I received a Facebook message from a HS4CC parent in Texas who asked “How can [company name] sell degrees for so cheap? They advertise that if I pay them, they can get my son the $39,195 degree for $10,765. Is that too good to be true?” Great question, here is exactly what’s happening and how you can do it yourself.
Disclosure: Crestpoint University is not a regionally accredited (RA) university; it is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), also known as”nationally accredited.” The college is “legitimate,” but this type of accreditation does come with limitations. Learners considering a DEAC degree are encouraged to learn more about the differences between regional and national accreditation before enrolling
Outsourcing College Credit
The way to lower the out-of-pocket cost of any college degree is to start by outsourcing credits while following the rules set up by the college. In this case, the Bachelor of Business Administration degree requires 120 credits (40 courses). The college catalog explains the rules and limits for outsourcing college credit for this degree.
“Bachelor of Business Administration Program: Students may transfer up to four business courses (totaling 12 credits) towards a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree. Students may also transfer up to 72 general education credits (24 courses) towards a degree at Crestpoint University. Students must take at least 36 credits (12 courses) in areas of business administration at Crestpoint University.”
According to the University’s website, each course costs $975.
We can do a simple calculation to determine that 120 credits (40 courses) x $975 is $39,000. (They also charge a 1-time fee of $195) for a rack rate of $39,195.
Rack rate is the price you’ll pay if you take every course from that college. This is what most students do, but by using outsourcing, you can reduce that price big time! For instance, using a free CLEP exam to count for 1 course will reduce your rack rate by $975. If you do that multiple times, you can save more, and more, and more.
When we visit this college’s website, we learn that they have a program with Law Shelf. Law Shelf courses are free, and you only pay if you take the final exam and want college credit. Law Shelf charges $20 per credit ($60 per course), so for every Crestpoint course you replace with a Law Shelf course, you reduce your total out-of-pocket cost by $915!!
In most cases, we would have to manually select the courses to outsource so we could match them up with the degree. This is because colleges don’t want to help you NOT take their courses, but in this case, the partnership is already in place, so the pathway is already written! Best of all, Law Shelf courses can be used in your homeschool for high school credit during any grade.
Bachelor of Business Administration x Law Shelf Partnership Page
Take 30 LawShelf courses, for a total of 90 credits:
| LawShelf Course Code | Course Name | Credits | Satisfies Degree Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACC-101 | Accounting | 3 | Business Core |
| GOV-102 | Basics of Legal Ethics | 3 | Business Core |
| BUS-301 | Securities Regulation | 3 | Business Elective – Upper Level |
| BUS-302 | Stocks and Stock Transfers | 3 | Business Elective – Upper Level |
| COM-301 | Sales of Goods | 3 | Business Elective – Upper Level |
| ELD-302 | The Probate Process | 3 | Business Elective – Upper Level |
| TOR-301 | Intentional and Negligence Torts | 3 | Business Elective – Upper Level |
| TOR-501 | Medical Malpractice | 3 | Business Elective – Upper |
| Choose 2 of the following, for a total of 6 credits: | |||
| BUS-101 | Business Organizations | 3 | Business Elective |
| BUS-201 | Mergers and Acquisitions | 3 | Business Elective |
| BUS-202 | Non-Profit Organizations Law | 3 | Business Elective |
| CON-101 | Basics of Contracts Law | 3 | Business Elective |
| FIN-201 | Corporate Finance Law | 3 | Business Elective |
| Total credits from LawShelf courses: | 90 |
Your total out-of-pocket cost for this portion of the degree (that you’ll start and or finish during high school) is paid directly to Law Shelf. Law Shelf sells course bundles at reduced bulk-rate pricing, so your student can earn all 90 credits for $900. (30 classes) These courses are generally easy to integrate into your homeschool and most students report completing 1 course every 2 weeks when it is the only course they are studying.
90 credits = 3 years of college
As your teen graduates high school, they will proceed to finish the remaining 30 credits directly with Crestpoint.
| Crestpoint Course Code | Course Name | Credits | Satisfies Degree Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| BUS-101 | Principles of Management | 3 | Business Core |
| BUS-102 | Principles of Marketing | 3 | Business Core |
| ECO-101 | Microeconomics | 3 | Business Core, Social Science |
| ECO-102 | Macroeconomics | 3 | Business Core, Social Science |
| MAT-101 | College Algebra | 3 | Math |
| MAT-102 | Introduction to Probability and Statistics | 3 | Business Core, Math |
| ENG-101 | English Composition | 3 | English |
| ENG-102 | Business Communications | 3 | Business Core, English |
| Total credits from Crestpoint courses: | 30 |
When you take courses from Crestpoint, you’ll remember they charge $975 per course. 10 courses from the table above will cost $9,750.
Note that if you want to outsource using courses that are NOT from Law Shelf, they need to come out of the first 90. The last 30 must be taken with Crestpoint.
- 30 Lawshelf classes (during or after high school): $900
- 10 Crestpoint classes (after high school): $9,750
$10,650
There is no reason to pay extra commission to a middleman company for explaining this to you. The map above, and the one on the university website, will help you legitimately lower the cost of this degree by about 75% and that’s resourceful high school planning at its best!
