Advice on Transferring Sophia Courses

[studyingfortests]

Some quick thoughts: There's absolutely value in having a degree from a selective school. But the value must be considered in proportion to the cost. As you've found, few if any selective schools accept many, if any ACE credits. (Sophia credits are essentially ACE credits, as ACE is the arbiter that looks at the coursework for all of the providers and determines credit worthiness).

So you have to think about what's important. If you can get into a really top tier selective school, let's say an Ivy League, then it's probably worth it, as much for the networking as for the degree. And many of those schools have fantastic financial aid, so you may not owing as much as you think. But it is still probably going to be 20-30 grand for a 4 year degree.

On the other hand, if you go to Excelsior or TESU, you can get the entire degree for ~7 grand or less with your Sophia credits... both are liberal with their acceptance of them. Those schools don't have the cachet of an Ivy League, but if you are going on to a graduate degree, then anyone hiring is going to look a lot more closely at your graduate degree than you undergrad.

Also, once you are in the workforce, the value of where you got your degree, especially your undergrad, diminishes as you gain experience. At that point it is more your resume and success in your field than the school from which you eared your degree.

There are some fields where prestige of degrees does play a role, but those are less prevalent than they used to be.

[bjcheung77]

"I am a member of the US Air Force Civil Air Patrol. Liberty offers a 25% First Responder discount. Some of the colleges I applied to offered me a $250 military rate"... I was just wondering about this you mentioned, have you emailed or spoken to Excelsior and/or TESU in regards to getting the $250 military rate there? If other institutions aren't aware of your status, you should let them know. Exclesior or TESU with this discount can be your best bet...

[dfrecore]

If you want to go to Excelsior for a BSB you need the following:

Coopersmith
ENG-102: Business Writing
MAT-303: Quantitative Analysis

SDC
BUS 108: Business Ethics (I think this is required)
BUS 307: Leadership and Organizational Behavior
MAT 101: College Algebra
ACC 102: Intro to Managerial Accounting
BUS 324: Managerial Communication
BUS 102: Principles of Marketing
BUS 308: Globalization and International Management
4 UL Business Electives
1 LL Business Elective

Then you would go to EU and take:
INL 102: Information Literacy
IND 301: Cornerstone B: Pathways
BUS 499: Strategic Management Capstone

So you're bringing in 71cr, and you have 49cr left to take. The price for tuition and fees is $4,031. So add on the cost of Coopersmith and SDC.
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If you want to go to Excelsior for a BSL you need the following:
English Composition II (Sophia OR SDC's ENGL205: English Comp II)
6 UL Arts & Sciences courses
2 UL Free Electives
1 LL Free Elective

You're bringing in 83cr, and you have 37cr left to take. The price for tuition and fees is $4,031. Add on the cost of and SDC or Davar or Coopersmith.
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If you want to do a BABA at UMPI, you can finish up what you need to at Sophia, and even take a month of SDC to give yourself the most credits possible. Then, you need the following:

Sophia
College Composition II (if you want)
American Government

SDC (all optional - take 2 or 3 in 1 month to minimize the number of UMPI courses you must take)
ACC 301: Applied Managerial Accounting
BUS 303: Management Information Systems
BUS 304: Leading Organizational Change
BUS 209: Mentoring & Leadership Development in the Workplace
BUS 306: Strategic Human Resources Management
BUS 309: Digital Marketing & Advertising
BUS 307: Leadership & Organizational Behavior
BUS 312: Advanced Operations Management

UMPI
Area 2D: Creativity
8 courses in the major and concentration that can't be done via Sophia or SDC

Tuition is $1400/8wk term, most people here are finishing in 2-3 terms (2 is common). So $2800-$4200.

[LevelUP]

I know SNHU will take most of your Sophia courses. We have degree plans for that college as well as others.

SNHU profile
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/So...University

SNHU list of degrees
https://www.snhu.edu/program-finder

SNHU degree plans
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:SNHU

Once you pick a school, I suggest making a spreadsheet of the courses you need to take.

[SophiaPrincess]

I appreciate everyone's suggestions and recommendations. Obviously, you spent a lot of time thinking about my situation and I'm grateful.

Ss20ts I understood Your Pace was the only online option for UMPI. Do they have other online degree options without the age restriction?

I am unclear about TESU. Can the 24 RA credit hour requirement be filed by the approximately 10 upper level business courses I was planning to take where ever I transferred to complete my degree or are these 24 RA credits in addition to the roughly 30 hours I lack?

Studyingfortests it is not so much the cost rather the additional time to start over from zero that keeps me from pursuing a selective college now. Many elite colleges offer full rides for students coming through the front door. On the other hand, students coming through adult and professional education programs typically aren't offered any institutional aid. 

Bjcheung77 the CAP is the official auxiliary for the Air Force but not actually soldiers. The situation was further muddied in 2015 when the CAP was upgraded to Ready Reserve status. In short, most schools don't offer CAP cadets or senior members any discount. 

Dfrecore none of the college admissions officers who analyzed my transcript have been anywhere close to as precise as you. If you don't already work in admissions you could be a consultant and help train admissions officers.

LevelUP I initially dismissed SNHU for being a for profit school. However, I appreciate them making tuition costs easy to find on their website and their honoring their published credit acceptance policy posted at Sophia's website. Integrity means a lot to me. 

Thanks again everyone.

