Our Pennsylvania families trying to Homeschool for College Credit have missed out on some of my favorite credit options because they don’t have access to free or reduced dual enrollment tuition UNTIL NOW! Finally, I have some good news for our PA families!
Saylor Academy (a non-profit I’ve written about before that offers a catalog of free college courses transferrable to a handful of colleges) has partnered up with Montgomery County Community College in Pennsylvania, and this partnership changes everything. Partnerships allow a student to have written documentation that guarantees transfer credit between institutions. In some cases, a partnership doesn’t save you a lot of money since there are so many limits on the type or number of credits transferred, that you can actually end up paying MORE for a degree just to use the partnership than if you attended a less expensive school. This is not the case this time.
If you use this partnership (and CLEP) you SIGNIFICANTLY lower your cost!
IN DISTRICT tuition goes down from $9,000 (full price) to $2,400!
IN-STATE from $17,000 down to $4,500
OUT OF STATE from $26,000 down to $6,700
Here’s how you can cross Saylor’s partnership with Montgomery’s transfer policy to pay pennies on the dollar for a full associate’s degree.
(1) Know the policy. Montgomery allows you to transfer up to 75% of the degree in from CLEP, AP, other colleges, and now also Saylor Academy! That means of the 60 required credits, if you plan properly, you can transfer in 45 credits (CLEP and Saylor) leaving you only 15 credits to complete through the school at full price. The exact number depends on the degree you choose (keep reading).
(2) Know the prices. Of the allowable transfer credit options, Saylor Academy classes are completely free but require a $25 proctor fee per course!! Combine that with CLEP (currently $0 with a voucher from Modern States) you can complete 75% of this degree (the first 45 credits) for $200! It’s important that you choose the lowest cost courses to maximize this plan because every course you don’t complete through CLEP or Saylor will cost you full price tuition of between $450-$1,300.
(3) Choose your classes. See the official list of 8 Saylor Academy courses and how they transfer into Montgomery County Community College. You have to choose from courses on this list only. Other Saylor Academy courses will NOT transfer for college credit under this partnership. If you transfer in all 8 courses, you’ll receive 24 college credits and your total cost will be $200. (8 courses x $25 proctor fee = $200)
(4) Choose your degree. Though you can use anything as an elective, I’ve compared several of their degrees, and I drafted up a few samples below. The good news is that they offer most degrees online too. Know that you can use these credits in any degree program, just be sure you choose one that doesn’t require too many courses (based on the absence of available CLEP or Saylor courses that meet the requirements) or you’ll end up paying $$$.
(5) Choose CLEP exams. With the CLEP exam voucher option currently available, it costs $0 to take and transfer a CLEP exam. CLEP exams will cover the courses not offered through the Saylor partnership, filling out the rest of your allowable 75%. You can take a CLEP exam at any approved testing center in the country.
(6) DIY your dual enrollment. The difference between following this plan and participating in a formal dual enrollment is that the Saylor Academy courses are self-paced and without cost. You can “test the waters” at home without ever applying to the community college. In addition, you can choose your own curriculum for CLEP exams, thus the parent is still fully in control of their teen’s “dual enrollment” program before they’ve ever set foot on campus. You’ll be able to DIY 75% of their degree in their homeschool and at any age. Only after you’ve made sure they’ve finished 75% of the degree will you need to reach out to the college. If your teen is 15 or older, they can register as a dual-enrolled student (paying full price) or if they are a high school graduate, they can register as a regular degree seeing student (paying full price but eligible for loans, grants, and scholarships).
