International student with no awareness of the american education system here. I got admitted to sjsu fall 17 as a software engineering major. So I’ve learned that students take AP tests to transfer credits and save money but not quite sure how. I checked the sjsu AP credits table and my majors required courses and have picked few AP courses (30 credits). So as i have to earn 120 credits does that mean I can save upto 1 years fee (16,000$) or would that work only if i complete exactly in 3 years? I’ve been thinking of taking these AP’s and completing all required courses in 3-3.5 years and taking the rest of the time doing an internship etc. I’ve been thinking to space it out too. In this case would i have to pay the fee for 4 years? If thats the case and i take up AP do all major courses and spend the rest of the year doing other courses of my choice will i have to pay for 4 years or 4 years+extra fee for other courses. Sorry if it was confusing. I’m really confused and would really appreciate some help! Thank you! 
Generally you pay per course (more precisely, per credit hour).
You would have to check about your ap credits. Some colleges allow them to be used to satisfy requirements but not to reduce the number of credit hours required to graduate.
It really depends on the university. SJSU charges a flat rate fee per semester for full-time students (anyone with more than 6 units; a typical full-time course load is 12-15 units) plus an additional per-unit charge for out-of-state students.
Generally speaking, private universities often charge flat-rate tuition fees per semester. You would have to graduate in less than 8 semesters to save money. Public universities more frequently charge per unit or credit hour.
Please keep in mind that your student visa will require you to maintain a full-time courseload. You cannot take a part-time course load and work a 20-hour job, and you cannot take a semester off half-way through your college degree in order to do an internship in the US. (Of course, you can always leave the US and do an internship elsewhere.)
Some universities arrange internships for college credit (often called co-ops) that your student visa would allow you to participate in. However, since they are for college credit, you would have to pay tuition even though you are not taking classes…