<p>I went to college for two years a decade ago. I only earned 48 credit hours. It cost me about $18,000.</p>
<p>Fast forward to 2010-2011, I’ve earned 90 credit hours in the last year at no cost. The military has paid for everything. I gained 30 credits from CLEP and DANTES exams, and 60 through an affiliate program the army has set up with George Washington University. I need one class from Thomas Edison State College to complete a Bachelor’s. </p>
<p>How much have you paid?</p>
<p>I actually just printed a final statement for my oldest son’s 4 years (to keep as a momento). $ 85,032.00 was the total…there was about $12,900 in “scholarship” to deduct from that total.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention the army repaid all but $4,000 of my student loans. Not a bad deal!</p>
<p>My older brother always talks about this. He went to NJIT back in the late 60’s and 70’s and got his engineering degree for about $6,000. total. He did very well for himself and was able to retire at 52. He also would tell me some stories about going to Newark in the late 60’s and 70’s. A little scary.</p>
<p>I can imagine Newark was pretty scary back then, lol.</p>
<p>My point in this thread is that college doesn’t have to be super expensive. Even without going near the military, anyone can get a degree for under $20,000. Probably under $12,000.</p>
<p>$45K for tuition, room, and board.
No idea what books and other expenses were…it was >25 years ago.</p>
<p>Twenty-five years ago, paid $6000 for four years at a small, private LAC. Don’t remember what books cost. Had a scholarship, pell grant, SEOG grant, state tuition grant, and work study. No loans.</p>
<p>"My point in this thread is that college doesn’t have to be super expensive. Even without going near the military, anyone can get a degree for under $20,000. Probably under $12,000. "</p>
<p>^ Dan, where on earth can you get a degree for under $20k? (much less 12k) without the military?</p>
<p>I really would love to know, sure wasn’t our experience–maybe I was looking the wrong places…</p>
<p>My undergraduate degrees will cost me nothing. My goal now is to accomplish the same thing for medical school :)</p>
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<p>That’s $3000-$5000 a year. Please list a number of colleges where the costs of tuition only is $3000-$5000 per year. I’ll assume students earning a degree for $12,000 would be commuting from home.</p>
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<p>The best way to do this is through Thomas Edison, Excelsior or Charter Oak. These schools will allow you to CLEP an unlimited amount of credit. The rest is done online. I have forty two credits from CLEP and DANTES exams. I would have taken more tests if I hadn’t received 48 credits from a brick and mortar school a decade ago, and 60 through the George Washington affiliate program. The CLEP tests were free because I am in the military. They would have cost me 970 dollars. Forty two credits for 970 dollars! </p>
<p>This is what tuition costs at these colleges:</p>
<p>Thomas Edison - [Thomas</a> Edison State College | Selecting the Right Tuition Plan](<a href=“http://www.tesc.edu/5902.php]Thomas”>http://www.tesc.edu/5902.php)</p>
<p>Excelsior - [Excelsior</a> College fees and tuition - excelsior.edu](<a href=“http://www.excelsior.edu/fees-and-tuition]Excelsior”>http://www.excelsior.edu/fees-and-tuition)</p>
<p>Charter Oak - [Tuition</a> for Affordable Online Degree Completion and Online Courses at Charter Oak State College](<a href=“http://www.charteroak.edu/Prospective/Tuition/]Tuition”>Affordable Tuition and Fees | Charter Oak State College)</p>
<p>And yes, the students would be living at home while they did this.</p>
<p>Anyone can earn an very inexpensive 4 year degree by earning credits through CLEP and DANTES and then transferring those credits to Thomas Edison State College during what would be your last year and finishing up. </p>
<p>My son’s undergrad degree at a private university cost about $30,000. This included a large merit scholarship and semester abroad. He completed his studies in 3 years and commuted from home. Grad school was free as he had a grad assistantship with
stipend. </p>
<p>My daughter started college classes while in high school (when they cost less) and then stayed at our local community college to complete their nursing program. She just graduated and will finish up at a local university. She only needs about 30 credits to finish. I haven’t done the math to determine the total cost, but it will be quite inexpensive when all is said and done.</p>
<p>$20,000/ for 4 years at Syracuse University, a long time ago! 
No loans, included room & board.</p>