![\"Vintage](\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/\/2014\/01\/students.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s Note: This is a guest post from Jay Cross<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know about you, but I\u2019m fed up with the ancient \u201ccollege savings tips\u201d so-called experts keep force-feeding us:<\/p>\n
If you follow this advice, you will be thoroughly and totally prepared for college…in 1995. (You know, just in case that year ever comes back.) But in 2013, these strategies will get you slaughtered by the \u201cStudent Loan Industrial Complex.\u201d<\/p>\n
Continuing to preach this outdated advice is worse than useless: it\u2019s condescending. It actually patronizes how challenging it is to finance your education. Today\u2019s students don\u2019t need the marginal cost reducers of the past. They need to completely rethink their strategy and beat colleges at their own game.<\/p>\n
In this post, I am going to share an uncommon approach that can help you graduate faster, avoid student debt, and jump into the job market with both feet beneath you.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s say you\u2019re just starting college and you need to earn all of those major-independent \u201cgeneral education\u201d credits (i.e., English 101) that every student takes.<\/p>\n
What do you do?<\/p>\n
Option #1: <\/b><\/span>Take a standard English course. You know what that means: classes, homework, tests, quizzes, projects, group assignments…ugh. 95% of students assume this is their only option.<\/p>\n Time:<\/b> 4 months<\/p>\n Cost:<\/b> $3,000+<\/p>\n Option #2:<\/span><\/b> Take CLEP tests<\/a> instead. These multiple-choice exams cover a full semester of material…and if you pass, you get the same credits you would have spent months in a classroom for.<\/p>\n Time:<\/b> 2-3 hours<\/p>\n Cost:<\/b> $80<\/p>\n CLEP offers 33 exams in five subject areas, is accepted for credit by 2,900 colleges and universities, and is proctored in over 1,800 test centers nationwide. Developed by College Board — the same organization behind AP courses and the SAT — CLEP measures your knowledge regardless of how you obtained it: independent study, internships, and work experience included.<\/p>\n CLEP is the most popular exam option, but not the only. Other formats include DSST<\/a>, Excelsior\/UExcel<\/a>, and Thomas Edison State College (TECEP)<\/a> exams. Every school decides for itself which tests to offer and how much of your degree you can test out of. At some schools, it\u2019s 30 credits. At others, it might be 45. Still others, 60 or 90 or even the full 120 credits of a bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n Regardless of the exact number of exam credits your school lets you earn, the savings potential is massive. And you don\u2019t need to pray for scholarships or nebulous \u201caid\u201d to get it. Testing out is completely within your locus of control<\/a>: you just need to plan, prioritize and study like a gentleman scholar<\/a>.<\/p>\n Even if your school only allows 30 exam credits, that\u2019s still a quarter of your degree. You will save nearly $30,000 and graduate faster by not<\/i> earning those credits in the classroom. I completed the final 30 credits of my degree via test-out and was the only person I know to graduate 100% debt-free. (Here\u2019s my story, if you\u2019re interested<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Some people have heard of testing out, but most haven\u2019t. Schools don\u2019t shout from the rooftops about their test-out allowances. Why would they? Higher education is a business: the longer they can \u201ckeep you in the store\u201d with costly courses, the more money they make. But this information is buried in your academic handbook under \u201calternative credit policies\u201d or \u201ctransfer credit allowances.\u201d Look for it.<\/p>\n Sadly, even students who have<\/i> heard of testing out tend to use it for just one or two courses, not the majority of their degrees.<\/p>\n I believe students owe it to themselves to figure out the fastest and most affordable graduation path at their disposal, even if they don\u2019t test out of absolutely everything.<\/p>\n Enough theory. Here\u2019s a real analysis I created to illustrate how powerful your test-out savings can be. In this example, we\u2019ll assume you want a bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology from Sacred Heart University, a small, expensive, highly-ranked private university in Connecticut.<\/p>\n Here is the research necessary to calculate how much time and money you can save by testing out:<\/b><\/p>\n I\u2019m building an app to crunch this data automatically, but it can all be done by hand. If you wanted to test out of as much of a psychology degree as Sacred Heart will allow, here are your potential savings:<\/p>\n Again: nothing says that you HAVE to test out of every subject a school will allow. <\/b>There are valid reasons for taking a course in person: class discussions, mentorship from a professor, or simply not feeling comfortable studying for a tough subject on your own (I\u2019m looking at you, fellow non-math people!)<\/p>\n Rather, the point of running an analysis like this is to figure out your options<\/i>. With college being as costly as it is today, there is no excuse for not giving yourself the opportunity to say \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a useful analogy for how testing out fits into the overall picture of your college career.<\/p>\nCase Study: Earning a $139K degree for $47K at Sacred Heart University<\/b><\/h3>\n
\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/\/2014\/01\/diydegree1.png\")
\nEvery school should post an analysis like this on their website. Since they never will, you need to perform the analysis yourself.<\/p>\nThe \u201cMoneyball\u201d Approach to Cutting College Costs<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"Diy](\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/\/2014\/01\/diydegree2.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"College](\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/\/2014\/01\/diydegree3.png\")