Assistance appreciated.

[lidel]

Hello everyone.

Back in 2011 I had decided to try to CLEP my way to a business degree. I had a template all laid out and began my journey with a month or so of Aleks courses. At about the same time my wife decided that she wanted to upgrade her nursing degree. Since her upgrade would result in higher pay and mine would not and we could not afford to do both we put mine on the back burner. 

I have since decided that I would like to continue this project. I'm still interested in a business/accounting degree and have been reading furiously through the forums to figure out the current lay of the land with things. Many things have changed since I was last here, and I'm finding it a bit overwhelming with all the information. I wanted to touch base with some of you folks to get a little input before leaping in headfirst. A few things about my situation;

I live in a different town now and no longer have access to a CLEP test centre to do my testing.

I am a Canadian, living in Canada. I'm not sure if that makes any sort of a difference or not on fees, or even if this process is possible for me. I am uncertain of which of the "Big 3" I should be using, and if my citizenship would be a factor in this as well. I'm not fussy on any particular one and can't really make heads nor tails between them, they all seem to have pros and cons. I have read about the recent changes to TESU and COSC and the requirements for RA credits with each of them.

I graduated high school back in the '90s, then went almost directly into an apprenticeship and have been involved in managing/owning a successful business in that trade ever since.

My entire transcript is;

Beginning Algebra
ACE ID: ALEK-0001
Recommended credits: 3
Business Statistics
ACE ID: ALEK-0008
Recommended credits: 3
College Algebra
ACE ID: ALEK-0003
Recommended credits: 3
Intermediate Algebra
ACE ID: ALEK-0002
Recommended credits: 3
Introduction to Statistics
ACE ID: ALEK-0007
Recommended credits: 3
PreCalculus
ACE ID: ALEK-0005
Recommended credits: 3

Business statistics and Intro to Statistics saying they are upper-division.  I don't see Aleks referenced often here and I'm not sure if any/all of these are relevant any longer for my plans.

I came across these links and it seems like I could use study.com to do darn near everything with Excelsior and TESU (provided that I do TECEP exams in this case)

https://study.com/academy/popular/excels...tml#lesson

https://study.com/academy/popular/excels...tml#lesson

I also discovered this link and feel like it's probably a more cost-effective and time-effective approach overall. 

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...egree_Plan

A huge THANK YOU to whoever took the time out of their lives to put this together, seriously you are a lifesaver.  

As this one seems the most efficiently put together, it's what I'm leaning towards and framing my next steps from. My general idea so far would be to knock off the Sophia courses asap, then start on the Study.com ones with their $ 200.00 a month "College Accelerator Plan" and at that point have their "Success Coach" help me develop a personalized degree plan. Once I have a firm plan in place and understand things a little better I assume I would want to enrol to lock-in that plan so it doesn't change mid-stream?

I'm trying to get an idea if I'm on the right path here, or if I'm missing something big. I'm open to any input or suggestions at this point. 

Thanks for taking the time to look it over.

SM

[rachel83az]

For a business degree, I would take a look at UMPI. They have special Canadian admissions requirements and are all geared up to accept Canadians with relative ease. You would complete everything at Sophia.org with the exception of the English Comp classes. Follow that up with American Government at InstantCert, "Biology 101L: Intro to Biology with Lab" at Study.com, and something else at Study.com (check that section of the forum for ideas). Enroll at UMPI and get your degree in business with a concentration in Accounting, Management/Leadership, or Project Management. Relatively quick and easy.

https://online.umpi.edu/programs/

[bjcheung77]

@SM, just wondering, which city were you in and were are you now? I have a few Canadians on this board follow my recommendations, I get PM's everyday and a few Canadians are part of that group. Anyways, I recommend Excelsior and the competency based degree providers if you don't have any tuition assistance or reimbursement from work. If you do, then I would recommend COSC for the price or TESU for the ease/speed to finish...

1) Your first step is to get all your Sophia.org done, this is to get the general education and free electives out of the way.
2) Accounting is great, I would focus on the Professional Business requirements first and choose the AOS courses last.
3) Forget CLEP if you don't have a test center nearby, you can finish everything with RA/ACE/NCCRS credits anyways.

