Degree advice

[tifftiff97]

Hi everyone! I’ve lurked on the site for a while and I love how helpful everyone is. Thanks to this site I will be getting the Pierpont BOG degree in December (if everything goes through quick enough). So I thought I’d get some guidance on getting a Bachelors degree. 

Your Location: California, United States. 

Your Age: 44

What kind of degree do you want?: My goal is to get into Human Resources. 

Current Regional Accredited Credits: 

Arizona State University: 1 credit
CIS-194: Business Technology Fundamentals

Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: 

Sophia Credits: 48

•English Composition I
•Macroeconomics 
•Introduction to Information Technology
•College Algebra
•Human Biology
•Microeconomics
•Visual Communications
•Art History I 
•Art History II
•Intro to Nutrition 
•Intro to Web Development
•Intro to Business 
•Principles of Finance 
•Financial Accounting 
•Project Management 
•Environmental Science

Coursera: 15 Credits
•Google IT Professional

Total Credits Completed:  64

Any certifications or military experience? None. 

Budget: FAFSA says I qualify for $7,400 Pell Grant and I can take out a small loan if absolutely necessary. 

Commitments: For the next few months I will be working 65-68 hours a week because I will be starting a second job. But only for a few months. My son is in the 11th grade so he just wants to play video games lol. 

Dedicated time to study: Not a lot for the next few months. My only day off will be Saturdays but I will try to get at least 4-5 hours of study time in then. Sundays about 2 hours.  I will also be able to do an hour or two here and there during the week when work is slow at my day job. 

Timeline: I don’t have a specific timeline in mind. I would like to do it as fast as possible but since my study hours will be low for the next little while, I know it will take a little time. 

Tuition assistance/reimbursement: None. 

Comments: I tend to be an over-sharer, so my apologies in advance. I have been saying I need to get a degree for years but I kept it on the back burner because I honestly don’t like school. I was a stay at home mom for 20 years (I also have a 23 & 18 year old) and it wasn’t until my divorce that pushed me to get one. I flew through the Sophia classes in a few months because everything was open book and I stuck to the courses that didn’t have any touchstones (except English). I do not like writing papers or having to participate in discussion posts. A couple of papers are fine but writing them every week would be too much for me. Testing is better but I do get anxiety when I’m on a timer [font=.Apple Color Emoji UI]??‍♀️  Seems like a no-win situation lol. But I know I can do it. I did look at a few Wiki pages and I’m leaning towards UMPI. But I’m not sure which classes I should take before I enroll, which to take there, and which degree would be best for me. Thank you for any advice and guidance!![/font]

[bjcheung77]

Welcome to the board and congrats in getting that Pierpont BOG AAS! I would suggest you continue with Coursera/TADA quickly, as the signup date ends Oct 1. You can take the freebies towards the UMPI BAS with a minor of your choice. Once you're done with these Coursera/TADA offerings, work on your Sophia.org for the max transfer of 90 credits (you'll have more than that though). Here's the WIKI: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...egree_Plan

[rachel83az]

I wouldn't get a BAS. Just because you have a Pierpont degree doesn't mean you can (or should) get into the BAS degree program. If you want to go into Human Resources, they're probably either going to be looking for a Business degree or a HR-specific one. So, either the BABA Management & Leadership at UMPI or the BSBA HR/Org. Management degree from TESU. We've got degree plans for both on the wiki.

I would suggest getting the Google Project Management certificate while you think about your options. You should be able to use this for both UMPI and TESU.

With a Pell Grant, a UMPI degree should be free (or just about). For TESU, you might need to spend a bit out of pocket or take out a couple thousand in loans. By utilizing XAMK/Metropolia credits and/or flat-rate TESU terms (when you have time), you can drastically reduce potential out of pocket costs. IIRC, 2 or 3 flat-rate terms of 9 credits each at TESU will maximize your Pell and prevent you from having to pay the residency waiver fee. The rest of your "RA" credits can come from XAMK/Metropolia for free + $200 transcript evaluation fee.

UMPI will utilize mostly Sophia credits and is the most straightforward to manage. But you'll need to take the Human Biology lab and Spanish I. TESU will use Sophia, Study.com, (maybe) Davar, XAMK/Metropolia, and is a little trickier to manage. Even without the residency waiver fee, it'll cost more money out of pocket. But it's an actual HR degree. This may not matter to you, but it does to some people and that's why I mention it. TESU also would allow you to pick up extra degrees or certificates for (almost) nothing if you think it'd boost your resume.

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...gree_Plans
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...cate_Plans

Obviously, focus on your Bachelor's degree. That'll be the absolute biggest boost to your resume. But if you do choose to go to TESU, and picking up something like a certificate in Computer Information Systems or Marketing would only cost you a little more time/energy/money, it might be worth it.

