Frequently Asked Questions

When it comes to getting a degree online by testing out of it, you may have a lot of questions regarding the process. Some of the most commonly-asked questions can be found below.

=What Bachelor's Degree(s) can I get?= It depends on the school, but typically one in Business Administration, Psychology, Social Sciences, or Liberal Arts.

With Charter Oak State College, you can obtain a Bachelor's of Science/Arts in Business Administration, Health Care Administration, Psychology, Cybersecurity, General Studies, and many other majors or concentrations. With Thomas Edison State University you can obtain a Bachelor of Arts, or Bachelor of Science in several different majors such as Business Administration, Finance, Psychology, Social Science, Sociology Math, History, Computer Science, etc. Excelsior College has similar degree structures available.

Both TESU and Excelsior have nursing programs. All three also provide associate degrees in various disciplines.

You may want to research statistics regarding employability and unemployment levels among the various types of undergraduate and graduate degrees and you should always consider your goals and situation before jumping into a particular degree program. For more information on how to choose a degree see this very informative discussion thread at DegreeForum.net discussing degree selection.

How Long Will It Take To Complete A Bachelor's Degree?
A lot less than you might think, and certainly '''far less than a traditional brick-and-mortar school which is typically 4 years long. '''Many users on DegreeForum.net are able to easily graduate under a year with many finding that the sweet spot is around 3 months to a year. Some have even done it in 4 weeks as described on BAin4Weeks.com.

 Some success stories: 

Ashkir completed one Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration – Management & Leadership Concentration from UMPI in 7 months using just Sophia for a total cost of $2,800

Forum User bricabrac completed four degrees in two years for $10,000! 

Forum User Ryoder completed one Bachelor's degree in Business Administration in six months, then decided to knock out a second Bachelor's degree in science & math in another six months before going on to graduate school .

What is the fastest/easiest bachelor's degree to get?
Fast and easy are in the eye of the beholder. For many people, the answer to this is going to be a liberal studies/liberal arts degree due to the variety of credits that are accepted. The fastest/easiest degree you can get is one where you already have prior knowledge of the subject. There are many people who have been working in a given industry for many years who are able to get a subject degree (such as business administration, nursing, or computer science) within just a couple of months by applying their prior knowledge.

No, but really, I need a degree ASAP for a promotion, how soon can I get one?
As stated above, this is going to depend on your prior knowledge. Take a step back and consider the following questions:
 * 1) Do you already have an Associate's degree and would an Associate's degree help with your employment situation? If an Associate's degree would tide you over while you get the best Bachelor's degree for your situation, check to see if you're eligible for the free Pierpont BOG AAS. Because an Associate degree is only 60 credits to a Bachelor's degree's 120, you can obviously complete these requirements the most quickly. Because all that is required is LL credits, you may be able to complete the requirements in as few as 3-4 weeks. You can then continue on with your Bachelor's degree while waiting this Associate's degree to be conferred.
 * 2) How do you feel about writing papers? If you are enthusiastic about writing papers (or can at least write them quickly), then a degree from UMPI may be for you. Check the forum for more information, but the basic premise would be to gather most of your credits from Sophia.org and then write approximately 10 short papers (depending on classes required) to complete your degree at UMPI. A handful of students have obtained their degrees at UMPI in as few as 4-6 months after starting from scratch.
 * 3) Do you prefer exams? If papers aren't your thing, you can take exams to test out of many degrees at The Big Three. The full concept is more nuanced than that, so definitely check the forum to find out which exams currently have the most exams/least papers and how best to complete them.

What is the cheapest bachelor's degree to get?
The answer to this question will depend greatly upon whether you already have credits from a prior associate's degree, an attempt at a bachelor's degree, and so on. In general, the cheapest degree will usually be a liberal arts/liberal studies degree from one of The Big Three due to the number of inexpensive transfer credits they allow you to bring in. But if you already have experience in a given field, the cheapest degree may be one that can be completed quickly in a competency-based program.

If you are accelerating, UMPI using Sophia may be the cheapest degree path, clocking in just under $3,000.

