<p>Here’s the situation: I’m at a state school, probably going to transfer out into a specialized design school that is a mandatory 4-5 years. </p>
<p>However, scattered through the 4-5 years are liberal arts, math, etc. classes that don’t have to do with the intended design major. Classes that I can get out of with transfer credit.</p>
<p>So if I go to my state school for Freshman year, get a bunch of liberal arts credits, and then transfer to…Cincinnati’s 5-year program, will my tuition be cheaper since I’ll be skipping a bunch of liberal arts classes?</p>
<p>Basically I may only be taking 12 credits a semester instead of 15. Is tuition determined by cost of individual credit or do you pay a flat fee?</p>
<p>It really depends on the policy of the schools. My sons’ colleges have all have/had “all you can take” policies. Full time is 12 credits with the average course being worth 3, and you can take as many as you wanted without paying for more, though after a certain point, you would have to get clearance from the registrar and/or departments. </p>
<p>However, there are some schools where you do pay for any credits over a certain number, and some where you do pay per credit on some scale. It really does depend on the school. </p>
<p>It depends on the school as what credits will be acceptable as a transfer too. I have known kids who ended up not getting credit for base courses because they did not meet the new school’s criteria. You have to check all of this out. </p>
<p>If your new school accepts all of those liberal arts credits, what usually happens is that you can graduate earlier. Theoretically, my kids could have graduated in 3 years because they had their foundation credits. However, there are schools and programs that require their students to stay a requisite number of years. This is not something you can give a general explanation that holds for all colleges.</p>