COSC bad rep? TESU shooting self in foot?

[davewill]

Do you think it would be worth it or stupid to go to TESU, just for the name?

I don't really think you can go wrong choosing TESU. It's possible you might pay a little less at one of the others, but that depends on many factors. I can easily see someone choosing them for the name, program accreditation, and ease of planning on this board.

[zzzz24]

Personally, I think all 3 are basically the same, but I would rather have "State University" in the name vs College. Same goes for WGU.

Outside of the U.S., most people equate college with a 2 year community college, not a bachelors degree.

[Merlin]

Do you think it would be worth it or stupid to go to TESU, just for the name?

One of the reasons I ended up going with TESU is because of the name, though it isn't the only reason. The fact that it's a state university with regional accreditation and an ACBSP business school were bigger factors for me. The fact that I needed about half the UL credits for the same degree at TESU was also a deciding factor in my selection. Of course, at the time I decided on TESU, they were also more middle of the road price wise (each of the big 3 was within about $1,000 of each other).

That said, I didn't know much about WGU at the time, or I might have gone that way instead since they also have an ACBSP business school, more IT-related degree programs, and they come in a bit less expensive than the big 3. I'm going there for my masters instead.

[Silversurfer76]

Do you think it would be worth it or stupid to go to TESU, just for the name?

I don't really think you can go wrong choosing TESU. It's possible you might pay a little less at one of the others, but that depends on many factors. I can easily see someone choosing them for the name, program accreditation, and ease of planning on this board.

So Dave, you think TESU is worth the extra cost for the better name and avoiding needless headaches?

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Do you think it would be worth it or stupid to go to TESU, just for the name?

One of the reasons I ended up going with TESU is because of the name, though it isn't the only reason. The fact that it's a state university with regional accreditation and an ACBSP business school were bigger factors for me. The fact that I needed about half the UL credits for the same degree at TESU was also a deciding factor in my selection. Of course, at the time I decided on TESU, they were also more middle of the road price wise (each of the big 3 was within about $1,000 of each other).

That said, I didn't know much about WGU at the time, or I might have gone that way instead since they also have an ACBSP business school, more IT-related degree programs, and they come in a bit less expensive than the big 3. I'm going there for my masters instead.

Knowing what you know now Merlin, would you make a different choice and go with WGU over TESU for your Bachelors? Im being pretty indecisive about which one of the four to go to. Keep weighing my options over cost and was ease of completion according to their requirements. They all have their advantages and disadvantages

[Merlin]

Knowing what you know now Merlin, would you make a different choice and go with WGU over TESU for your Bachelors? Im being pretty indecisive about which one of the four to go to. Keep weighing my options over cost and was ease of completion according to their requirements. They all have their advantages and disadvantages

Well, if I were starting on this journey today knowing what I know now, yes, I would pick WGU over TESU. But, I'd go for a BSCS degree instead of the BSBA degree and then jump into the MBA after that was done. Had I gone down that path last year (and had the BSCS been available @ WGU) I would have finished my bachelor's at least 2-3 months earlier and probably be done, or close to done with my MBA by now.

Of course, when I originally started on the BSBA at TESU I had no plans to pursue an MBA afterward; my BSBA now feels redundant in light of the MBA, so the little voice in the back of my head says I should have gone down the CS path first. For me, it probably would have been faster given my prior experience in the field and the fact that I wouldn't have been delayed by a 3-month long capstone course or waiting another 2-3 months more for my degree conferral after finishing the last of my coursework. I'd have been done by November or December.

[cookderosa]

COSC is a 4-year state university with fewer than 3,000 students- I think outside of the board, it probably doesn't have ANY reputation at all.

For comparison, the community college building in my town (not the whole campus- just our building) has 10,000 students.

