I took 3 years for my Biology degree. I CLEP’d out of my general studies.
What I’ve noticed when I took classes after I retired (and some fellow community college students have noticed as well) is that colleges are increasingly refusing to accept credit earned elsewhere and having required classes that are offered too rarely to accommodate the students.
For example, in their paralegal program, you have to register online for required classes prior to 4AM on the day they open registration. If you try to register at 8 AM on the first day classes are offered, they will be filled.
In a math class I took, several girls said they were being forced to take language classes even after taking the language for 3 years in high school and maxing out the assessment test. The college only gave them credit for one semester of Spanish - and one of them was raised speaking Spanish at home!
The same college told me if I wanted an associate’s degree, I would have to take English composition and a course in how to use computers - even though I have a BS in Biology, an MBA, and 25 years in the military. I remember using Word 6, but the college says I need to take basic word processing. I took FORTRAN back when the university was renting computer time from a mainframe located in another state...but I need to learn about computers. I had a perfect score on their English assessment test, but I need to take English 100. Right!
My conclusion is the college is requiring students take classes so they can make more money off of them. The bottlenecks are there so students will take fluff courses while waiting to get in the required classes. They make money off of butts in seats, not by accepting credits from state universities...
And your conclusion is right, too.