How To Save Money On College And Graduate Sooner

The StraighterLine Guide: How to Cut the Cost of College By Barry Lenson, Beth Dumbauld and Jeffrey Simons 2013 StraighterLine. All Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents Introduction: Why Cutting the Cost of College Is Critical for You... 3 Part One: Why Is College so Expensive?... 4-12 Part Two: What Can You Do to Cut the Cost of College?... 13-14 Part Three: 10 Tips to Save Money on College... 15-31 About StraighterLine... 32-36 Notes... 37 38

Introduction Why Cutting the Cost of College Is Critical for You In the past three decades, the cost of attaining a college degree has increased more than 1,000 percent. Two-thirds of students who earn four-year bachelor s degrees are graduating with an average student loan debt of more than $25,000, and 1 in 10 borrowers now owe more than $54,000 in loans. The Student Debt Crisis The Center for American Progress 1 All those statistics are remarkable enough. But let s just focus on the fact that the cost of a college degree has increased 1,000% since 1982. Here are a few statistics which should put the problem in perspective In 1982 a basic toaster cost about $20. If the price of toasters increased 1,000%, you would be paying about $200 for a toaster today. In fact, you still pay about $20. In 1982 an entry-level sedan from Ford or Chevrolet cost about $4,500. If the price of those cars increased 1,000%, you would be paying $45,000. In fact, you pay about $25,000. In 1982 a nice one-family house in most parts of the country cost about $100,000. If the price of that house increased 1,000%, you would be paying $1 million for that house today. In fact, you pay about $250,000. Why have the rising costs of college outpaced the rising costs of just about everything else? One reason is that a college education is a pretty expensive product to produce at least it is if you produce it the heat and maintain, athletic programs, parking lots to plow, dining halls to stock with food, and lots student centers with fountains and soaking pools, and dorms with nothing but single rooms with private bathrooms. Regardless of the reasons, the last thing you want to have happen after college is that you re buried in a mountain of debt. Why college is so expensive What you can do to cut the cost of college 10 Tips to Save Money on College Let s get started. 3

Part One Why is College so Expensive? College has always been viewed as a major life expense. Yet a college degree has also always been seen and considered a wise investment with a high return. Yet somehow, somewhere along the college pathway to prosperity, there came a shift in that investment-to-value ratio. In other words, college changed from being a smart investment for getting ahead to becoming a very expensive necessity needed just to get by. And here s why: College Has Become More Expensive Relative to Current Income It s not your imagination: when it comes to college, the good old days really were the good old days. Today, the cost of college is rising at such a rapid rate relative to income, 130% over last 20 years, that than they did on students only 20 years earlier. Consider this: earn a few hundred dollars less than they did 20 years ago. 2 You Need a College Degree Just to Be Eligible for An Entry-Level Job A college degree has become the bare minimum educational credential for many careers that, not long ago, didn t require any college education at all, let alone a bachelor s degree. It s Too Easy to Over Extend Yourself Financially with Student Loans issues. According to the most recent data looking at 2011 college graduates, the average student leaves school with $26,600 in student debt. 3 4

Where You Go to College Makes a Difference in How Much You Pay for College. Where you choose to enroll in college and ultimately plan on earning your degree makes a huge expensive published tuition rates. A pretty simple concept yet one that s not always accurate. tuition prices. The average published college tuition and fees rates for 2012-2013 are as follows 4 : Public 2-Year (In-State):...$3,131 Public 4-Year (In-State):...$8,655 Public 4-Year (Out-of-State):... $21,706...$29,056...$15,172 Expensive? Yes. End of the college tuition story? No. The Cost of College Continues to Rise Each Year No Matter What Kind of College or University (Public or Private) You Choose to Attend. students receive their degree from a public institution. In fact, for 2010, the breakdown among degree-granting institutions was as follows 5 : 76% attended a public institution, It s also important to keep in mind that college tuition fees are rising at both the public and private levels. Comparing the published tuition and fees between the 2011-2012 academic year and the 2012-2013 academic year, college costs have risen 4.8% for public 4-year colleges and universities and 4.2% for private ones. 6 5

Increases in Tuition Rates are Rising Faster than Increases in Grant Aid and the Tax Benefits Offered for Those Attending College. net price paid by full-time students enrolled in public 4-year colleges increased measurably and the 7 What this increase in net price means to you is that the increase in tuition and fees at the college you are at that institution. In other words, expect to pay more for college each subsequent year that you remain enrolled. - Currently, most college students enroll in a school charging one tuition price, only to have the cost of those tuition and fees rise the next year. It may seem all very theoretical at this stage, but the reality you enough cash for textbooks, gas for your car, or the ability to take the number of credit hours you d really like to take that semester to push forward with your career path. You need a plan for rising tuition costs. The State You Live in Makes a Huge Difference in How Much You Pay to Attend a Public College or University. the total dollar amount states contribute to their public state colleges and university systems. In an era of state budget cuts to education, colleges are increasingly to their students. In fact, total state contributions to public colleges and universities declined, on average, by 3% in 2010-2011 and by a nearly unprecedented 11% in 2011-2012. 8 Furthermore, each public college system sets its own tuition and fee rates annually according to its own historical and current educational budgeting system. As such, you ll 6