[dfrecore]

If I were you, I would probably do Excelsior if you don't want to bother with RA credits; or COSC if you want the cheapest price. They will take your ALEKS courses in the following way:

COSC - BSBA, general concentration
Introduction to Statistics - math requirement
Business Statistics - business requirement
College Algebra - math requirement
Intermediate Algebra - math requirement
PreCalculus - math requirement
15cr total

So the Business Stats would be used towards your degree requirement and the math requirement, and then you'd have 12cr of Liberal Arts courses. You could do the rest cheaply via Sophia, and then Study.com for whatever that didn't cover. You'd also need to plan in 24cr of RA somehow - ONU (self-paced courses, $150/course, and they have some UL that would work towards the 30cr of UL requirement); TEL (self-paced courses, $200/course, they have lab sciences for $67); TECEP exams, $150/exam for LL or $225/exam for UL; or UExcel exams (most are $110/exam + $55/exam test center fees even though most are online + additional fee when you transfer into the school.

$3,181 for tuition & fees at COSC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EC - BSB general concentration
Introduction to Statistics - math requirement
Business Statistics - business requirement
College Algebra - business requirement
Intermediate Algebra - math requirement
PreCalculus - math requirement
15cr total

Again, College Algebra and Business Stats would come in as requirements for the business degree, and then the other 3 courses would come in under Arts & Sciences.

You could do the rest cheaply via Sophia, and then Study.com for whatever that didn't cover.

$5,300 tuition & fees at EC for 7cr / $5,850 tuition & fees at EC for 13cr (so 2 extra courses there)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMPI is competency-based, think WGU, I would only do that if I was sure I could go fast and finish in 1-2 terms, if you're looking to take your time, I'd do COSC or EC.

[lidel]

For a business degree, I would take a look at UMPI. They have special Canadian admissions requirements and are all geared up to accept Canadians with relative ease. You would complete everything at Sophia.org with the exception of the English Comp classes. Follow that up with American Government at InstantCert, "Biology 101L: Intro to Biology with Lab" at Study.com, and something else at Study.com (check that section of the forum for ideas). Enroll at UMPI and get your degree in business with a concentration in Accounting, Management/Leadership, or Project Management. Relatively quick and easy.

https://online.umpi.edu/programs/

Hello Rachel83az,

Thanks for this suggestion. It's totally something that I would have never thought of on my own! If I was organized enough that would be a killer way to go. I'm going to read up on this one some more for sure. To your knowledge is there any great difference between a BSBA/accounting degree compared to a BA in accounting? I had been looking specifically at the BSBAs to this point, but there may not be all that much difference at the end of the day. This may be a stupid question, but when you say to take everything at Sophia.org, how do you know which courses from Sophia are accepted at each of the other institutions? 

Shawn

[rachel83az]

Hello Rachel83az,

Thanks for this suggestion. It's totally something that I would have never thought of on my own! If I was organized enough that would be a killer way to go. I'm going to read up on this one some more for sure. To your knowledge is there any great difference between a BSBA/accounting degree compared to a BA in accounting? I had been looking specifically at the BSBAs to this point, but there may not be all that much difference at the end of the day. This may be a stupid question, but when you say to take everything at Sophia.org, how do you know which courses from Sophia are accepted at each of the other institutions? 

Shawn

IMO, going with one of the big 3 takes more organization than just doing UMPI. But it's certainly up to you and your needs.

An accounting degree would have more accounting courses than a business degree that happens to have an accounting focus. I would guess that the accounting degree is intended for people who want to be accountants but the business degree is intended for someone who wants to manage accountants. But I could be wrong about that.

Equivalencies for Sophia at the Big 3 can be found here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/So...lency_List

If you do decide to go with TESU, you can find information and plans here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap

[lidel]

@SM, just wondering, which city were you in and were are you now?  I have a few Canadians on this board follow my recommendations, I get PM's everyday and a few Canadians are part of that group.  Anyways, I recommend Excelsior and the competency based degree providers if you don't have any tuition assistance or reimbursement from work.  If you do, then I would recommend COSC for the price or TESU for the ease/speed to finish...  

1) Your first step is to get all your Sophia.org done, this is to get the general education and free electives out of the way.
2) Accounting is great, I would focus on the Professional Business requirements first and choose the AOS courses last.
3) Forget CLEP if you don't have a test center nearby, you can finish everything with RA/ACE/NCCRS credits anyways.

