College Review – Liberty University Online

Distance learning is on the rise. Many are finding that attending college online helps to meet their needs better than attending traditional schools. But with so many colleges offering a degree online, it can be hard to know which one to pick!

In the coming weeks, I will be reviewing various online colleges here on this blog. I hope that these reviews will help you (the future student) make informed decisions about how to plan your own college degree and career.

Liberty University Online

Liberty University is the largest private, nonprofit university in the nation, the largest university in Virginia, and the largest Christian university in the world.

– www.liberty.edu

Liberty University Online is a well know online school. It has been offering some form of distance learning since 1985 (30 years!). The College’s mission, as found on their website, is:

…to develop Christ-centered men and women with the values, knowledge, and skills essential for impacting tomorrow’s world. With a unique heritage and an ever-expanding influence, Liberty remains steadfast in its commitment of Training Champions for Christ.

The college is affiliated with the Southern Baptist denomination of the Christian Faith, and emphasizes educating students around a Christian view of the world.

Tuition

For a full-time graduate student, Liberty (Online) charges $375 per credit hour. For a standard 3 credit college class, that comes out to $1125. The part-time rate is $435 per credit hour. The college’s full list of fees and pricing can be viewed here. Compared to other online schools, this is a average tuition rate. For a comprehensive list of online schools and their tuition rates, I highly recommend this Guide to Online Schools.

While the college is not cheap, it does offer a program to employers who want to assist their employees in earning a degree. The employer usually pays the college up front for the employee’s classes, at a discounted rate. Otherwise, the employer can opt to wait until after the employee’s grades are finalized to pay the tuition. For more info, check out the college’s full policy on this program.

If you are employed, but never finished your degree, checkout this list of companies who partner with Liberty Online. Who knows, you might work for one of them! Even if you don’t, since this list is just a sample, be sure to ask your company if it is a partner with the college (or another college) in providing college assistance.

Transferring Credit

As you know, I am a big fan of transferring credit to an online college. Specifically, transferring credit that is earned through standardized testing, in my opinion, is the way to go! If you want to learn more about this approach to paying less for college, read my article on An Alternative to College Classes.

One of the biggest advantages to Liberty Online, is that they accept all test credit from CLEP tests. This means that you can take as many tests as possible for your College Classes, transfer that credit to Liberty Online, and finish up the remainder of your degree their for a fraction of the cost of traditional college! 

Who is the college good for?

Liberty Online is an excellent choice if you are employed right now and are wanting to complete your degree. This is especially true if your employer will help pay for tuition!

The college is also a great choice for those who want to take as many standardized tests as possible, to save money on college and avoid going into debt.

Beyond this, the college will be a good fit for Christians who want to earn a degree at a college that aligns with their own faith.

Who should look for a different college?

If you are looking to graduate online, without really taking any standardized tests, without aid from your employers, and with no connection to the college’s religious affiliation, then you might want to look for a more affordable college. Liberty Online is not the most expensive college, but it is not the cheapest out their either. Check out this list for more affordable options.

If you found this helpful, please share, comment, and like on Facebook and Twitter! 

 

Ten Advantages Online College Has Over Traditional

When I graduated highschool, like most teenagers, I was excited to go to college! The idea sounded new and fun. I was excited to claim that status symbol and proudly inform people that, “I go to such and such a college!” What I quickly learned, however, was that college was expensive. And, since I had to pay for it myself, it was going to take a long time!

But I wanted a degree. So I did the hard work and earned money to pay for classes. But I soon encountered another problem. It was really hard to get college classes! I spent two semesters and hundereds of dollars taking five college classes. In fact, the classes I could get were spread out over the whole day. This meant that I would spend all day, from morning, to evening, at school. Most of this time was spent waiting for my classes.

I was sick of this. The thought crossed my mind, “why not get a student loan?” But something in me rebelled at this. I hated the idea. Maybe it was the fact that I couldn’t even get all the classes I wanted… I will never know.

The point is, I found a better way – online college! Some of you may roll your eyes. Others may be interested. In either case, here are ten advantages I have found, after going to both traditional and online colleges, that online school has over traditional.

1. Make your own schedule

When taking classes online, you can study whenever you want. There is no waiting in the library untill your next class. You can get up, do you studying in the morning, and have the whole rest of the day! That is what I did. I spent the morning studying so that I could tutor math in the afternoon.

But the great thing about this is that you don’t have to do this if it doesn’t work for you. You can make your own schedule, be your own boss.

2. Study from home

Study in your bed, at your desk, on the couch, outside. Or, go to Starbucks and study, or a friends house. Mobility means more freedom. This is a huge advantage over traditional college. In an age where everything is increasingly mobile, online college is the way to go.

