Any hope for an old guy with old credits?

[papab1980]

Hi, all!

I've been trying (unsuccessfully) to finish up my Bachelor's for quite some time.

I have an Associate's in IT from Purdue from the 90s, and other credits up to 1998, all from IU or Purdue (I had a bunch of credits, I think I only had like 2 classes to go for the Bachelor's at the time).

Over the years, I've submitted quite a few applications to online schools and have had them review my transcripts.  The results have been pretty similar, that I would need to take dozens of new courses.  They usually end up throwing the computer credits away because they're so old.  Sometimes, like even with Purdue, they'll accept some of the computer credits, but they'll only apply them to general electives.

I'm happy with my work experience, just lacking the degree.  So I'm pretty much indifferent as to the kind of Bachelor's degree I would actually get.  I guess preferably it wouldn't be a total nonsense degree, but at this point I'd be just as comfortable with a business degree as I would a CS or IT degree.

I'd love to hear any suggestions or advice you might have.  I see UMPI and TESU mentioned a lot, do those seem ideal for my situation?

Thanks!!

Addendum & Template (answer in brief, compact, concise phrases - don't need long sentences):
Your Location: Indiana
Your Age: 50+
What kind of degree do you want?: Open to suggestions, could be IT, Computers, Business, Marketing or something else (but most of my past credits are computer-related)
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 128
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: None
Any certifications or military experience?: No (working on some Coursera certificates, but nothing serious)
Budget: Hoping for affordable, well under $5K if possible
Commitments: Spouse/children, another full time job eventually
Dedicated time to study: Available for full time studies right now, but that could change and may eventually need to shift to like 20 hours/week
Timeline: As soon as possible, within 6 months ideally
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: None

Past credits:

Indiana University Purdue University - Indianapolis
1988-1989
CHEM C105 PRIN OF CHEMISTRY I 5.0 C
ENG W131 ELEM COMPOSITION I 3.0 A
MATH 151 ALGEBRA & TRIGONOMETRY 5.0 C
PSY B104 PSYCH AS A SOCIAL SCI 3.0 A
CHEM C106 PRIN OF CHEMISTRY II 5.0 B
COMM C110 FUNDAMENTAL SPEECH COM 3.0 B
GEOG G390 TOPICS IN GEOGRAPHY 1.0 A
PSY B105 PSYCH BIOLOGICAL SCI 3.0 B

Purdue University
1989-1990
CIS 204 INTRO COMP-BASED SYS 3.0 A
PHIL 110 INTRO TO PHILOSOPHY 3.0 A
PSY 361 HUMAN DEV I INFANCY 3.0 A

1990-1991
CIS 251 COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS 3.0 A
CIS 260 STRUCTURED PROGRAMMING 4.0 B
ENGL 220 TECH REPORT WRITING 3.0 A
MGMT 200 INTRO ACCOUNTING 3.0 A
CIS 232 ASSEM LANG PROG I 4.0 A
MA 125 BUSINESS MATH I 3.0 A
PHIL 324 ETHICS FOR PROFESSIONS 3.0 B
SPV 374 SUPERVISORY MANAGEMENT 3.0 A

1991-1992
CIS 265 COBOL PROGRAMMING 3.0 B
CIS 286 COMPTR OPER SYSTMS I 3.0 A
MA 126 BUSINESS MATH II 3.0 B
MGMT 225 FUND MANAGERIAL STAT 3.0 A
CIS 252 SYSTEMS ANALY DESIGN 3.0 A
CIS 253 APPL DATABASE TECHNIQ 3.0 C
PSY 373 PSYCHOLOGY IN INDUSTRY 3.0 A

1992-1993
CIS 301 DATA & FILE STRUCTURES 3.0 A
CIS 365 TOPICS IN COBOL 3.0 A
CIS 210 PERSONAL COMP TECH 3.0 A

1993-1994
CIS 383 ON LINE PROG TECHNIQUE 3.0 A
CIS 355 DBMS IMPLEMENTATION 3.0 B
CIS 388 LAN TECHNOLOGY 3.0 A

1994-1995
CIS 261 RPG PROGRAMMING 3.0 A
ENGL 423 TECH PUBLICA WRITING 3.0 A

1995-1996
CIS 373 DISTRIBUTED DP SYSTEMS 3.0 A
CIS 490 LAN ADMINISTRAT 3.0 A

1997-1998
CIS 423 STRUCT SYSTEMS ANLY 3.0 A
ECON 210 PRIN OF ECONOMICS 3.0 A

1998-1999
CIS 426 APPL SOFTWARE DEV PROJ 3.0 A

[bjcheung77]

Welcome to the board, great initial post to get the ball rolling, and providing a bigger picture of your scenario by filling in the addendum and template. I was curious, was that an AAS degree? If it was, then UMPI BAS is my suggestion, if it wasn't an AAS, then UMPI BBA PM & IS.

