dylans, yes, there are some inexpensive community colleges for out-of-state residents.
Darton College in Georgia, 99$ per credit hour + $48 technology fee = $345 for one course, $642 for two courses. [Darton</a> College Online](<a href=“http://online.darton.edu/]Darton”>http://online.darton.edu/)
Central Texas College, $130 per credit hour for out-of-state residents. Each 3-credit online course will cost $390. Courses start every few weeks.
Barton County Community College in Kansas, $125 per credit hour or $375 per 3-credit course. [BARTONline[/url</a>]
Clovis Community College in New Mexico is one of the least expensive options in the United States. As an out-of-state resident, you may take up to two 3-credit hour online courses per semester and pay in-state tuition rates. Expect to pay just $231 for two classes. The only problem with Clovis CC is that the college offers but one online degree, an associate’s in criminal justice. Usually, the school teaches around 70 online classes per semester.
Interestingly, all of the above colleges heavily cater to military populations. Reportedly, counting Fort Hood and its campuses on military bases around the world, Central Texas College enrolls 71,000 students. I’m very familiar with CTC; quality is still exceptional.
There are other inexpensive alternatives. You may also want to check San Juan Community College in New Mexico and Odessa College in Texas. I once tried to receive confirmation on San Juan’s $40 per credit hour tuition for online classes via email, but the school never responded.
Penn State teaches outstanding yet expensive programs. For example, a 60-credit hour associates degree through PSU World Campus, even after transferring in the maximum allowable credits, still costs $8,700 plus fees for the remaining 18 credit hours. Penn State represents one stellar brand name to include on a resume, but you’ll pay for it.
If considering online bachelor’s degrees and tuition is a factor, I highly recommend Fort Hays State University, University of West Florida (they have an out-of-state tuition waiver), Chadron State College, and Peru State College. New Mexico State University charges decent non-resident rates if taking 2 courses per semester. One of the best deals in the country for an online bachelor’s in business administration through an AACSB-accredited business school is the University of Wyoming. Each 3 credit hour course roughly costs out-of-state students $135 per credit hour or $405 total.
GetEducated.com maintains a Best Buy list of online bachelor’s degrees.
[url=<a href=“http://www.geteducated.com/rankings/best_bachelorsbm.asp]Best”>http://www.geteducated.com/rankings/best_bachelorsbm.asp]Best</a> Buys Bachelors Business - GetEducated.com, online bachelor degree rankings, free ebook to best distance learning undergraduate colleges for online business bachelor degrees](<a href=“http://bartonline.org/]BARTONline[/url”>http://bartonline.org/)
I frequently correspond with Ms. Vicky Phillips, who operates the GetEducated.com web site. Her organization painstakingly researches tuition costs of various online degree programs around the country. When major media organizations write about online degree programs, Vicky is often consulted for her expertise. She’s been analyzing distance education for twenty years now, and is widely considered the best. Before the Internet, distance learners often relied on independent study courses. Vicky commented about distance education on the old AOL forums back in 1989.
Except for Vicky and I, relatively few “online degree” web site operators even discuss tuition. This is probably because they receive ad revenue from University of Phoenix or some of the other for-profit colleges that charge astronomical tuition.
You’ll also note that I will not link to my own web site here. For one, I think the practice is unethical. Moreover, aside from limited ads that aren’t even appearing on my home page, I’m not in this for the money.