TESU Dual BA Spanish + Philosophy with CCC AAs - Plan Review

[ElectiveCredits]

Your Location: California
Your Age: 29
What kind of degree do you want?: Second BA in Spanish and Philosophy from TESU (+AAs)
Current Regional Accredited Credits: Many (5 RA AAs, 1 RA BA in Psychology)
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: AP credits in European History, English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition
Any certifications or military experience?: 120-hour TEFL certificate in-progress
Budget: preference for cheapness, like under $10K (Current plan with TESU residency waiver and 6 units comes to ~$12K, which is fine)
Commitments: primarily disabled, no kids
Dedicated time to study: 15-20 hours a week
Timeline: alright with multiple years of community college
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: None

I originally posted asking if anyone had transferred in philosophy courses from Newlane University to TESU. I’m still unsure if people have. However, I am beginning my journey multiple years earlier than expected.

I want to prioritize cheapness and learning Spanish. I am also in California, where about any public community college is $46/unit. As a result, I’ve created a meandering plan based in my many pre-existing RA gen ed credits. I am assuming I only need the Area of Study section for each degree on my timeline/aspiration board. CCCs (California Community Colleges) changed their general ed requirements a bit in 2023, but because I completed my BA at a state school, I covered the new requirements as well (an ETH course). CCCs require a minimum of 12 units of residency to confer a degree, so I optimized my plan to meet those minimums at several schools while learning related topics I'm interested in.

Santa Ana College: 
Spanish 101, 102, 201 [Spanish 1-3]* +SPAN elective +transfer Spanish 4 from El Camino, +petition Social Anthropology (pre-existing) to count for Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Result: 18 units ; AA, Modern Languages
*Santa Ana College's Spanish sequence is 101, 102, 201, 202 for Spanish 1-4, making SPAN 201 = Spanish 3 and SPAN 202 = Spanish 4

El Camino College:
Spanish 4-6 +transfer Spanish 101-201 (Spanish 1-3) from Santa Ana, +petition Social Anthropology (pre-existing) to count for Intro to Cultural Anthropology +SPAN 10
Result: 14 units ; AA, Spanish ; Cert, Spanish for Professionals

Norco College:
Intro to Communication Theory COM 20
Result: 3 units ; No degree sought

Monterey Peninsula College:
1 Communications elective +transfer Spanish 101-201 (Spanish 1-2) from Santa Ana, +LING 10 +LING 15 +LING elective
Result: 12 units ; AA, Linguistics

Southwestern College:
Program core (ANTH 112 +ENG 271 +ENG 272 +MAS 141 +MAS 142), +transfer Spanish 101-102 (Spanish 1-2) from Santa Ana
Result: 15 units ; AA, Mexican-American Studies

(Optional: Santiago Canyon College:
Transfer Spanish 101 from Santa Ana +SPAN 115 +SPAN 125
Result: 6 units ; Cert, Spanish for the Professions)

Newlane University:
Many Philosophy Courses, 5 UL courses, 4 LL courses
Result: 27 units ; No conferral, only PHIL credits

Thomas Edison State University, AA Communications:
Requirement Fulfilled
Communication Theory Norco COMM 20
Interpersonal Communication UL TESU
Elective LAHC Speech 101
Elective MPC COMM elective
Elective LAHC COMM 151

TESU, BA: Foreign Language/Spanish + Philosophy

Requirements, BA Spanish major Fulfilled
Intermediate Language I SAC Spanish 201 (Spanish 3)
Intermediate Language II El Camino Spanish 4
Advanced Language I El Camino Spanish 5
Advanced Language II El Camino Spanish 6
History of Civilization Southwestern MAS 141
Major Writers/Masterpieces of Lit Southwestern ENGL 271, ENGL 272
Elective El Camino SPAN 10
UL Elective ACTFL 3 UL
(getting ACTFL 3 UL means 3 UL + 6 LL, reducing electives)
(optional elective Santiago SPAN 115
optional elective Santiago SPAN 125)

