Travel and Alternative Education Programs and learning are not new and before we had so many colleges and Universities we read books and had tutors. Today we have the internet and the work of thousands of people worldwide can be digitized. We have MOOCs, blogs, videos, iTunes University, and many more opportunities to not only engage but to strive via alternative learning. I have personally tested out of about 80 – 100 undergraduate courses and I was able to do so by using these alternative avenues of learning. I do it in an organized fashion and then use the test via DSST, CLEP or ACE-reviewed course to validate this learning.
Now, this does not mean Universities are replaced but easier to consume content can be done by the student in a more efficient way. This allows your time via the University system to be used on courses that one cannot readily find information on. MOOCs and others have a tendency to be lower-level undergraduate material and these types of courses are easy to validate. Now on the flip side, you do have cutting-edge technology-based information that is also being organized and most likely several years ahead of your average university system. Alternative learning can greatly prepare and advance others of higher learning in ways an organized school cannot.
Some people when they travel have learned many historical topics that can be transferred into college credits.
When using this method (Travel and Alternative Education Programs) I’m going to tell you how I have done it. With my international travel and my interest in history, politics, cultures, anthropology, and many other social sciences and humanities subjects I have a baseline to work with. I use the Degree Forum here to help me find information and test ideas that others have done, and then add my findings to a list. I then use iTunes University and search for free educational material I can listen to while I drive or relax.
Taking the tests normally requires an appointment at a college or university testing center. The costs can vary but run around $100 – $120 per test. Since a normal class can run from $700 – $1200 I’m saving a lot of money. Depending on what you are studying there are three main schools I recommend due to transfer policies. Thomas Edison State University, Charter Oak College, and Excelsior College. Bachelor’s degrees from alternative study and testing can be achieved here for under $5000 USD.
Now let’s discuss ACE credit and how to get it. ACE stands for the American Council on Education and is a certifying agency that equates alternative learning via other companies and employers to the college equivalent. I have received college credits for my PADI diving certification, ALEKS math courses, emergency management training, and much more.
International culture learning
Travel and Alternative Education Programs: and how they fit into a plan.
Here is an example of an ACE transcript. This was the old transcript and is now on https://info.credly.com
| ALEKS Corporation (McGraw Hill) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| College Algebra
ALEKS Corporation (McGraw Hill)
| ALEK-0003 | Course | 07/26/2012 |
| College Algebra with Trigonometry
ALEKS Corporation (McGraw Hill)
| ALEK-0004 | Course | 08/23/2012 |
| Intermediate Algebra
ALEKS Corporation (McGraw Hill)
| ALEK-0002 | Course | 07/09/2013 |
| Introduction to Statistics
ALEKS Corporation (McGraw Hill)
| ALEK-0007 | Course | 09/08/2012 |
| PreCalculus
ALEKS Corporation (McGraw Hill)
| ALEK-0005 | Course | 04/07/2013 |
| American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Inc. | |||
| ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview-computer (OPIc): Advanced High/Superior
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Inc.
| ACTF-0046 | Examination | 08/29/2013 |
| ACTFL Writing Proficiency Test (WPT): Advanced High/Superior
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Inc.
| ACTF-0036 | Examination | 08/26/2013 |
| ACTFL Writing Proficiency Test (WPT): Advanced Mid
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Inc.
| ACTF-0035 | Examination | 08/26/2013 |
| American Institute For Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters/The Institutes | |||
| Ethics and the CPCU Code of Professional Conduct (online course)
American Institute For Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters, Insurance Institute of America
| AICP-0121 | Course | 09/10/2016 |
| PADI International, Inc. | |||
| Open Water Diver
PADI International, Inc.
| PADI-0007 | Course | 07/31/2012 |
| SOPHIA Learning, LLC | |||
| Developing Effective Teams
SOPHIA Learning, LLC
| SOPH-0021 | Course | 06/20/2017 |
| The Essentials of Managing Conflict
SOPHIA Learning, LLC
| SOPH-0026 | Course | 10/07/2018 |
| StraighterLine | |||
| Introduction to Business
StraighterLine
| OOSL-0001 | Course | 09/22/2012 |
| Personal Finance
StraighterLine
| OOSL-0036 | Course | 11/23/2012 |
Another area to consider for credits would be from FEMA. Now other than Charter Oak I don’t think another university or college accepts them directly. I have used Fredricks Community College to get them into community college credit and then transfer them to the school of my choice. (2022 update: This is done through the EMI and Fredricks community college now.)