Average published tuition and fees for in-state students at public 4-year colleges by region 9 : New England (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT):... $11,019 Middle States (DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA):...$9,205 Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI, WV):... $9,267 South (AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA):... $7,621 Southwest (AR, NM, OK, TX):... $7,721 West (AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, WA, WY):...$8,730 you is that over the last decade the percentage increase in college tuition in fees was over twice as to state. Difference Between College Sticker Price and Net Price. As discussed earlier in relation to public versus private college and universities, there can be a sizable is often skewed towards the overwhelming and negative. full time equivalent student. 10 Also, during this time period, students received 56% more in grant aid 11 hand, college students during the 2011-2012 school year, on average, took out $6,558 in federal student Even though what you ultimately end up paying for college may be less than the published rate, that s not to imply college isn t expensive, it just emphasizes the fact that your college of choice may not necessarily be as expensive as you think it might be. What you end up paying for college is linked to many factors including your background, your unique set of skills, your economic situation, as well as how many existing college credits you are able to transfer into your college of choice. 7

The National Center for Education Statistics provides a College Navigator http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/ You can also check the StraighterLine College Savings Calculator https://snapstraighterline.regenteducation.net/ a resource that can assist you in determining what your true cost of college will be. Is College Unfairly Expensive? exists considerable variability when it comes to what percent of income you or your family will need to the state where you live. Truth is, depending on where you call home, you may pay considerably more You decide. Percent of Median Family Income to Pay for Average In-State Tuition & Fees by State 12 Top 5 States having Highest Percentage of Income Required to Pay for In-State Tuition at 4-year Public College or University 13 Top 5 States having Lowest Percentage of Income Required to Pay for In-State Tuition at 4-year Public College or University 14 8

Other Factors Influencing Your Ability to Pay for College or Pay Back Student Loan Debt by many factors. How much student loan debt Choice of college major loan debt you are willing to take on. access to location-neutral options due to the growth of online education. Thanks to the availability of low-cost, high-quality online college courses, and credit-by-exam programs, you can mitigate the advantage of online college course providers like StraighterLine allows you to take college classes anywhere, anytime for remarkably low costs, accumulate a portfolio of college courses and transfer those courses for college credit when you are ready. The number of semesters it takes for you to graduate, after all, has a huge impact on how much you pay or need to borrow for college. Fewer semesters, less cost. College Cost Break Down It s true, a college education is something you can t feel, see, hear, or touch. Once you graduate from college, you are able to call yourself a college graduate, but what do you really own? You might have a diploma printed out on a fancy piece of paper. You might have even framed that diploma and hung wondering why that college degree was so expensive to obtain. Below, we ll breakdown the common costs of college, and see where your tuition and fees go. 1 EMPLOYEES 15 On average, 75% of the total costs associated with a college degree are employee wages, 9

people. Faculty salaries are expensive, and are particularly expensive in competitive subject areas the same skills and talent. Colleges also try to lure faculty with certain types of expertise to teach and technologies and other asset investments, which can also be extremely capital-intensive. Limited Institutional-Based Control Over Contracts: In many public educational settings, rules Tenure: The practice of just-in-time manufacturing doesn t have a counterpart in a tenure-based it can increase output of other products using the same tools and materials. This just is not the case with education. A chemistry professor is not directly interchangeable with a professor of protects job security of professors in less popular areas. In turn, increased demand for certain types of college courses places increased pressure on a college to either hire more faculty, student population properly. 2 - INFRASTRUCTURE (BUILDINGS, PARKING STRUCTURES, COMPUTING CENTERS, ETC.) AND VARIABLE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH INFRASTRUCTURE 16 With infrastructure comes long-term maintenance costs and the day-to-day requirements that help to keep a piece of real estate functional. As such, the operational costs of a college can buildings which compounds the impact of this expense. And infrastructure costs get paid for by... tuition. 3 - R EGULATION 17 Degree-granting colleges and universities are required to meet federal and state mandates Beyond education, many college campuses are also home to healthcare clinics, daycare centers, to regulation and have their own reporting requirements. It all adds up, and it can add up big. 10

