Alright, so here is the deal. I want to finish some of my general education requirements on the internet. I want to do so at my own pace (read:faster) rather than the online and on-campus courses offered by all the schools near me. These classes, even the online ones, progress at normal semester speeds. Yuck.

I'm not interested at all in getting a degree from an online college. I am not interested in a completely conventional college education. I would like to get these classes, which I see as worthless, out of the way, so that I can concentrate on classes that will get me experience and contacts.

PS Bonus points if I can use my GI Bill at said institutions.
Does anyone here have any information or experience with this sort of thing?

Hrm....

Last year I was doing a lot of research on online college courses.

I found quite a few that were 'work at your own pace' oriented, versus typical semester period. I was looking for the semester periods....but I came across quite a few of what you're looking for.


Lemme see if I can dig up anything I looked at.


EDIT - I'm pretty sure there is an old post by me on this subject, I think I got some good replies.. see if you can look for a post by me like 6 months ago or something....

Be careful: a lot of brick-and-mortar colleges are tricky about transfers. Some of them might not accept credit in general education courses, or might accept the credit but force you to re-take their version.
You also want to make sure the school is accredited, preferably by the same regional body as the school you plan on attending.

Yea.

What Jon'C said is true.

I ran into a lot of trouble with transfers.

While the course was essentially the same, they would not accept it unless the course letters were the same. Like Business Law 101.

Even though one schools Business Law 101 may have covered the same as the next schools Business Law 213, they wouldn't accept credits for it.

Right. I plan on checking on what I will be able to transfer before I pay for anything.

The school you want to transfer to probably has some kind of transfer guide that lists how credits can transfer. If not, get in touch with whomever would become your academic adviser and get their opinion.

Not sure how stuff works in the Corps, or "corpse" as obummer would say, but you're still on active duty right? Doesn't the Corps give you tuition assistance for any college you do while on active duty? We get 100% up to $250/hr in the Army. Also, you might have the ability to enroll in a degree agreement program that includes a network of schools. You really should go to your servicing education center.

Nope, I'm a Drilling Reservist now. They don't offer tuition assistance, though my GI bill is pretty sweet. Active duty offers similar benefits.

I'm fairly well versed in how the VA side of college works. I've done one semester and started another but had to drop out, get this, due to the Marines.

Cool. Are you using the post-9/11 GI Bill?

No, the 1607 (REAP) is a better deal in my situation.

$12.50/hr is what got me through college.

That's nice.

I worked my ass off, and I want everyone to know it and I resent everyone that didn't suffer as much as me!

Precisely.

Yeah, well, Spook worked his ass off to get the REAP!

My parents and grandparents, with a bit of contributions from myself, got me through college.