If you have 40+ technical credits, you can do the UMPI BAS with a minor or two/three of your choice along with the 3-4 classes that can go into the MAOL later. Not everyone needs a business admin degree, the organizational leadership is a subset of business admin anyways...

UMPI WIKI: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Un...esque_Isle
UMPI PLANS: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:UMPI

[papab1980]

Thanks for taking the time to look it over.

On the transcript, the degree is listed as Associate of Science (Field of Study: Computer Tech Commercial).

Does that work for UMPI BAS?  Or does it absolutely have to be an AAS degree?

Thanks again!

[bjcheung77]

Basically, I recommend the BBA PM & IS over the BAS as you get the 3-4 classes that can go towards the MAOL anyways. You need the AAS, they won't accept AS degrees for this particular one... I would just apply to UMPI for the BBA PM & IS to see where everything goes, if you're missing anything, complete the requirements before you pay to enroll with them, you may need to enroll for the academic evaluation, but you can always defer your entry until you have all your transfer credits in place...

[papab1980]

Great, I can try that and let you know how it all shakes out!  Also, is it the Apply YourPace Undergrad (Transfer Students) that I would want?

The before applying ("check out this thread") link on the UMPI Wiki has several warnings (some bold) about not applying until you're ready to transfer.  I can disregard what it says about being automatically enrolled and needing permission to transfer additional classes (nothing to worry about)?

Sounds like you're saying that's not a concern—I'm just trying to be cautious, as every other application up until now has been a failure (and I don't want to blow this one).  

Thanks!!

[bjcheung77]

There really are some concerns (some people falling through the cracks with admissions because of deadlines), from the looks of things, if you're going to do what I usually mention (be a week or two ahead of the deadlines for each date entered in for the sessions), then you should be fine. You've got enough credits to transfer, it's best to see where you stand before taking anything more. Don't pay for your enrollment, but do accept the enrollment, otherwise, they won't be able to complete an evaluation... We just want to know what's remaining, it'll usually be highlighted in yellow.

[papab1980]

Hello again,

Just wanted to update you as to where I'm at with this.

I'm still waiting for UMPI to do the transfer credit evaluation. While waiting, I've been checking out some other schools too. Here are the ones still on the list:

Capella: After transfers, I'm down to 10 courses still needed, 28.5 credits (2 of those classes can be Sophia)
Excelsior: After transfers, I'm down to 6 courses still needed, 19 credits (all need to be taken with them)
TESU: I haven't pulled the trigger on them yet (not sure if I should pay for the application if there's a good chance I'll still need to take a bunch of classes)
UMPI: Still waiting...

Do you have an opinion on these (considering how they show they would transfer my credits)? I'm assuming UMPI would still be more affordable than the others (but won't know until they evaluate the transfer credits).

Thanks!

[bjcheung77]

UMPI will be my recommendation as you can do the BBA or BLS, even if you take 2 sessions it'll be $1700/session of 8 weeks. If you need that second session, add additional $1700, if you have "life happen moments" and need to delay that to a third, you know you'll have to add the same amount for the third time. It really depends on the person and their energy, time, to get things completed. CBE may work for you, it may not, I'm leaning to the middle of Maybe/Yes...

[Ares]

I really think you should do the eval at TESU for the BALS Natural Sciences and Math concentration. They will take all your old computer courses and you will easily be able to fill out the Area of Study and Electives. No matter what you have to take two courses with them.

[papab1980]

Thanks for the suggestion! I'm still waiting for UMPI to do the transfer credit evaluation.

I have a couple questions/concerns before paying for the TESU evaluation...

Even if TESU accepted everything and I only had 2 courses left to take with them, wouldn't they cost quite a bit more than UMPI (assuming I'll be able to finish UMPI in one or two sessions)?

Another question is the validity/prestige/appearance of the degree itself (like how it would look on a resume). Would a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration (with PM and IS concentrations) from UMPI look/sound better than a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies (with Natural Science/Math concentration) from TESU?

The third question that comes to mind is UMPI's MAOL degree that bjcheung7 mentioned.  If I wanted to keep going and get the UMPI master, would that be more easily done if I went the UMPI route for the bachelor?

Thanks!