Hi, how do you calculate how much you can save by earning college credits in high school?
Assuming the college you are transferring to accepts your credit.
It depends on where you plan on attending. There are many colleges that require you to be “theirs” for four full years so you won’t save any money there. You might though have the option of getting a minor without additional time. If you decide to take classes your best best is 100 level classes as they will be the most likely to transfer. Classes like US or World History, Psychology, etc. transfer easily. My son is finishing his freshman year and he’s taking US History since 1877. He plans to major in engineering so taking enough of these type classes might, depending on where he goes, help him complete a requirement at a technical school like WPI.
How can we check for those colleges that require you to be “theirs”? Are these the colleges that won’t accept high school, AP, IB or CLEP credits?
And is your savings based on the $/credit hour * credits you got?
Check the college websites and look for graduation requirements. If the college requires 8 semesters at that college, you’re “theirs.” This is generally not an issue for public universities, although private universities often have more stringent rules.
I don’t think there’s an easy way other than checking each college site. I believe that Boston College has this requirement. And yes, every public college or university will accept transfer credit.
To answer your questions as to how much you can save by earning college credits in HS. Assume that most college classes are 3 hours each. This is average. Now: 1) Go to the college/university website you are interested in. 2) Search for ‘Tuition and Fees’ 3) Find the ‘per-credit-hour’ (PCH) fee. 4) Multiply the PCH you found by 3. That will be the general total for one class. 6) Consider what you pay for your student to ‘test’ (AP, CLEP, etc.) on one subject. Subtract the ‘test’ fee from the PCH and you will have your savings. For instance, my son just passed his AP World History exam and the test fee was $35. One of our local universities charges $650/PCH. $650x3=$1,950. $1,950-$35=$1,915. That is what we saved, if he chose to go to that university.
The way to find out if a college or university accepts CBE (credit by exam) is to review their admissions policy. It should be in the catalog. You can also contact the Admissions office directly and ask. Most colleges and universities now accept some form of CBE, as they have to compete with others that do. Ivy Leagues generally do not and some very strict religious schools might not as well. One of our local religious universities only recently started accepting CBE.
If you and your student are really hot to test out of more than the AP classes you have available, look into CLEP tests. They can be taken while still in high school. They are administered by the College Board (SAT, AP, etc.). There are testing centers in about 1,800 locations and the sitting fee is about $80. The testing center might charge a fee as well, maybe $20. Check with your college to see what CLEPs they accept. My son is planning a double major in music education and oboe performance. He will definitely CLEP if he wants to graduate in 4 years! There are good resources to prepare for CLEPs. Your local library will have prep materials. SpeedyPrep is online and a monthly fee lets you study for any of the tests they have materials for.
Be aware that for some schools, tuition is a flat rate if you’re a full-time student, so unless you have enough credits to skip an entire semester, you’re not really saving anything.
Part of the question also needs to be “what do I get out of not taking those classes and is that something I want?” There are quite a few schools (including very good ones) that will give you a “year”, i.e., sophomore standing, for an IB Diploma with high marks. If you’re thinking that you’re going to do something with your life that is going to require many years of schooling – becoming a physical therapist, for example – AND the acceptance of those credits will allow you to finish undergrad in 3 years, you save yourself a year of tuition and move toward your goal one year faster. But if you’re pursuing something “softer”, even if you’re applying to grad school, you may be at a disadvantage by having logged in only 3 years as an undergrad. What advanced standing may allow you to do is to spend a semester or year on an internship, traveling, or working on a language (not for credit) or something that may move you toward this different goal but without laying out as much money as you would if you were enrolled. Which is all to say, there’s a straightforward way to do the calculation, and it may even capture the “true” cost if you’re on one path, and then there’s a fuzzier way to do it that involves some numbers and some other “intangibles”.
You would have to do the calculation for each college, considering:
- The degree plan for your major and general education at the college.
- What transfer credit the college will accept, and how that fulfills requirements in your degree plan for your major and general education.
- Whether the college charges by credit or by term.
- What your net price after financial aid and scholarships will be.
Perhaps a more common non-financial benefit is that if the transfer credit exempts you from lower level requirements, then you can use the schedule space to take additional more advanced courses or free electives of interest, even if you do not graduate early.
There is an ancillary issue to consider. Can taking these course allow you to waive a required course? If you can waive several required courses (yet still pay for 4 years of school), you then could get a second major, a deeper understanding in your major or even start taking graduate courses.
As others have said it is very school (and sometimes even major) dependent. You might be able to place into more advanced classes or get credit. Along with the double/triple major in 4 years, you might be able to do a BA/MA or BS/MS in 4 instead of 5 years - some schools have specific programs in place. Or you could study abroad for a semester/year and not worry about credits during that time.
Go by @laenen 's advice. If you’re an engineering major and can skip two semester of calculus, two of physics, and two of chemistry, then more power to you!
Since we are assuming that the college you want to attend will accept your credits, simply Google the name of the college and type “cost of attendance.” You will get a figure that includes tuition, room, board, books, and incidentals. Technically a person could go to school with this amount, but almost everyone spends more. So add in some extra spending money, sometimes a lot of extra spending money!
Once you figure out the cost of attendance per semester, divide by 15. That’s the cost of each credit hour earned. Multiply this by the number of credits that you start school with, minus the amount you spent to earn those credits, and you’ve figured out your savings in a rough way. It’s not exact. If you arrive with only three semester hours, you might not save anything. Or having that one class might be what keeps you from having to stay in school an extra semester, in which case you will save a ton. So just be aware that you are only getting a rough notion of your savings.
Let’s assume you wish to go to Alabama with 21 AP credits; they have a generous AP policy. The cost of attendance at Alabama is $24,320 in-state and $40,800 OOS. This doesn’t include any spending money, travel, or incidentals, so add another $8,000 to get $32,320 and $48,800 per year. Based on a 15-hour course load, that comes out to $1,077 per hour in-state and $1,627 OOS.
Multiply the above figures by 21 and you get a savings of $22,617 in-state and $34,167 OOS (subtract the cost of the hours, but this is usually negligible). To realize these savings you will need to take 15 hours each semester and take 18 hours three semesters. This will allow you to graduate in three years. But it’s hard to calculate the savings exactly; just rest assured that the more you have the more you will save.
It will vary dramatically from one college to another. D had 11 successful AP test scores, nine scores of “5” and two “4”. At the University of Illinois this probably would have cut one full year out of D’s four year degree. At Notre Dame, where she is going, it means she could either retake classes for an easy “A” or double major. Public universities have more liberal policies (they might only require a “3” score) than private universities. It is tough to really understand the impact until you are actually enrolled and have a major in mind