Can someone explain the college credit system?

[Dis]

Yes this seems embarrassing. I probably come accross like AS with my lack of knowledge of the world.

But I have never wanted to go to college before, and I'm seriously considering that now. Not that I really need college, I already know I'm the smartest human alive. . But I need more challenge in my life. And it would look good to have a degree.

Though I must admit the prices of credits look kind of scary .

And I have never really understood the college credit system. Colleges and Universities are like alien worlds to me.

But how many credits does it take for an associates degree? Or does that depend? And Bachelor's? and Masters?

What should I know about getting degrees? I admit I'm clueless in this aspect of education. I blame my ****ty public schools for failing to prepare me for college. Seriously, high school was worthless. I can get straight A's, yet still not learn anything about the real world. I didn't learn **** until I turned 18, and lived out in the real world.

[Dis]

yes I have been looking at websites online, but you would be suprised how useless web pages can be about explaining things

[Timexwatch]

Colleges use "Credits" as a way of quantifying how many classes you've taken and how those fullfill certain degree requirements.

For example, I'm required to take 120 credits to graduate, with an average of 15 credits a semester. I can take regular classes in my major for 3 credits. I can take longer, more indepth classes for 4 credits (i.e. An art class with 7 hours+ of in class studio time a week).

Coming in with college credit in high school means that I can take fewer classes or can take more elective courses. I came in with ~10 credits, so that means I can take 3 more classes that I want instead of the usual intro classes.

If you were to go into college, I'm sure that at least some of your Naval/Army certs would transfer as credits and eliminate the need to take some classes. I bet you could probably pull off a Mechanical Engineering or Nuke Engineering Bachelor's Degree in relatively short order.

An Associates Degreee, IIRC, is about 60 credits/2 years of regular study. A Bachelor's degree is roughly 120 credits/4 years.

That's how it works with schools in the semester system. I'm not sure how it works on the trimester system.

[Dis]

so it would cost $60,000 to get a Bachelor's? my math seems off somewhere.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

At UM (in-state tuition for a state school, out of state is much higher) my major requires 120hrs at $157/hr...so, my tuition will be >$18000 when I'm done, not including the ~$900/semester in fees you have to pay even if you take only one class. Other majors require more or less (CS requires 136 here).

Out of state tuition comes to almost $60k for a degree ($447/hr + fees), so that doesn't seem unreasonable depending on where you're looking.

[Timexwatch]

Diss:

That depends on where you go, what sort of aid you get and how much schooling you need.

My bachelors will cost, with scholarship, about $112,000, $160,000 without it.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

One thing to know is that at some places, cost-per-credit goes down if you take more credits (more than 6, usually). Degrees thus tend to cost more for part-time than for full-time students.

But I'd check your math, or check your choice of schools. Am I correct in remembering that you live in Las Vegas? If so, you could go to UNLV for $85/credit, which is only $10,200 if you go full time. (There are also $60/semester in various fees, but that still comes in way below the numbers you're quoting.)

[cinch]

Just for interest's sake, here's what I'll be paying, approximately:

$2,154 per semester, with 15 credits per semester, meaning about $143.60 per credit (that's Canadian, mind you... it's like Monopoly money). And then there's 200-and-some bucks worth of extra fees and charges.

It comes up to about $4800 per year, and it takes 4 years for a bachelor's, so it takes about CA$19,200 to attain a Bachelor of Arts (or Sciences) degree at the U of A.

Consider it, Diss...

[yavoon]

yes, someone can.

[tandeetaylor]

UNLV is 76.50 per credit, CCSN is about half, I think. Plus they always add some silly fees.

[FrustratedPoet]

~$150,000 for a Bachelor's degree? Holy crap. And we complain about high university costs in this country.

[laurentius]

For us it's free! Finland's the best! Again!

[Az]

those costs are mind boggling. It's free for me as well, the army is paying for me, but even for the general student, people pay 2200$ FOR YEAR! and you can get up to 70 percent of the cost by teaching students stuff like math, and sciences.

Mind boggling, really.

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by Timexwatch
Diss:

That depends on where you go, what sort of aid you get and how much schooling you need.

My bachelors will cost, with scholarship, about $112,000, $160,000 without it.

Tell em what university though. At that price it isnt a state school.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by cinch
It comes up to about $4800 per year,

I'm paying about that much a semester. Of course that's in real money though.