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Has anyone here real experience with College Plus?


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My high school kid is finishing up her freshman year and we have been talking about College Plus as well as many other ways to save $$. I'd love to hear about your experiences with this program.

 

A particular concern: Can she still be considered a freshman (for scholarship purposes) if she enters with multiple CLEPs or CLEP/CC credits?

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CLEP yes. AP as well.

 

CC it depends on the school. Most will consider them freshmen if they enter with CC credits that were earned during high school and did not earn a degree. Some will not. If the school is unaffordable and does not consider her a freshman, it can simply be crossed off your list.

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On 3/25/2015 at 4:48 PM, Vida Winter said:
My high school kid is finishing up her freshman year and we have been talking about College Plus as well as many other ways to save $$. I'd love to hear about your experiences with this program.
 

 No personal experience with College Plus, BUT, I am very good friends with the families of 2 young ladies who completed their Bachelor's degrees with College Plus, plus another family in the midst.

DF#1 completed the program in just over 2 years, beginning at the start of 11th grade and finishing at the end of summer after 12th grade. This student "double graduated" 4 years ago, and I believe the total cost to them was about $13,000.

DF#2 completed the program in 3 years, due to having to put the program on hold while the family had extended family illnesses and deaths to contend with. So she went 11th and 12th grades, and a third year after high school graduation. The extra time bumped their cost up to more like $16,000.

(Side note: cost of College Plus is out of pocket, as the costs are coaching and test fees -- neither are covered by any traditional financial aid sources.)

Both young ladies are now teachers. So far, no problems with degrees that were earned largely through CLEP scores (no GPA), and distance classes (with GPA). One is thinking of returning to an actual university campus for a Master's degree.

My understanding is that you can "DIY" directly with Thomas Edison College or a few other schools that will approve your course of study via CLEP and distance classes, and save another $5-8,000.

However, I will note that both of these families had extremely motivated students AND very intelligent organized moms, and they both stressed how VERY needed the College Plus mentor was for the weekly phone calls and pep talks, because it is a very lonely way to earn a degree. It's also difficult to have time for very many other activities or for socializing, so if your student has a high need for social and extracurriculars, think carefully about how this option may/may not be a fit for the student.

Students who succeed in this program MUST be very driven/motivated, work very well solo, be good at setting own schedules and goals, be good at studying/learning from textbooks, and be good at testing.
 

On 3/25/2015 at 4:48 PM, Vida Winter said:
… other ways to save $$...
 
Check out this past thread: "s/o Cauthionary Tale/High College Costs -- a brainstorming $$ ideas!". Lots of ideas, from:
 
- 2 years at a lower-cost local CC and then transfer to finish a Bachelor's in 2 years at a univ.
- be a top 5% student at a lower tier school
- work for tuition reimbursement programs
- college exchange programs (student goes at in-state rate to out-of-state or out-of-country partner school)
- tuition-free colleges
- earn $$ for tuition by being a 1-year Americorps volunteer

 

On 3/25/2015 at 4:48 PM, Vida Winter said:
A particular concern: Can she still be considered a freshman (for scholarship purposes) if she enters with multiple CLEPs or CLEP/CC credits?
 

Depends on the university. Most have a limit on how many CLEPS they will accept, AND on which ones. As far as I have seen (so, NOT a blanket statement here! ? ), CLEPs have not changed a student's freshman status.

I have seen limits by some 4-year schools on amount of dual enrollment credits from a CC or other university -- some schools allow as many as 60 credits, some only 23-24 credits, and a few schools only allow 12 credits of dual enrollment from a CC, after which a student is no longer considered a freshman, but a transfer student.

BEST of luck as your family plans ahead! ? Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited by Lori D.
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As a mom to a college graduate, a college student, a couple of high schoolers, and has experience going through the whole FAFSA, college in high school, transferring credits adventure, I looked into the College Plus program and I found the following: 

 

If your family is low-income and depends on grants, loans, or scholarships, then taking college classes (with College Plus or local cc) can effect how much financial aid your child can receive if they decide later to attend a brick and mortar university.

 

There are three things to think about-

 

1. Pell Grant - limited semesters and only one bachelor's

 

The Pell Grant is only available to those earning their first bachelor's degree. For a low-income family who depends on the Pell Grant or state grant (such as the Cal Grant), this could mean that they may have essentially cut off all possibility of attending a four year university either because they already have earned a bachelor's with CP or because they will only be eligible for a couple of semesters of Pell Grants. Which leads to....

