Considering Charter Oak BSBA - Should I?

[ChilliDawg]

Having just completed my BALS from TESU, I am already itching to work towards something else.

One second, I have my finger on the Application button for WGU for my Masters.

Another part of me wants to transfer in my credits to Charter Oak and see how long it will take me to finish the BSBA.  Simply so that I have something other than just Liberal Studies on my resume'.

I have a whole lot of Business credits.  ACC101, ACC102, Business Ethics, Org Comm, Org Manage, Bus. Law, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, etc.  I think I have quite a bit of what I need to complete it, using only a few classes from SDC.

Anyone else follow this path, and have any suggestions or observations?

[armstrongsubero]

In my opinion, the MBA would be a better credential, I don't know your experience but more places don't care about a BA vs BSBA, an MBA will give you a leg up on competition at work and is an extra credential.

Do your masters at WGU, you wont regret it.

[ChilliDawg]

I had not really considered going for MBA. If I did the Masters program at WGU, I had been considering MSIT or the Cybersecurity Masters. I work in the I.T. industry with 30 years experience.

The reason that the BSBA from COSC came to mind was that I feel that I would be SO CLOSE to finishing it. And MBA from WGU does sound appealing, but I am not so sure I would enjoy a group Capstone project. Also, not so sure I would cruise through an MBA as fast as I could the MSIT degree.

[armstrongsubero]

Well do the MSIT, with you experience a masters will have much more applicability, though with 30 years experience one could argue that no one really cares about degrees anymore.

With 30 years experience a masters in anything will be far far better.

[natshar]

The reason that the BSBA from COSC came to mind was that I feel that I would be SO CLOSE to finishing it. 

Time wise: Remember COSC requires both a capstone and cornerstone which require two separate terms. So you are looking at minimum of 16 weeks just for those courses (I think they are 8 weeks long, idk I'm not a COSC student). Plus the time it takes for them to evaluate transcripts and everything else. That means the process would be a minimum of 4-5 months if you started today and that's if everything was on track. Compare that to WGU where a term is 6 months, so it is basically the same amount of time if can do WGU in a term.

[ReyMysterioso]

Having just completed my BALS from TESU, I am already itching to work towards something else.

One second, I have my finger on the Application button for WGU for my Masters.

Another part of me wants to transfer in my credits to Charter Oak and see how long it will take me to finish the BSBA.  Simply so that I have something other than just Liberal Studies on my resume'.

I have a whole lot of Business credits.  ACC101, ACC102, Business Ethics, Org Comm, Org Manage, Bus. Law, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, etc.  I think I have quite a bit of what I need to complete it, using only a few classes from SDC.

Anyone else follow this path, and have any suggestions or observations?

Yeah. Check this thread for complete advising sheets that show what all courses slot where and how: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Transcript
Now, seeing as how this would be your second Bachelor's, they may not require you to do a cornerstone course. But I'm not 100% sure since the first came from a different university. Your mileage may vary.
I can say that having a liberal arts degree is better than no degree. But having a business administration degree is a hell of a lot better than a liberal studies degree in terms of employment opportunities. It demonstrates to employers that you know some fundamentals of management, and basic business functions.

An MBA is better than a BSBA....but honestly not by as much as people think. MBAs are a dime-a-dozen, and I just had a guy ask me questions about how to get involved in sports broadcasting on LinkedIn because he did an MBA and found out all too late that the degree is way over-saturated and he can't get anywhere with it. An MBA without relevant work experience has very little value. An MBA with good relevant work experience has much more value. I don't know what's on your resume, but it's something you should consider.

If you're confident you can complete a master's at WGU in a single term for $4k, I'd go for it. Master's level degrees have value in the marketplace. They may not get you a job per se over an undergrad in business....but they could get you higher pay. Companies are very bad at equating compensation to actual skills, but very good at equating compensation to paper credentials.

If you feel like you're really really close and can knock out a COSC BSBA for between $2-3k for very little effort..that's not necessarily a bad use of your money either. 

I'm currently appealing to them for a second bachelor's in communications myself, seeing if I can knock that out very easily for just over 2 grand.

[dfrecore]

I think at COSC the Cornerstone is waived if you are going for a 2nd degree. Also, their requirements are similar to TESU:

To earn a second baccalaureate degree a student must:
- earn a minimum of 30 semester credits subsequent to the award of the initial degree
- earn at least 15 of the subsequent credits at the upper level in the new Concentration
- meet all distributive requirements
- apply no more than 9 credits from the previous degree earned toward the new Concentration

So if any of your business credits were earned before your 1st degree, you're going to need a lot more credits.

I personally think you should just move on to a MSIT degree. It's WAY more useful than a BSBA. Like, 100x more. No contest.

[ChilliDawg]

You make a really good point. Just because my Advising sheet from TESU showed a bunch of business and IT credits that were not applied to my BALS degree, does not mean that I can freely use them at COSC(or anywhere else) to earn a second Bachelor. That whole thing about earning the credits SUBSEQUENT to the conferral of 1st degree slipped my mind.

I guess that really does make my decision much easier. I could most likely knock out the MSIT in one or two terms at WGU. I could do it in one term if I want to have another brutal winter like I did this past winter. (12 UL Credits\6 LL credits, and a Capstone in 5 months).

I think I have enough money remaining on my Tuition Reimbursement at work to pay for a full term at WGU, yet, this year.

Thanks to everyone for the input.