3. Allows more transfer credit

At a normal college, there are more limits to how much credit can be transferred. I graduated from Thomas Edison State College, an online school. This page (http://www.tesc.edu/admissions/Transfer-Credit.cfm) is their credit transfer policy.

Why does this matter? It matters because you are able to transfer college credit, earned through standardized tests, in larger quantities than you would be able to with traditional colleges! I took a lot of standardized tests, (69 credits worth) and transferred them all to this online school. I would not have been able to do this at a normal college. If you want to learn more about standardized tests, I wrote an article about them! (https://nwine.wordpress.com/2015/06/08/7/)

4. Cheaper

The ability to transfer credit in larger amounts means that the college degree is cheaper. Because of the low price of standardized tests, I was able to graduate college without any debt. This allowed me to get married faster, and impress my future employer (who is now my current employer), enough to get hired.

5. Faster

Because of the ability to transfer credit, I was able to graduate faster than normal. The reason for this is again standardized tests. Those 69 credits were earned in a year’s time, allowing me to finish my degree at the college the next year. With traditional college taking four (or more) years, this is a major plus.

6. More quiet study time

For people like me, I have to study in quiet. I need to be able to focus. Some people are not like that, and that is OK. Sometimes I wish I were like you! If you like to study in loud places, online college still has major advantages.

But if you are like me, this is a big plus to online school. You can learn in private, and study in an environment that best suits you. This leads to a higher quality of learning in the end.

7. Healthier

One downside that I found when attending traditional college, was that I ate out far more often. I remember multiple trips to get fried chicken (horrible for my health), and other fast food. But, when I switched to online school, this all changed. I ate at home, bought groceries, went on walks, and had a more healthy lifestyle.

8. Potential for a larger professional network

One of the biggest reasons people will tell me for going to traditional college is that you can make more friends and build your network. But I have realized, that in an age of facebook, twitter, and social media, online relationships are the norm! With online school, there is even greater potential to connect with people. If you are diligent, you can build a massive online network.

9. Easier to graduate from later in life

Many peopl who have full time jobs, but no degree, are hesitant to try and finish their degree because of the time it will take to go back to school. With online school, it is much easier to do. A simple google search will reveal the success stories of professionals who have graduated from an online school, while maintaining a full-time job.

10. Stronger personal relationships with the people you love

With the flexibility that comes with online school, you will find that you have more time to spend with the people you love. I fell in love with a girl (who is now my wife) while I was going to school! I was able to spend time with her nearly every day, and still get good grades.

Isn’t this why we go to school any way? To learn enough to make a living, so that we can be with the people we love?

In the end, these advantages compelled me to go the online route. I haven’t regretted it. What about you? Do you agree with these?

Please share this if you found it helpful!

Five Great Habits For Being Productive

The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.

Proverbs 12:24

When I searched the Amazon Bookstore for the word “productivity,” I was not surprised to see that there were 35,994 results. Productivity is a common theme in our culture of fast paced work and mobile phone, which are actually small, mobile, workstations for cranking out more things! We love productivity. And for good reason. Here are some habits that I have found to be helpful in keeping me productive. While I don’t always do them, when I do, I notice a difference.

1) Get up two hours before you need to be somewhere in the morning.

Do you need to be at work at 9 am? Getting up at 7 am will give you time to get ready for the day and maybe even get a few things done before heading out. I am actually writing this post before leaving for work!

This also applies to students. If you have to be at school in the morning, make sure you have some time before you leave to wake up, get ready, and even finish some homework before leaving. You can even read the next chapter of the textbook.

2) Replace unhealthy food with good food.

Our health is connected to our productivity. When I feel like a slug, I perform like a slug. So, we need to have a habit of eating the right food, that gives our body a constant supply of nutrients. The problem for a lot of us is that there are so many unhealthy foods and snacks out there! Diets always fail over time. How are we to eat right?

I have found that replacing my unhealthy choices with healthy ones bit by bit is the best way to slowly start eating better. Instead of a doughnut, I can have an apple and some grapes. Don’t try to change all at once. But over time, begin to switch out the bad food with good food. Your body will love it, and your productivity will increase!

3) Read

Having a habit of reading new books is a great way to keep your mind active. And the mind is core to our productivity. I have found that reading a variety of books, from nonfiction to fiction, is a great way to stay mentally alert. If you are looking for a good book, check out my Top Ten List!

4) Focus on one thing at a time.

Don’t try to multitask. It doesn’t work. Make a list of things you need to do, find the most important one, and do it. Then, move on down the list one at a time. This is far more effective than trying to do all of the things at once! Here is a great book on this subject showing how productivity is connected with doing one thing at a time: The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results


5) Be more active.