4 - P ROGRAM COSTS 18 From a pure demand perspective, not all programs at a college or university are equal. Tuition Additionally, college athletic programs and other student interest groups are subsidized by the entire student population at a college or university whether or not there is a proportional usage by that student body. In general, nearly all college athletic programs are an overall expense to a college or university. Money earned as a result of purchased tickets rarely repays the total expense of a college athletic program. Finally, new programs have a way of constantly sprouting up in a college setting in order to meet the needs, trends, and demands of a changing student population. New programs cost money. New programs, however, aren t usually accompanied by a corresponding reduction in existing programs. In other words, there can be lots of ongoing scope creep at a college or university and scope creep is expensive Current Cost Pressures on Colleges and Universities Or Why Your College Tuition Continues to Rise The income streams to a public college or university are 19 : tuition and fees, gifts, government support, endowment, grants, and intellectual property revenue streams from technology or drug patents. Any decrease in one of these income categories can hit a college hard; it just doesn t have the institutional you can see why it s tempting to raise tuition and fees tuition is one source of funding that colleges do have control over. Contributing to the cost pressure on colleges and universities is the fact that college enrollment and demand for a college education continue to rise. In fact, enrollment at degree-granting institutions between 2000 and 2010 grew by over 37% to 21 million students 20. More students mean more expense, from increased infrastructure therefore the need for more faculty to teach 11

The Rise of Financial Aid and Student Loan Debt How do colleges handle rising costs? They increase the cost of tuition and fees, realizing that the increase a student s eligibility to borrow more money to pay rising tuition fees. It has become a vicious cycle with terrible economic consequences for students including increasing defaults on student loans. After all, an increase in tuition doesn t all of a sudden increase your ability to pay for college what it increases is the the increased tuition due. What this means is an increased reliance on loans in order to earn a college degree, and in turn, an increased student debt load upon graduation someone just entering, returning to, or retraining while in the workforce. The rising cost of college can be blamed on basic math. College expenses are on the rise. College incomes are on the decline. Students, unfortunately, are the ones being asked to take up the slack, In spite of the rising cost of college, in today s competitive workforce and economic climate, a college serve your career aspirations upon graduation. 12

Part Two What Can You Do to Cut the Cost of College? Two of the most important things you can do to accommodate the rising cost of college right now are: 1. Have a clear degree-to-career path so you know precisely what college courses 2. Take as many low cost online credit-bearing college courses as you can and then transfer those college courses to the school where you plan on ultimately earning your degree. This will save you thousands of dollars towards your total cost of college. The less time you re paying tuition, the lower your college debt will be and the less interest you ll pay. Taking advantage of low cost college courses is not a new thing. Students are smart and adaptable and they learn quickly. It may come as no surprise to you if you are currently enrolled in school, but the most likely group to take advantage of earning college credit through distance learning options institution s college program. 21 Currently enrolled students realize how expensive college is every day. It s not a theoretical concept. up the time it takes to earn a degree. It s simple math. By reducing the number of semesters it takes to graduate, you will pay less in tuition. If you can earn transferrable college credits from elsewhere at low cost online college courses just makes a lot of sense, as long as the college where you are earning your degree accepts those transfer credits. granting program? Or if you do still plan on taking online college courses while enrolled in college elsewhere, know exactly which college courses are guaranteed to transfer to your current institution. 13

Earning a college degree can be expensive, but taking online college courses can greatly reduce that expense particularly if you earn transfer credits for online courses taken through online college course a college degree at an institution from which you will ultimately graduate. Since College Is so Expensive How Important Is College, Really? At the end of the day, as you consider the rising expense and opportunity cost of college, you may ask yourself, Why is college so important? Earning a college degree in today s economy and workforce is an essential credential to be even considered for most professional jobs, even those that didn t require a 4-year college degree years Earning a college degree is tied directly to your lifelong earning potential. Young adults with a bachelor s degree earned 114% more than those without a high school diploma and 50% more than someone with only a high school diploma. 22 of your family. The median income for families headed by an individual with a 4-year college degree was $100,096 two times the median income for families headed by a high school graduate. 23 Learning for the sake of learning is important. Learning new things directly increases 24 Education is a good thing. lifestyle, and your well-being, be sure to take the time to truly understand about the costs and expenses associated with earning that degree. If you know what the reality is in terms of college costs, you can take steps now to mitigate those costs, and graduate with less college debt, or maybe even no college debt at all. 14

Part Three 10 Tips to Save Money on College Tip 1: Take More Courses during Every Semester You Are in School and in the Summer Do you want to save money on college and graduate sooner? Here s a powerfully simple strategy for you. Simply take one additional course during every semester you are enrolled in college. You can do the math. If you take one extra course every semester during worth of tuition, student fees, and other costs. Here are some strategies that can help you get this strategy working for you Take pass/fail courses as your extra classes if possible. This will relieve some of the pressure of taking those additional classes. Also take online classes over the summer, over winter breaks and other free periods. want. Get those credit hours transferred to your college, and you can cut your time in college even more. June XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX July X XXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX August XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX 15

