Quote: (12-26-2011 08:55 AM)Ami5 Wrote:
Quote: (12-26-2011 06:39 AM)joehoya Wrote:
If you don't have your degree, how about working towards that? Contrary to popular belief, there are some great methods out there for smart, independent learners to get their bachelors (and sometimes their masters) for relatively low cost and fairly quickly.
Mind elaborating how?
I think it'd be a valuable info.
Sure, no problem.
The basic strategy is to get a degree from one of several accredited universities that will accept a lot of college credit through credit-by-examination (eg CLEP and DSST tests), professional and technical certifications (e.g. Microsoft MCSE, Cisco CCNA, etc), military training, and/or previous coursework at other universities.
While MANY colleges accept these credits, the three that accept the most are
Thomas Edison State College (a state college in New Jersey),
Charter Oak State College (a state college in Conneticut), and
Excelsior College (previously a state college, now a private college in New York). These are COMPLETELY LEGITIMATE universities. They are all fully accredited and have been around for about 40 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_Oak_State_College
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edis...te_College
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excelsior_College
I have turned a few of my buddies on to these schools and their results have been great. One knocked out a Bachelors degree in 18 months. Another finished his Bachelors in 6 months, and a third got his associates degree in 3 months, IIRC. These guys were working in IT, but had dropped out of college (or in one case, never went) years ago and now found their careers hampered by not having a degree.
It is completely possible to knock out a bachelors degree for $10K or less. You'll make that money back within the first year or two of possessing your degree. Best of all, if you go the credit-by-examination testing route, you can do it in a pay-as-you-go format. Where I am, taking a CLEP test costs about $100. The exams range in value from 3 to 6 credit hours. You could just budget $100 per month and take a test every month. If the exams average 4 credits per exam, that would be 48 credit hours per year. If you could do that, you could start from zero credits and have your bachelor's in 2 ½ years. Many have done it in MUCH LESS TIME.
The basic gameplan is to figure out what type of degree you want, and within what time-frame you need this. Then assess how many credits you already have via the above methods. After that, develop a learning plan that will lead you through the right exams/courses to get the degree you want.
The process can seem a bit intimidating, but thousands of people have gone on this path before you. If you have other questions, let me know.