(106 Credits) Degree Planning Advice

[kvolivera]

Your Location: Amarillo TX
Your Age: 30
What kind of degree do you want?: BA/BS/BAS
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 54
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: 52
Any certifications or military experience?: 35 JST Credits
Budget: Not too concerned about the budget, I have the GI Bill and Hazelwood ACT for free tuition with a TX School.
Commitments: Not too many right now.
Dedicated time to study: All the time.
Timeline: ASAP.
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: Nothing beyond what I described above.

Extra Details: I have an Associate in Applied Science in Technical Studies at Excelsior with the concentration in Electrical Technology. Was considering the BAS from UMPI. I'm trying to move to South America in a year and wanted to have something more credible than my AS when I live there. I'm kind of tired of college and want to finish as soon as possible. I bought Coursera with their $200 for the year deal and was considering getting the Google Data Analytics and IT Support Certificates. I'll do Sophia if I have to. I'll CLEP more if I have to. Some of my credits are 15 years old. Some are a year old. I've never really stopped going to college. Just taken long breaks. Some of my JST credits are considered repeats, but I understand it all depends on the school evaluating them. I'm just wanting feedback and opinions on if I should apply now or get more credits first. Or even if anyone knows something I may have overlooked.

Credit Breakdown:

Excelsior: 22 credit hours
MAT 105 Algebra and Statistics: 3 CR
MAT 201 Statistics: 3 CR
TECH 290 Integrated Technology: 3 CR
BUS 323 Business Ethics: 3 CR
IND 101 Cornerstone Foundations: 3 CR
Information Literacy: 1 CR
Advanced Composition: 3 CR
TECH 230 Technology and Society: 3 CR

WTAMU 12 credit hours:
Art History 1: 3 CR
Design 1: 3 CR
Drawing 1: 3 CR
America Since 1877: 3 CR

Amarillo College 17 credit hours:
Business Computer Applications: 3 CR (15 years old)
Microcomputer Applications: 4 CR (15 years old)
Fitness Walking: 1 CR (15 years old)
IT essentials: 3 CR
Composition 2: 3 CR
Fine Art Appreciation: 3 CR

CLEP 15 credit hours: 
Sociology 3 CR
Principles of Management: 3 CR
Principles of Marketing: 3 CR
American Literature: 3 CR
Analyzing and Interpreting Literature: 3 CR

JST 35 credit hours: 
Personal Community Health: 1SH
Personal Conditioning: 1SH

AC/DC Circuits: 4 SH
Digital Electronics: 2 SH
Solid State Electronics: 3 SH

Aircraft Electrical Systems: 3 SH
Aircraft Instrument Systems: 3 SH

Advanced Aircraft System Maintenance: 3 SH

Aircraft Operations and Ground Servicing: 3 SH
Industrial Safety: 3 SH
Practical Wiring: 2 SH
Advanced Aircraft Electrical Systems: 4 SH
Aircraft Electrical And Instrument Systems: 3SH

Florida Institute of Technology: 4 credit hours (13 years old)
General Biological Science: 3 CR
Mastering E-Learning: 1 CR

[Jonathan Whatley]

If you have free tuition at public universities in Texas, you should really look first at the CBE programs at East Texas A&M University (until very recently Texas A&M University-Commerce).

Official landing page
DF Wiki page

and you can see student experiences by searching for "TAMUC" on DegreeForum.net. We've had numerous members go to TAMUC/ETAMU CBE and consistently positive reports.

[Stonybeach]

Why don't you finish a BS at Excelsior? You have the associates from Excelsior so you should meet the residency requirements.

[kvolivera]

Why don't you finish a BS at Excelsior? You have the associates from Excelsior so you should meet the residency requirements.

I was doing that originally. My main issue was that they don't accept a big portion of what I currently have. I would prefer to maximize my transferred credit and finish in a 2 semesters max.

[bjcheung77]

Basically... You've got homework which is to decide, where you want to complete the degree... There are a few options for you, with UMPI BAS and TAMUC BAAS being the heavy favorites. But, Excelsior with taking just the capstone, may work out depending on your budget, commitments, energy, time...

I would get in contact with Excelsior and see if you're closer to a BSLA, you can have 30 electives that can be anything, you're mostly missing the upper level requirements that can be done with Study.com and other ACE/NCCRS providers we recommend. UMPI and TAMUC allow more electives, UMPI allows 60 for the BAS!

I would create a spreadsheet with possible degree plans, using the WIKI plans as a reference, and try to place your credits into the plans to see which one you're closer to. UMPI, you may finish 30 residency credits in 1 session for $1700 flat. Excelsior, you'll need alternative credits, but the capstone is just $1400, if the alternative credits are less than $300, it may work out to be very similar.

[kvolivera]

Basically... You've got homework which is to decide, where you want to complete the degree...  There are a few options for you, with UMPI BAS and TAMUC BAAS being the heavy favorites.  But, Excelsior with taking just the capstone, may work out depending on your budget, commitments, energy, time...

I would get in contact with Excelsior and see if you're closer to a BSLA, you can have 30 electives that can be anything, you're mostly missing the upper level requirements that can be done with Study.com and other ACE/NCCRS providers we recommend.  UMPI and TAMUC allow more electives, UMPI allows 60 for the BAS!

I would create a spreadsheet with possible degree plans, using the WIKI plans as a reference, and try to place your credits into the plans to see which one you're closer to.  UMPI, you may finish 30 residency credits in 1 session for $1700 flat.  Excelsior, you'll need alternative credits, but the capstone is just $1400, if the alternative credits are less than $300, it may work out to be very similar.

Of course. I was originally in a technical program at Excelsior, so many of my credits were deemed excess credit. I bet you're right that the BSLA would be closer.