Excelsior College

Jennifer, kuddos to you for planning to go to college! I completed my degree at Excelsior, however, that was after going to a community college to begin. It really depends on your major, your finances, and your ability to work on your own time. I tend to do better when it's on my schedule, I personally love online classes! However, if you are just getting started, Excelsior can be very expensive. I actually took my core classes such as English through our local community college, even while taking other classes with Excelsior. Just had to be approved by them first. Saved me about 200 dollars....each class. Really look at what you want to do when you "grow up." It took several years for me to figure it out. Maybe start by doing your basics at a community college until you decide. And talk to the counselor at the local college. They can be a wealth of information about career plans and costs. Make sure it's something you will love for the rest of your life! Trust me, that is more important than the pay!! Good luck!!

I agree with the junior college idea so you won't spend too much money as you decide what direction you want to go. As you take courses, you will probably start to get a better feeling of what you want to do (and what works best for your family dynamics).

I got my nursing degree thru Excelsior, my experience was good.

I have not tried Excelsior, but their fees look REALLY high. My advice to you, especially since you aren't sure what you want to do, is to check out your local community colleges. Many of them have online distance education courses that you can take from home and have a lot of support for adults returning to school; and they are much cheaper than Excelsior (according to what I saw, in addition to all the fees they charge, they also charge $355 per credit--if a class is 3 credits, that is over $1000 just for one class!). Check out your community college first, they usually offer a lot and would be a great place to start for you to figure out what you want to do. Good luck!

Edit: I just saw your update that says you want to do nursing. Definitely do a community college. I am currently taking two classes towards getting into nursing school at a community college, and in California I only have to pay $26 per credit. I am taking an Introduction to Nursing course (2 credits) and it has really made me excited about becoming a nurse. It's very nice because it is taught by the actual nursing instructors in the program, and you get a lot of vocational advice from them because they have all been nurses in the hospital for years. See if your local community college has a class like that, to give you a chance to see if it's the right choice for you. Good luck!

I know nothing about Excelsior College, but I can recommend a book that was excellent in helping me know which direction to go. Finding Your Hearts Desire

http://www.amazon.com/Your-Hearts-Desire-Instructions-Cre...

I would not recommend jumping into something until you are more clear on the direction. I am in school right now and it is so expensive. Good luck.

I have heard it is very expensive compared to a community college? and you have lots of very good ones of those in your area.
If it is nursing you want, you have lots of options other than excelsior.
Go to allnurses.com, and type in excelsior, and you will see lots of stuff regarding it/