College Cost Estimator ⓘ About this calculator 💡 Bachelor's for <$15k

Purpose of this calculator

This calculator was developed to demonstrate how a student may be able to complete a Bachelor’s degree for an extremely low total cost (often under $20,000) and in a relatively short period of time (approximately 3–3½ years).

This can be achieved by combining traditional college coursework with two powerful self‑paced online systems:

• Study.com
• Western Governors University (WGU)

Study.com

Study.com offers more than 220 courses approved for college credit by the American Council on Education (ACE). Students pay approximately $95 per month and may complete courses at their own pace.

Western Governors University (WGU)

Western Governors University is a fully accredited, 100% online, competency‑based university. Students pay roughly $4,000 per six‑month term, and during that period they may complete as many courses as they are able.

WGU allows up to 72 credits to transfer, which may include courses from Study.com, ICC, or other accredited institutions.

You can see a list of WGU bachelor’s degree programs by selecting WGU and expanding the majors list below the school selector.

How this calculator can be used

This tool allows you to explore different pathways to a Bachelor’s degree by combining:

• Study.com credits
• ICC credits
• A target university

The target university may be Western Governors University (WGU), Bradley University, or another college of your choice.

ICC options

If you plan to use Illinois Central College, you may check Peoria Promise or Honors Waiver. These programs may cover ICC tuition (but not books or fees).

Bradley University options

If Bradley is selected:

• High School GPA estimates scholarships for incoming freshmen (fewer than 12 transfer hours)
• ICC GPA estimates transfer scholarships for students with 12–60 transfer hours

Bradley allows up to 60 transfer credits.

Using another school

If you select Other, enter the estimated semester cost including tuition, fees, books, and room and board minus scholarships.

Goal of the calculator

This tool helps students and families explore different combinations of credits and schools to identify the lowest cost and fastest realistic path to a Bachelor’s degree.

All results are estimates for planning purposes. Transfer credit policies, scholarships, and degree requirements should always be verified with the institution.

Real World Example – Marketing Degree

Here is a real world example of how you can start with 0 credits and get a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Marketing in just over 3 years for less than $15,000 using Study.com to accrue 72 credits, all of which are transferrable and accepted at WGU toward this degree, then finish the last 40 credits through WGU.

Here is the WGU Marketing program: Online Marketing Degree - Bachelor's of Science | WGU

The requisite classes are on page 6 of the program guide: Program Guide

WGU provides a “Transfer Pathways Agreement” for each major, and then by each school or institution.

Here is their link for courses needed for a BS in Marketing and the mapping to Study.com courses: Transfer Pathway Agreement

These are already approved by WGU, but you should always verify through WGU in case changes occur.

From this you can see that there are only 28 credits that are not transferable for this program. However, you’ll also note that there are 4 additional classes (12 credit hours) for which there is no direct mapping to Study.com classes, but if you have taken a suitable class elsewhere it may transfer. Therefore for this example, we can take up to 72 credit hours through Study.com, then the remaining 40 through WGU.

Notice that WGU identifies the Course Name and # for the Study.com class (for example, Business 106), and also the corresponding ACE assigned number so there is no confusion.

Here is the full list of Study.com classes and their associated ACE identifiers (you may sort by any column): Study.com, LLC

Also pay attention to the start and end dates. Only classes taken between these times will count as ACE approved, and therefore will transfer to WGU according to the Pathways Agreement.

This example is specific to a BS in Marketing using Study.com, but WGU makes it easy to look up all courses they have reviewed by going here: Home

Start by choosing either the National Organization (like Study.com, Sophia.org, CLEP, etc), or click on your state to see which schools in your state have had classes reviewed and approved.

Then click on the school (for example Business, Education, Health, Technology), then under the specific major click on Available ACE approved courses. But again, check with WGU, or your target school, to confirm.

Assumptions Behind the Course Pace

A traditional in-person college course normally assumes 1–2 hours of work outside of class for every hour spent in class.

For a typical 3-credit course, this means roughly:

• 3 hours per week in class
• 6 hours per week studying or completing assignments
• ≈ 9 hours per week total

Over a 16-week semester, that equals approximately:

96–144 total hours of work per course

For planning purposes, this calculator assumes the high end of that range:

144 hours of work to complete a typical 3-credit course.

Traditional Campus Time Commitment

A full-time student typically takes five 3-credit courses (15 credit hours).

This results in roughly:

• 9 hours per week × 5 classes = 45 hours studying
• ≈ 5 hours per week travel / campus overhead

Total weekly time commitment:

≈ 50 hours per week

Applying This Time to Online Courses

If a student studies online, the travel overhead disappears. That same 50 hours per week can instead be devoted entirely to studying.

If a course requires about 144 total hours of work, then:

144 hours ÷ 50 hours per week ≈ 2.9 weeks

For simplicity, this model assumes roughly 3 weeks per course.

Adding a Realistic Buffer

To allow for illness, difficult classes, or unexpected events, we add a buffer of approximately 33%.

This leads to a practical planning assumption of:

One 3-credit online course approximately every 4 weeks

This will be our "on average" assumption. Some courses will take less time and others will take more.