Bachelor's degree on a budget

[Molly Meow]

Hi all!

I'm looking for some suggestions. I would love to finish my degree. I'm not very far into it - I have maybe 20-30 transferable credits. I'm looking into getting a degree in accounting.

Here's the problem - I live in California. The state university closest to me has shut it's doors to new applicants. At this point, it's uncertain when they'll open back up, and when they do they'll be bombarded.

The junior college in my area is flooded with people who can't get into the CSU. I was attending that junior college until the CSU closed applications. Now when I go to register, there's no classes available.

There are an absolute TON of University of Phoenix type schools in my area, but I'm worried that a degree from any of those won't be looked on kindly in the job market. The tuition is also out of sight.

Anyone have any ideas of how to get this degree? Moving is out of the question because my husband found his dream job, so we're stuck here. I've done some research into online schools, and even attended Thomas Edison State College for a while. I stopped when I discovered that my local schools value the TESC classes a lot lower. Example - I took and passed a pre-calculus class. It transferred in as an algebra class. Now I have to take pre-calculus again. The other online schools I've found seem to either be along those same lines as University of Phoenix or just outright scams.

I know I sound like a Negative Nelly, but I feel like I'm being punished because I'm stuck living here! Haha

I truly appreciate any advice!

 

[britfish]

I am also working on my degree, and I am doing it online. One piece of advice I got when looking for an online school is to find one that also has face to face classes. I also found one community college that had online courses and it seemed very affordable but when I looked further the courses were only 2 or 3 credits each. I ended up going with Granite State College. The courses are certainly not cheap but it seemed to be a good fit for me.
Good luck, its a lot of work!

 

[torinsmom]

Yep, find a college that does regular classes as well as online classes. I got my first education degree from North Carolina Central University with mostly online classes and I am working on a master's in education online from St Catherine's University in Minnesota.

Marsha

 

[pigletliz]

Have you checked out Coastline Community College? They offer online, telecourses and live classes. Their credits do transfer to the CSU and UC campuses. Make an appointment with a counselor and let them know your goal is to transfer. Good thing about attending the community colleges in California is that you can get your GE courses certified (including the ones from other schools) and the CSU/UCs will take them as a package deal. Once the state campus starts taking students, it might be easier for you to get accepted

I do know someone who is enrolled in the University of Phoenix. It is still a lot of work and it is very expensive.

Good Luck!

 

[quentina]

Hi all!

I'm looking for some suggestions. I would love to finish my degree. I'm not very far into it - I have maybe 20-30 transferable credits. I'm looking into getting a degree in accounting.

Here's the problem - I live in California. The state university closest to me has shut it's doors to new applicants. At this point, it's uncertain when they'll open back up, and when they do they'll be bombarded.

The junior college in my area is flooded with people who can't get into the CSU. I was attending that junior college until the CSU closed applications. Now when I go to register, there's no classes available.

There are an absolute TON of University of Phoenix type schools in my area, but I'm worried that a degree from any of those won't be looked on kindly in the job market. The tuition is also out of sight.

Anyone have any ideas of how to get this degree? Moving is out of the question because my husband found his dream job, so we're stuck here. I've done some research into online schools, and even attended Thomas Edison State College for a while. I stopped when I discovered that my local schools value the TESC classes a lot lower. Example - I took and passed a pre-calculus class. It transferred in as an algebra class. Now I have to take pre-calculus again. The other online schools I've found seem to either be along those same lines as University of Phoenix or just outright scams.

I know I sound like a Negative Nelly, but I feel like I'm being punished because I'm stuck living here! Haha

I truly appreciate any advice!

Most colleges have online courses........I would avoid the ones that are stricty online however; most of your local colleges should have the classes on line. Look around, you may be surprised. Around here, Penn State, Kutztown, Cedar Crest, Lehigh etc all have online accessibilty. I have only had to take 2 classes on site and depending on what you transfer in, you may get lucky.

 

[txvjc]

I agree with everyone else and try to find out if one of your local colleges offer online classes...even the one that you are shut out of. I'm taking online courses through the local community college who works hand in hand with UCF so I'm guaranteed that all my credits will transfer.