Tip 2: Go to a 3-Year College Do you want to save money on college and graduate sooner? Here s a powerfully simple strategy for you. Go to a 3-year college! What You Need to Know about 3-Year Colleges 25, contains some important information for students who want to save money by attending a college programs that only hit families wallets for three years. Here are the schools that she mentions Baldwin-Wallace College Grace College and Seminary programs too. So check them out Hartwick College get in the habit of doing occasional Internet searches for the terms 3-year colleges and 2014 20152016 16

Tip 3: Place Out of Courses and Move Up to the Next Level Do you want to save money on college and graduate sooner? Here s a powerfully simple strategy for you. Place out of courses and move up. Most savvy college students know that it is possible to place out of college courses by taking AP or CLEP exams. But there is another way to place out of college courses too and possibly graduate faster. It is to get exempted from courses after you are already attending a college. Here are a few strategies that have been shown to work Start taking a course, then tell your professor that it is too easy and ask to move up to a more advanced class level. If you start taking a language ask to move up. You can use the same strategy to place out of classes in math, history, science, or other areas. You can also ask your advisor or the school s registrar whether you can place out of any required courses. If you grew up speaking a second language in your your college s language requirement without taking any language classes. If you learned skills in the military or on a job, they might equip you to place out of classes too, even though you might One Caution Remember that placing out of a course will not necessarily earn you the same credits that you would have earned it you even though you are getting courses, you still need to earn enough total credits to satisfy your college s graduation requirements. know what you need to in order to place out. Take online courses at StraighterLine and then place out of the same courses in your regular college. You could take Calculus or a laboratory science, for example, and use the knowledge courses and transfer the credits you earned to your college. 17

Tip 4: Use CLEP Exams to Place out of Courses Do you want to save money on college and graduate sooner? Here s a powerfully simple strategy for you. Use CLEP exams to place out of courses. What You Need to Know about CLEP Exams The College-Level Examination Program from The College Board lets you earn college credit for what Tests are given in 33 subjects, including English literature and writing, foreign languages, history, science, math and business. Exams are approximately 90 minutes long, with the exception of College Composition, which takes two hours. Exams contain mainly multiple-choice questions. College Composition and a few other exams contain essays. How Are StraighterLine Courses and the CLEP Exam Alike? college credits in more than 30 subject areas. Plus, there is some overlap in subject matter. earn you credits for subjects that you already know or have studied. They studying for the test. CLEP website states that 2,900 colleges and universities currently grant credit for CLEP, but adds that each institution sets its own CLEP policy. So some caution would be a good idea. Once you pass a CLEP test, your college should grant you the same number of credits that you would earn after taking a class but be sure to ask ahead of time if CLEP results are accepted for credit at your college. Once you have completed a StraighterLine course, you can transfer the college credits you earned to over 1,800 colleges and universities by using the credit-transfer You need to schedule and lock in your CLEP test date in advance. In contrast, course and earn your grade whenever you are ready. The result is that the outcome of your StraighterLine courses is easier to control. 18

Again, the CLEP is only an exam that tests your knowledge in a particular subject area, not a form of instruction, so you are on your own as you prepare. If you need tutorial help while you are taking a course at StraighterLine, it is available online. You can complete StraighterLine courses anywhere. There is no need to schedule a test in a remote physical location and travel to it. In Summary So, is it better to use the CLEP or a StraighterLine course to earn college credit? The answer is, it depends on the subject, the depth of knowledge that you already possess about it, and the college where you would like the credit to apply. Be sure to check out both and select the one that works best for you. 19

Tip 5: Take AP Classes and Tests to Place out of College Courses Do you want to save money on college and graduate sooner? Here s a powerfully simple strategy for you. Take AP classes and tests to place out of college courses. What You Need to Know about AP Classes and Exams http://www.collegeboard.org/ time, you ll learn that AP classes and exams can save you time and money by eliminating the need to take you a better way to earn college credit, save money, and get a faster start on college? Let s take a closer look. What Are AP Exams? schools and AP tests that are administered by the College Board. To earn college credits through the AP program, you need to pass an AP test and have those credits accepted by your college. There are currently 34 AP courses to choose from. Topics include languages, history and politics, math, science, and even specialized subjects like music theory. credit, advanced placement or both on the basis of AP Exam scores, the College Board states. However, the process for getting AP credits accepted varies from college to college. If you want to be sure that college credits will be accepted for the tests that you take, be sure to speak with admissions representatives at the colleges where you are applying. You cannot take AP exams online; you have to take them at a high school or other test center that has been approved by the program. The current cost for each AP exam is $89.00. For a schedule of exam dates, visit: https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/takingtheexam/ap-calendar 20

