Cost of TESU vs. Excelsior

[TwinMom]

If I am correct, if you do the residency waiver at TESU, then TESU is about $2500-ish more than Excelsior for all costs?

[dfrecore]

TESU is $6972 for all tuition & fees doing just the 6cr there plus the residency waiver; they are $4299 the FT/FR term (where you would do 15cr including the Cornerstone and capstone).

EU is $4031 for 7cr.

The main difference is going to be that TESU has far more options for degrees, like Computer Science, and AA alongside your BA/BS, certificates, concentrations for the BALS, etc. Just many more choices. They also only require 18cr of UL.

Excelsior OTOH allows for 113cr of ACE/NCCRS to be transferred in (TESU requires 30cr of RA), and their BSL allows for 60r of Free Electives (TESU's BALS only allows for 30cr of FE). Excelsior also now charges $300 for each additional eval after the first one, so you need to go in knowing EXACTLY how your credits go in or you'll be paying for the mistakes big time.

Pros and cons for each.

[bjcheung77]

@TwinMom, I highly recommend doing the 15 credit semester, you can prepare for the e-pack prior to the semester while you're getting all the required transfer credit into the BALS Social Science concentration (you can take the easiest e-pack, CIS-1070 or MKT-2010, even if it duplicates your current credits) and then cornerstone/capstone, you need two more easy courses to finish the deal. If you think there is an issue with taking too many courses, you can extend the Capstone. Link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ppreciated

[rachel83az]

Also, the Excelsior capstone has a group project. I'm sure there are people out there who would pay more to avoid having to do group work. Students who have completed Excelsior degrees tend to complain about the group project the most.

[TwinMom]

Also, the Excelsior capstone has a group project. I'm sure there are people out there who would pay more to avoid having to do group work. Students who have completed Excelsior degrees tend to complain about the group project the most.

Funny you say that because that is the EXACT reason I'm trying to decide if it's worth paying more to go to TESU.

[dfrecore]

If you have enough RA credit that it's not an issue, then really you can look at other things besides that (probably the biggest hurdle).

If you're not getting a BLS/BALS, which would generally favor Excelsior since that's not a degree you should spend extra on, then you really should be looking at which school offers the degree you want, rather than cost (not that you don't include cost as a factor, but it's only one factor out of many).

IIRC, you want a BALS w/SocSci concentration (not sure why) and ASNSM in CompSci. Excelsior doesn't offer either of these. I don't think the SocSci concentration should be a deal-breaker; not many jobs are asking for that. I'm also not really sure why anyone would get an ASNSM/CS, since I don't think it's a lot of bang for your buck. I might instead encourage my kids to shoot for the BACS and see how that goes. It's a much more useful degree for sure.

You really can go either direction.

[TwinMom]

Thank you all for your help and responses! My twins are 17 yo and doing the 15 credits/semester including C & C seems like waaaay too much for them to do well.

I was only interested in SS concentration if we were able to do it without any extra classes.

The asnsm in computer science I hoped would have helped them in applying for jobs that require a degree in cs related fields. But, again, probably not something we will pursue since we'd basically be starting from scratch except for a couple of classes. Without that I can't rationalize spending so much more $$ at TESU vs. Excelsior for basically the same Liberal Studies degree.

So they will finish up at Excelsior where they only need 2 UL arts & sciences classes to finish before they apply. So pray for them while dealing with the group projects. eek!

They will also continue working towards more computer certs. My second son will get his Network+ this semester and they will both finish up their aws cert.

Thank you all!

[dfrecore]

Thank you all for your help and responses! My twins are 17 yo and doing the 15 credits/semester including C & C seems like waaaay too much for them to do well.

I was only interested in SS concentration if we were able to do it without any extra classes.

The asnsm in computer science I hoped would have helped them in applying for jobs that require a degree in cs related fields. But, again, probably not something we will pursue since we'd basically be starting from scratch except for a couple of classes. Without that I can't rationalize spending so much more $$ at TESU vs. Excelsior for basically the same Liberal Studies degree.

So they will finish up at Excelsior where they only need 2 UL arts & sciences classes to finish before they apply.  So pray for them while dealing with the group projects. eek!

They will also continue working towards more computer certs. My second son will get his Network+ this semester and they will both finish up their aws cert.

Thank you all!

Is there a reason to do the BALS/BLS instead of taking some time to figure out if they actually want a BACS or something computer-related instead?  It seems like you're rushing to get them "any" bachelor's degree quickly, instead of "the right bachelor's degree."  A BALS/BLS seems like a waste of time and money, when you're looking at getting certs and things like that.  You might be better off having them wait and see what they actually want to do before committing to a bachelor's degree.

[rachel83az]

Good point. It'd take a break for 6-12 months and let them take random Coursera certificates and the like. Maybe they'll find out they have a burning passion for Marketing, in which case a BALS degree isn't going to be very useful. Maybe one of them will want a History degree from UMPI. Or accounting.

A BALS can be useful for an adult with an established career. It's not a great look for a lot of young teens.

[dfrecore]

Good point. It'd take a break for 6-12 months and let them take random Coursera certificates and the like. Maybe they'll find out they have a burning passion for Marketing, in which case a BALS degree isn't going to be very useful. Maybe one of them will want a History degree from UMPI. Or accounting.

A BALS can be useful for an adult with an established career. It's not a great look for a lot of young teens.

Obviously UMPI is not an option for several years (you must be 20yo to apply), but the rest I agree with 100%.  There's no reason to get a BALS/BLS this young, as it's not going to do a lot for a career for someone just starting out.

I always recommend the "right" degree over "ANY" degree if there's a "right" degree to be had.