Seeking Degree Advice and Plan

[Shyjbh]

Hello, my name is Shy.


I'm seeking advice on pursuing an AAS degree in Applied Health Studies at TESU. Initially, I had planned to complete an AS degree at Ocean County College, but circumstances have changed.  Additionally, my major is General Education. I'm now open to suggestions on the best path to getting my TESU degree.



About Me:
I earned my high school diploma from Penn Foster. Most of my credits come from online courses, including sophia.com, Straighterline, and the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX). I've also taken some classes on study.com. I attended Union County College for about a year and then transferred to Ocean County College (both of which allowed me to transfer my online credits). I'm enrolled at Thomas Edison University (TESU) and am a visiting Arizona State University (ASU) student.



Work: I am currently not working.


Your Location: NJ, United States.
Your Age: 19 What kind of degree do you want?: AAS degree in Applied Health Studies
Current Regional Accredited Credits: I am currently doing TESU TECEPS and have OCC and UCC credits.




Here's a breakdown of my online and college credits:



[b]Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: [/b]

Sophia (ACE credits)
The Essentials of Managing Conflict (CONRES1000)
Student Success (SUCCESS1001)
Developing Effective Teams (BUS1200)
Introduction to Sociology (SOC1001) 
College Algebra (CA1001)
Human Biology (HUMBIO1001)
Foundations of Statistics (STAT0050)
US History I (HIST1001)
US History II (HIST1002)
Introduction to Information Technology (CS1001)
Project Management (PM1001)
Introduction to Statistics (STAT1001)
Introduction to Business (BUS1001)
Accounting (ACCT1001)
Foundations of College Algebra (CA0050)
Public Speaking (COMM1002) 



Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (College Credits)
Foundations of Cyber Crimes (AWR-168-W)(v.2) 
Cyber Ethics (AWR-174-W)(v.2) 
Cyber Security for Everyone (CYB101)(v.3)



StraighterLine (ACE credits)
Introduction to Psychology (PSY101)(v.3) 
English Composition I (ENG101)(v.3) 
English Composition II (ENG102)(v.3) 
Anatomy and Physiology I Lab (BIO201L)(v.2) 
Anatomy and Physiology II Lab (BIO202L)(v.2) 
Microbiology Lab (BIO250L)(v.3)
Anatomy and Physiology I (BIO201)(v.3)
Anatomy and Physiology II (BIO202)(v.3)
Microbiology (BIO250)(v.3) 





My College Credits from UCC and OCC:


Union County College
ALH-161 Medical Terminology




Ocean County College
MATH 165 College Algebra (accelerated)
MATH 023 Algebra Basics
ENGL 095 Reading & Writing II
ENGL 091 Reading & Writing I
ENGL 098 Writing Skills Development
ENGL 151 English I
ENGL 152 English II
SOCI 181 Intro Sociology
HIST 173 US History to 1877
HIST 174 US History from 1877
BIOL 232 Microbiology
BIOL 114 Prin Biological Sci
BIOL 161 General Biology I
BIOL 162 General Biology II
CHEM 181 General Chemistry I
STSC 150 Students Success Seminar
PSYC 172 General Psychology
CSIT 110 Intro to Computers
CSIT 893 Computer Science



Any certifications or military experience?: None

[rachel83az]

You already have a lot of credits. Why do you want an AAS? Why not skip right to a Bachelor's degree? At TESU, that AAS and a Bachelor's degree will cost exactly the same. Actually, the Bachelor's degree can definitely be cheaper.

[Shyjbh]

You already have a lot of credits. Why do you want an AAS? Why not skip right to a Bachelor's degree? At TESU, that AAS and a Bachelor's degree will cost exactly the same. Actually, the Bachelor's degree can definitely be cheaper.

Thank you for replying. Do you have any advice on how I should get a bachelor's degree in Health Studies from TESU?

[rachel83az]

Health Studies (either Bachelor or Associate level) is not a degree that can be obtained cheaply & easily from TESU.

The Bachelor's degree requires 30 credits in the Health Studies AOS + a further 12 credits of professional electives. The professional electives are no problem; Study.com has those available. But I think only 9 of the 30 credits (the sciences + labs) can be obtained easily outside of TESU. The remaining 21 credits would need to be taken at TESU.

The Associate degree requires 18 credits in the Health Studies AOS, plus the capstone. Assuming that the professional electives wouldn't work, because that's an entirely different category, but the science classes would - that still leaves you with 9 credits + capstone & cornerstone.

Degrees that are relatively cheap/easy to obtain using alternate credit are here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap

If you really want a health-related degree, the B.S. in Biomedical Sciences Health Sciences from University of Wisconsin might be cheaper/easier to get. https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ed-program

Or maybe WGU. https://www.wgu.edu/online-nursing-healt...grams.html

[Duneranger]

What's the end goal with a health studies degree?

[Shyjbh]

What's the end goal with a health studies degree?

I am still determining my end goal. I majored in Biology at OCC but had to change plans and transfer to TESU. I'm still deciding what degree to get, but I want to major in health care.

[allvia]

@Shyjbh - What is your professional goal? What specifically in healthcare are you looking to do - what jobs interest you? When did you finish High School, has it been two (or more) years since completing?

How are you paying for school? Pell Grants, out of pocket, loans, etc? And yes, the TESU Bachelor Health Studies would require more courses to be taken through TESU, but at 19 that might be a good option for you.

If you have been out of HS for 2 years (and it reads as though you have) you'd be eligible for a Pierpont BOG AAS - in a health, biology or related AOS.

[rachel83az]

What's the end goal with a health studies degree?

I am still determining my end goal. I majored in Biology at OCC but had to change plans and transfer to TESU. I'm still deciding what degree to get, but I want to major in health care.

It's a bad idea to get a degree without having some idea of what you want to do with it. There's not a lot you can do with an Associate degree in the first place. An expensive Associate degree with no goal in mind is even worse.

[bjcheung77]

@Shy, Welcome back to the board. I noticed you just created another account 'Shy' and it's waiting for activation.  Did you just recall your password or something?  Anyways, you've completed the template but missed the important info in the addendum here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

Basically... You can go for the TESU Associates/Bachelors combo and have them all paid for if you qualify. My suggestion is going to get you to see if you can max the free college option for NJ residents using the GSC that I mentioned in post #4 here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Psychology

[Shyjbh]

@Shyjbh - What is your professional goal? What specifically in healthcare are you looking to do - what jobs interest you? When did you finish High School, has it been two (or more) years since completing?

How are you paying for school? Pell Grants, out of pocket, loans, etc? And yes, the TESU Bachelor Health Studies would require more courses to be taken through TESU, but at 19 that might be a good option for you.

If you have been out of HS for 2 years (and it reads as though you have) you'd be eligible for a Pierpont BOG AAS - in a health, biology or related AOS.

My professional goal is medicine. I majored in Biology at OCC because I wanted to study medicine, but now I need to find a degree at TESU related to the healthcare field. I finished high school five years ago. I apply for grants and scholarships to help pay for my schooling.