Humanities 12 UL credits Newlane 4 PHIL UL courses

Liberal Arts Capstone UL TESU


Requirements, BA Philosophy major Fulfilled
Intro to Philosophy Newlane PHIL 101
Logic Newlane PHIL 203
Ethics Newlane PHIL 102
Major Field (6 credits) Newlane PHIL 304 Advanced Ethics 
+pre-existing PHI 122 Moral Philosophy
Major Philosophers Newlane PHIL 309 Descartes
History of Philosophy Newlane PHIL 202

Philosophy Elective Newlane PHIL 315
Philosophy Elective Newlane PHIL 317
Philosophy Elective Newlane PHIL 314

Humanities 12 credits Spanish coursework

Liberal Arts Capstone UL TESU


Result: UL TESU COMM + UL TESU LA Capstone ; 6 units ; AA Communications + BA, Spanish + Philosophy

Notes: without ACTFL, I am 3 UL Spanish credits short. Being at the level of 3 UL means also being awarded 6 LL, which is why I put the Santiago Canyon College Spanish cert as optional. I plan to do a little AA coursework, a little grad school coursework concurrently. (Grad school plans not pictured.)

I will be getting AAs along the way to a PhD, is the long-term goal. I will not begin Newlane University until after PhD conferral, to meet the 24 new credits since last degree rule. I will need 9 Philosophy courses post-PhD, 4 named requirements courses and 5 UL courses, to meet the 18 credit UL area of study rule and 24 new credits rule. Newlane Philosophy carries the UL weight, and makes the Spanish dual-major possible. Because this is a second BA I am exempt from the TESU general ed requirements.

Am I missing anything? Is this a pipe-dream, or theoretically possible? I acknowledge my goal of inexpensive actual coursework is very different from the usual testing-out, fastest-possible-degree goal, but we share a passion for cheapness and degree-hacking.

[ElectiveCredits]

Update: I discovered two TESU policies that changed my plan. 1) "Earning an Associate Degree after earning a Baccalaureate, advanced, or professional Degree" rules (12 fresh credits post-grad degree required) and 2) "Two Areas of Study within One Degree" (only 9 units can overlap in area of study for dual majors).

This changes:
AA in Communications from TESU was dropped
COMM 20 from Norco College was dropped
MPC coursework now LING 10 + LING 15 + 2 LING electives
TESU coursework now Humanities UL + Capstone

Planned byproducts: AA, Modern Languages ; AA, Spanish Cert, Spanish ; AA, Mexican-American Studies ; AA, Linguistics ; (optional Cert, Spanish) ; BA, Spanish + Philosophy

https://tesu.smartcatalogiq.com/en/curre...ees-policy

[Jonathan Whatley]

On TESU’s landing page for the Foreign Language major, toward the bottom of the page, “Note 2: All courses applied toward the foreign language area of study are REQUIRED to be taught in that specific foreign language, not in English translation.” That appears to rule out ENGL 271 and ENGL 272 from that space.

For the Philosophy major, TESU treats Ethics as one category and Major Field(s) of Philosophy as another category. It’s possible that they wouldn’t let you fill Major Fields of Philosophy with two additional ethics/morals courses. It’s additionally possible that they wouldn’t let two courses from much the same field count in that space.

In that case they’d move the those two courses into Philosophy Electives. However, you could move Newlane PHIL 314 Arendt into Major Philosophers alongside Descartes which would make Major Philosophers the one area you fulfill 6 credits in (in lieu of Major Fields). Next, hopefully they’d accept Newlane PHIL 317 Philosophy of Science towards the 3 credits you’d then need in Major Field of Philosophy.

Completing an AA in Spanish at one CC and an AA in Modern Languages at another in which most or all that language credit is Spanish feels redundant. Could you use those residency credits to earn something in a more separate subject at one of those two CCs?

[wow]

One thing to keep in mind is that if you transfer into Newlane based on previously having a bachelor's (which I understand you to be saying you already have), you only take the 10 courses for your major. No extras -- at least that is my understanding from talking to the founder. You may be able to request extras (I'm guessing, didn't ask him in our conversation), but IDK what the process is. So if you were planning to take more than the 10 philosophy courses, that is something to consider.

Another thing to consider: If you complete 10 philosophy courses at Newlane, you've completed the degree requirements and qualify for a degree from there. So if their degree conferral process is automatic, you'll have earned a degree in philosophy from Newlane and can't get one at TESU. In addition, you'll need to time your Spanish credits so that the required number are earned *after* the Newlane degree conferral, or you'll need to take additional ones to get the TESU degree.

