Hello, Newbie here!

[Ladyplf]

Hello everyone, I've been reading up on how to get a degree fast and cheap and this site is the best thing I have ever found. I have decided to finally finish my education and get that degree I've been putting off, but now I don't know quite how to go about it. I am unemployed and have no spare cash to fund this thing but I am going to try.

So some background before I go on; I attended TESC back in 2005-2007 but I only earned 33 credits towards a Liberal studies degree. I dropped out after some personal setbacks and was content to leave it that way until recently. Now I have a huge student loan I'm looking at and I don't know how I will ever repay it so I need back into the workplace with more than the marginal wage jobs I've been doing the past ten years. So a degree is a must.

Thanks to this site I've discovered the Aleks site and I'm pretty sure I can do the math courses to fulfill any math requirements I will need but I don't know where else to think about finding the rest of the credits I will need for an associates degree from TESC. I know about the Clep exams but money is very tight for me right now.

Here is a list of the courses I've finished so far to earn the 33 credits. Could anyone offer any advice for earning any more cheap credits to fulfill the requirements for the Associates Art degree?

ARC-101... Intro. to Western Archaeo 3.00
ANT-101... Introduction to Anthropol 3.00
SOS-110... Living in the Information 3.00
PSY-101... Introduction to Psycholog 3.00
FIL-110... American Cinema.......... 3.00
ART-166... Art History I............ 3.00
ENG-393... One Wrter's Vsion: Jane A 3.00
ENC-101... English Composition I.... 3.00
ENC-102... English Composition II... 3.00
BIO-108... Nutrition................ 3.00
SOS-320... Stress Mgt. Theory & Prac 3.00

[sanantone]

You might want to look at the AAS in Environmental, Safety, and Security Technologies even though it does require a capstone that has to be taken at TESC. You can use free FEMA credits to fill the area of study and free electives. TESC allows you to use up to 32 FEMA credits for a degree.
AAS Degree in Environmental, Safety and Security Technologies
http://www.tesc.edu/degree-completion/do...review.pdf
Emergency Management Institute | Independent Study (IS) - Course List

You can also earn free credits from TEEX in computer information systems and management.
TEEX TEEX online cyber-security courses approved for college credit

[sanantone]

I forgot about Saylor. I think all you have to pay is the $25 proctoring fee unless you can find your own proctor for less.
National College Credit Recommendation Service (NCCRS) « Saylor.org – Free Online Courses Built by Professors

With LearningCounts, you can earn up to 12 credits per PLA (prior learning assessment). Each portfolio review costs $250, so that is potentially 12 credits at $20.83 per credit hour.
LearningCounts | Time and Cost | Experiential Learning

There are also free courses offered by Coursera where you'll probably only have to pay the test fee. Someone said that you can start these courses at anytime, but I haven't seen that you can. It looks like they have specific start dates.
http://blog.coursera.org/post/4248619836...mendations

[Ladyplf]

Thanks for replying. I'm going to check out Saylor right now. Does TESC accept Saylor credits with no problems? I've seen people mention the Environmental, Safety, & Security Technologies degree but I don't know if that will help in the job search much. If I go that route then I wouldn't be able to use the credits I already have for a different AA degree at a later date would I? Also I'm hoping to get into a job training program through unemployment if the funding holds out. If that works out then I might be able to get 18 more credits but that would take up to 3 semesters and I would have to stay unemployed to qualify. I wish I had know about all these free and low cost options a long time ago. banghead

[sanantone]

Some of these options have been around for less than a year. TESC accepts the Saylor credits. Introduction to Western Political Thought is counted as political science/social science, business law and ethics is counted as a business course, and corporate communications is counted as communications/humanities.

I don't see how a plain associate of arts degree will help you any more as far as job prospects unless you're looking to come an administrative assistant. Besides the business degrees, most TESC degrees have room for 27 free elective credits. The FEMAs can be used to fulfill those. The general education credits you complete for the AAS can also be used for a bachelor's. Most of the credits you have now can go in the general education section of the AAS. FEMA credits also work great for the Bachelor of Science in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, but that degree has a lot of required courses that are hard to find outside of TESC.

[Ladyplf]

You're right, it doesn't make a difference which degree I get as long as I get something to show for all the time and money I've already spent back in 2005 What I really hope I can do is get my A.A. first and them move on to a B.A. in Digital Design or Graphic Design. Now that I've finally got my mind set I want to get it done before something else happens. I've got a lot of work ahead of me.

[LaterBloomer]

Ladyplf, welcome. Thanks for sharing your story. When things seem overwhelming, we should remember stories like yours. It's better to work through the tough times and get the degree, 'cause times can get tougher, and it will be harder to get the degree then.

[Ladyplf]

Although I've been munching up info from this great forum I still have so many questions. I notice that many members here have multiple degrees. Is there a certain order that the degrees should/must be completed to avoid overlap or lost credits? Did you plan to earn the multiple degrees ahead of time or did you discover you had the credits already and went for the second and third degree?

I think will start the the math courses @Aleks and then take it from there. Seeing everybody with all these degrees attached in their sigs has got me to thinking ahead of myself a little, lol.

[UptonSinclair]

It is easy to get ahead of yourself when things move fast. I have replanned my degree about 20 times so far. If there were a degree in reading college catalogs, I would have a Phd. I spoke to CSU-Pueblo regarding the second Bachelor's degree option and was told they grant 90 credits for a regionally credited undergraduate degree toward their two distance education Bachelor's programs. Regardless of the classes taken toward the first degree, they require 30 credits from CSU. I can't speak to specific policies at the big three, because I intend to be finished with Excelsior as soon as possible.

Aleks is a great place to start. It gets the study habits going and is a very reasonable price for credits.

[KayV]

You are so close to an associate of arts degree! If you take Corporate Communication and Intro to Western Political Thought from Saylor; Intermediate Algebra, College Algebra, and Statistics from ALEKS; and 12 FEMA classes from the current list, you should be done with your classwork at fairly minimal expense. Good luck!

Associate of Science Degree Plan
I. General Education Requirements
A. English Composition 6 COMPLETED
ENC-101... English Composition I.... 3.00
ENC-102... English Composition II... 3.00
B. Humanities 9 COMPLETED; NEED 3 (Saylor)
FIL-110... American Cinema.......... 3.00
ART-166... Art History I............ 3.00
ENG-393... One Wrter's Vsion: Jane A 3.00
***NEED Saylor COM-300 Intro to Business Comm 3.00
C. Social Sciences 12 COMPLETED
ARC-101... Intro. to Western Archaeo 3.00
ANT-101... Introduction to Anthropol 3.00
SOS-110... Living in the Information 3.00
PSY-101... Introduction to Psycholog 3.0
D. Natural Science and Mathematics 3 COMPLETED; NEED 6 (ALEKS)
BIO-108... Nutrition................ 3.00
***NEED ALEKS Intermediate Algebra 3.00
***NEED ALEKS College Algebra 3.00
E. General Education Electives 3 COMPLETED; NEED 6 (ALEKS/ Saylor)
SOS-320... Stress Mgt. Theory & Prac 3.00
***NEED ALEKS Statistics STA-201 3.00
***NEED Saylor Intro to Western Political Thought/TESC Poli Sci II 3.00
II. Free Electives
A. ***Pick any 12 classes from the FEMA list