53 Starting Fresh

[laknight]

Your Location: Baton Rouge,Louisiana United States.
Your Age: 53 years 
What kind of degree do you want?: Political Science/History/Education. 
Current Regional Accredited Credits: None
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: None
Any certifications or military experience? No
Budget: I can make the budget work but I want to be as cheap as everyone else..ie flat rate
Commitments: Full time job, wife (smokin hot) 12 year old son in sports 
Dedicated time to study: I'll make the time to get this done this priority #1 right now
Timeline: Finishing the courses required for the degree as fast as possible family focus right now.
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: I have all Tuition paid at ASU which I start on3/11
Schools:ASU (would really like to grad from but time is more important) UMPI they have the course study, WGU sort of, TAMU sort of 

Spent 25 years in Auto Dealership mostly as a General Manager.  Have a strong background, however looking to go towards education and become a Principal.  I would like to have an impact on my community.  At my age father time is just a couple streets over though.  Thanks for all the advice in advance.  I've looked on ASU's website they don't appear at least on the surface to accept many credits from transfer from any UMPI, WGU, TAMU.  Will they typically make exceptions etc? I did see where they had a submit form if you thought you had a class that was similar?

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One quick add the ultimate goal is to obtain a Masters in Education!

[bjcheung77]

@LAKnight - Welcome to the board! Great addendum and template, plus the extra details... UMPI BA History/Political Science with a minor in Education, then do the WGU Masters in Education or the ACE.edu Masters in Education, if you're going either route for the Masters, you may want to take the Bridge TEFL as these can grant you credit towards the UMPI BA electives and also grant 6 credits at the Masters level for ACE.edu... Here's a read: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid412506

[ItsNeverTheLionsYear]

Commitments: wife (smokin hot)

Hell yeah dude

ASU gets you what you pay for: Better brand name and more instruction time but it's subsequently several years longer to complete and much more expensive, plus not as flexible when life happens. They are not transfer friendly unless you are a veteran and have a ton of military credits.

TAMUC doesn't have a competency based program in polisci, history or education, just general studies, criminal justice and some business admin type degrees. They're also almost all Bachelor's of Applied Arts and Sciences (a BAAS), which does not look as good on a resume or hanging on a wall or on grad school applications.

WGU doesn't do any of the traditional academic disciplines. They do have a ton of education programs, but they mostly focus on the areas with the greatest teacher shortages: Middle and upper grade science, middle and upper grade math, special ed. Based on your interest in being a principal I'm guessing that's not what you're looking for. Unless you want to work with the kiddos with an elementary education BA I don't think they have what you're looking for. They do have an MA in teaching English but you'll need a bachelor's first, and it won't set you up for educational administration. WGU is also all pass fail, no letter grades, which can limit your grad school options.

Based on your goals, I'd go with the UMPI BA in History & Polisci. Very transfer friendly, you can wrap up 90 credits before you even start, it's a straight up and down Bachelor of Arts, they'll give you letter grades, there's a per term flat rate, it seems like what you're asking for in a program. You'll have a BA in less than a year if you plug away at it. Here's a degree plan from the wiki to get started: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...egree_Plan

P.S. To become a principal you'll want a teaching cert and a masters specifically in "Educational Administration" or "Educational Leadership". I'd look locally for the teaching cert (licensure requirements are different state by state) and then it might be worth looking at Louisiana based online programs for the master's. Looks like there's an $11k one at UL Monroe: https://online.ulm.edu/degrees/education...eadership/

[ltw900rr]

In Texas you can teach using alternative certification, if you have a Bachelor's degree in anything, you can enroll in an alternative certification program, and after completing the program and passing the state tests, you can become a certified teacher. There are exceptions to this rule for career and technology classes. I came from the automotive industry also, and was able to start teaching automotive classes in high school with my shop experience, ASE certifications and an Associates degree (you can teach some classes like mine with a high school diploma and enough experience in the field).