=Why Test Out of A Degree?= Well, if you're not looking to, or can't, go to Harvard, Stanford, Yale, or any other "elite" school, then it really doesn't matter too much what college you went to for undergrad unless you're looking to do a degree in something very specific i.e. nursing, engineering, computer science, any STEM field, etc. If you're not looking to do any of these ones in particular, then you can typically get a Bachelor's in something like either Business Administration or the liberal arts. This includes Sociology, Psychology, or just a generalized Liberal Arts degree and satisfy any pre-requisites that the graduate program may want or need.

For many types of work post-college, it won't matter where you got your degree, but more-so your work experience, technical skills, networking ability, and even luck. Some employers, like state governments and some branches of the federal government, absolutely don't care where you got your degree so long as the degree is  regionally accredited . Fortunately, main schools mentioned in this website, Charter Oak State College (COSC), Excelsior College, Thomas Edison State University (TESU) (formerly Thomas Edison State College, TESC), and University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI) are  all regionally accredited . (Other schools on this site are also RA, unless otherwise stated.)

All of these RA schools will open doors for going into graduate programs whether it may be an MBA, MPH, Ph.D., J.D., or any other type of graduate program including health programs* like PA school, Physical Therapy, Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, etc. What will matter ultimately if you're looking for at least "average" graduate programs is maintaining at least a 3.00/4.00 GPA (but typically 3.7/4.0 is needed for health profession programs), work experience, good extracurricular activities, solid letters of recommendations, and doing well on graduate standardized exams i.e. the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, DAT, PCAT, etc. Depending on the rigor and competitiveness of any graduate-level program, it may matter where you went for your undergraduate, but not so much for institutions that are within the reach for 99% of us. What will matter more is your GPA, standardized test scores (if a graduate program requires them), and so forth.

''*Note: For many of the health fields,  you do not need  to major in science  nor is it recommended by pre-meds or medical admission committees alike  since health professional programs prefer "diversity" and science majors tend to be much harder in keeping a high GPA. Typically all you need is any Bachelor's degree in any major like Sociology or Psychology and satisfy pre-medical coursework in biology (w/ lab), chemistry (w/ lab), physics (w/lab), organic chemistry (w/ lab), anatomy and physiology, microbiology, genetics, and/or biochemistry. The only thing is that for these science pre-med courses, you would want to take them through a college as A) there are no equivalent examinations with labs B) health programs want to see actual coursework for these types of courses and labs too. For more information and advice for health care programs, it is suggested to check out the Student Doctor Forums. ''

Finally, all three colleges offer a degree that is generally less than $10,000, and typically around $5,000 - $8,000.

The important thing to keep in mind is that each of these 3 colleges has particular perks and cons, and it is up to you to figure out which one best fits your needs. Typically, however, most students tend to find that a degree through Excelsior College will be the most expensive, a degree through Charter Oak State College will be moderately priced but a little easier than Excelsior to complete, and a degree through Thomas Edison State University can be the cheapest and easiest of all three. But with Charter Oak's new (as of 2020) credit source rules, they can actually be the most expensive option for some students. Excelsior College is probably the most well known of the three colleges, has the largest student body, a bigger advertisement campaign, and as a result, you tend to hear about it more often. However, most students on the DegreeForum.net typically recommend a degree either through Charter Oak State College or Thomas Edison State University, since Excelsior College tends to be far more obfuscated, and it's not always as easy to plan an Excelsior College degree. In the end, any of these 3 schools will fulfill their purpose in obtaining a regionally accredited Bachelor's degree, and any of the three can be had for less than $10,000! This is definitely a steal, when compared to more traditional schools.

Compare this to going to a private college that can cost you upwards of $200,000 plus crippling loan interest or the typical state college that can cost around $50,000 - $100,000. This is even more relevant given how student debt is non-dischargeable/"unbankruptable" (debt for life), turning students into life-long indentured servants, leaving students with expensive degrees but unable to find work at all or work that pays decently for a college degree. Sadly, many of these students will or already have been delayed in life (i.e. getting married, raising a family, buying a home, cars, etc.) and in many cases will remain in debt for the rest of their lives. So is a particular institution worth going to if you're interested in a very particular career path i.e. a STEM field or if you can go to an ivy league? Absolutely. But for the remaining students who are not going into these fields, their college choice may have minimal to no effect on their career goals, and it may be better to save tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process – not to mention years of time, and energy saved. That's money that can be used towards opening a business, buying a home, or pursuing a quality graduate-level program.