How Are StraighterLine Courses and AP Exams Alike? The AP program works especially well for students who are enrolled in high schools prepare you for the tests, or take StraighterLine courses in the subject areas where AP classes, preparing is fundamentally up to you. You need to schedule and lock in AP exam dates ahead of time. In contrast, StraighterLine are ready. The result is that the outcome of your StraighterLine courses is often easier to control. You can complete StraighterLine courses anywhere. There is no need to schedule a test and travel to take it. 21

Tip 6: Get an Entire Year of College for only $760 Do you want to save money on college and graduate sooner? Here s a powerfully simple strategy for you. Get an entire year of college for only $760. How to Complete a Year of College for only $760 What if I told you that you could earn 3 college credits for only $95? You heard me right. $95 for 3 credits. That s only $31.67 per credit. At that price, taking four 3-credit courses per semester, or 24 credits per year, you could pay for an entire year of college for only $760. Want to know how? I ll tell you, but I warn you now that there are a couple of catches. More on them later. So, how do you get an entire year of college for only $760? It s not a secret. It s not a trick. It just involves a little outside-of-the-box thinking, and it s a two-step process. Step 1: Take a Free MOOC. MOOCs are Massively Open Online Courses. There are hundreds of MOOCs, and the vast majority of them are free. Some of them are taught by professors at some Harvard, MIT and Princeton. Anyone can take a MOOC, so even if you couldn t get into Stanford, you can take One thing about most MOOCs, though, is that they don t give you college credits for taking them. But they do give you knowledge. And that brings us to Step 2. Step 2: Take a $95 Credit-By-Exam and Earn Three College Credits Once you ve completed the MOOC, and you know the subject well enough to pass a test on it, take usually three hours long, and if you score well enough on it, you can earn college credits. Macroeconomics to Introduction to Music and Social Psychology. Excelsior College Exams are produced by our accredited partner school, Excelsior College, and are accepted for credit by more than 2,500 colleges and universities. The majority of our CBEs cost only $95 for three college credits, although some cost more and may give you as many as 6 college credits. 22

A Full Year of College for only $760? That s right: by taking a combination of MOOCs and credit-by-exams, you can pay for a full year of college for So, what about those catches I told you about? Here they are: Catch #1 Not every MOOC has a corresponding credit-by-exam. For instance, you can take a MOOC called General earn college credit for that subject. Check out our list of credit-by-exams to make sure the MOOCs you re interested in won t leave you stranded. Catch #2 Before you start imagining that you can pay for all 4 years of college for only $3040, keep in mind that many colleges limit the number of credits they are willing to grant as transfer credits for credit-by-exam scores, and it s unlikely that any college will give you a degree just for credits earned this way. The MOOC plus CBE strategy can save you a ton of money, so you shouldn t mind doing a little extra homework to make it work. Check out your intended college s credit-by-exam transfer policy before enrolling in any program. Make sure you get any transfer policies in writing. While we re on the subject, the following StraighterLine partner schools have what can only be considered liberal credit transfer policies: Charter Oak State College Excelsior College Thomas Edison State College Admittedly, the strategy of taking MOOCs and CBEs isn t for everyone. Not everyone is comfortable going it alone to this extent. But for not much money more just $1299 you can take an entire year of 10 online college courses here at StraighterLine, complete with online tutoring and student advisors to give you the help you need, when you need it. And our courses are guaranteed to transfer to our partner colleges on enrollment, so they ve got that going for them too. But if you want to pay the absolute lowest possible amount of money for a year of college, and you don t mind going it alone, then it s hard to beat the combination of MOOCs and credit-by-exams. And that s how you get an entire year of college for only $760. 23

Tip 7: Brown Bag Your Education Do you want to save money on college and graduate sooner? Here s a powerfully simple strategy for you: Brown bag your education. If you are into saving money, you probably know that bringing your lunch to work can save you some serious cash over the course of the year. When you eat out, you re paying for a whole bunch of unwanted overhead, packaging costs, employee salaries, a soggy pickle spear and a ton of extra calories sandwiched between two slices of bread and those extras can add up over the course of a year. The same goes for a college education. Taking college classes on-campus is like going out to earn college credits. When you do so, you are paying for extras that most likely have little to do with you or your goals. If care department with new resuscitation dummies. As an adult learner looking achieve your educational goals for the least amount of money necessary, look no further than online college courses. Earning college credit through an online college course provider allows you to pay only for classes directly your education. If you are working on earning a nursing degree, you can pack your sack full of nursing prerequisites... and skip the pickles. If you are working on your business degree, you can layer your education Here s how you can dramatically save on your first year of college with the brown-baggin -it concept: Fact: 66% of American workers buy lunch on a regular basis at work. 26, approximately $2,000/year. Fact: 100% of StraighterLine students can complete a full freshman year lunch on a regular basis at work. bundle of courses for only $1299 leaving you with $700 leftover for dessert or anything else you want to spend it on. 24

