Changing my major..

[cali86]

As some of you know I am only a few classes away from my liberal studies degree through TESU.. As I started thinking more I realized I'm not sure if it's for me.. I want to be a teacher but I also love the business field. I went looking for different routes to teach here in CA and I found a lot of conflicting information and almost all intern routes required a Bachelors Degree in everything but general education. I started to realize that the traditional route of a Liberal Studies degree wasn't in demand as much anymore and that if I took a Business degree I could have something to fall on if my plan fails or I change my mind.. I also recently earned my AA degree and will be attending the ceremony in June so I started asking myself could I possibly complete these business classes and earn my Bachelors in time as well.. I would love to surprise my family with this achievement as they have decided to make the trip to Oregon with me to attend.. Is anyone a prospective teacher here that is debating on this as well?

[bluebooger]

" I am only a few classes away from my liberal studies degree"

how many is a few ?

if less than 5 I'd stick with the liberal studies degree

[Mamasaphire]

As some of you know I am only a few classes away from my liberal studies degree through TESU.. As I started thinking more I realized I'm not sure if it's for me.. I want to be a teacher but I also love the business field. I went looking for different routes to teach here in CA and I found a lot of conflicting information and almost all intern routes required a Bachelors Degree in everything but general education. I started to realize that the traditional route of a Liberal Studies degree wasn't in demand as much anymore and that if I took a Business degree I could have something to fall on if my plan fails or I change my mind.. I also recently earned my AA degree and will be attending the ceremony in June so I started asking myself could I possibly complete these business classes and earn my Bachelors in time as well.. I would love to surprise my family with this achievement as they have decided to make the trip to Oregon with me to attend.. Is anyone a prospective teacher here that is debating on this as well?

Maybe it's just me, but if you are truly leaning strongly towards changing your major/degree and it is doable/makes sense to your life plan, I'd say go with what you want to do.

This is the time in your life to choose what you want major-wise, and if you have the money & time (and are highly motivated) to knock out a business degree, then go for it, rather than going with "quickest/cheapest" and regretting it later :p

[Mamasaphire]

Of course, you can see by my Siggy that I took several
classes just because I wanted to... and I chose a major that took a little longer (BA.SS instead of the BALS which I could have finished a while ago).

[cali86]

4 classes left ... but one is capstone course and I have to pay application fee waiver so total degree will be about 4,000 out of pocket or I could complete the 12 classes in business I have left transfer them to my current university and only spend $800 out of pocket for a degree in business administration..

" I am only a few classes away from my liberal studies degree"

how many is
if less than 5 I'd stick with the liberal studies degree

[cali86]

lol I'm in the same vote. I have been in college for years.. I want to be done but I also want a degree that's worth my time. I am not sure I want to go through more tests and a credential program anymore. I want to teach but they want so much to become a teacher now I'm starting to think forget it.

Of course, you can see by my Siggy that I took several
classes just because I wanted to... and I chose a major that took a little longer (BA.SS instead of the BALS which I could have finished a while ago).

[rlw74]

Well, I don't know your specific situation, but if you really want something specific I would say go for it. In the end, you don't want to have regrets that you took shortcuts. If time and money are similar, it may be worth it to switch.

I say that with this caveat - only if you think you will stick with it and finish. I put off my education for two decades. Even though I tried to go back several times, life got in the way. Looking back, I wish I had gone ahead and finished when I had the chance but I was undecided about what I wanted to do long-term and was holding out for a "better" degree.

I worked in the insurance industry for 10+ years and the only thing they cared about for the higher level positions was if you had a piece of paper, the necessary work experience and could pass industry certification tests. I went into banking after that and it was the same way. Basically, a business degree vs. a Liberal Arts degree didn't matter - both graduates started out in the same position anyway and either worked their way up or didn't (and I worked in several different markets across the U.S. and found this to be true)

One option would be to get the BALS and go after industry certificates in your desired field. (Real Estate, CFP, Insurance Licenses, etc - those speak more to an employer than anything else). But if that makes you nervous, attend a few different career fairs in your area and ask the hiring managers if they care about the major or not. Look long-term too, if you want to go to grad school, look at programs and ask the college's what they want for prerequisites. You might need to take those business courses anyway. Obviously if teaching is ever an option, consider that now. Specific fields require specific majors and all the General Studies degrees in the world won't get you far in that direction if that is where your heart is at.

[mog538]

I finished my BALS with TESC (as it was then) in 2015 and now wishing I had spent the extra few months to get a subject specific degree. I was not considering teaching as a career nor had family traveling to my graduation ceremony so I wouldn't say that our situations are comparable but I would suggest if it is possible to change paths (and as previously suggested - complete that new path) then you won't be sitting further down the line wishing you had changed.

[rlw74]

This might be kind of a rabbit trail, but with the new course concentrations at TESU does anyone know how the actual diploma looks?
For example, is it a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies with a concentration in (Humanities, Social Sciences, etc) or does it actually say Bachelor of Arts in Humanities, Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences etc? Because then it might not be a matter of changing your major to business. If you know you want to teach in a specific field maybe you could major in one of the concentrations and pursue a teaching licensure in your state with that? For example, Social Sciences might let you get teacher licensure in History? Just a thought, but I don't know if that is how it works. The difference between me getting a degree as a BA.LS or BA.SS is literally only taking one extra class but I thought it would only come in under the Liberal Studies degree anyway and not show up on the diploma. If anyone knows differently I would be curious to see.

[dfrecore]

A couple of questions:

1) what state do you live in (for example, in CA, it does not matter what your degree is in, I just had a friend who had her degree in Marketing get a teaching credential through an online program through the state)

2) what credits do you already have, and how long will it take to get those remaining courses you need? If you want to list your credits here, I can help you with a degree plan if you need one.