But Doesnt Enrolling Full
When youre researching affordable online colleges, some variables to a schools quality include its graduation rate, retention rate, job placement rate, and loan default rate.
Combined, all four of these factors make a strong case for full-time enrollment . For bachelors degree programs, the four-year graduation model is still the standard of successful outcomes.
Strong student retention = strong graduation rate. A study from the National Student Clearinghouse found that students enrolled part-time are less likely to graduate within six years.
Opportunity cost of being in school for an extra year . If you miss out on a year or two of income in the workforce, can you recoup it later?
Repay student loans faster. Getting a job offer in your preferred career as soon as possible, means paying the bills faster ergo, chances of loan default drop.
Today, many affordable online degrees are structured flexibly so that you can design a full-time curriculum around your lifestyle, and not vice versa.
Some online schools even offer competency based degrees. Capella University offers an innovative program called FlexPath and allows students to do just this significantly reducing the cost of a degree while decreasing the time required for completion.
When Do I Become Financially Responsible For My Tuition
As a first-time degree-seeking student at the University of Arizona Global Campus, you qualify to be admitted under the University of Arizona Global Campus Promise. This conditional admission policy allows you to attend up to three weeks of your first course with no financial obligation. During this period, the University of Arizona Global Campus will assess whether you meet the basic academic requirement to be successful at our institution. You also have the opportunity to assess whether or not the University of Arizona Global Campus is the right fit for you. If you are denied admission or choose not to continue in the first course, you will not be responsible for any tuition and fees incurred during the conditional admission period, and all charges will be reversed.
How Much Is Asu Online Tuition
Ranked as a best buy college by the Fiske Guide to Colleges, ASU Online is a top university for excellence and value among public colleges in the U.S. ASU Online tuition costs range between $561$1,343 per credit hour*, depending on your program, transfer credits and course load. About 80% of all ASU students receive some form of financial aid, meaning that only a few students end up paying the full cost.
See the cost per credit hour for each online degree type below:
This is not a bill. This is only an estimate.
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Tuition Free Online Colleges And Free Online Degree Programs
You can make it without it, sure. But for a vast majority of Americans, getting to attend college is still synonymous with greater lifetime earnings, an opportunity for jobs, and a more enriching life. Simultaneously, no single type of spending has increased as quickly as higher education costs except health care expenses over the last 40 years.
In fact, the cost of higher education has increased eight times as quickly as the average American earners wages since the early 1980s. Yes you read that correctly 8x.
And while that may seem like a totally unrealistic investment, the facts stand that higher education is still worth it in the vast majority of cases .
Of course, here at OnlineCollegePlan we dont believe that any future student should jump into a degree program without proper research. And with our years of experience in researching higher education topics weve learned a thing or two that may be of use about saving money on college. The cheapest online college may not be the best option, even if you need to save money. Research plenty of online college options before making a school choice.
In this guide well show you some ways in which you can avoid the massive bill that hits so many college students, as well as ways to minimize future debt by identifying some of the most affordable online colleges.
In this guide on free online degree programs well walk through the following sections:
In This Article
How Can I Get Someone Else To Pay My Online College Tuition
Aside from financial aid, there are a number of ways to find funding for an online degree.
Employer-Sponsored Tuition Reimbursement: If you are currently working, you may be able to qualify for an . Sponsorships vary, but you may be able to get up to $5,250 in tuition reimbursement, per section 127 of the Internal Revenue Code.
You often will need to meet a specific GPA, and take courses that are relevant to your employers mission.
U.S. Military. Both civilians and veterans often take advantage of online education. One benefit to serving your country, is the opportunity to advance your skillset with an online degree for little to no cost. While most private sector employers cap their sponsorships , essentially making many online colleges tuition free.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs manages VA education benefit programs, of which provide a number of various options, depending on your eligibility. For most, the provides the best option and includes two added programs not found in other VA education programs:
Instead of searching for the cheapest online colleges per credit hour, the Yellow Ribbon can help eligible veterans attend otherwise pricey private schools at much-reduced cost.
The Transfer of Entitlement option allows eligible servicemembers to transfer all or portions of unused education benefits to their spouse or dependent children.
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What Is The Average Cost For Online College
U.S. News and World Report estimates that the average cost of an online bachelor’s degree is $38,496 to $60,593. A ranking of the top online bachelor’s degree programs. In-state students pay an average of $38,496, and out-of-state students pay $54,183 in tuition for public online bachelor’s degrees.
Thomas Edison State University
TUITION: $7,519
TESU is a public, state-funded higher education institution educating more than 17,200 students online and on-campus. In 2011, Thomas Edison earned the National University Technology Distance Education Innovation Award. This school offers a 100% admissions acceptance rate and 64 undergraduate and graduate online degrees in multiple areas of study, including Liberal Arts and Humanities, Accounting, Medical Assisting, Nursing, and Business Administration and Management, to name a few. Some popular programs at Thomas Edison State University are the associates in Nuclear Engineering Technology, Bachelors in Homeland Security, Masters in Hospitality Management, and Doctor of Nursing Practice .
