When in the market for a self study CPE course, here are three consumer tips that may save you time and money. First, make sure that the credits you would earn are even acceptable to whatever certifying body governs your professional license.
It may seem absurd, but there are actual instances on record of folks – otherwise fully qualified professionals – who have overlooked such a minor detail and gone on to take a course and earn credits that turn out not to be recognized by the board with jurisdiction over their licensure.
Secondly, inquire whether there are any pilot CPE courses, programs which are experimental in nature for which tuition is free (or drastically reduced) in exchange for, normally, some kind of student suggestions at the end. Such trial programs, nonetheless, bear actual credits.
The main stipulation common to such pilot courses is that students actually complete the course. Occasionally, the only other obligation is that detailed feedback be provided to help improve the program for full-fledged deployment. Other times, all the data that course-designers need to know are test scores and the like, with no other feedback necessary. Whatever the case, pilot courses are a win-win situation for all concerned.
Last but not least, think about an online CPE instead of conventional correspondence through the mail. Some of these web-based programs might even include familiar fare such as workbooks and the like, but much more often than not every thing is on-line, immediately accessible and available at a much lower cost due to not needing to print and bind materials and pay for the postage to send them to a student.
Technology even makes such programs far better, with multimedia and interactivity often built into the design of the course, allowing for more interesting and pedagogically helpful presentations. Perhaps best of all, test results are virtually always instantaneous!
