Well i graduated last year from high school, planned on going to college but awhile after i graduated. but i heard about these online colleges and i have some questions.

Are there online courses where i can JUST take general ed to get it done, and then will be able to use those credits later a community college? I really have no idea as my major as of now, but i would just like to complete some general ed courses online because i would hate to take them at an actual college.

 basically what im saying is just complete some basic general ed and be able to use the credits at a community college

 sorry if i wasn't clear, im new to this college stuff :P

 

For simple general ed credits you have a ton of options.

1.) You could CLEP about 30 hours by taking 6 tests.  Google "clep test".

or

2.) You could choose from a ton of schools, everywhere from Charter Oak State College (an inexpensive option) to Excelsior College (a more expensive option) to Harvard University http://www.extension.harvard.edu/undergrad/

So do a little research, decide what is important to you and go from there.  Hope that helps.

If you feel you already know the material and you're good with standardized tests, then I agree that CLEP is a great option, and many (although not all) colleges accept them as transfer credit.

A more fundamental question, however, is why you'd hate to take general education courses at an "actual" (by which I assume you mean traditional) college.  If that doesn't sound appealing, and you don't have any sort of major in mind, then maybe you're just not yet ready to go.  I realize that's like blasphemy to some people, but I went when I was just out of high school and wasn't really interested, and it didn't go well.  Food for thought.

-=Steve=- 

Steve's right.  Out of high school I went to college for a year because I didn't know what else to do with my life and all of my friends were in college.  I made terrible grades and ended up dropping as many courses as I completed.  Maybe you just need some time off?

I'm going to give you some unusual advice, considering this is a distance education site.  I recommend taking a year, or even more, to explore what it is you really want to do with your life.  How many people really know what they want to do for the rest of their life when they are 17 or 18 years old?  Not many.  There are many people who work in two or more different career fields over their lifetime because even after going to college they weren't sure what they wanted to do.  You have the rest of your life to work a job or go to school.  Plus, I believe that older adult students who do go to college are more motivated to succeed in their studies.  Some younger students use college as a place to socialize, party, etc.  Face it, you don't have to pay $20,000 a year or more to go to college and do those things. 

Take a year or two and explore different career fields, travel, do volunteer work, join the Peace Corps or similar organization or maybe even join the military for a a few years (which will pay for your college education if you do decide to go to college).  If you were not a good student in high school, you will not be a good student in college.  You may even discover a career you really enjoy which doesn't require you to get a college degree.  To a certain extent, college degrees are bit overrated, especially if you decide you are going to work in a trade occupation such as plumbing, HVAC, welding, construction, computer repair, cooking...none of which require a college degree.  You may discover your educational needs can be met through an apprenticeship or a vocational school.  

If you decide college is in your future, you could certainly take care of your general education requirements through CLEP and DANTES exams.  There are also schools which offer inexpensive online courses, such as Louisiana State University, or Clovis Community College.  

Remember, there is no need to rush into a college degree program.  Other than buying a home, it is probably the biggest investment you will ever make.   

Me:

...maybe you're just not yet ready to go.

Cajun:

Maybe you just need some time off?

tcord1964:

I recommend taking a year, or even more, to explore what it is you really want to do with your life.

Wow, your parents are going to love us!

But seriously, I'll add that if you're not all that excited about it now but you really do want to get a degree eventually and you want to get some of the work for it out of the now, that's cool and you shouldn't let us dissuade you from giving that a try.  And in that case, I suppose we should answer your original question:

Yes, you can get general education courses out of the way by taking online courses that will transfer easily.  Amazingly, it can be cheaper to do that than at the community college in your own town.  Take a look at Clovis Community College and San Juan College, both of which are community colleges in New Mexico that offer online courses.  Because of a quirk in New Mexico state policy, you can take up to six credits (two courses) per term there at the dirt cheap in-state rate, it's like forty bucks per credit.  I think you can get even get an Associate's degree from them.  In addition, Louisiana State University has some really inexpensive correspondence courses that you might want to consider.

-=Steve=-