As far as the online colleges like University of Phoenix, I read not to long ago that it's not as big as a ? mark on your resume as you might think since it has become so prevelant nowadays. That said, I would stick to Phoenix since it is so well known, but def isn't budget.

 

[mrsklamc]

Stay away from schools like University of Phoenix and ITT online. They are nationally, rather than regionally accredited, and way overpriced.

It's very common for more traditional schools to be offering online classes now, as previous posters have mentioned. Dig around until you find a state school (CA or another state) that has the classes you need and tuition you can handle. As far as transferring, you want to find out from the college you want to graduate from if there is a "matriculation agreement" with the other school. This would be to make sure you get all the proper credit as well as ensure that they don't downgrade an "A" to a "B" for example.

CA has traditionally had extremely low tuition for its residents so you may experience a bit of sticker shock.

Since your local schools would probably be cheaper, be persistent but not annoying about checking in with the registrar's office to see what you might be able to get into.

 

[jldunbar]

Just check the accreditation. If accredited on-line is fine. Look at Walden University.

 

[mrsklamc]

Just check the accreditation. If accredited on-line is fine. Look at Walden University.

Not all accreditation is the same. Make sure it's regional, not national.

 

[brekin67]

I went to school in Oklahoma. I worked for a boys group home that was owned by the University. As an employee, I received free tuition. See if there is a job available at the University of your choice.

 

[DawnM]

There are no other schools in your area? Only one CC and on CSU school?

Also, is this maybe a matter of timing? Are you late in registering?

Dawn

 

[mrsklamc]

There are no other schools in your area? Only one CC and on CSU school?

Also, is this maybe a matter of timing? Are you late in registering?

Dawn

This is a matter of the state of CA being totally and completely broke.

 

[allyphoe]

Anyone have any ideas of how to get this degree?

http://www.cvc.edu/students/courses/ allows you to do a search of all courses offered by a wide range of CA universities. You can filter by just about anything, including "show me all the online courses offered by public junior colleges."

Once I got that list, I clicked through to a random school site (Rio Hondo is what came up first, which seems to be a legitimate public junior college), I went to the course listing, and filtered only open courses, and only online courses. There were bunches open, and the class descriptions show that they transfer just fine to UC and CSU.

 

[akcire]

Before enrolling in any online school I would watch the Frontline news program dedicated to online college. It was very eye opening. You can watch it for free on the PBS website.

If I were in your situation, I would continue to work the local community college or state school, like someone said you may try the schools telecommuting or correspondence department. At most traditional university a correspondence class will appear on your transcript without any notation that it was a correspondence class.

 

[lastminutemom]

This is a matter of the state of CA being totally and completely broke.

The largest community college in Georgia temporarily cut off registration in April for next year. While they recently resumed, it is very difficult for students to get classes.

California is in worse shape than we are though.

 

[luvsJack]

Look at WGU. Its totally online but a WHOLE lot cheaper than Phoenix or any other online school. And it is regionally accredited.

 

[mrsboz]

What is WGU please?

 

[Juliet25]

What is WGU please?

I think it's Western Governors University. I remember seeing it on NBC News a few months ago. Might be worth looking into. Here's the link to their website with the segment: http://www.wgu.edu/wgu/nbc_news

 

[MinnieForMe]

Do you currently work or are you looking to be a full time student? I would suggest looking for a job that offers tuition reimbursement even if it's not a job that has future potential it might help you pay for your education. I know the hospital I worked at offered to pay for 1-2 classes per semester and IBM completely paid for my husband's Masters degree.

Good Luck!

 

[caitty13]

I am also working on my degree, and I am doing it online. One piece of advice I got when looking for an online school is to find one that also has face to face classes. I also found one community college that had online courses and it seemed very affordable but when I looked further the courses were only 2 or 3 credits each. I ended up going with Granite State College. The courses are certainly not cheap but it seemed to be a good fit for me.
Good luck, its a lot of work!

I got my BS at Granite State College. Now I am working on my MBA through Southern NH University, they also have BS and BA programs.