TAMUC offers this program for Texas educators. https://www.tamuc.edu/programs/alternati...ncy-based/
I do not know if they offer it for Louisiana.
What are the rules in Louisiana?
Do they have alternative teacher certification?

Most administrators start as teachers and then work towards their principal certification.

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https://www.teachlouisiana.net/prospect.aspx?PageID=605

I did some searching and found some information on alternative teacher certification .

[Vle045]

I have been working in Education for over 10 years. There’s no way I would want to be a principal. They have a really tough job. I am sure it varies by state, but in general, you will need to have a few years of classroom teaching under your belt first. I am in a non-teaching position. If you are interested in other pathways, there is a huge shortage of school psychologists and speech pathologists. For teaching, it’s been harder to fill positions in science, math and special education. I work with data compliance and state reporting. But there’s other non-teaching positions in computer tech, marketing, facilities, operations, Human Resources, guidance counselors and more.

[LevelUP]

I would suggest doing a Business Admin degree at UMPI in either management or marketing, which reflects your current career. Then, you can optionally add minors in political science, history, or education.

If you want to become a principal, they will probably be looking for prior education experiences such as teaching, counseling, or relevant experience in educational management or leadership roles. So be aware of this.

Here WGU's master's in educational leadership
https://www.wgu.edu/online-teaching-degr...ogram.html

[RJ77]

I have been working in Education for over 10 years.  There’s no way I would want to be a principal. They have a really tough job.  I am sure it varies by state, but in general, you will need to have a few years of classroom teaching under your belt first.  I am in a non-teaching position.  If you are interested in other pathways, there is a huge shortage of school psychologists and speech pathologists. For teaching, it’s been harder to fill positions in science, math and special education.  I work with data compliance and state reporting.  But there’s other non-teaching positions in computer tech, marketing, facilities, operations, Human Resources, guidance counselors and more.

Yeah my best friend who has been teaching for 20+ years and has his Ed.D says that he would never take a building level administrative position. Too much nonsense to deal with, it's generally a full 12 month position, and just isn't worth the headaches. Also, at least where I am in NJ, most people going into Principal/Vice-Principal positions have been working as teachers or guidance counselors for a decade or more, sometimes well over that. And in a lot of cases, it's a matter of knowing the right person or people.

[Vle045]

I have been working in Education for over 10 years.  There’s no way I would want to be a principal. They have a really tough job.  I am sure it varies by state, but in general, you will need to have a few years of classroom teaching under your belt first.  I am in a non-teaching position.  If you are interested in other pathways, there is a huge shortage of school psychologists and speech pathologists. For teaching, it’s been harder to fill positions in science, math and special education.  I work with data compliance and state reporting.  But there’s other non-teaching positions in computer tech, marketing, facilities, operations, Human Resources, guidance counselors and more.

Yeah my best friend who has been teaching for 20+ years and has his Ed.D says that he would never take a building level administrative position. Too much nonsense to deal with, it's generally a full 12 month position, and just isn't worth the headaches. Also, at least where I am in NJ, most people going into Principal/Vice-Principal positions have been working as teachers or guidance counselors for a decade or more, sometimes well over that. And in a lot of cases, it's a matter of knowing the right person or people.

It's definitely a 12-month position.  My roles have always been 12-month, too.  A lot of people have no idea what still has to happen throughout the breaks.  We don't get long holiday breaks, just your standard holidays like most other jobs.  For several years, I worked as an Administrative assistant for the Principals, so I saw a lot of what they do up close.  It's A LOT.  And you really do need that teaching experience to be effective.  On average, the Principals I worked with had around 10 years of teaching experience.  There were definitely a few who had much less, but they didn't last very long.  A few former principals went back to teaching.

