--- title: The Key to Finding Affordable Online Colleges description: What is the number one factor you should consider when trying to identify affordable online colleges? Transfer credit policies. 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Tuition costs? Financial aid opportunities? No, it’s transfer credit policies. These policies determine how many and what type of outside credits you can bring into your degree program. So, how do you find which online colleges are affordable due to their credit policies? All colleges, online included, are required to have credit transfer policies and have them made public. Let’s look at what type of credit transfer policies will give you the best advantage. ## What are Outside Credits, and How Are They Transferred? Outside credits are courses taken at another college or university, AP (Advanced Placement) credits earned in high school, or those received through [credit-by-exam programs such as CLEP](https://atpco.io/college/testing-out-of-college-clep-credits-or-competency-based-degrees) or DSST. The first step to applying those credits towards your degree is to research the college carefully. Knowing and understanding the credit transfer policies of the college ahead of time will help you make sure any of these credit hours you have gotten will actually count towards your degree. During the course articulation process, the college being transferred to evaluates courses you want to transfer, comparing them to their own courses. You need a course articulation agreement to make sure your credits will be applied to your degree. Without one, you may find your credits are accepted, but not in the way you envisioned. Perhaps they are accepted as an elective, so they aren’t fulfilling a degree requirement. Some schools will accept credits, but only use them for placement and not counted towards your degree. Many colleges won’t accept credits obtained too long ago. And not all colleges allow the same number of credit hours to be transferred; some are more lenient than others. When evaluating your credits, if the college determines that the course was of poor quality, the college you are transferring to doesn’t have a similar course, or the course doesn’t apply to the field of study for the degree, you will most likely not be allowed to transfer the credits. Try to get core requirement credits transferred and articulated to avoid having to repeat entry-level courses. The more credits you can transfer in towards an online degree, the fewer you have to complete. Doing all you can to transfer credit is to your advantage. Getting credit for courses you have already taken or tested out of will save both time and money. ## Achieve Test Prep Can Help You Find the Best Credit Transfer Policies You don’t want to leave credits on the table, so Achieve does much of the research for you to make sure that doesn’t happen. We evaluate your past college credit and what your goals are to find the best fit for you. We gather the information you will need, even tracking down transcripts when necessary. Then we prepare a report for you showing you college options and help find the one that works best. After that, we then help you get your degree through [credit-by-exam](https://atpco.io/credit-by-examination-student). Achieve isn’t a college, we are a test preparation center that can help you earn your degree faster and cheaper than traditional methods. Instead of a semester of classes and work - and the accompanying tuition and book fees, you study for as little as four weeks at a fraction of the cost, take one exam, and get the same credit. For more information, [download our guide, *Testing Out of College*](https://atpco.io/gen-testing-out-of-college-guide). If you want to get your degree faster with less cost, [contact Achieve](https://atpco.io/bloggd) today. 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Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Etiam dapibus, lorem in suscipit interdum, enim leo vulputate mauris, quis rhoncus ex nisi sed ex. Suspendisse ornare venenatis quam, sed feugiat nisi interdum nec. Curabitur eget pulvinar velit, sed pellentesque nulla. Proin non hendrerit quam, sit amet placerat lorem. Fusce nisi tellus, vestibulum vitae elit pretium, luctus aliquet massa. Quisque ultricies magna est, nec aliquam neque dignissim rutrum. Aliquam cursus orci nibh, ut scelerisque ipsum pellentesque in. Donec molestie ex nec neque egestas, et posuere orci tristique. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Nam finibus euismod arcu, vel tristique augue ornare nec. Vestibulum tristique dapibus ullamcorper. Fusce vel orci nec diam tempor pellentesque. Suspendisse sit amet felis sed nisl efficitur condimentum nec vel turpis. Aenean mauris elit, cursus eget est at, pretium vehicula lectus. Pellentesque imperdiet ut magna sed rhoncus. Suspendisse viverra elit a semper porta. Praesent eu lacus tortor. Suspendisse at velit leo. Morbi a mi mauris. Fusce ut condimentum diam. Nullam aliquam rhoncus venenatis. Etiam est diam, congue ac faucibus ac, luctus id nisi. ![Blog-post-image](https://www.achievetestprep.com/hubfs/Achievetestprep_Nov2018/Blog-post-image.jpg "Blog-post-image") Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam libero eros, dapibus vitae eleifend et, dapibus vel felis. Nulla condimentum sem a venenatis aliquam. Nam at nunc eget neque blandit bibendum sit amet et purus. Nulla nec tellus venenatis, sodales enim ut, sagittis nibh. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Etiam dapibus, lorem in suscipit interdum, enim leo vulputate mauris, quis rhoncus ex nisi sed ex. Suspendisse ornare venenatis quam, sed feugiat nisi interdum nec. Curabitur eget pulvinar velit, sed pellentesque nulla. Proin non hendrerit quam, sit amet placerat lorem. 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We use approximately the last 24 months of results in our calculation. Customer failed results are only counted as part of this calculation if the customer completed the course, which is defined as at least 85% attendance and 85% completion of assignments for that specific course. Results do not include college entrance or state license exams. \*\* Achieve Test Prep is a college education consultant and test preparation center that helps you earn your degree faster. Achieve Test Prep is not a college and does not issue degrees or give college credit. The programs listed above and elsewhere on this website are test preparation programs offered by Achieve Test Prep to prepare you to take exams from an independent accredited college or an independent testing center. Achieve purposefully remains independent and does not align itself with any college nor do we commit to any agreements with any college. By being truly independent, we offer a non-biased approach to recommending the best possible college route to our customers. While Achieve Test Prep is very knowledgeable on the policies and procedures of many colleges, the final decisions about credits and degrees rest with the colleges. You must independently apply for and be accepted into a college. ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Dina Francis", "url" : "https://atpco.io/college/author/dina-francis" }, "datePublished" : "2015-12-21T17:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "The Key to Finding Affordable Online Colleges", "image" : [ "http://www.achievetestprep.com/hubfs/iStock_000063717029_Small.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://atpco.io/college/the-key-to-finding-affordable-online-colleges", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://atpco.io/hubfs/Achieve%20Only%20Logo-1.png" }, "name" : "Achieve Test Prep" } } ```