HappyPeanut - Degree Plan

[HappyPeanut]

I went to school for a vocational graphic design certificate at a local community college. I got hired and did well getting good jobs. I never wanted to do a 4 year degree because i never found it useful. Now I'm older and ideas change. I want to live in Asia now but its difficult to work without a degree. I want to teach English. I have a few questions.
1. i did not do my general-ed and will study from scratch. I want to do all my general-ed credits at Study.com. Is this the right choice?
2. i want to enroll to TESU. Do i enroll now and pay for tuition? or... do all my general ed credits at study.com first then enroll and pay tuition to transfer credits at TESU
3. My Major is English Teaching. is there a solid outline of courses i can follow? would you mind sharing?
 Thank you all... my name is HappyPeanut

[rachel83az]

1. No! Do not get your general eds from SDC. You are only allowed to bring in 90 credits from a single source and SDC has several important courses you may need later. Plus, they are expensive compared to the alternative. Use Sophia. It will fill out most of your GE requirements at TESU. Sophia is much, much cheaper and faster than doing courses through SDC. Sophia is $79/mo. and there is no limit to the number of their courses you are allowed to finish within that timeframe. Study.com restricts you to, at most, 5 courses per month and costs at least $200/mo. to be able to get credit. 

2. If you have existing credits, I would apply now and send in your transcript(s) so that you see what does and does not need to be completed for your degree. If you do not have credits, start with Sophia. Put credits on your ACE transcript. You can then apply, send in your ACE transcript, and either take your cornerstone course or pay for a TECEP exam to become a fully-enrolled student.

3. TESU does not have English Teaching as a major. The list of degrees you can get is here: https://www.tesu.edu/academics/online-degrees You can get a BA in just English but it requires either a specific CLEP exam or for you to take Survey of Literature I and II with TESU itself. 

You do not necessarily need a degree specifically in English or English Teaching to be able to move to Asia and teach English. You could get a degree in something else because most such programs only require a Bachelor's degree and (preferably) a TEFL certificate. Fortunately, with BridgeTEFL, you can kill 2 birds with one stone and get 6 credits you can use towards your electives PLUS at least a 120-hour TEFL certificate. https://bridge.edu/tefl/courses/speciali...ish-online I would recommend choosing the 180-hour certificate as the more reputable programs require/prefer that your certificate includes a teaching practicum.

[bjcheung77]

OMG! That's nostalgic, two decades/two dozen years ago I wanted to do the same thing!  Where are you from?  BTW, your alias reminds me of LittlePotato for some reason, haha.   I usually recommend the StraighterLine/Study.com combo in my signature, but now have changed that to Sophia.org/Study.com instead because StraighterLine/Sophia.org both have courses only geared for General Education/Lower Level courses, and they're cheap/easy/fast.  Study.com should be used for Upper Level requirements to finish off the degree, not to start off the degree.

Apply to TESU - transfer all your community college credits, most if not all should go into the "other" field or the Free Electives field...
Invest in a second monitor if you don't have one already, this will allow you to multi-task and research/study more effectively.  
You should complete ALL the FREE TEEX courses located here, for free electives: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Fr..._of_Credit
Then complete ALL the Sophia.org courses located here, for general ed/AOS/FE: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/So...lency_List

[dfrecore]

Some clarification - Sophia only allows 2 courses per month now for the $79/mo last I heard.

Also your Graphic Design cert may bring in a bunch of credits that may or may not work in the degree; if not, they will be free electives. So I would wait to see what happens with those before doing the tedious TEEX courses, since you may not need them.

[HappyPeanut]

1 this makes alot more sense.Thank you! i will definitely try out sophia.com!
2 most of my classes were art classes i dont think i will transfer many credits.

I have a TFOL certificate! I was thinking maybe because i have a TFOL certficate it would be much easier to teach in Asia but i keep seeing bachelors degree preferred also comes with little more pay.

Any Bachelors degree accredited by any school will be acceptable in Asia. So if i find the easiest online bachelors program i wouldn't mind learning irrelevant subjects.




1. No! Do not get your general eds from SDC. You are only allowed to bring in 90 credits from a single source and SDC has several important courses you may need later. Plus, they are expensive compared to the alternative. Use Sophia. It will fill out most of your GE requirements at TESU. Sophia is much, much cheaper and faster than doing courses through SDC. Sophia is $79/mo. and there is no limit to the number of their courses you are allowed to finish within that timeframe. Study.com restricts you to, at most, 5 courses per month and costs at least $200/mo. to be able to get credit. 

2. If you have existing credits, I would apply now and send in your transcript(s) so that you see what does and does not need to be completed for your degree. If you do not have credits, start with Sophia. Put credits on your ACE transcript. You can then apply, send in your ACE transcript, and either take your cornerstone course or pay for a TECEP exam to become a fully-enrolled student.

3. TESU does not have English Teaching as a major. The list of degrees you can get is here: https://www.tesu.edu/academics/online-degrees You can get a BA in just English but it requires either a specific CLEP exam or for you to take Survey of Literature I and II with TESU itself. 

