Here’s an example. Most students simply look at the degree plan their academic advisor hands them and say “hmm, looks like I need an English course.” But in fact, what you actually need are three English credits…and a glance at your school’s academic policy book usually reveals several ways to earn them:

• The English 101 course offered by the college: $3,000+ (the most expensive option)
• Prior Learning Assessment: $500-$1,000 (lets you create a portfolio to demonstrate that you already possess college-level mastery)
• CLEP or DSST exams: $80-$100 (a 3-hour subject test to prove you already possess college-level mastery)

In today’s student debt crisis, you should be weighing all of these options and determining how to earn your credits for the lowest possible cost. Unfortunately, colleges don’t make this kind of analysis easy because they want you to buy your credits in the expensive “classroom” format.

That’s why I created the DIY Degree Cost-Per-Credit Calculator. Before you take a class or or sit for credit-by-examination tests like CLEP, use this tool. It will tell you the cost-per-credit of your intended action, as well as how much higher or lower that cost is than CollegeBoard’s national averages. Use it to calculate the fastest/least expensive paths toward earning your degree at any school in America!

Note: Input numbers only. No dollar signs or commas please.

• The technique he used to watch a semester of classes in 2 days
• How you can learn faster without going to school
• The tool you can use to figure out where your time is going

Scott also spilled the beans about my latest project: a database of every U.S. college and the number of exam credits they accept. Colleges are infamous for having obscure and confusing transfer policies–in fact, as I’m now learning, many schools bury their policy in some random corner of their website, thus guaranteeing that 90% of students will never see it.

Remember, colleges want to keep you confused. If you knew it were possible to save $10,000-$20,000 by testing out, you instantly become less valuable to them. I want to help you graduate QUICKLY–and it starts with exposing the hidden shortcuts that are already available at every school in America.

For now, click the image above to check out Scott’s talk. It’s well worth your time!

We’ve all been told to select our majors with a direct career path in mind. According to this idea, we should ignore our passions or natural abilities and instead focus on the majors with the highest expected payoff in the working world.

Fueling the fire are these worthless top ten lists of “the highest-paying majors of 2010” or “degrees that employers want.” Invariably, the authors just Google which majors have the highest starting salaries and dump them into a list (as if anyone in the real world picks their career path by robotically scanning lists of high-paying careers.)

Should you pursue a “high-paying” major instead of what you love? Hell no!

In fact, the whole debate over which majors are “marketable” is intellectually lazy and completely misses the point.

It’s lazy because it ignores all the specifics: whether those salaries are available in your state, what specific job titles people with those majors hold, the practical realities, pros, and cons of working in those fields, whether it matches your personality, etc. The entire story is told as “majoring in X means you earn Y” (the same simplistic thinking that causes people to overpay for their degrees.)

And it misses the point because real people are not rigidly typecast into linear career paths based on their majors.

This means:

• English majors can’t “only” teach English (or write novels)
• Psychology majors can’t “only” do psychotherapy
• Engineering majors can’t “only” draft AutoCAD blueprints

The proof lies in thousands of job listings on websites like Monster.com containing statements like “degree in _____ OR EQUIVALENT required.”

That isn’t some random phrase companies throw in for the hell of it. What they’re telling you (without coming right out and saying it) is “if you don’t have the degree I think you should have, convince me why yours fits.”

EXAMPLE: Let’s say you majored in psychology but now want to work in marketing. You’ve been studying independently and really believe this is the career for you. Here’s what you would say during the interview if your degree is brought up:

“Well sir, I know the job calls for a business degree, but I actually believe my psychology degree is equally or even more useful in this position. After all, what IS marketing? It’s psychology (understanding the motivations of customers) and math (tracking the performance of ad campaigns). I’m oversimplifying somewhat, but with a little training, I know I can use my psychology education to reach your company’s customer acquisition targets.”

Notice that you are marketing YOURSELF, not relying on the degree to market you. And, assuming you’re an otherwise attractive candidate, you’ll probably get hired.

What this suggests is that having a degree matters more than which degree or where it came from. Roughly 80% of the value comes from what graduating says about you: maturity, organizational skills, time management, the ability to finish what you start, etc.