StraighterLine s Freshman Year allows you to enroll in 10 StraighterLine courses over the course of a year. You choose which courses. You choose when to enroll. Go through courses slowly or speed through them. It s all about you and your academic needs, your academic goals. More importantly, you can get prerequisite making your own lunch: you get exactly what you want, nothing wasted, nothing extra. $1,299 for 10 college courses that s $43 per credit hour. At StraighterLine, you can quite literally use your 25

Tip 8: Get a Job and Let Your Employer Pay for Your College Courses Do you want to save money on college and graduate sooner? Here s a powerfully simple strategy for you. Get a job and let your employer pay for your college courses. When it comes to lowering the cost of college, one of the best ways to pay less is to get someone else to pay have programs that do exactly that. They re called Tuition Assistance Plans or Tuition Reimbursement Plans, and many employers use them to help attract talent, or improve their workforce, or even to improve their own bottom lines by reducing employee turnover. Whatever they re called, what they mean is that if you get the right job, your job will pay for you to take college courses. last few years. Even the IRS is on your side with Tuition Reimbursement. They let you exclude up to $5,250 of educational on the W-2 your employer provides you at the end of the year, and you don t need to report them on your tax return. According to the study, which analyzed 4,500 benefit plans covering 6 million employees, the amount reimbursed varies from $2,757 per year for employees in the hospitality industry, to $4,689 per year for employees in manufacturing and distribution companies. If you re pursing a career in healthcare, you can expect $3,104 Pay attention to those numbers. Even the lowest one is more than enough to pay for an monthly subscription plan at StraighterLine plus as many courses as you could possibly squeeze into that year. That s right: even the subscription plan and as many self-paced, online college courses as you could reasonably take at $49 per Now, this isn t exactly free money. There are always strings attached to Tuition Reimbursement plans. There may be time restrictions on how long you have to work at your company before you become eligible for a plan, half of all employees who take college courses report that their major and their jobs are related. 26

Obviously working a full time job and going to college isn t easy. In fact, it takes determination, motivation, and stamina. But a large portion of the StraighterLine student body is doing exactly that anyway. In fact, if you re an adult learner, it s likely you re juggling a job and school and maybe even a family. If you are working while going to school, you re not alone. About 25% of full-time students work full time. Approximately one third of working students describe themselves as employees who study. Most of them are adults who attend college part time while continuing to work at the jobs they had before starting college. Getting your employer to pick up the tab for some, or all, of your college education is like a double reward. It all adds up to one more way for you to lower the cost of college. And by taking StraighterLine self-paced your busy life. 27

Tip 9: Pay for Learning Outcomes: Competency-Based Education Emphasizes Skill over Time Do you want to save money on college and graduate sooner? Here s a powerfully simple strategy for you. Utilize competency-based education A college diploma. What is it really? Is it an assessment of what you know or is it a testimony to how long you ve spent earning your degree? For those carrying an overwhelming amount of student loan debt, a college education might mean that though you ve pocketed the required amount of credit hours to earn your degree you are now carrying the burden of a college system that emphasizes tuition dollars and time the emphasis is on individualized learning engagement, knowledge and skill which can mean thousands of dollars you don t have to spend on tuition. A competency-based college education cuts the notion of time out of the college equation. Instead of focusing on credit hours and time-to-degree like the traditional pathway to college, it focuses on learning outcomes and subject matter mastery. When you take the emphasis away from time, and begin to emphasize knowledge acquisition and learning that a competency-based college degree pathway can have on the cost of college can be dramatic. Here s how: With a competency-based college education, you can earn real college credit for past credit for what you already know for a far lower cost compared with taking college courses at current college tuition rates. A competency-based education allows you to use test-for-credit programs like Excelsior College Exams as a springboard to begin your college education at your real knowledge and skill level. This could potentially mean starting college with only a few subject areas A competency-based education allows you to acquire mastery in subject areas away from a traditional campus through alternative low-cost online channels like StraighterLine. StraighterLine allows you to take as many credit-bearing college courses as you d like 28

