Fastest degree

[snocera]

I am 6 months from having my degree from a traditional college, however, I need a degree now in order to keep my current job. I have all of the credits that I should need for a Liberal Arts degree but I'm not sure which college would be able to graduate me the fastest. I spoke with TESC and Excelsior and they both require classes to be taken there in order to graduate (Capstone and Information Literacy). With Excelsior, that translates to 8 weeks from when the class starts. I tried to get a time frame from TESC but they won't talk to me until the transcripts come in. Can anyone give me some information on a way to get this done as quickly as possible?

[bjcheung77]

LOL, you just answered your own question. It takes time for each place to get your evaluation and for you to do their capstones.
The earliest is September graduation, that's the fastest you can get, there is NO other school that can graduate you faster.

Take it or leave it, in other words, get the degree or don't... it's up to you on the wait time.
I mean, even if you have all your courses BUT the capstone, you still have to apply for graduation.

[SolarKat]

Can you stall them with an associates? If so...you'd be cutting it super close, but you might possibly squeeze in at WVNCC for their end-of-the-month conferral. In order to do this...you'd need to do some things *today*:

a) Apply @ WVNCC for the Board of Governors Degree Completion Program AAS. (Check that page. See if you've done the required core of 21 credits. You probably have.)
b) Order transcripts sent to WVNCC, esp anything that can be sent electronically.

Then, call or email the school Monday to explain your situation. The BOG program exists for adults in similar situations, needing a degree, or kickstarting into career development. They may be able to rush your application. (You could even attach unofficial transcript PDFs so they can help you determine if the program is a fit for you.)

Finally, you'll need to get your graduation application in by June 16th. (Hopefully your transcripts will come electronically, making this much more doable.)

If you can get this done, you'll have your AAS conferred on June 30th, while you're still scrambling on the bachelors...it *might* buy you a little time, as an act of good faith on your part.

Your only cost would be any fees for sending transcripts to WVNCC from your school(s), ACE, etc. WVNCC does not charge for this program.

Good luck!

ETA, for anyone interested: If you miss the June 30th conferral, there's one more opportunity this summer:
--Application Deadline: JULY 28
--Graduation/Conferral: AUGUST 11.

The next conferral will be in December...deadline/conferral dates have not been published that I've seen.

[bjcheung77]

Can you stall them with an associates?

I don't think they're looking for an associates, but that's hopeful thinking. Thank you for mentioning that!
I'm not sure if there is a Bachelors by exam in the UK, but there are a few that are for Masters degrees.
If you have the $, I would recommend a UK MBA, it will only take 10 exams and you get a well recognized Masters!

Heriot-Watt is really famous for their degrees and this is no exception, my buddy did just that about a decade ago.
He did that after his BA from Excelsior though. He also went for his Masters in Finance from HW, also in 10 exams.
Technically, you can finish it in 10 days. One exam a day, but I think that's overkill... even for geniuses!

[Ideas]

If you have the $, I would recommend a UK MBA, it will only take 10 exams and you get a well recognized Masters!

Heriot-Watt is really famous for their degrees and this is no exception, my buddy did just that about a decade ago.
He did that after his BA from Excelsior though. He also went for his Masters in Finance from HW, also in 10 exams.
Technically, you can finish it in 10 days. One exam a day, but I think that's overkill... even for geniuses!

I read their exams are pretty hard. Wouldn't an MBA from WGU make more sense for most people?

[SolarKat]

I don't think they're looking for an associates, but that's hopeful thinking. Thank you for mentioning that!
I'm not sure if there is a Bachelors by exam in the UK, but there are a few that are for Masters degrees.
If you have the $, I would recommend a UK MBA, it will only take 10 exams and you get a well recognized Masters!

Heriot-Watt is really famous for their degrees and this is no exception, my buddy did just that about a decade ago.
He did that after his BA from Excelsior though. He also went for his Masters in Finance from HW, also in 10 exams.
Technically, you can finish it in 10 days. One exam a day, but I think that's overkill... even for geniuses!

They're right in the middle of the summer diet, so those are out. There are a few in August, but not many. And the next exam session (for the USA) is in December. So, that's probably out if it's needed ASAP...for a genius. Those exams are not easy, so mere mortals are unlikely to be ready for *all* of them come December.

[swalke321]

TESU has very specific requirements so you would have to look at their degree requirements to see if you satisfy all the areas. For BA liberal studies degree TESU requires a capstone course which takes 12 weeks. If you take the capstone course in July the course would finish at the end of September in time for a December graduation. Excelsior might be quicker depending on their semester dates.

[dfrecore]

All of the Big 3 (TESU, Excelsior, & Charter Oak) all require at least a capstone course be taken. COSC also requires a cornerstone course. TESU just phased out the BSBA degree capstone TECEP exam, but you wouldn't qualify for it with a liberal arts degree anyway.

If you post your credits here, we can help you determine if you have all of the courses you need in order to get a degree quickly. But be aware of the following:

1) COSC does not have capstone courses in the summer terms, so the earliest you could take it would be the fall term, so the earliest you could graduate would be December 31.

2) TESU has capstones available every month, so you could enroll now for the July term, which would be over 9/24. You could then apply for the December graduation (mid-December).

3) EC has a capstone course June 26-Aug 20, with grades due 8/28, and possibly graduation on 10/20 (or 11/17 if you didn't make the 8/25 deadline because your grade wasn't yet posted).

I'm guessing you will graduate from your current school in December anyway, so there's not much point looking at TESU or COSC at this point.

I think your best bet is to show your company the degree plan from your school, your transcript with completed courses towards that degree, and that you're registered for the fall semester for the courses needed for the diploma, and ask for a 6-month extension on the requirement until you're complete. It's probably the best you can hope for at this point.

[snocera]

I was looking at the Excelsior option and wondered if I passed the Capstone course, would I at that point be considered degreed. The only thing lacking would be the actual physical degree but I would have met all of the educational requirements. At that point, the HR people where I work would or should be satisfied. I will see if I can buy time to do that - otherwise the worst that can happen is I will have two degrees.

[snocera]

And I will have no job, I should say. But hopefully with two degrees, I would be able to get a job.