Only 20% of the value (if even) comes from what you studied or where. So the next time someone mockingly asks “what are you gonna do with a degree in ____”, you can confidently reply “whatever I want to.”

***

Did you major in something people typically scoff at (philosophy, psychology, women’s studies, etc.) and go on to land an awesome job anyway? I want to hear from you—email me at jay@doityourselfdegree.com.

It’s called “The Psychology of Putting Effectiveness Before Ego“, and it describes some of the reactions I got when I earned my DIY Degree. One of my best friends hated it, simply because the approach was new and unfamiliar to her. She told me it was a huge mistake and that I would surely regret it in the end. Yet, when I actually graduated (with zero debt) her position changed completely.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this” became “I wish I didn’t have student debt either.”

What happened there?

It’s a fascinating phenomenon that I call The Contrarian’s Cycle of Criticism, Acceptance, and Awe. It goes like this.

When you try a new or uncommon approach, other people will:

1. Protest your decision
2. Begrudgingly accept your decision
3. Applaud your decision after it works

The key to pushing through the criticism in stage one and the passive-aggressive doubts in stage two is always focusing on the vindication in stage three.

I’ll be sending DIY Degree insider’s list subscribers an email about this soon. For now, check out the post—it lays out some of the core ideas behind my approach to college, careers, and life.

English. Psychology. Biology. Accounting.

It’s easy to see why. Pick up a college coursebook, and you’ll notice that degree programs are laid out as sequences of classes to take. Pass them all and you graduate with the degree you wanted.

Yet this is actually a shallow way to look at college. As it turns out, classes are not the true building blocks of degrees.

Credits are.

Take a closer look at your school’s coursebook. What you will see is that you actually need a certain number of credits to graduate – usually 60 for an associates degree and 120 for a bachelors. This is a key insight, because once you shift your focus from classes to credits, you can start investigating ways to buy them for less.

The expensive classes your school offers are just ONE WAY of getting those credits…even though most students blindly assume it’s the only way.

In fact, there are three ways to earn college credit:

• Classes at four year public colleges/private universities
• Classes at local community colleges
• Credit-by-examination

Most students are familiar with the first two options. But hardly anyone knows about credit-by-examination, and even fewer grasp its full potential.

The Credit-By-Examination Alternative

Credit-by-examination refers to college-level subject tests like CLEP and DSST. With this approach, you take a massive test covering an entire subject (say, English) rather than a semester-long course. Pass the exam, and you earn credit just as if you had taken the class.

Best part: the exams are exponentially cheaper than the classes (usually just $80-$100 apiece.)

Sadly, the same is true in the college degree world. I could spend the next 30 days listing fake degree scams and still not cover them all. That’s why I created my own College Degree Scam Detection Checklist for you.

Here are some known warning signs that strongly indicate you’re about to be taken for a ride:

1. Excessive claims of NOT being a scam. Ever notice how people who go on and on about how honest they are tend to be hiding something? That applies to college degree scams, too. Knowing their promises are deceitful, sleazy websites try to bypass your suspicions by endlessly emphasizing their “legitimacy.” But think about this for a second. How would you feel about a car dealership that advertised “mechanically sound” cars? You’d be nervous, because ANY car you buy should be mechanically sound. It’s not a special feature or something to brag about.

Now apply this to getting your degree. Would a serious, respected school like Yale plead with you to believe that they AREN’T a scam? Of course not. It’s obvious and easily verified by looking at their track record.

It occurred to me (because of how much BS is out there) that some people might find DIY Degree Guide and be suspicious. So I do spend some time discussing it. But rather than mindlessly chanting “it’s not a scam”, I offer PROOF. For one thing, I got my own degree exactly the way I lay out in the DIY Degree book. I also have a terrific reputation and work history – which I’m not going to throw away by selling bad products. Most importantly, I point out that DIY Degree graduates have gone on to prestigious institutions like Harvard and Cornell. That’s a much stronger assurance than telling you I’m an honest person. After all: you don’t know me from a hole in the ground, but you can take it to the bank that Harvard isn’t accepting anyone with a fake degree.

The Takeaway: Be weary of college websites or “schools” that can’t shut up about how legitimate they are.

2. Heavy emphasis on the “legality” of their degrees. “Is this degree legitimate” is the first question most of us have when considering an alternative study program. It’s a serious concern to you, but to a degree scammer, it’s just another sales objection to deal with. One of the ways they put suspicious customers at ease is by claiming their degrees are “legal.”

