Answer a few questions to help me decide between WGU, Big 3, other online programs?

[dbdtw]

First off, thanks a ton for all the info everyone here shares with the rest of the world. I really appreciate that you are willing to spend the time and effort to help out those of us who are just now finding out that education can be had for far less time and money than is traditionally known.

I've been lurking around this forum for a little while, but now I'm ready to get going. The only thing is, I think I've read too much information about the various options for finishing up a degree, so I'd like to get some guidance from anyone on this forum who might have some advice for me.

[About Me]
I have 20 years of experience with computers including Windows and Mac desktop maintenance and repair, Windows Server administration, a little bit of programming, and system engineering. For those of you with a little bit of nerdiness in you, my ultimate goal is to become something of a hybrid Linux Sys Admin and a software engineer. I am currently in a career position, and may stay with my current organization, or I may start looking around once I have a degree. About half of the positions I see (inside and outside of my current organzation) require at least a BS in IS, IT or CS *plus* years of experience, and these are the positions I am shooting for. Ultimately, I would like to have a BS IT or BS CS, but in the near term, I would just like to earn a degree so I have more mobility at work and if I decide to go somewhere else, so I'm considering a general BS (which I'm pretty sure is what COSC awards anyway, right?) and then going somewhere for a 2nd BS in IT or CS. Having said that, I'm definitely not opposed to going right for my IT or CS degree, if I can find an efficient (re: time and money) path to do so.

[My (Loose) Plans]
The only application I have submitted so far is to WGU and I am awaiting transcript evaluations. Until I came across this forum, I was planning on using StraighterLine to knock out as many WGU GenEd reqs, then enrolling in one of their BSIT programs, but after reading a ton of info here, I've decided to use IC to CLEP/DSST out of as much as I can, then use ALEKS and SL to fill in gaps where needed, but I'm also wondering if I should give serious consideration to the big 3 and/or a few other online schools.

Here's what I have:
Credits from 4 different schools: UoP, 2 community colleges, and 1 state university. I'll post the info from my transcripts in a post in this thread, in case any knowledgeable folk have time to help me figure out how far along I am at the big 3 or any of the colleges listed below (except WGU, since I have a transcript eval in progress with them right now).

[Colleges]
Here's what colleges I'm looking into (I've listed them in order of preference as of right now, but I have only gone as far as to read a few reviews online for some of these colleges). If you have experience or knowledge with any of these, please chime in. If you only know an answer or two in this huge post, please feel free to contribute also.
WGU, COSC, TESC, U of Wisconsin (FLEX), Northern Arizona U, EC, Georgia WebBSIT, UMass Online, Dakota State U, Arizona State U, Florida State U, U of Illinois, SNHU (their per credit option would be pretty expensive, but they have a competency (I think) based program that is $2,500 per year called College for America that I haven't looked very far into yet).

[Taxes]
Before I ask my questions about schools, I'd like to know if anyone has applied the costs of CLEP, DSSTs, StraighterLine or ALEKS courses and materials (books, website subscriptions, etc) to get money back on their taxes using one of the education credits? I know if I enroll in one of the big 3, WGU or any of the other colleges I'm looking at, I'll be able to use one of these credits, but one of the tax credits (Lifetime Learning Credit) is more general than the other (American Opportunity Credit).

[Questions]
Here's what I would like to specifically know about each college, please:
1. What is the IT, CS or IS program like? Do you feel like you're gaining valuable knowledge from the degree-specific course materials, or is the course geared more toward having you memorize enough to pass a test? This is probably my top criteria. I want to gain usable knowledge in whatever program I take. Quality of the online instruction is almost as important, so feel free to comment on that also, please.

2. I know the big 3 and WGU accept StraighterLine courses (I've looked over the spreadsheets that show which StraighterLine courses can satisfy requirements at each of those 4 institutions), but does anyone have any experience getting any of the other colleges I've listed to accept courses from StraighterLine? Maybe through an ACE transcript?

3. Do any of the colleges I'm looking at award credit (and satisfy requirements) for classes from UoP? I understand that UoP is accredited, but my 4 year B&M won't even consider any of those classes for elective credit, so now I check everywhere.

4. Are any of the ALEKS offerings *aside* from their math stuff ACE recommended?

5. Cost to apply? This is what I have so far. Are there any hidden costs that have to be paid in order to get my transcripts evaluated?
- COSC = $75, this includes my transcript evaluation.
- TESC = $75, pretty sure this includes transcript eval
- EC = $80, this says it includes "premilinary review", so covers transcript eval

[dbdtw]

CC
PHIL 208 Intro to Logic C 3

UoP
GEN 101 Skills for Lifelong Learning I A 3
HIS 145 The American Experience Since 1945 A 3
COMM 105 Intro to Effective Written Comm B- 3
SOC 110 Teamwork, Collaboration & Conflict Res A- 3
COMM 102 Communication Skills for Career Growth A- 3
RES 110 Intro to Research and Info Utilization B- 3

CC
MATH 1010 Intermediate Algebra (QS) A 4
ART 1010 Exploring Art (FA) B+ 3
ENGL 1010 Intro to Writing (EN) A 3
LE 1310 Mind, Machine, and Consciousness (ID) A 3
CIS 1020 Computer Essentials (CL) A 3

B&M
ESSF 1057 Yoga Elementary CR 1
CHIN 1010 Beg Mandarin Chin I A 4
POLS 1100 US National Govt B+ 3
CHIN 1020 Beg Mandarin Chin II A 4
FCS 1500 Human Development B 3
PRTL 1160 NR-Pistol Marksmanship CR 1.5

Total 53.5

Things I think I know/understand:
1. My 2 Chinese classes aren't going to do anything for me if I go for a BS degree, regardless of where I get my degree. If I find a good way to get a BA that will still get me the knowledge I want, I may be able to apply them.
2. If I stay with WGU, I don't think my PHIL 208 will be counted. I spoke with my enrollment counselor yesterday and he mentioned that classes coming in need to be C+ or higher to be awarded transfer credit at WGU. Since I wasn't sure if this applied at other schools, I left all my grades in.
3. The previous 2 items bring my total possible transfer credits in to WGU to 42.5, but only if everything else gets applied.
4. In order to save on time and cost, I'd like to utilize all of my credits in whatever program I go with, but I realize this might not be possible.