TESU offers 13 online associate degree programs, 34 bachelors degree programs online, 17 online graduate degree programs, and multiple undergraduate and graduate certificate programs online. This cheap online college is accredited by MSCHE. TESU has an open admissions policy. TESU is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
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Oregon Institute Of Technology
Program Cost: $245 per credit-hour , $350 per credit-hour
A public polytechnic institution, Oregon Institute of Technology is a truly unique academic experience. Oregon Techs flexible, affordable college online is focused on areas of study in health technologies, communication, psychology, management, and applied sciences. The distance-learning opportunity gives degrees from associates to masters, additionally including certificate and specialization programs. Oregon Tech Foundation offers over 125 scholarships, adding up to $345,000 for its students.
How Much Does Online College Tuition Cost
That depends on a few factors. The average cost of online college tuition varies depending on the type of school you attendfor-profit, not-for-profit, public, and private schools all vary in their costs.
Pricing is simple, however, at CSU Global. Tuition is based on only the classes youre taking during a given term. Our students pay a flat per-credit-hour tuition rate based on whether those credits are for Undergraduate or Graduate courses.
And thanks to our tuition guarantee, your tuition rate won’t increase from enrollment through graduation, so you can accurately calculate the total cost of your CSU Global education.
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How Do Our Manually Collected Tuitions Compare To Widely Published Government Data
Most college rankings use tuition information from the U.S. Department of Education’s database, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Systems . The federal government gathers information from all colleges, universities, and technical schools across the country that participate in federal financial aid programs and records their information in the IPEDS database.
When comparing our manually researched tuition rates for online programs to IPEDS data, we found that IPEDS tuition rates were sometimes more than double what an online student could expect to pay.
This data from IPEDS is limited because the government doesn’t track tuition rates for online students. Instead, they report tuition rates for each school as a whole. Most schools primarily serve campus-based students, and frequently have different rates for online programs. That’s why we research online-specific rates, to provide a more accurate resource for online students to easily compare schools based on cost.
Without breaking the cost of a degree down by online and on-campus rates, prospective students don’t have enough information available to weigh their options and evaluate what the best educational route is for them.
Average College Tuition And Fees
Although college tuition and fees are separate costs, colleges usually report a combined tuition and fees figure. For the 2020-2021 academic year, the average price of tuition and fees came to:
- $37,650 at private colleges
- $10,560 at public colleges
- $27,020 at public colleges
What is college tuition? College tuition is what colleges charge for the instruction they provide. Colleges charge tuition by the units that make up an academic year, such as a semester or quarter. Tuition at public colleges is usually lower for in-state residents. Out-of-state students often pay double the tuition as in-state students.
Tuition can vary by major. Students in the sciences, engineering, computing, pre-med programs, and the fine arts often pay higher tuition than students in other majors. For example, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, students enrolled in the College of Engineering pay up to $5,000 more in tuition per year than students pursuing majors in the liberal arts.
What college fees cover. Fees may support services such as the library, campus transportation, student government, and athletic facilities. Fees charged can vary widely from college to college. For example, the University of California, Irvine charges students a campus spirit fee to help support the athletics and school spirit programs and a fee for student health insurance.
Source: College Board, Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid, 2020.
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Other Factors To Consider
The fact that even an in-state university jumps above $100,000 for four years with room, board, books, materials, transportation, and other personal expenses considered shows just how expensive college has become. However, even the numbers provided above wont necessarily tell the whole storyunless, perhaps, you have a college fund that can cover the full expense.
The biggest of the other factors that you need to consider are student loans. The average graduate of the Class of 2016 was carrying over $37,000 in student loan debt at the time of graduation. If you anticipate that you must take out student loans to cover the cost of college tuition, then you must consider the aftermath of college as part of your Cost of College calculations.
How much you will pay on your student loans depends on several factors, making it difficult to formulate a ballpark estimate for how student loan payments affect the overall cost of college. After all, some studentsusually with help from their parents or assistance through scholarshipscan escape college with no debt. Others have to take out loans for the entirety of their four-year tuition bill. Whether or not you have a job and a source of income throughout college can also impact how much debt you have when you graduate.
General Tuition Rates: 2021
| Military Graduate to Doctoral Tuition7 | $300 | $300 |
1The B.S.N.-M.S.N. dual degree program is formatted in a way in which students enrolled specifically in this program will earn their Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Science in Nursing concurrently.
2Applicable to School of Education programs only.