You do not necessarily need a degree specifically in English or English Teaching to be able to move to Asia and teach English. You could get a degree in something else because most such programs only require a Bachelor's degree and (preferably) a TEFL certificate. Fortunately, with BridgeTEFL, you can kill 2 birds with one stone and get 6 credits you can use towards your electives PLUS at least a 120-hour TEFL certificate. https://bridge.edu/tefl/courses/speciali...ish-online I would recommend choosing the 180-hour certificate as the more reputable programs require/prefer that your certificate includes a teaching practicum.

[ss20ts]

Some clarification - Sophia only allows 2 courses per month now for the $79/mo last I heard.

Also your Graphic Design cert may bring in a bunch of credits that may or may not work in the degree; if not, they will be free electives.  So I would wait to see what happens with those before doing the tedious TEEX courses, since you may not need them.

No. Sophia allows you to work on 2 courses at a time. You can take as many courses during the month as you want. You can only have 2 active at the same time.

[HappyPeanut]

Some clarification - Sophia only allows 2 courses per month now for the $79/mo last I heard.

Also your Graphic Design cert may bring in a bunch of credits that may or may not work in the degree; if not, they will be free electives.  So I would wait to see what happens with those before doing the tedious TEEX courses, since you may not need them.

Most classes would be considered electives. I think i should also wait! Thanks for your reply!

---

OMG! That's nostalgic, two decades/two dozen years ago I wanted to do the same thing!  Where are you from?  BTW, your alias reminds me of LittlePotato for some reason, haha.   I usually recommend the StraighterLine/Study.com combo in my signature, but now have changed that to Sophia.org/Study.com instead because StraighterLine/Sophia.org both have courses only geared for General Education/Lower Level courses, and they're cheap/easy/fast.  Study.com should be used for Upper Level requirements to finish off the degree, not to start off the degree.

Apply to TESU - transfer all your community college credits, most if not all should go into the "other" field or the Free Electives field...
Invest in a second monitor if you don't have one already, this will allow you to multi-task and research/study more effectively.  
You should complete ALL the FREE TEEX courses located here, for free electives: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Fr..._of_Credit
Then complete ALL the Sophia.org courses located here, for general ed/AOS/FE: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/So...lency_List

I am from California! English is my mother language. I built a relationship with China. Although covid is going on right now. Im optimistic i can live and be with friends in Asia. Teaching English can make good money in Asia and would be interesting to complete a Bachelors degree online hahah

[rachel83az]

1 this makes alot more sense.Thank you! i will definitely try out sophia.com!
2 most of my classes were art classes i dont think i will transfer many credits.

I have a TFOL certificate! I was thinking maybe because i have a TFOL certficate it would be much easier to teach in Asia but i keep seeing bachelors degree preferred also comes with little more pay.

Any Bachelors degree accredited by any school will be acceptable in Asia. So if i find the easiest online bachelors program i wouldn't mind learning irrelevant subjects.

The absolute easiest degree to get, as far as available courses, would be a Liberal Studies degree. However, with the number of available business courses available at Sophia now, a close second would probably be a business degree, possibly BSBA general management. Just in case you have to stop teaching for whatever reason, you'd still have a highly sought-after degree. Of course, business wouldn't be for everyone. Psychology and History are also popular degrees that can be obtained for a little more effort.

[HappyPeanut]

1 this makes alot more sense.Thank you! i will definitely try out sophia.com!
2 most of my classes were art classes i dont think i will transfer many credits.

I have a TFOL certificate! I was thinking maybe because i have a TFOL certficate it would be much easier to teach in Asia but i keep seeing bachelors degree preferred also comes with little more pay.

Any Bachelors degree accredited by any school will be acceptable in Asia. So if i find the easiest online bachelors program i wouldn't mind learning irrelevant subjects.

The absolute easiest degree to get, as far as available courses, would be a Liberal Studies degree. However, with the number of available business courses available at Sophia now, a close second would probably be a business degree, possibly BSBA general management. Just in case you have to stop teaching for whatever reason, you'd still have a highly sought-after degree. Of course, business wouldn't be for everyone. Psychology and History are also popular degrees that can be obtained for a little more effort.

im getting ready to get started on my GE classes at sophia.com. How long will it take me to finish my GE classes and also how long will it take to complete the Liberal Studies degree? thank you Rachel!

[rachel83az]

This will depend a lot on you. If you're working full-time on your degree, you can possibly be finished at Sophia within just a couple of months. But delays in grading English Comp and/or Public Speaking could stretch that out in spite of your best efforts. It's a good idea to start with English Comp and work on other classes while you're waiting for the grades to come back. Don't do both English Comp classes or an English Comp and Public Speaking at the same time.

For the whole degree, it's not unusual to be able to finish in about a year. It could be a little less or a little more. Some people who really hustle are able to get everything done in 6 months.