Transcript hold at college. How to finish CS degree elsewhere?

[HawkofDarkness]

Hi all, I would love to hear some advice. Approximately 6 years ago I transferred from a community college to Northeastern University in Boston. At the time I was on financial aid as well as had tuition reimbursement from my job to help provide for college (my workplace paid for 2 courses a year of college if you were a part time worker, and 4 courses a year if you were full-time, all at the end of the semester or term). And with Northeastern at the time you could pay the balance at the end of semester.

Unfortunately part-time through the semester I lost my job among many other coworkers, and the office I worked in was dissolved through company restructuring as it was bought out by another company. I finished the semester as it was already past the date of refund, but that left me with a $10K unpaid balance, which remains on my record.

I eventually found another job much later but was forced to drop out after that semester and now I want to go and finally complete my Bachelor's. I wish to complete a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, and I would like some advice.

Because of the transcript hold, I am unable to officially apply to any college that requires that I must give all OFFICIAL transcripts. I am still able to obtain an unofficial transcript from Northeastern but am unable to send the official one until I pay the 10K balance. And frankly I don't care about the credits I received from Northeastern at this point.

Are there any online programs that you're aware of which do not require all official transcripts to be submitted in order to become a student? I am still eligible for financial aid as well as Pell Grant, and will be paying out of pocket for other expenses which is why I'm looking for affordable options this time rather than a private school, where I was relying on my company to take on the extra cost.

From my research I know that I can do University of London Bsc in CS, and possibly an overseas online program since they don't require it. However those programs are not eligible for financial aid (which is fine if the overall cost is reasonable).

Are you aware of any regionally accredited online program which doesn't require all official transcripts? Or an overseas school which is reasonably priced, and in English for Computer Science? I'm starting to wonder if just starting on the Coursera MS in Data Science from Boulder would be more cost effective in the long run since they also don't require transcripts, though I'd have to do a mixture of loans/paying out of pocket.

Worst case scenario which I'm fully willing to do is to take out a 10K loan to pay Northeastern immediately in order to settle this matter and get that transcript, however it'll take me 1-2 years to pay off with my current salary, rather than being able to pay it off more leisurely after finally graduating and getting a better job.

Any advice is appreciated and thank you.

[nomaduser]

Forget about BS degree.

Try University of Colorado Boulder's MS in Data Science program
https://www.coursera.org/degrees/master-...ce-boulder


They offer performance-based admissions.
They don't require undergrad transcripts.
That means, if you pass their of three grad-level courses, you'll be accepted.
No letters of recommendations required either.

In my opinion, Colorado Boulder's MS in Data Science can compete with BS in Applied Computer Science degree.
It's not math-heavy as a BS in CS degree but it has a good amount of programming courses. If you get high GPA from MS in DS, I'm sure that you'll be able to find an IT job.
Data Science is considered "Computer Science or related degrees" in IT job fields.
Data scientists get similar salary as software engineers.


or you can try to get performance-based master's degree in Computer Science from Wrexham Glyndwr University for only 6k GBP:
https://online.glyndwr.ac.uk/msc-computer-science/
It doesn't require anything from undergrad institutions.
"Degree not required for admission, work experience considered"

[TINASAM]

The certificates can be completed based on the courses you select to complete your degree. So if you choose to complete the MA in Prof Dev you basically have 10 courses that you choose. You take whatever you want that's offered in the grad school. You can complete the Human Resources Management certificate by taking HRT6555, HRT6560, HRT6575, and MGT6177. Those 4 classes count in the 10 courses for the MA in Prof Dev. There are 12 total courses including ethics and grad writing.

https://www.amberton.edu/programs-and-co...index.html

Forget about BS degree.

Try University of Colorado Boulder's MS in Data Science program
https://www.coursera.org/degrees/master-...ce-boulder


They offer performance-based admissions.
They don't require undergrad transcripts.
That means, if you pass their of three grad-level courses, you'll be accepted.
No letters of recommendations required either.