A competency-based education emphasizes the what-you-know of a college degree, not the where-you-got-that-knowledge part of a diploma seal. When you take low-cost college courses through StraighterLine, you can fast track your pathway to a degree by taking advantage of StraighterLine s fully-articulated transfer agreements with our partner colleges. Additionally, our partner colleges include the leaders in competency- through StraighterLine allows you to enjoy extreme college savings with the full knowledge that your StraighterLine courses move you on a direct pathway to earning your degree. The quicker pathway to college that a competency-based education enables allows you to reduce the amount of time you are enrolled in college and paying tuition. For example, 6-month increments from your start date. Within those sx months you are able to move as rapidly as you can through subject matter as your skills-basis allows. earning your college degree. The competency-based model honors all paths to knowledge it s about continual assessment and standardized competency attainment. By replacing semesters with skill and knowledge acquisition, there is room for a college student to move rapidly to graduation, saving thousands of tuition dollars in the process. 29

Tip 10: Take Two Years of Courses at StraighterLine We hope you ve been enjoying our tips on how to cut the cost of college. For our last tip, we have an out of the box suggestion that could change the way you think about your college experience entirely. Have you ever considered taking two whole years of college courses online with StraighterLine? Whether you re going back to college as an adult learner, or starting college straight out of high school, if you want to lower your costs of college, this is a cost cutting idea that can save you thousands and thousands of dollars. Think about how much you can save. Let s say you take our Freshman Year for $1299 plan, which lets you take up to ten 3- and 4-credit introductory level college courses. Compare that to the average published college tuition and fees rates for undergraduates for 2012-2013 according to The College Board: Even if you were planning on going to your local community college, you ll save more than half the cost of But what if you didn t stop there? What if you took a second year with StraighterLine? 12 Months of our subscription plan costs $1188, plus your one-time per course fees. Let s say you took another 10 courses at $49 each. That s a total of $1678 for your second year s worth of courses. For a total of only $2,977 you could take 20 introductory college courses, at your own pace, online. You can choose from the most common courses every students take at most colleges and universities around the just to name a few. Once you complete your courses, you can transfer your credits to one of our Partner Schools automatically upon enrollment, or through ACE CREDIT to over 1,800 participating colleges and universities to complete your degree. 30

There s a name for students who think ahead and plan college this way. They re called Intentional Transfer Students and there are more and more of them every day. There s another name for students like that, too: Smart. Look, it would be nice if money were no object and we could all afford to go to our dream school. But increasingly, those dreams are out of reach for more and more of us. Colleges and universities, even state schools, are accepting fewer and fewer students who have merit but don t have money. That s according to a new book, Paying for the Party: How College Maintains Inequality by Elizabeth Armstrong and Laura Hamilton, which shows that schools are increasingly pursuing and admitting cash cows while neglecting lower-income students. To reach the educational goal you ve set for yourself in the 21st century, you need to look outside of the well-worn traditional paths that don t actually deliver like they used to. You need to be proactive and innovative in how you get your education and your degree. to be an exhaustive list, and we know that they won t work for everyone. But we hope that they will get you thinking about the best way for you to save money when you get your college degree. And we believe that college degree. 31

Do You Want to Cut the Cost of College? Consider Taking Your Required Courses from StraighterLine When you enroll at StraighterLine, you take our online, self-paced college courses in the comfort of your own home. If you pass those courses, they automatically transfer for full credit when you enroll in one of our accredited partner colleges. Your Degree Comes From Them. The Savings Comes From Us. Why pay more for the same degree? For just $99 a month plus as little as $49 per course registration fee, you can take as many 3- and 4-credit college courses as you want. Courses include: Business Accounting I Accounting II Business Communications Business Ethics Business Law Economics I: Macroeconomics Economics II: Microeconomics Financial Accounting Introduction to Business Managerial Accounting Organizational Behavior Principles of Management College Prep Developmental Writing Introductory Algebra Prior Learning Assessment Student Success English English Composition I English Composition II Humanities American Government Cultural Anthropology Introduction to Communications Introduction to Criminal Justice Introduction to Philosophy Introduction to Religion Introduction to Sociology Personal Finance Western Civilization I Western Civilization II Languages Spanish I Spanish II Mathematics Business Statistics Calculus I Calculus II College Algebra Precalculus Sciences First Aid/CPR General Chemistry I General Physics I General Physics II Introduction to Biology Introduction to Environmental Science Introduction to Nutrition Introduction to Psychology Medical Terminology Microbiology Pharmacology I Pharmacology II 32

Why StraighterLine? StraighterLine has been recognized as a revolutionizing force in education by major news organizations colleges and universities. Our Partner Schools include: Our courses are evaluated and recommended by the American Council on Education s College Credit Recommendation Service universities. In addition to the institutions with which StraighterLine has a direct relationship, more than 350 other schools are reported to have accepted StraighterLine coursework for transfer credit. 33