The body was not made for sitting at desks all day long staring at a computer screen. Try taking a 20 minute walk every day if you normally would not do that. It will make you feel better which will help you be more productive.

If you already walk every day, try some exercises like pushups. The key is to be more active than you are now. If you can master this habit, you will notice a big difference in your energy levels at work and school.

In the end, being productive is all about how much you can do in 24 hours. The problem with being productive, for most of us, is that we try to force our bodies to do more than they can do. So then we just get tired, and our productivity goes down! These five habits will help you manage your time, and your body, to produce more and better results.

What other habits do you know of that increase productivity? Were any of these helpful? If so, please share this post and comment below!

“Trillions Of Dollars In Debt” Doesn’t Always Refer To The Government

How To Memorize Lists In Two Minutes Or Less

“I need flour, eggs, apples, lettuce… or was it spinach?” I stopped with a furrowed brow in the middle of the medicine isle at the grocery store. “And why the heck am I in this Isle!”

This is a common scene for me as I try to find items for my wife at the grocery store. I have found that I need a list of things on paper (or on my phone) before I head out.

Recently, however, I learned a trick that should solve this problem for me in the future. It is an easy way to memorize lists! If I had known this trick back in my college days, it would have made studying for tests that much easier.

Most of us remember things by association. For example, we often remember a dream we had the night before by something we experience during the day that reminds of of the dream. We see an apple and remember the dream of uncle bob being thrown into a giant apple pie. The trick to memorize lists makes use of this fact by assigning common and familiar objects to the numbers 0 through 9. I personally find that pairing objects that rhyme with the number itself are helpful. Here is my list:

zero = shadow
one = bun
two = shoe
three = tree
four = door
five = hive
six = sticks
seven = heaven
eight = gate
nine = wine

This is the foundation of memorizing a list. The next step is to assign each object representing a number to each list item! Let’s say the list is: 1. eggs, 2. flour, 3. milk, and 4. oats. I would then pair the list items as follows.

1. I see a giant bun with eyes eating a carton of eggs.
2. I see a man pouring flour out of his shoe.
3. A tree that grows milk cartons!
4. An open door with an avalanche of oats pouring out of it.

The key is to make the pictures in your head funny or extreme so that you will be sure to remember. Go ahead and try this with a list of your own and see how it goes!

One final tip: Since you have objects for each digit from zero to nine, you can create lists of any number by combining these objects! 12 is a bun inside a shoe. 101 is a shadow holding a bun in each hand. 57 is a bee hive sitting on a cloud!

Your Turn: Did you remember the items in your list? How long did it take you? Do think you might use this trick to study for tests? What other ways have you found to remember important things?

Please share this post on your social media!

An Alternative To College Classes

Knowledge is power. Those with knowledge have power over those who do not have it. That simple truth is the core reason for the high cost of college. The institution of the college is seen as the best way to gain knowledge of history, science, art, and the rest of the world we live in. It is seen that way by employers, employees, and future employees. This perception fuels the rising costs of college in our day.

The logic is simple. With a low supply of knowledge (colleges have a limited capacity to train students), demand goes up. With an increase in demand comes an increase in price. This leads to a higher cost for a college degree. With a higher cost of a college degree, more and more students obtain student loans, going into tens (sometimes hundreds) of thousands of dollars into debt. This happens without even considering inflation, which causes the price to go up even higher!

But is knowledge really in short supply? Do colleges really have a monopoly on knowledge? In our world, with the rise of the internet, the answer to both of these questions is a resounding and obvious (but nonetheless ignored) no. The problem lies in the common perception that colleges are the kings of knowledge. These kings are enthroned by the public imagination, which places them on thrones and grants them the power to approve or reject an individual’s intelligence or level of learning. Altering this perception, will allow us to find ways to graduate at a much lower cost and without a student loan.

You may be thinking that it sounds impossible to graduate college without ever getting a student loan. With all the money that needs to be shelled out for classes, enrollment, etc, it does seem impossible at first. So, let’s think about the main issue; our perception. If the problem is that we think college is the only way to learn, we have to choose to think differently. We have to learn how to teach ourselves and not to rely on college alone for knowledge of the world we live in. We need to figure out a way to learn on our own. Many people agree that one can learn a lot independent of college. The issue often is being recognized for that knowledge. In other words, people don’t just want to know things. They want to be recognized and credited for that knowledge.

This article introduces the standardized test as the way to earn college credit on your own time and at your own pace. This allows us to teach ourselves the subject matter that a normal college class would teach, and be recognized and credited for that knowledge. In this article, we will outline the two main types of credit-earning tests and explain how they are different.