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bjcheung77 I failed to fully answer your question. I have not spoken with TESU at all as I mistakenly believed Sophia's partner university's would accept the most Sophia transfer courses. I will contact them based upon the recommendations of the forum members who have posted.

I have spoken with Excelsior a few times but not about their Military rate. Frankly, my communication with them has been disjointed and chaotic. For example, no returned calls, admissions officers who can't answer basic questions, email messages that don't address my polite and relevant questions etc. I even paid $300.00 (I think the price is higher now) for their One Transcript credit bank service hoping it might allow my Sophia courses to be more readily transferred to a selective college. In all fairness to Excelsior, they never promised or even suggested their transcript service would facilitate credit transfer of Sophia courses.

Has anyone had a positive experience with Excelsior admissions?

[davewill]

I think you should be good at TESU:

TESU Military Tuition

Active duty, guard and reserve servicemembers, their family members and DoD employees are eligible for a discounted military tuition rate.

[dfrecore]

Ss20ts I understood Your Pace was the only online option for UMPI. Do they have other online degree options without the age restriction? No, plus I don't think the other part of the school accepts the same number of ACE credits (although I could be wrong there)

I am unclear about TESU. Can the 24 RA credit hour requirement be filed by the approximately 10 upper level business courses I was planning to take where ever I transferred to complete my degree or are these 24 RA credits in addition to the roughly 30 hours I lack? The 24cr of RA can be filled by any school where you take them - the problem is going to be cost - if you're going to take 24cr of UL courses somewhere, you're probably better off going to whatever that school is (like SNHU).  Because what's the point of taking 24cr at a school and then bringing those credits to TESU?  The key here is to take 24cr inexpensively, to make TESU's degree as cheap as possible.

Dfrecore none of the college admissions officers who analyzed my transcript have been anywhere close to as precise as you. If you don't already work in admissions you could be a consultant and help train admissions officers. Thanks.  Hilarious, but thanks (that would be too big of a job!).

LevelUP I initially dismissed SNHU for being a for profit school. However, I appreciate them making tuition costs easy to find on their website and their honoring their published credit acceptance policy posted at Sophia's website. Integrity means a lot to me. They are actually a great option for some degrees.  They offer a lot that TESU and UMPI don't, plus you'll get 30 graded credits minimum.

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bjcheung77 I failed to fully answer your question. I have not spoken with TESU at all as I mistakenly believed Sophia's partner university's would accept the most Sophia transfer courses. I will contact them based upon the recommendations of the forum members who have posted.  Don't bother speaking with TESU - their advisors are TERRIBLE. Avoid that at all costs.  Instead, ask your questions here.

I have spoken with Excelsior a few times but not about their Military rate. Frankly, my communication with them has been disjointed and chaotic. For example, no returned calls, admissions officers who can't answer basic questions, email messages that don't address my polite and relevant questions etc. I even paid $300.00 (I think the price is higher now) for their One Transcript credit bank service hoping it might allow my Sophia courses to be more readily transferred to a selective college. In all fairness to Excelsior, they never promised or even suggested their transcript service would facilitate credit transfer of Sophia courses.  We call this "credit laundering" and it doesn't work - because all credit must be shown as how it came in - so transfer credit will show that it's been transferred in, and where from.  You can't hide it in a school's transcript (even if it's a regular transcript).

Has anyone had a positive experience with Excelsior admissions?  Excelsior, like TESU, is terrible.  Instead, ask your questions here.

[bjcheung77]

Umm... Thanks for pointing out that TESU's advising department isn't up to snuff, I'm confused though... We can't help the student with the military tuition, they NEED to email/speak with TESU to get that discount though and that was what I informed the OP to do, get that answered to see if they get the military tuition discount eligibility.  No other questions for them but that (at least for now).  Anyways, great update OP... looking forward to see which way this swings, Excelsior and TESU looks best for now, so far at least.

[LevelUP]

You can take TECEP exams to meet TESU's 24 RA credit reqiurement.  They cost $156 each for LL
https://www.tesu.edu/degree-completion/testing

[allvia]

If you are eligble for the TESU military rate for courses, that could make it a practical use for your Pell Grant. TECEPs, Alt Credits (like Sophia) and the Residency Waiver do not qualify for the Pell Grant, and you would be paying out of pocket (mostly). Again it does seem that you would qualify for the military rate, of so TESU for the RA courses and eliminate the residency waiver. You want to maximize the Pell Grant and the reduced military rate if at all possible. 

SNHU is a private university, but they are Non-Profit (not a for profit) school. So they too could be a good option, as they are ACE friendly lowering your required courses with them. You would be able to use the Pell Grant with them (as their courses are traditional)

I would stick with the business degree you had planned on, vs the liberal studies options mentioned. You are too young to settle* for a 'check the box' degree when you're goal is an MBA or law program. Both the methods at TESU (courses utilizing Pell Grant/military rate) and SHNU will give you GRADED credits, which is something your would need if you do opt for the law degree you mentioned as an option. UMPI also provides graded courses, but as you know you'd have to wait until you turn 20.  Utilizing using the Pell Grant is a great idea, but remember you want to avoid student loans (debt). UMPI is definitely a great school to maximize the Pell Grant - the other two you have to really have a plan out before jumping in (but I believe can be done).

*Liberal Arts/General Studies degrees are a viable option when you have the work experience on your CV/resume, but not a college degree to advance your career.