Furthermore, with the advent of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) that are providing ivy-league education for free, and from the comfort of your home, and with the United States becoming a service economy, many of the most in-demand skills are in fields in technology i.e. programming or web development. MOOCs are nice because they are free, self-taught and driven, and offer education from some of the best institutions in the world i.e. Stanford, Harvard, MIT, etc. As a result, a Bachelor's degree is becoming more of a piece of paper to be obtained and to say that you have it. Overall, it is likely that your success in life will likely depend more on your real-life practical, technical, and networking skills. If you are not so technically inclined, suitable work that pays well can also be found through federal and state governments, and/or possibly with a Master's degree which is where most of the money for education would be better spent.

=How Does Testing Out Work?= There are currently three universities that allow you to transfer in all but 6-7 credit hours of a total of 120 credits needed for a Bachelor's degree: Charter Oak State College (COSC), Excelsior College (EC), and Thomas Edison State University (TESU), These are often referred to as "The Big 3" schools. These schools specialize in providing education opportunities to anyone who may have a collection of credits or creditable experience from multiple sources. Thanks to their generous policies it is possible to earn a Bachelor's degree without taking a single college class. As long as you know how to do it, understand the policies, and are willing to put in the work, that is. This website, and the DegreeForum.net forum, can help with the first two,  but the third is entirely on you !

''NOTE: These are NOT for-profit schools, nor are they "nationally accredited." Two of the "Big 3" are public state schools, and one (Excelsior) is private and formerly known as Regents College (formed by the New York State Board of Regents). These are reputable schools catering to adult students and in several cases have had students go on to top tier graduate schools like Harvard, Yale, and MIT. Of course, these are more the exceptions than the norm, but it shows you that it can be done!''

=How can I Pay for the Bachelor's Degree?= Due to the low cost of many of these methods, many students just end up paying out-of-pocket for the credit exams and courses. But if money is tight, you can look into using federal and state financial aid in order to receive free grant money and/or no-interest/low-interest federal loans.

One idea you can look into if you can't afford to spend a few thousand dollars for a Bachelor's degree is to obtain financial aid i.e. Pell Grants, Federal Subsidized/Unsubsidized loans, and/or any state tuition assistance by taking some degree-pertinent online courses through a cheap community college. By taking 12 credits/4 courses through a college, you'll become a full-time student eligible for the most federal aid possible, and likely receive a good amount of grants and loans. This is worth looking into as many students don't realize they are eligible for free grant money through the government if their income is sufficiently low. This can cover not only the tuition of the college where they're taking coursework, but also give them a few thousand dollars to cover for their actual Bachelor's degree through any of the Big 3.

Typically, many students are older than 24 years old (thus, considered financially "independent" from parents), have an eligible income, and thus qualify for a great deal of Pell Grant money (which is free money that you don't have to pay back), and Federal subsidized (no interest), or very low-interest Federal unsubsidized loans (around 5%). This is money that can be used however you please whether it be for taking exams for credit, food, living expenses, books, any coursework towards the degree, etc.

If this is a good option for you, it is recommended when enrolling in a college to find courses through either of these colleges that will satisfy degree requirements, and also selecting instructors that have a good and easy reputation, by using RateMyProfessors.com for instance. And then you save money by finding books online for free and/or finding cheaper or older textbooks online through eBay or Amazon.

Some things to keep in mind is that you can only typically use financial aid at one college, and for the purpose of having enough financial aid money to use on your actual Bachelor's degree, you can maximize any remaining grant and loan money by enrolling in a cheap college as mentioned above. Also, this won't stop you from simultaneously enrolling at the college where you want to obtain your Bachelor's degree if you wanted to of course.

''' Most importantly, you can figure out how and what you're eligible for from the FAFSA Aid Calculator. '''

=When should I apply to my chosen college/university?= This is going to depend upon a number of factors, including whether or not you already have prior credits. For more information, check out this page.

=How do I even get started?= So you've just found out about this process and you want to get started. Congratulations! You can find a basic overview here. There is a more specific but TL;DR approach here that will walk you through the various steps. If you're still unsure of where to go and what to do, pop on over to the degree planning advice section of DegreeForum.net and post your question(s). You should get answers pretty quickly.