Three Alternatives to Community College
A year’s tuition and room and board, even at a state school, often adds up to more than $20,000. If you’re planning to attend a private college or university, you could pay more than $50,000 annually. For decades, smart students have exercised the college choice of community college to cut down this cost, yet there are other ways to save both money and time in college. Let’s take a look at your college choice options:
- Option one: Earn college credit for knowledge you already have. You have several options to choose from, including AP exams, CLEP exams, and DSST/Dante exams. These evaluation tests offer different options for earning credit for advanced work or knowledge you already possess. Check them out carefully.
- Option two: Take courses online. StraighterLine, for example, offers college courses that you can take online at a very low cost. Another option is to make use of StraighterLine’s innovative Partner College Program. It offers a streamlined college admissions process to students who have completed StraighterLine courses online.
- Option thee: Attend a college that offers a three-year degree program. Hartwick College and Wesleyan University are now offering three-year programs for certain college majors. More colleges are joining them. If you search online for the key term “three-year college degrees” from time to time, you can monitor this trend and find schools that are starting to offer three-year degree programs. Remember that many of these schools still charge pretty hefty fees for the three years while you attend, but if you can trim one year from the process, that will translate into pretty significant savings.
Have you come up with any other creative solutions? Leave a comment.