Don t Take Our Word for It. Listen to Our Students 9/11 GI bill and doing these classes are saving me valuable time so I can move on to my MA next year!...i didn t think I would be able to have enough time for a BA and MA but straighterline is making it possible! Love the program!!! - Tawny Miller, 5/31/12 Love your program it is easily one of the most challenging and rewarding - Michelle Dyer, 3/7/12 Working full-time and caring for a family makes it impossible for me to attend brick and mortar classes during the week....there is no other product out there that can compare to StraighterLine s $99 monthly enrollment. It s recommend StraighterLine! - Cory Hutchinson, 1/16/12 I ve had 10 courses transferred so far without any issue, and it s usually been very prompt in comparison to most schools I ve dealt with. - Adam Ditillo, 12/12/11...I also appreciate the unconditional support I have received from the school - it s so reassuring to know that there is a constant team of support while I am completing my courses - especially since I have been out of school for a long time! Thanks again for everything! - Laura Chimuk, 3/26/12 34

Our Students Grade Us! To better understand how our courses are meeting students needs, we commissioned StraighterLine Students Earn Real College Credit StraighterLine s Programs Are Effective to complete a college degree. Over half felt better prepared for traditional Students Are Overwhelmingly Satisfied with StraighterLine s Courses to a friend. StraighterLine vs. Online Courses Offered by Traditional Colleges and Universities Respondents who had also earned college credit through an online course StraighterLine on a number of measures. StraighterLine courses were found to be: Equally or more rigorous equally or more academically rigorous than Online University/ College Courses Continues 35

More convenient more convenient than Online University/College Courses More affordable lower cost than Online University/College Courses Greater overall satisfaction compared with Online University/ College Courses About the study: Hezel Associates invited to participate in the survey all students who had either successfully or unsuccessfully completed a StraighterLine course during the period from the company s inception to June 6, 2012. There was an 11.8% response rate during the data collection period. 36

Notes 1 Johnson, Anne; Van Ostern, Tobin; White, Abraham, The Center for American Progress, The Student Debt Crisis, 10/25/12 http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/higher-education/report/2012/10/25/42905/the-student-debt-crisis/ z CNN Money, Surging College Costs Price Out Middle Class, 6/6/2011, p.1 http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/13/news/economy/college_tuition_middle_class/index.htm 3 4 College Board, Trends in Higher Education, 2012, p.1 5 National Center for Education Statistics, The Condition of Education, Section 3, 2011. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/overview.asp 6 2012-2013, p.1. 7 College Board, Trends in College Pricing, 2012, p.1 8 College Board, Trends in College Pricing, 2012, p.2 9 College Board, Trends in College Pricing, 2012, p.16 10 College Board, Trends in Higher Education: Average per FTE Student over Time, p.1 http://trends.collegeboard.org/node/246 11 IBID 12 NCHEMS Information Center for Higher Education Policymaking and Analysis, Net Cost of Attendance, Year 2009, p.1 13 IBID 37

14 IBID 15 Dickeson, Robert, The Secretary of Education s Commission on the Future of Higher Education, Issue Paper, Frequently Asked Questions About College Costs, p.1 http://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/hiedfuture/reports/dickeson2.pdf 16 Dickeson, Robert, The Secretary of Education s Commission on the Future of Higher Education, Issue Paper, Frequently Asked Questions About College Costs, p.2 http://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/hiedfuture/reports/dickeson2.pdf 17 Dickeson, Robert, The Secretary of Education s Commission on the Future of Higher Education, Issue Paper, Frequently Asked Questions About College Costs, p.2 http://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/hiedfuture/reports/dickeson2.pdf 18 Dickeson, Robert, The Secretary of Education s Commission on the Future of Higher Education, Issue Paper, Frequently Asked Questions About College Costs, p.3 http://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/hiedfuture/reports/dickeson2.pdf 19 Dickeson, Robert, The Secretary of Education s Commission on the Future of Higher Education, Issue Paper, Frequently Asked Questions About College Costs, p. 4 http://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/hiedfuture/reports/dickeson2.pdf 20 National Center for Educational Statistics, Fast Facts: Enrollment, 2012, p.1 http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98 21 A National Dialogue: The Secretary of Education s Commission on the Future of Higher Education, Frequently Asked Questions About College Costs, p.8 http://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/hiedfuture/reports/dickeson2.pdf 22 National Center for Education Statistics, The Condition of Education, Section 3, 2011. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/overview.asp 23 College Board, Trends in College Pricing, 2012, p.4 24 Cardillo, Donna, Can a College Degree Make You Healthier and Happier, 8/3/12, p.1 http://www.doctoroz.com/blog/donna-cardillo-rn-ma/can-college-degree-make-you-healthier-and-happier 25 http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2012/02/29/new-three-year-degree-programs-trim-college-costs 26 Accounting Principals Workonomix Survey, January 2012 http://www.accountingprincipals.com/documents/downloads/api-workonomix-survey-q1-2012.pdf 38