In my opinion, Colorado Boulder's MS in Data Science can compete with BS in Applied Computer Science degree.
It's not math-heavy as a BS in CS degree but it has a good amount of programming courses. If you get high GPA from MS in DS, I'm sure that you'll be able to find an IT job.
Data Science is considered "Computer Science or related degrees" in IT job fields.
Data scientists get similar salary as software engineers.


or you can try to get performance-based master's degree in Computer Science from Wrexham Glyndwr University for only 6k GBP:
https://online.glyndwr.ac.uk/msc-computer-science/
It doesn't require anything from undergrad institutions.
"Degree not required for admission, work experience considered"

Hey don't mean to hijack the thread, but do you know of other master degrees like this that aren't computer related? Any that don't require stuff from undergrad institutes?

[nomaduser]

Hey don't mean to hijack the thread, but do you know of other master degrees like this that aren't computer related? Any that don't require stuff from undergrad institutes?

Heriot-Watt's online MBA doesn't require undergrad degrees:
https://www.hw.ac.uk/online/postgraduate...ration.htm

It's performance-based as well. If you pass a few of their courses, you'll be admitted into the program.
You don't need letters of recommendations either.

I think they used to charge $1500 per course.. you need to pass 10 courses so the total fee would be about $15,000

[HawkofDarkness]

Forget about BS degree.

Try University of Colorado Boulder's MS in Data Science program
https://www.coursera.org/degrees/master-...ce-boulder


They offer performance-based admissions.
They don't require undergrad transcripts.
That means, if you pass their of three grad-level courses, you'll be accepted.  
No letters of recommendations required either.

In my opinion, Colorado Boulder's MS in Data Science can compete with BS in Applied Computer Science degree.
It's not math-heavy as a BS in CS degree but it has a good amount of programming courses. If you get high GPA from MS in DS, I'm sure that you'll be able to find an IT job.
Data Science is considered "Computer Science or related degrees" in IT job fields.
Data scientists get similar salary as software engineers.


or you can try to get performance-based master's degree in Computer Science from Wrexham Glyndwr University for only 6k GBP:
https://online.glyndwr.ac.uk/msc-computer-science/
It doesn't require anything from undergrad institutions.
"Degree not required for admission, work experience considered"

Thank you so much for this advice! So far this is the best option out of what I'm presented with and I'm leaning towards deciding on this. The very attractive thing about this option is that I don't even necessarily have to pay it in full all once. According to the program details, it says the courses can be completed first as part of Coursera's subscription and then "upgraded" later once needed as actual credit, which provides me a lot of flexibility in funding the degree out of pocket. 

It's also from a reputable American school and it takes less time to complete (2 years) than a BSc from University of London which takes 3 years to complete. I suppose I wouldn't have issues applying to companies which require a degree? I'm not sure how HR for one of those types of companies would handle a candidate without a Bachelor's but with a Masters? Either way it seems like the best option so far, and it looks like the deadline to start next session is Sept 30.

I also just checked Wrexham Glyndwr, so thank you for that! It seems to have questionable reviews however. Have you come across any in this forum with positive experiences?

But yes, I think I'm leaning towards Coursera's Boulder program so far.

[nomaduser]

Thank you so much for this advice! So far this is the best option out of what I'm presented with and I'm leaning towards deciding on this. The very attractive thing about this option is that I don't even necessarily have to pay it in full all once. According to the program details, it says the courses can be completed first as part of Coursera's subscription and then "upgraded" later once needed as actual credit, which provides me a lot of flexibility in funding the degree out of pocket. 

It's also from a reputable American school and it takes less time to complete (2 years) than a BSc from University of London which takes 3 years to complete. I suppose I wouldn't have issues applying to companies which require a degree? I'm not sure how HR for one of those types of companies would handle a candidate without a Bachelor's but with a Masters? Either way it seems like the best option so far, and it looks like the deadline to start next session is Sept 30.

I also just checked Wrexham Glyndwr, so thank you for that! It seems to have questionable reviews however. Have you come across any in this forum with positive experiences?

But yes, I think I'm leaning towards Coursera's Boulder program so far.