[sanantone]

I think that getting a degree in liberal studies when you ultimately want a degree in IT/IS/CS is a complete waste of time and money. It will take you a little longer to get an IT degree over a liberal arts degree, but I think it's worth the wait and cost savings.

I'm not exactly sure at which point this happens, but once your WGU degree plan is solidified, you cannot transfer in anymore credits. They aren't like other colleges where you can bring transfer credits in at anytime. The Big 3 will accept the UoP credits since the school is regionally accredited. However, there is still no guarantee that a particular course will be accepted. The Big 3 can still determine that the course is developmental or is not worthy of college credits. UoP does use very non-traditional course titles. Yes, only ALEKS' math courses are ACE-approved. Northern Arizona's competency-based program limits the number of CBEs (credit by exam) they'll accept.

I think the limit is 64, but there aren't many CBEs for IT/CS anyway. College for America only offers an associate's degree in general studies. University of Wisconsin has the most or one of the most expensive competency-based programs. I don't know if they're as open as the Big 3 in accepting ACE and NCCRS-approved courses.

There aren't any hidden costs to have your transcripts evaluated. TESC gives two evaluations before you pay the enrollment fee; the other two schools give one eval. Excelsior's initial evaluation is very vague.

[dbdtw]

Thanks sanantone. I probably needed to hear what you said about getting a Lib Arts degree as a professional computer nerd. Also, thanks for the other info you posted. I think my next step is to apply to the big 3 so I can compare how far along I would be if I decided to go with one of them.

I'd still love to hear the opinions of anyone who has completed any coursework in any of the IT programs at the Big 3 or WGU.

[sanantone]

Do you have any IT certifications? The bonus with WGU on this is that you can forego many courses by just having IT certifications. The Big 3 award some credits for certs, but they aren't as generous as WGU. WGU also includes the cost of obtaining certs in their very low tuition rates.

[dbdtw]

I have zero IT certifications as of right now. I'll probably have my Linux+ by the time I enroll, but I don't think it will apply toward the BSIT in Software (just BSIT Security), and I'm not sure I'll get it in time to be evaluated before I'm officially enrolled. One of the big draws for me to WGU is that I will earn 14 different certs that are well recognized, and I will earn them alongside getting the degree, without having to set aside extra time to do so. This is also the only way that I know of to get Federal Aid to pay for IT certs. Of those 14, I will probably work toward at least 7 of them on my own if I end up not going with WGU.

Also, I forgot to reply to your original post where you pointed out that I can't transfer anything in after I officially enroll with WGU. I don't qualify for federal aid from our 2012 returns, so I am not enrolling until July 1st (at the earliest). My enrollment counselor is being good about it, but I can tell by the way he pushed most of my official stuff (assessment, orientation, etc) out a couple of months that they probably don't like to enroll students so long after they are admitted.

Regardless of where I decide to go (Big 3, WGU, any of the other programs mentioned in the OP), I plan on using CLEP, DSST, ALEKS, SL and any other resources I can find in order to knock out as much GenEd as I can so I can really focus on my field of study.

[sanantone]

Have you already looked at these links that show how tests transfer to WGU?
Alternative Sources, Social Sciences
Alternative Sources, Humanities
Alternative Sources, Language and Communication
Alternative Sources, Quantitative Literacy
Alternative Sources, Natural Science

[bs13]

Thanks sanantone. I probably needed to hear what you said about getting a Lib Arts degree as a professional computer nerd. Also, thanks for the other info you posted. I think my next step is to apply to the big 3 so I can compare how far along I would be if I decided to go with one of them.

I'd still love to hear the opinions of anyone who has completed any coursework in any of the IT programs at the Big 3 or WGU.

Currently, I have enrolled into BS Computer Technologies at Excelsior. I haven't taken any IT course from EC. All of my technology courses are transferred-in.

[dbdtw]

sanantone:

I made myself a spreadsheet with the list of courses that are required for a BSIT Software degree at WGU. In the columns to the side of each class, I put the info from those URLs (where applicable). Once I subscribe to IC, I'll put the info on each specific test in that sheet too so I can make informed decisions on satisfying requirements.

==============================================

bs13:

Are you going to need to take any of your tech classes at EC, or are you saying that you transferred in enough classes to satisfy all of your IT specific requirements?

If you are going to be taking IT courses through EC, when will you probably start taking them?

[bs13]

sanantone:

I made myself a spreadsheet with the list of courses that are required for a BSIT Software degree at WGU. In the columns to the side of each class, I put the info from those URLs (where applicable). Once I subscribe to IC, I'll put the info on each specific test in that sheet too so I can make informed decisions on satisfying requirements.

==============================================

bs13:

Are you going to need to take any of your tech classes at EC, or are you saying that you transferred in enough classes to satisfy all of your IT specific requirements?

If you are going to be taking IT courses through EC, when will you probably start taking them?

I transferred in enough classes to satisfy all of my IT specific requirements. All I have to take from EC is Capstone.