Hello bjcheung77. I was in the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, specifically Chilliwack. I had a test centre in Vancouver, about an hour away, and another down in Washington state about 90 minutes away. I'm now three hours further into the interior of the province, near Kamloops, so it's no longer an option. 

I won't have any tuition assistance, but I'm a pretty lucky guy in that I'm not too hard-pressed financially. I may also be able to pay for this through my business as I think I can make a pretty fair case that accounting courses would benefit me in running and operating my corporation. I'll have to check with my accountant on that one, but it feels like it could work. 

I noticed in the Wiki it's suggested to start a degree roadmap spreadsheet. Where could I find up to date versions of these for the BSBA programs? The one that is cited in the guide doesn't work, it just throws up the following error; test page to redirect

Thanks for all your help. It looks like you may be adding another Canadian to your board followers.

Shawn

[rachel83az]

I forgot in my last post: it's really not recommended to do English Composition I/II with Sophia no matter which school you wind up going to. If you choose UMPI, their own courses are better and aligned to their curriculum. If you choose any of the big 3, either taking the TECEPs or taking the classes at Olivet Nazarene would be a better choice.

[lidel]

If I were you, I would probably do Excelsior if you don't want to bother with RA credits; or COSC if you want the cheapest price.  They will take your ALEKS courses in the following way:

COSC - BSBA, general concentration
Introduction to Statistics - math requirement
Business Statistics - business requirement
College Algebra - math requirement
Intermediate Algebra - math requirement
PreCalculus - math requirement
15cr total

So the Business Stats would be used towards your degree requirement and the math requirement, and then you'd have 12cr of Liberal Arts courses.  You could do the rest cheaply via Sophia, and then Study.com for whatever that didn't cover.  You'd also need to plan in 24cr of RA somehow - ONU (self-paced courses, $150/course, and they have some UL that would work towards the 30cr of UL requirement); TEL (self-paced courses, $200/course, they have lab sciences for $67); TECEP exams, $150/exam for LL or $225/exam for UL; or UExcel exams (most are $110/exam + $55/exam test center fees even though most are online + additional fee when you transfer into the school.

$3,181 for tuition & fees at COSC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EC - BSB general concentration
Introduction to Statistics - math requirement
Business Statistics - business requirement
College Algebra - business requirement
Intermediate Algebra - math requirement
PreCalculus - math requirement
15cr total

Again, College Algebra and Business Stats would come in as requirements for the business degree, and then the other 3 courses would come in under Arts & Sciences.

You could do the rest cheaply via Sophia, and then Study.com for whatever that didn't cover.

$5,300 tuition & fees at EC for 7cr / $5,850 tuition & fees at EC for 13cr (so 2 extra courses there)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMPI is competency-based, think WGU, I would only do that if I was sure I could go fast and finish in 1-2 terms, if you're looking to take your time, I'd do COSC or EC.

Hello Dfrecore;

Thanks for your very detailed explanation and for putting it in terms that a newer user like me can easily understand as well as showing the overall costs and where the Aleks courses would fit. I'm liking your suggestion of Excelsior the most so far as I love the idea of avoiding those RA credits. Cost is a bit of a factor, but it's probably worth it for me to pay a little more for a faster/smoother education. I'm going to use the template that I found here as a starting point and start working out which Sophia courses I can begin subbing in. 

https://study.com/academy/popular/excels...tml#lesson 

Then as per the flowchart in the wiki, I will try to get my courses locked in by June so there are no surprises with RA credits for Excelsior

You guys have all been very helpful. I appreciate this so much!!

Shawn

[freeloader]

I am currently pursuing a BABA-accounting at UMPI and you had asked about that degree. The YourPace website isn’t exactly accurate or up to date or something. I have a degree audit for my degree and the BA in Accounting. Most courses are the same. I will list the “extra” courses which are listed for one degree and not the other:

BA-Accounting:
BUS 242 Spreadsheet Applications
BUS 348 Cost Accounting
BUS 415 Operations Management
BUS 466 Gov’t and Non-Profit Accounting
BUS 489 Business Policy and Strategy
COM 210 Organizational Communication

BABA-Accounting
BUS 244 Management Info Systems
BUS 325 Legal and Ethical Environment of Business
MAT 140 Mathematics for Business
PCJ 215 Business Communication