If you have ever seen the videos by Gerry Brooks on YouTube they are hilarious - and true!  There's been so many that cracked me up because I can relate.  This one totally cracked me up when I was an administrative assistant.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-_jWabEIIQ

[laknight]

I have been working in Education for over 10 years.  There’s no way I would want to be a principal. They have a really tough job.  I am sure it varies by state, but in general, you will need to have a few years of classroom teaching under your belt first.  I am in a non-teaching position.  If you are interested in other pathways, there is a huge shortage of school psychologists and speech pathologists. For teaching, it’s been harder to fill positions in science, math and special education.  I work with data compliance and state reporting.  But there’s other non-teaching positions in computer tech, marketing, facilities, operations, Human Resources, guidance counselors and more.

Yeah my best friend who has been teaching for 20+ years and has his Ed.D says that he would never take a building level administrative position. Too much nonsense to deal with, it's generally a full 12 month position, and just isn't worth the headaches. Also, at least where I am in NJ, most people going into Principal/Vice-Principal positions have been working as teachers or guidance counselors for a decade or more, sometimes well over that. And in a lot of cases, it's a matter of knowing the right person or people.

It's definitely a 12-month position.  My roles have always been 12-month, too.  A lot of people have no idea what still has to happen throughout the breaks.  We don't get long holiday breaks, just your standard holidays like most other jobs.  For several years, I worked as an Administrative assistant for the Principals, so I saw a lot of what they do up close.  It's A LOT.  And you really do need that teaching experience to be effective.  On average, the Principals I worked with had around 10 years of teaching experience.  There were definitely a few who had much less, but they didn't last very long.  A few former principals went back to teaching.

If you have ever seen the videos by Gerry Brooks on YouTube they are hilarious - and true!  There's been so many that cracked me up because I can relate.  This one totally cracked me up when I was an administrative assistant.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-_jWabEIIQ

I've debated whether to reply to this post for days.  I really can't tell if it was meant to be helpful but it most certainly comes off negatively.  Perhaps you'd like to question me on why I married the woman I did, tell me my kids are ugly, that I purchased a lemon for a vehicle, I bought in the wrong neighborhood.  That's about the same as taking a crap on the job someone is aspiring to obtain.  Who are you to question their motivation and make assumptions of what they don't know about the job.

Your statement  "My roles have always been 12-month" is reasonably implicit you don't want to work 12 months.  Had you paid attention to my original post I spent 25 years in a dealership mostly as a General Manager.  Obviously you have little knowledge of that job.  It is most definitely a 12 month job (as is the rest of the working world) and more notable on average 80+ hours weekly.  So to say that a Principals job is a lot (which I have already sat and discussed with multiple Principals before making this decision) for me is a gain in time and a improvement in quality of life.

Yet I still have not come to the reason I have made this decision.  I am leaving a career where I currently earn/earned over $300k annually.  I am well aware of the financial sacrifices I will be making.  However Louisiana especially Baton Rouge are my home and where I am from.  Louisiana tops the country in Teenage pregnancy, High School dropouts, Welfare recipients per capita, Violent crime, Baton Rouge the capital city has the 5th highest murder rate in the country, New Orleans our largest city has the 3rd, we top the country in both adult and child obesity, cancer rate, heart disease, and are bottom with High School graduation.  

So if people like me continue to leave education in the hands of people like you that look at it as too much work.  Then my state which is my home will continue to decline and die.  Louisiana needs more people like myself in my opinion that have a proven skillset and are willing to get in the trenches and make a difference.  Requirements here are for 2 years of teaching experience and I am willing to do that to make a larger difference.

I 'd appreciate in the future if you don't have anything positive to contribute to mine or anyone else's thread for that matter just leave your opinions to yourself.  You don't know when they can and will be taken offensively.

The Youtube video was hilarious I enjoyed it very much, thanks for that!

[Jonathan Whatley]

laknight, you shouldn't take Vle045's discussion of her own experiences and observations working in school education personally as an attack, critique, or critical inquiry against you, nor should you respond with an attack against her. All the more since a large part of it is her discussion with a third party, RJ77, in which Vle045 doesn't mention or as far as I can see even allude to you.