[Duneranger]

HR is sort of hard to break into without experience or internships. The market gets flooded with 22 year old who have no time commitments and have that degree already (with internships/networking).

With a 20 year gap in relevant work experience (you haven’t said what you do) I don’t know if I’d recommend an accelerated CBE degree. Anyway you could just go at a slower pace and take classes at another online program that’s bigger and has more employment/internship experiences?

Otherwise it might be a long road till you start to see success and money in HR.

My friend is an HR  hiring manager at Amazon. She clears 250k plus and works from home with a baby.  The competition she gets for even the lowest roles in HR is fierce.

The CBE degrees shine if you are already working in the field.

[bjcheung77]

As I mentioned in many posts, you'll get various advice, answers, and options that pull you in all directions, you're the one who will know which route to go and you get to decide... I recommend the trifecta of certs, degree, experience, as most if not all degrees at the Masters level don't require an undergraduate degree of the same subject, you just need the prerequisites completed.  

Since you're strapped for energy, money, time, work on the FREE Coursera/TADA/TEEX offerings to get the hang of Business, IT, etc and rack up credits towards your degree. Here's a few examples where I tell people to work on the trifecta and/or get 'well versed' in their fields of choice. By going the BAS or BLS route, you can get into multiple fields, not just put all your eggs in the HR.

Here's a link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid397564
Read post #11 from this Link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...pid=404010
Review post #2 and my last post #25: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...for-advice

You can decide the route, your cost, energy, time involved as well, compare your options.  Again, this is what I propose, work on the freebies to see which ones appeal to you, the Coursera/TADA offerings, TEEX Cybersecurity and use those as technical elective credits for the BAS/BLS.  For the UMPI BAS/BLS, either do the Management or PM minor, both if you wanted, take the 3-4 courses that can grant you those 3 class exemption to the UMPI MAOL as you need UL credit anyways.

When you're done with the BAS/BLS, you can decide if you want to do the UMPI MAOL, you'll just need 9 courses instead of the original 12, as the 3 taken for the BAS/BLS would grant exception credit.  If you're still strapped for cash and don't have that much time, you can slowly do the ENEB MBA/Masters HR, this is where the HR courses come into play.  If you add the costs to the Bachelors and the ENEB, it'll be cheaper than just the TESU BSBA HR degree itself.

Just to let you know, the TESU BSBA HR, has a few courses related to HR, in fact, for that particular AOS, they only have one course that is HR related, the rest is general business/psychology courses (most of their AOS are too except for CIS, Finance, Marketing), you do not need a specific degree to get into HR, you can take the same Stutdy.com course and transfer it into UMPI BAS/BLS and you'll have the same knowledge.  I would shoot for the PHR, SPHR cert down the road though if you wanted.

[tifftiff97]

Thank you everyone for the advice!! I’ll definitely be attending UMPI. I’ll do more research on the wiki to decide which degree would be best for me. And I’ll knock out the coursera courses and any Sophia ones that will transfer. Thank you again!!

[tifftiff97]

Hi everyone!


I'm hoping someone can review my degree plan for the UMPI BABA M&L so I can be sure I'm not missing anything or taking any unnecessary classes. Everything that’s crossed off are classes I’ve already completed. Also, I've seen I should finish all the Sophia/Study courses before I apply. Is that still the case? My goal is to start UMPI in January so I would need to apply by December. Thank you for any help and all that you do!! 


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...ue&sd=true

[rachel83az]

Yes, in general, it's a good idea to finish as much as possible before you apply. If you don't, they can always deny your transfers (though, I haven't heard of them doing that). Splitting your attention between UMPI and another platform can also wind up costing you money when you're not able to finish either in a timely manner.

That said, your plan looks good.

Because you've got 4 SDC classes planned, you'll want to start there ASAP. Under these specific circumstances, it might be a good idea to start at SDC now and continue to do Sophia once you've taken your two exams for the month. Start with Accounting 301 and Business 307. These have assignments that will take some time to grade. Not a lot of time, but if you complete them later then there is a chance that they won't be done in time for you to apply. Business 209 and Business 110 don't have assignments, only exams. They should be graded in plenty of time for you to transfer the classes to UMPI in December.

[tifftiff97]

Thank you so much for that info and looking over my plan! I’ll get started asap on SDC.

[bjcheung77]

Basically, hold off until you're done with Sophia.org... I would complete them provider by provider, so you don't waste cash on a second subscription, essentially, finish all you need to with Sophia.org first, then Study.com, finally end it with UMPI's residency requirements of 30 credits...