Here is an example list from the Degree Forum and a few steps to get you started.
“Basic Approach – Online Education Guide: Steps to obtaining your desired degree
1) Find out what you have credit for / what you already know
2) Research the Big 3/WGU/UMPI to find candidate degree plans
3) Decide on one or more schools and get an initial evaluation
($75 or so per school, plus the cost of each transcript you have to send in)
4) Based on the initial evaluation, decide on a school and degree
5) Build a degree plan using your unique combination of existing credits,
CLEP/DSST/ECE/TECEP tests, ALEKS/FEMA/Penn Foster/Saylor/Schmoop/Straighterline/Study.com courses, etc.
6) Once you are all done (all courses/tests completed), enroll in the school you chose, pay the enrollment fees
(check for current fees of the school) and submit all your transcripts for review.
7) Once approved, pay the graduation fee, then sit back and wait for your sheepskin to arrive!
8) Start planning on that Masters’s Degree as you aren’t done learning for life!
Throughout all of the above: Read a lot over at DegreeForum.net as well and ask questions as needed for guidance!
(Note: This is “the basic approach.” Nobody ever really gets to go through a process this simple,
but this is the general outline of what you should expect to have to do in order to get through this successfully)”
Information is pulled from the degree forum website here.
So as you travel and visit different countries consider taking notes and treat it as an educational opportunity as well. From learning history, anthropology, archeology, and much more. Your adventure could also be your first degree or maybe a second or third degree. Use all of this as an Alternative Education Programs experience that can lead to a degree longer term. Join others online working towards the same goal and earn how you too can travel while earning an education. I use the Degree Forum here to help me find information and test ideas that others have done, and then add my findings to a list.
Alternative Learning and College Credits
Schools: Long Distance
Thomas Edison State University
Various degrees
BA/BS Degrees and they also have an engineering option
BALS – Can be used if you have the ability to test out of subject matter via CLEP or DSST
Charter Oak College
Pierpont College
Board of Governors (BOG) AAS Degree
http://catalog.pierpont.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=4&poid=312&returnto=200
There are many school options, and depending on what you want to do I will have different suggestions.
Low-Cost LL Freshman options to finish what is left after military eval or those with some college. These are approved by ACE and can be used by certain schools.
sophia.org
Study.com
Straighterline.com
Test out with
DSST – https://getcollegecredit.com
CLEP – https://clep.collegeboard.org
UXCEL – https://www.excelsior.edu/exams/uexcel
TECEP – https://www.tesu.edu/degree-completion/testing
If you have language skills other than English I recommend https://www.languagetesting.com they are ACE-approved and can be used to help finish up a BA or BS. I have used this years ago while living in Asia to get credit for my University education in Taiwan in the Chinese language years ago.
I suspect between Sophia, DSST, and those with military or previous college you could get the BOG AAS done ASAP. We could then move you forward according to what you wanted to do.
- GL- Manager with any degree with military experience or Intel Experience
- Engineering – BS STEM degree and have Intel pay for it. Several options locally, and using distance education.
Now some of you might have military education money that could be used as well, and you do have flexibility.
To get your military transcripts: Just set up an account and you could see your transcript right away https://jst.doded.mil/official.html
There might also be other school options for veterans with any military-connected disability. Look into the VA Chap 31 programs for veterans with disabilities.
Travel and Alternative Education Programs
My successes adding to my education while traveling
So I guess what most people want to know is did I achieve a degree, and the answer is yes. I received a Bachelor of Liberal Arts with a concentration in Social Sciences. I have forty-five CERT just in various aspects of Emergency management, and over twenty more in various subjects. I have received formal education in several international universities and had private tutors in four different countries that including Taiwan, Singapore, China, and Germany. I have used my travel information learned at exotic locations to test out of many history classes and to get credit from universities once I take a final for a specific class.
My CERTS have come from various organizations that include the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Homeland Security, Various Universities, and third-party MOOCS live Edex and Coursera. A lot of these classes had recommendations for college credit from ACE and I took full advantage of that. NCRRS is also another crediting organization that I have used. I’m a huge fan of Thomas Edison State University, and even today I continue to work on additional degrees there.
Remember to not forget about classes being reimbursed from your employer, and I have used that as well over the years. Actually, I ask each new employer what their policy is before I even accept the job. I normally now only do positions that have the potential to send me places internationally. This has led to me being an Expat in Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Germany, and Ireland. There is no University in the world that can replace that level of real-world education. It’s being able to explain how your experience will help them to succeed in their organization or project that you will need to explain to others.
