CCAF Grad in a pickle. TESC or UMUC?

[jerseyfla]

I am new to posting on this forum and I have been deliberating over what school to go to. I have a CCAF in Pharmacy Technology, I am still Active Duty with 8 years to go until I am retirement eligible, and I am looking into a Bachelor's Degree in Communications or Legal Studies at UMUC or BA in Liberal Studies at TESC. I was once set on TESC because I also have taken FEMA courses but then I read about their lack of good customer service and then I saw something about annual fees and that I have to take 18 credits in a year to avoid fees. But I have 100% TA because I am active duty so is this above the TA? I am looking at UMUC because they seem military friendly but I am afraid that not a lot of my CCAF credits will transfer into something through them.

There were some BS programs I was looking into at TESC and UMUC but I am avoiding anything that requires Statistics because I had a hard time with College Algebra three years ago.

[rebel100]

Charter Oak should allow maximum use of your credits from FEMA and CCAF. Their customer service is generally excellent, and the financial aid office is great. You will have to take 2 classes with them but your TA should cover it and they include 3ll and 3 ul credits. You can take courses elsewhere and transfer them back, like CSU Pueblo or BYU.

Charter Oak State College - Finish Your Degree Online

[smokey2011]

You can also check to see what colleges offer degrees in your AFSC through the AU-ABC program. If you are unaware of this program, it is an agreement between said colleges and the Air Force to allow all credits to transfer from a CCAF degree into an applicable bachelor's degree program. I know when I used mine to start my Bachelor's in Sociology through Ashford, they took all my credits and allowed me to CLEP out of the rest of my GER's. However, everyone's situation is different and you may want to look into something else. It doesn't hurt to stop by your local education center and ask some of the counselors there for advice.

[dcan]

AU-ABC is a great place to look for schools that will take your CCAF for at least 60 credits (unheard of for an AAS degree) and pipeline you into a related bachelor's degree.

I enrolled in TESC because of the flexibility of the degree plan. I've found them to be, while not exactly customer service award winners, far less rude than others have reported. Though I do joke about them from time to time. But they seem to treat enrolled students better -- and remember, most people who are civilians "testing out" will not enroll until the last possible minute to ensure they don't spend $3,000 unnecessarily. Also there are regional TESC military advisors. Mine is a team all the way out at Charleston AFB, including a retired Navy guy, who help you out when you need it. They cater to us a bit more I think.

For us, no you do not pay the annual enrollment fee if you use TA, but in exchange you must complete 18 credits through the school. I'm about to start my second class there. Individual teachers vary, my last one went three weeks without grading anything, but the new guy is reportedly outstanding.

At TESC you can get all of your math up to pre-calculus through ALEKS at $20/month on your own schedule. And TESC accepts trig as filling the pre-calc credit so you don't even have to go into pre-calc. I did this for college algebra, trig, and stats and it was completely doable. No proctored exams, use Khan Academy and PatrickJMT for lectures to explain the material, and it works. Feels like World War I sometimes, but it works.

I think it comes down to your goals. A major driver for me is a desire to (at least mostly) complete a master's on TA before I retire in about 4-ish years. That means I need to minimize the time on my undergrad, so TESC fits for me. But I said elsewhere that if I had to do it all over again I would have dove into a computer science degree at Troy in my first term. I think that if you have the luxury of time a degree from a "real" school (as judged by some anyway) could help. But maybe that's just me.

If you plan to go on to a master's degree then the decision comes down to what the grad school will accept. Most have no problems w/ TESC, but it's a good idea to ask questions if you are concerned. But once you get a master's degree generally nobody cares about your undergrad -- the master's trumps.

8 years is enough time to complete both at a B&M-type school, in person or online, if you choose.

Then again it depends on how ambitious you are. I know a MSgt who is halfway through an accelerated 2-year PhD program and already half done with this dissertation. So you can do a lot in 8 years if you want.