InstantDegrees.com is the textbook example of this. Realizing that people are skeptical of a $130 bachelors degree that arrives through the mail, InstantDegrees.com reassures you that it’s all “100% legal.” It may sound comforting (particularly if you know nothing about college) but it’s nothing more than a clever distraction from the real issue.

The “legality” of a degree is meaningless. Just because it’s legal for them to sell you something they CALL a degree doesn’t mean employers will RECOGNIZE it as one. If you want a real degree, it needs to be regionally accredited by one of the six regional accreditation bodies in the U.S. That’s what the DIY Degree helps you obtain. It’s also what you’d get from a traditional public college or private university.

“Degrees” from InstantDegrees.com and other scam sites are not regionally accredited – they’re aren’t even worth the paper they’re printed on. But a fool and his money are soon parted, so rather than shutting down, the scammers just rip off anyone gullible enough to believe them.

The Takeaway: it doesn’t matter whether a degree is “legal” (whatever that means.) If it’s not ALSO regionally accredited, it’s worthless.

3. Promising you a degree without any work at all. Degree scammers couldn’t care less about your goals or desires to better yourself. Every concern you have is just an objection standing between them and your money.

Naturally, one of the biggest objections people have toward college is “I don’t want to study/go to class/take exams/sacrifice my free time.” Yet instead of telling you what you need to know (that earning a degree takes at least SOME work) they tell you what you want to hear (that you can graduate tonight for $100.)

Let’s be clear on this: no one can sell you a degree, because degrees aren’t bought. They’re earned.

The DIY Degree is no exception. In the book, I give you 60+ pages of tactics, strategies and “hacks” for graduating as quickly and inexpensively as possible. You won’t need textbooks to graduate the DIY way, nor classes. (Huge time and money savers.) But you will be studying your ass off to pass exams.

If you’re opposed to that, I’d rather you just leave now. Don’t buy the book and then whine about having to work, because if you wont work, you wont graduate – this way or any other.

The takeaway: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Anyone claiming you can earn a degree with no work is lying.

4. Exaggerated claims of “beating the system.” Skilled marketers know that no one really buys what they buy (books, clothes, cars, etc.) They’re actually buying emotions – the way a product or service makes them feel.

EXAMPLES:

• The middle-aged man buying a Harley isn’t buying a motorcycle, he’s trying to feel younger and impress the girls
• The lonely housewife splurging at Victoria’s Secret isn’t buying lingerie, she’s trying to get noticed by her husband
• The shy teenager showing his fake ID for Marlboros isn’t buying cigarettes, he’s trying to look cool in front of his friends

That’s why the companies selling these products don’t talk about the products themselves, but rather, SHOW you the feelings/situations you expect them to provide.

Bogus degree websites do this, too. They know that you are disgusted with the traditional college system and the “Student Loan Industrial Complex.” That’s why, to our list of “what people are really buying” examples, we can add:

• The gullible person buying a fake degree isn’t buying a fake degree, he’s trying to beat the system!

There’s an old saying that goes “when you don’t have the steak, sell the sizzle.” The BS artists hocking fake degrees know they don’t have the “steak”, so they sell you the “sizzle” by repeatedly praising you for sticking it to the man. Check this out, from the InstantDegrees.com FAQ:

“The very reason that you are here is because you want to avail yourself of the positive social engineering possibilities of a legally granted degree. In that action you have proved yourself smarter than BOTH the average citizen with no degree AND smarter than the so-called academics.

These are people who have frittered away years in classrooms absorbing blindly and thoughtlessly second hand information in a theoretical environment completely removed from real life, and for what? In order to acquire the right to use the same Title or post-nominal letters that you can legally acquire in a matter of days for the price a meal in a decent restaurant.

Who is really smarter?

You are the one called to the front of the queue in airports; you are the one getting the free upgrade to first class; you are the one sitting at the good table not too near the band overlooking the river; you are the one dazzling your future employers with your skills and abilities at an interview rather than having your Résumé ditched by a computer programmed to scan all applications and send rejection slips to perfectly capable applicants who happen not to have a degree;  The benefits are endless.”