I think you'll be fine given that you get high GPA from MS in DS program and you pass the coding test and interview for job positions.


You can explain later that you jumped to MS without doing BS.  Obviously, you'll need to prove your high coding skills.

I don't have any experience with Wrexham Glyndwr ....

[HawkofDarkness]

Thank you so much for this advice! So far this is the best option out of what I'm presented with and I'm leaning towards deciding on this. The very attractive thing about this option is that I don't even necessarily have to pay it in full all once. According to the program details, it says the courses can be completed first as part of Coursera's subscription and then "upgraded" later once needed as actual credit, which provides me a lot of flexibility in funding the degree out of pocket. 

It's also from a reputable American school and it takes less time to complete (2 years) than a BSc from University of London which takes 3 years to complete. I suppose I wouldn't have issues applying to companies which require a degree? I'm not sure how HR for one of those types of companies would handle a candidate without a Bachelor's but with a Masters? Either way it seems like the best option so far, and it looks like the deadline to start next session is Sept 30.

I also just checked Wrexham Glyndwr, so thank you for that! It seems to have questionable reviews however. Have you come across any in this forum with positive experiences?

But yes, I think I'm leaning towards Coursera's Boulder program so far.

I think you'll be fine given that you get high GPA from MS in DS program and you pass the coding test and interview for job positions.


You can explain later that you jumped to MS without doing BS.  Obviously, you'll need to prove your high coding skills.

I don't have any experience with Wrexham Glyndwr ....

Thanks so much! I will be signing up for the Coursera Boulder program

[Alpha]

Forget about BS degree.

Try University of Colorado Boulder's MS in Data Science program
https://www.coursera.org/degrees/master-...ce-boulder


They offer performance-based admissions.
They don't require undergrad transcripts.
That means, if you pass their of three grad-level courses, you'll be accepted.  
No letters of recommendations required either.

In my opinion, Colorado Boulder's MS in Data Science can compete with BS in Applied Computer Science degree.
It's not math-heavy as a BS in CS degree but it has a good amount of programming courses. If you get high GPA from MS in DS, I'm sure that you'll be able to find an IT job.
Data Science is considered "Computer Science or related degrees" in IT job fields.
Data scientists get similar salary as software engineers.


or you can try to get performance-based master's degree in Computer Science from Wrexham Glyndwr University for only 6k GBP:
https://online.glyndwr.ac.uk/msc-computer-science/
It doesn't require anything from undergrad institutions.
"Degree not required for admission, work experience considered"

I think this is a great suggestion.  I think the system should provide a non-punitive solution but, lacking that, I like the aggressive solution.  I think it should be possible to devise a series of tests that, together, constitute a college equivalency test. This type of college admissions style is quite similar to how HES does their admissions.  To me it feels like the school is saying "Prove that you belong here." and if you can show that you can do the work, then you're in.

[nomaduser]

There's another option for you guys by the way.

London Metropolitan University has an online MS in Information Technology program that doesn't require any bachelor's degree:
https://www.londonmet.ac.uk/courses/post...ing---msc/

"Applicants without a computing degree will need evidence of considerable computer-based experience or a substantial element of computer studies within a different qualification."

I was accepted to this program without any bachelor's. No transcript was submitted for admissions. I submitted resume and certificates.
They only care about work experience.
Price of the program is very low ... but the university is not very reputable. I decided to not get any degree from London Metropolitan Univ ..

[bjcheung77]

Hey, that's an awesome intro... but it's missing most of the info in the template and last post addendum. These are great options and suggestions; I would recommend them also... Having said that, you may want to make sure this is the way you want to do things. Some employers would want to see an upward approach with education and job roles, versus seeing someone go straight to the Masters.

You'll have questions from prospective employers and need to find viable answers to them, such as why you are going for an education in the UK versus something available in the US... Even though I am an advocate and also have written about these options before, it really depends on the student and the reason for this, if it's just to "skip" the payment, it may bite you later down the road or somewhere in the end!

---

Oh forgot, the link is here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works