[jerseyfla]

You can also check to see what colleges offer degrees in your AFSC through the AU-ABC program. If you are unaware of this program, it is an agreement between said colleges and the Air Force to allow all credits to transfer from a CCAF degree into an applicable bachelor's degree program. I know when I used mine to start my Bachelor's in Sociology through Ashford, they took all my credits and allowed me to CLEP out of the rest of my GER's. However, everyone's situation is different and you may want to look into something else. It doesn't hurt to stop by your local education center and ask some of the counselors there for advice.

I am fully aware of the AU-ABC program but most of those degrees are not in fields that I want to major in and/or from crappy sounding schools like University of Management and Technology or Columbia Southeastern. There's a couple of good schools on there like Bowling Green and Indiana State but they are not fields I want to major in. And there are a couple of Healthcare Management degrees but they all require Statistics. It sucks that my job is the equivalent of a glorified cashier in the retail world, except for in a hospital setting where you're making IV's.

[ryoder]

First things first. Be thankful for your job.

With that out of the way, do not be afraid of statistics. TESC and many other schools will accept ALEKs statistics and you can move at your own pace through the system. I have a proven method for doing so with ALEKs. Its basically an open notes testing system, so you go through the system in learning mode, printing out the ALEKs provided answers to the questions as you go. Then when you take the assessment mode, you have all the notes you need that show you how to do the problems ALEKs is asking you to complete.
It sounds a little shady but it is a very slow process and you end up learning the material through it.

[marianne202]

Welcome to the forum! As someone who is about to finish my Master's in Healthcare Administration, don't worry about statistics. It is not wise to choose a degree based on avoidance of one class. I too was not happy about taking statisitcs, but found it to be my favorite class in grad school. The program focused on using Excel and various software programs to complete charts and graphs then interpret the data. Math is not my favorite subject and at 48 you know how long it has been since I had done algebra. I totally understand your frustration about your current career, but don't hastily choose another career you won't "love" just to avoid one class. I'm sure you could find a way to complete the statistics class requirement, even if you use a tutor. It is only a few months if you take it at a B&M and I have come to find the motto that I can do anything for 4 months a nice way to motor through things that might not be your preferred choice. If you like healthcare and want to stay in healthcare and use your experience, really think about the big picture. Good luck!

[dcan]

Two things.

1. UMT and Columbia Southern are both Nationally Accredited schools. Generally speaking you should avoid Nationally Accredited schools like the plague if at all possible. There are enough Regionally Accredited schools out there that want your TA and GI Bill dollars that you should never have to go to an NA school. For an explanation of NA vs RA see the wiki. I made a point to discuss the issue for those just learning. It is very easy to think "national > regional" as I used to, and then waste tens of thousands of dollars and years of time on something that isn't accepted anywhere. Don't waste it. I'm not even sure if any of the Big 3 will accept any credits from any NA school, and they accept damn near anything for our purposes.

2. I will re-iterate, at the Big 3 you can use ALEKS for all your math requirements up to pre-calc, including statistics. It is all at your own pace, with no proctored tests of any kind, unproctored tests periodically, with full explanations. Between that at Khan Academy and PatrickJMT.com, and maybe a "stats for dummies" book you should have no problems. Seriously. Many people just like you have traveled this road successfully before.

Besides, you can get a 3-day free trial, so why not sign up for maybe intermediate algebra and see what it's like?

I am fully aware of the AU-ABC program but most of those degrees are not in fields that I want to major in and/or from crappy sounding schools like University of Management and Technology or Columbia Southeastern. There's a couple of good schools on there like Bowling Green and Indiana State but they are not fields I want to major in. And there are a couple of Healthcare Management degrees but they all require Statistics. It sucks that my job is the equivalent of a glorified cashier in the retail world, except for in a hospital setting where you're making IV's.

Have you considered cross-training? Or becoming an instructor or other special duty assignment?

Also, have you even submitted your CCAF and any other transcripts to UMUC for an evaluation to see where you stand?

[beargins]

It would be awesome if they had discrete math, differential equations and linear algebra!

[dcan]

It would be awesome if they had discrete math, differential equations and linear algebra!

Yes it would. At least calculus. I told them that when I ended my subscription.

PatrickJMT has all of those course lectures BTW. Personally I think the IIT discrete math series is more in-depth, if you can handle the accent.