[xjarhead1999]

I'm now planning on getting my degree at COSC. I don't really care about the name, just the degree. I just want to be able to put the check mark in bachelor's degree box. I was planning on TESU until they quit taking Shmoop.
Name recognition really depends on the area you are in. In my area very few people have even heard of the big 3. You might get a pat on the back and bonus points if the degree is from Tennessee Tech or UT or one of the schools with a good football program. Harvard or Yale or something like that would raise eyebrows in my parts. If you have a degree from an ivy league school and ended up here you screwed up big time somewhere.
WGU is pretty popular in my neck of the woods. So is Ashford University due to a grant and partnership they have with my employer. They are so popular that when people hear that someone got a degree, or is working on one, from there then they aren't impressed. Everyone can get one there. They have as much prestige as the University of Phoenix.
I sat in an interview last month trying to move up. 7 people were in there questioning me. They were more impressed that I completed over 100 undergraduate credits last year than what school I was planning on using. They thought more highly of the untraditional credits than traditional ones.

[dfrecore]

COSC doesn't specifically lay out what courses you need to take, and what counts in different areas for electives like TESU does. Neither does EC for many of their degrees. So when you want to get a marketing degree at TESU, it's very easy to figure out what you need. It also helps that this forum can help you figure out those courses.

From what I've heard about COSC, they don't have specific courses that will work, and you have to get your courses approved by an advisor before you can do anything (not take courses, but be 100% certain that they will work). This does not mean they aren't a good school, it just means that figuring out your degree ahead of time, and not enrolling until you only have the cornerstone and capstone to do there, is a little bit more of a gamble than TESU.

[ReyMysterioso]

I got my "box-check" BSBA from COSC and I don't have any real complaints. Customer service was great. I got an effective answer to any question efficiently, and on a couple questions, my student advisor would loop me in on an email she sent to a higher-up so we'd all be on the same page with a definitive answer.
TESU stopped accepting Shmoop right after I had racked up a whole bunch of Shmoop credits. That's what essentially made the decision for me.
COSC did require more UL courses. You're right that it essentially doesn't have any reputation at all.

If I had it all to do over again, to be honest, I think I would've done either Marshall U's Regents Bachelor of Arts degree or a WVU RBA because they're both bigger/better "brand" names. I didn't find out about them until I was halfway through my capstone course, and it'd have been silly to abandon ship then.

I'm currently churning on an ALM in English through Harvard Extension, and that's my Master's plan. But should that fall through due to cost or job-change or some other factor, I have half a mind to get a second bachelor's in English from TESU. I agree with the opinions that the name "...State University" does sound better than College.

I can sympathize in that I also live in the Deep South - Oxford, MS specifically. Home of U of Mississippi (aka 'Ole Miss'). And frankly, I'm concerned that it raises flags that I've lived right where there's a popular state college with notoriously low admission standards - but have an online degree from some obscure place in New England absolutely nobody has ever heard of. But then again I'm also 41, with a good work history and portfolio of work, so hopefully it's not an issue.

I also am concerned about potentially having an Ivy League degree in the official statistically worst state. But ultimately, I intend to move out of the region altogether and never look back, so there's that.

[sanantone]

I've had preliminary evaluations at all three schools. I couldn't really tell what I still needed at EC, and they wanted me to pay for enrollment before having some of my courses evaluated. COSC's evaluation was clearer, but not as clear as TESU's. TESU told me exactly which course applied to which requirement and gave me the course codes that were assigned. COSC told me which requirements were satisfied, but didn't show me which courses were used to satisfy those requirements. Granted, this was in 2011, so I don't know if COSC and EC have improved their evaluations.

With that said, I don't know why anyone would get the impression that COSC has a bad reputation on here. Outside of the forum, hardly anyone has heard of the school.

Some people are anal about saving every single dollar now and don't pay attention to how that can affect their savings and earnings in the future. If you're spending under $10k for a bachelor's degree, you're already getting a degree very cheaply. At this price point, choosing less just so that you can save a few hundred dollars or even $1k is kind of crazy. When you can't get into your dream graduate program because you don't have a GPA, you're going to wish you spent that extra $1k. If you can't get a certain federal government job because your business degree wasn't accredited by ACBSP or AACSB, you're going to wish you spent that $1k. When you come across a cheap, AACSB-accredited program, but you have to spend extra money on prerequisites or foundation courses because your undergrad program was lacking, you're going to wish you spent that extra $1k.

The federal government has wised up to pass/fail courses. You cannot claim superior academic achievement if most of your courses were pass/fail. That means you can't qualify for GS-7 with just a bachelor's degree and no experience. You'll have to earn a year's-worth of graduate credits or settle for the lower pay of GS-5.