Basic Degree Plan Option #1
Associate Degree In Management-Marketing
General Education Requirements
| COURSE ID | TITLE | CREDITS |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 101 | English Composition I
Use CLEP English Comp. exam |
3 |
| ENG 102 or ENG 117 | English Composition II or Writing for Business and Industry | 3 |
| CIS 110 or OFM 101 | Computer Information Systems for Management or Business Software Essentials
Use Saylor Academy BUS203 Management Information Course |
3 |
| Elective | Oral Communication
Use Saylor Academy COMM001 Princ. of Human Communication |
3 |
| Elective | Aesthetic Sensibility | 3 |
| Elective | Scientific Reasoning
Use CLEP Biology or CLEP Chemistry Exam* |
4 |
| Elective | Cultural Awareness and Diversity
Use CLEP U.S. History 1 or 2, or CLEP Western Civ 1 or 2. (choose any 1) |
3 |
| MAT 106, MAT 130, MAT 131 or ACC 110 | Mathematics Applications, Probability and Statistics, Introduction to Statistics I or Business Mathematics | 3 – 4 |
Major Requirements
| COURSE ID | TITLE | CREDITS |
|---|---|---|
| ACC 150 or ACC – 151 | Legal Environment of Business or Business Law I
Use CLEP Business Law exam |
3 |
| Elective | ACC, ECO, ETP, MGT or MKT Course
Use CLEP Macroeconomics, CLEP Microeconomics, or Saylor ECON101 or Saylor ECON102 course |
3 |
| Elective | MKT 1981 Coop Internship Marketing I or CMS 125 Introduction to Public Relations | 3 |
| ETP 110 or ETP 113 | Entrepreneurial Essentials or Entrepreneurial Business Plan | 3 |
| MGT 111 | Principles of Management
Use CLEP Princ. of Management exam or Saylor BUS208 Princ. of Management course |
3 |
| MGT 210 | Ethical Decision-Making in Business | 3 |
| MKT 111 | Principles of Marketing
Use CLEP Princ. of Marketing exam or Saylor BUS203 Princ. of Marketing course |
3 |
| MKT 121 | Personal Sales Management | 3 |
| MKT 131 | Advertising and Promotion | 3 |
| MKT 211 | Digital Marketing | 3 |
Basic Degree Plan Option #2
Associate Degree in Liberal Studies
General Education Requirements
| COURSE ID | TITLE | CREDITS |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 101 | English Composition I
Use CLEP English Comp. Exam |
3 |
| ENG 102 | English Composition II | 3 |
| Elective | Oral Communication | 3 |
| Elective1 | Quantitative Reasoning
Use CLEP College Mathematics Exam |
3 |
| Elective | Technological Fluency | 3 |
| Elective2 | Social Sciences Elective: choose from ECO 121, ECO 122, ESW 207, GEO 110, GEO 130, POL 101, POL 124, PSY 101, PSY 137 or SOC 101
Use Saylor Academy ECON101 or ECON102 or CLEP Sociology exam (choose any 1) |
3 |
| HIS Elective – Western Civilization or U.S. History | HIS 101, HIS 102. HIS 203 or HIS 2053
Use CLEP U.S. History 1 or 2, or CLEP Western Civ 1 or 2. (choose any 1) |
3 |
| Elective4 | Scientific Reasoning
Use CLEP Biology or CLEP Chemistry Exam* |
4 |
| Elective6 | Aesthetic Sensibility | 3 |
| Elective6 | Cultural Awareness and Diversity
Use CLEP U.S. History 1 or 2, or CLEP Western Civ 1 or 2. (choose any 1) |
3 |
| Elective6 | Ethical Perspectives
Use Saylor Academy PHIL103 Moral and Political Philosophy |
3 |
Electives
| COURSE ID | TITLE | CREDITS |
|---|---|---|
| Electives | Electives5
Use excess science overage and Saylor Academy courses or CLEP exams from the list of approved credits. |
26 – 27 |
*Either exam awards 8 credits, which will produce an overage of 4 credits to use as an elective or additional science credit.
How to avoid student loan debt
- Reduce the number of credits your teen must complete by doing as many of them as possible in high school. You’ll pay cash for these as you go.
- Apply for Federal work-study, grants, and use savings/cash to cover the balance of tuition once they’re an enrolled student.
- For every $100 of tuition you have outstanding, apply for 1 scholarship. (example: $2,000 tuition = apply for 20 scholarships)
Important Links
Montgomery Community College transfer policy
Saylor Academy partnership page
Accepted CLEP exams at Montgomery
Want to learn more about how to degree plan for your teen and save money at a different college? My 4-part blog post will get you started in the right direction!
This is really interesting! Would a four-year college that doesn’t accept some CLEPs accept this degree? For example, if a college doesn’t accept the CLEP College Composition exam, but you applied the exam to a MontCo class and then wanted to transfer the MontCo class to the four-year college, could you do that?
This is really interesting! Would a four-year college that doesn’t accept some CLEPs accept this degree? For example, if a college doesn’t accept the CLEP College Composition exam, but you applied the exam to a MontCo class and then wanted to transfer the MontCo class to the four-year college, could you do that?
This is an excellent question and shows that you’re thinking about this in the right way. The answer requires digging a bit- if MontCo has a written articulation (transfer) agreement with your target college that DOES say it’s accepted as a block of credit / meeting gen eds / etc. then the likelihood of that happening is VERY high. If, otoh, there is no agreement in place, then it is more likely that each individual class (and CLEP) will be accepted per the target college’s policy. Now, what is interesting here is that CLEP and Saylor will not “look” the same on the transcript. What we don’t yet know (they announced this program only YESTERDAY) is whether or not Saylor courses look like original MontCo classes. This is important, because if they are listed as transfer credit without grades (possible) then they will be treated like CLEP. If they are listed as original credit with grades (also possible) then they will be treated like MontCo classes. If any parent is considering this program, I would love to help you ask the right questions and report back.