Before defining each test individually, let’s look at the common elements to all three so that the differences will make more sense.

1. A standardized test is a test that allows someone to prove that he or she knows a subject at a college level.
2. A person who passes a standardized test gets an official transcript with a score on it.
3. When that person decides to get a degree from a college, he can take his test transcript to the college and they will decide how much credit to give to that person based on his test score.

In other words, a standardized, college  level exam, is a way for a student to skip actual college classes on subjects they already know well, by paying a much lower cost to be tested on that subject.

Now that we understand what standardized tests are, let’s explain the two different types in more detail.

CLEP – College Level Examination Program

The College Level Examination Program (CLEP), is operated and organized by CollegeBoard. The CollegeBoard organization has a section on their website dedicated to CLEP for Test Takers. It can be accessed at this URL: https://clep.collegeboard.org/

This program is a collection of college level, multiple choice tests on a variety of subjects from math, to english, to spanish, to history, to science, and much more. Depending on the test, there could also be a required essay. The tests are available for anyone to take for a flat fee of $80, paid to CollegeBoard. That’s right – only $80!

When someone takes a CLEP test, they are given a score based on how many questions they answered correctly. If an essay is required, someone will review the essay and the points from that are factored in (the formula is not available at this time). If the final score is high enough, the test taker will pass the test, potentially earning college credit. As we saw above, once the student decides to get his or her degree, the transcript from this test can be shown to the college and credit will be awarded based on what that particular college decides. Most colleges award credit for CLEP tests based on the American Council on Education’s (ACE) recommendations.

Here is a list of the available CLEP tests, passing scores, and credits offered. The source of this list is an actual college – Thomas Edison State College – that awards CLEP tests with credit. Be warned, the list is long. As a side note, this chart also shows which college classes are fulfilled by each CLEP test. For example, the very last test listed in the chart is Social Sciences and History (General). This exam covers the college-offered classes of SOS-101 and SOS-102 for 6 credits total.

As shown above, Thomas Edison State College (TESC) offers credit for all of the CLEP tests that are available. Let’s do the math. If one passes every single one of these tests, earning the highest number of credits, that would amount to 157 college hours (credits, units). Since there are 33 possible tests to take, and since CollegeBoard charges $80 per test, you are looking at somewhere in the ballpark of $3000 (including fees and other expenses covered later) for 157 college credits. To say that this is a good deal is like calling Mount Everest a tall mountain. Consider the fact that many colleges charge $500 or more for each credit. For a 3 unit class, that is $1500. That is half of the estimated total cost for 157 credits taken through CLEP!

DSST (DANTES) – Defense Activity for Nontraditional Educational Support Subject Standardized Tests

DSST tests are very much like CLEP tests. The price of each test ranges from $80 to $90 depending on where the tests are taken. Also like CLEP tests, the American Council of Education recommends credit for a passing score, that most colleges abide by.

Here is Thomas Edison State College’s chart of accepted DSST tests, the passing score, the college course they fulfill, and the number of credits per test.

The main difference between DSST and CLEP, is that DSST tests are more specialized, and CLEP tests are more general. For example, compare the DSST test Substance Abuse to a CLEP test Algebra. This means that, as a general rule with some exceptions, CLEP tests can be used to fulfill general education requirements while DSST test can be used for degree specific ones.
There are 37 DSST tests which are all recommended to earn 3 credits each. Do the math. That is 111 credits for $3500 for all 37. Again, this is an enormous discount when comparing it to the sky-high price of normal college tuition.

With the right research and planning, anyone can use these tests to accrue college credit for a fraction of the normal cost!

Your turn: Would you be interested in learning more about these tests and how to use them? Have you had experience with CLEP or DSST tests? What is your opinion on college debt? Is it worth it? Why or why not?

Please share this post if you found it interesting or helpful!

Top Ten List (Books) – May 2015

Book List:

Here are ten really good books that I have read (or am reading currently). Check them out on Amazon or your local Barnes & Nobel!

1. Psalms – For authorship see 2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 2:21
2. The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results
– Gary Keller
3. The 33 Strategies of War (Joost Elffers Books)
– Robert Greene
4. Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder (Incerto)
– Nassim Nicholas Taleb
5. Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God's Work
– Timothy Keller
6. The Count of Monte Cristo (Penguin Classics)
– Alexander Dumas
7. Outliers: The Story of Success
– Malcolm Gladwell
8. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
– Susan Cain
9. The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It
– Michael E. Gerber
10. The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (Incerto)
– Nasim Nicholas Taleb