 

2. Scholarships and Transferring

 

As far as if it counts for transferring credits (which then also determines how many semesters of Pell Grant, etc... you may receive), many colleges determine this by the high school graduation date. Once a student graduates, any credits earned after graduation can put them in the transfer student category. Transfer scholarships are usually half the amount of the incoming-freshmen scholarships. Also, it is common to require 24 units in order to transfer. 

 

When filling out the FAFSA, all your college credits can count as college credits, even the ones taken in high school. It all depends on how many credits the college deems them to have - that is what the FAFSA people will go by. For a family whose finances make the Pell Grant or state grants a non-option, this is not an issue.

 

Transferring can be a much more sticky business than most of us parents are aware of going in. I was actually quite horrified when attending a transfer student parent meeting at my oldest daughter's university and finding what a narrow window there is for transferring. I was also tremendously grateful that we had made it into that window.

 

So, ultimately, College Plus might not be a good decision for a low-income family who can receive more financial aid by not accumulating college credits until attending a four year university.

 

3. Life is a Journey

 

One last thing.... as a parent of a child who graduated from college SCL at age 20 and wants to rush through life, I would remind parents and children that the college years are a very unique and wonderful time in life that doesn't come again. Don't rush it. Enjoy it.

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There is a yahoo group called CLEP for homeschool. Many of the families there have their kids getting degrees from Thomas Edison or Charter Oaks where they can use lots of CLEPs and get a very inexpensive degree. They CLEP after many high school courses and sometimes just study CLEP materials instead of taking classes. It is far less expensive than College Plus. The difference is mostly about the counselors provided by College Plus. You take that role and make the plan with your child and save money. If you need the help planning or someone to keep your child focused, then College Plus might be worth the money.

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  • 3 years later...
2 hours ago, arliemaria said:

What age/grade can one begin to take CLEP tests?


Just to start with: see the CLEP info page and the FAQ page at College Board for more info about the tests and about registering. Neither of those links answers your specific questions, but I have heard that children as young as 12yo have taken CLEP tests. Another sign that pre-teens can take CLEP tests is this College Board policy: if the child is under 13yo, the parent must fill out this form and submit it to College Board, in order for the child to take a CLEP test.
 

2 hours ago, arliemaria said:

...Like if my son took the College Algebra and passed would this help for college placement?


No. Taking and passing the CLEP College Algebra test grants the student college credit for that course (provided that the specific university accepts that specific CLEP test for credit). CLEP tests are not used for college placement. Community colleges and universities use specific placement tests (usually either COMPASS or Accuplacer) to determine each new student's level of Reading, Writing, and Math in order to place students, or require that the student take a pre-requisite course first.
 

2 hours ago, arliemaria said:

What age/grade can one begin to take CLEP tests? Like if my son took the College Algebra and passed would this help for college placement? How long do CLEP scores remain on record? Do they ever expire?


I'm not seeing anywhere that CLEP scores expire, BUT, CLEP does not keep your scores forever. CLEP keeps your transcripts on file for 20 years. You can request a copy of your CLEP transcript (for $20) with this form.

Whether or not you can use older CLEP scores will depend on whether the specific college grants credit for that CLEP test. Check with the specific university you are interested in about their credit-by-exam policies, and which (if any) CLEP tests they accept for credit. While almost 3000 schools DO grant credit for passing CLEP scores, not all colleges do. And not all schools that do grant credit accept all of the CLEP tests -- each university lists which specific CLEP tests they will count for which specific course credits.

Also, apparently CLEP revises tests from time to time, so if, for example your student took the Biology exam in 2017, and the exam was revised with a new "date range window" of 2018-2023, then it is possible that some colleges may decide to not accept passing scores from the older CLEP Biology exam.

Also for some great past threads about CLEP -- and all the other high school tests -- check out PAGE 2 of the big pinned thread at the top of the high school board: "High School Motherlode #2". The combined wisdom of the WTM Hive! (:D

Edited by Lori D.
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On 3/26/2015 at 11:51 AM, Aretemama said:

Transferring can be a much more sticky business than most of us parents are aware of going in. I was actually quite horrified when attending a transfer student parent meeting at my oldest daughter's university and finding what a narrow window there is for transferring. I was also tremendously grateful that we had made it into that window.

 

Can you explain what you meant by a "narrow window?" Thanks!

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