3Liberty online John W. Rawlings School of Divinity Master of Divinity students enrolled between 1 and 8.99 credit hours will be charged the part-time tuition rate of $395 per credit hour. Students enrolled between 9 and 15 credit hours will be charged the block rate of $2,750. Any credit hours above 15 will be charged at the $395 part-time rate.
4Liberty online John W. Rawlings School of Divinity Doctor of Ministry and Ph.D. students enrolled between 1 and 6.99 credit hours will be charged the part-time tuition rate of $395 per credit hour. Students enrolled between 7 and 15 credit hours will be charged the block rate of $2,750. Any credit hours above 15 will be charged at the $395 part-time rate. Please note that the Doctor of Ministry Pastoral Counseling is the only D.Min. track eligible for the military discount.
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West Texas A& m University
TUITION: $7,935
West Texas A& M University is a public, co-educational research institution with an enrollment of over 9,400 students in the Amarillo, Texas Metro area, satellite campuses, and online. WTAMU has received many prestigious rankings including U.S. News Best Online Programs Rankings at #21 Best Online Bachelors Programs, #67 Best Online MBA Programs, #13 Best Online Bachelors Programs for Veterans, #17 Best Online Masters in Education Programs for Veterans, #15 Best Online Masters in Computer Information Technology Programs, to name a few. Niche.com ranks this school as the #52 Best Hispanic-Serving Institutions in America, #24 Best College in Texas, and #10 Top Public University in Texas.
WTAMUs distance education division offers 14 undergraduate, 19 graduate, and 1 Doctoral program and hybrid programs through the SREB Electronic Campus. A few of the most affordable online degree programs include Economics, Criminal Justice, a Healthcare MBA, and Finance from associate to bachelor degrees. WTAMU is part of the Texas A& M University System.
Top 25 Most Affordable Colleges Online
Search Programs
Distance-learning programs can be an excellent way to save money and earn a degree with needed flexibility. An increasing number of schools are adding online degrees to their academic offerings, thus casting a global net to students pursuing affordable higher education.
The following ranking represents the top 25 affordable colleges online for 2018. These schools were selected from a thorough research process focusing on what makes an affordable online college degree a worthwhile pursuit. For more information on distance learning also visit our ranking of the top online colleges.
Tuition and enrollment data was sourced from College Navigator and the online colleges respective official websites.
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Online College Cost Versus Future Salary Potential
If you already have a high school diploma, studies, such as the Survey of Income and Program Participation survey tabulated by the Pew Research Center, show that youre likely to experience lateral increases in salary if you go on to earn other credentials. That includes associates, bachelors, masters, Ph.D., and so on.
For example, the report examined median adjusted monthly household incomes of 25- to 34- year-olds, and found that from about $5,960 to more than $7,200 per month.
If you or your spouse attained a , salaries rose an average of about $1,670 per month.
Introduction To Online Learning
Whether you’re thinking about earning a college degree or just taking a few college courses, going to school online is an option worth considering. Over the past couple of decades, it has become an increasingly popular choice. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about one-third of today’s college students are engaged in some form of distance learning, with 16.6% of them opting to take all of their classes online.
E-learning classes usually use an online learning management system, such as Canvas, Blackboard, or Moodle, to enable students to view and complete coursework over the internet, and classes can be delivered either in an asynchronous or synchronous format.
Before you sign up for classes, it’s important to understand the options available to you. Many traditional, non-profit or state-operated community colleges and four-year universities give you the ability to earn associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral or professional degrees, as well as certificate programs, completely online. These educational institutions usually provide the same resourcesâsuch as financial aid, academic advising, tutoring, and library servicesâfor online students as they do for on-campus students. There are also some non-profit schools that operate exclusively online, as well as for-profit schools offering online programs, and these institutions may or may not provide additional services.
Online Degrees Quick Facts
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Tips To Pay For Online College
Accredited online education is often a more accessible and attainable option for students, but it still does come with a cost. Its important to learn about the different ways you can make tuition even more affordable. There dont need to be any barriers in your way if you know that pursuing higher education is the right move for you.
Applying for financial aid. There are many financial aid options that help students pay for their education. There are federal financial aid options, which include Pell Grants and student loans. Students apply for federal financial aid by filling out a FAFSA form. Students give information about their income, as well as their parents income. This information is compared to the cost of attending, and it is determined what kind of aid you qualify for.
Pell Grants are free money given by the government to financially needy students. Students can get Pell Grants for 12 semesters of undergraduate coursework, with no dollar limitation. Students never have to pay back Pell Grants and apply simply by filling out their FAFSA application every school year.
Student loans are different from Pell Grants because they do have to be repaid after students graduate. Students can arrange a repayment plan and are charged interest on their student loan. Student loans are easier to get than Pell Grants because they are a loan, and are available for undergraduate and graduate students.