 3 hour courses +$20 technology fee + $62.83 Pearson test fee) $192.83 cost per exam? Are there cheaper ways to earn UL credits at Excelsior?

3) Are TECEP exams the only CBE exam that can taken via ProctorU at home for a fee of $250 (3 cr hrs @ $75 each plus $25 proctor fee)?

4) TESU and COSC have awarded her 41 and 35 transfer credits respectively. It seems like COSC is typically the least expensive option.  

5) It seems logical to choose the BS Liberal Studies programs that awards the most transfer credit and costs the least.  So far, the tuition amount seems to be around $4440.

Thanks,

EducationSeeker

Excelsior does award UL credit for study.com courses.   They follow the ace recommendation.   On each study.com course read the course syllabus.   Near the bottom will be a credit recommendation.   My advisor from Excelsior was almost no help with this.