And one more consideration: Colleges try to maintain a certain graduation rate (percentage of enrollees who graduate). Completing *all* the requirements of a degree but then refusing the degree harms those figures the same as if you took a few classes and then left. Thus, it's in a college's interests to discourage plans like yours. I can't say whether Newlane has policies in place to prevent/prohibit what you're planning (which could include statement of degree conferral on your transcript, but also things like not providing access to transcript until full degree fees are paid, among others), but it's something to look into.

For your UL humanities credits for the Spanish major, if Newlane doesn't work out, history or literature from study.com is another way to fulfill the requirement.

[ElectiveCredits]

On TESU’s landing page for the Foreign Language major, toward the bottom of the page, “Note 2: All courses applied toward the foreign language area of study are REQUIRED to be taught in that specific foreign language, not in English translation.” That appears to rule out ENGL 271 and ENGL 272 from that space.

For the Philosophy major, TESU treats Ethics as one category and Major Field(s) of Philosophy as another category. It’s possible that they wouldn’t let you fill Major Fields of Philosophy with two additional ethics/morals courses. It’s additionally possible that they wouldn’t let two courses from much the same field count in that space.

In that case they’d move the those two courses into Philosophy Electives. However, you could move Newlane PHIL 314 Arendt into Major Philosophers alongside Descartes which would make Major Philosophers the one area you fulfill 6 credits in (in lieu of Major Fields). Next, hopefully they’d accept Newlane PHIL 317 Philosophy of Science towards the 3 credits you’d then need in Major Field of Philosophy.

Completing an AA in Spanish at one CC and an AA in Modern Languages at another in which most or all that language credit is Spanish feels redundant. Could you use those residency credits to earn something in a more separate subject at one of those two CCs?

Thank you Jonathan,

I remixed units and schools after you showed me the key part of the criteria is that the courses have to be taught in Spanish. I found what I need at Long Beach City College.

TL;DR: I'm now taking a sequence at Long Beach City College that fills in the named courses requirements. I can't find a singular CCC that offers all the courses I need, and by splitting the courses into three instead of two I get more AAs without more coursework. I'm still thinking over the exact PHIL course placement from Newlane, but as long as they accept their courses, I'm not picky about an advisor rearranging my plans there.

Long version: An AA or AA-T in Spanish from somewhere is bound to happen, but it's no longer the center mechanism at any school.

Santa Ana College: AA, Modern Languages [unchanged]
Spanish 1-3 (called SPAN 101, 102, 201); Spanish 4 (called SPAN 202) transferred in from Compton ; SPAN elective ; petition for Anthro course credit

Compton College: AA, General Studies, Culture & Communications
Spanish 4-6 (called SPAN 104, 105, 106); SPAN 1-3 (Called SPAN 101, 102, 103) transferred in from Santa Ana

Compton College: AA-T, Spanish
Beginning Conversational Spanish (SPAN 121) ; Intermediate Conversational Spanish (SPAN 122) [credit for Spanish 1-6]

Long Beach City College: Certificate of Achievement, Spanish
Advanced Spanish: Culture in Literature (SPAN 25A) ; Advanced Spanish: History (SPAN 25B) ; Advanced Spanish: Literature (SPAN 25D) [credit for SPAN 1-4]

Long Beach City College: AA, Linguistics
Linguistics 1 (LING 1) ; Intro to World Languages (LING 3) ; Intro to Logic (PHIL 12--will transfer to Newlane) ; credit for preexisting Intro to Psych (PSYCH C1000) ; [credit for Spanish 2-4 and SPAN 25A, 25B, 25D]

[ElectiveCredits]

One thing to keep in mind is that if you transfer into Newlane based on previously having a bachelor's (which I understand you to be saying you already have), you only take the 10 courses for your major. No extras -- at least that is my understanding from talking to the founder. You may be able to request extras (I'm guessing, didn't ask him in our conversation), but IDK what the process is. So if you were planning to take more than the 10 philosophy courses, that is something to consider.

Another thing to consider: If you complete 10 philosophy courses at Newlane, you've completed the degree requirements and qualify for a degree from there. So if their degree conferral process is automatic, you'll have earned a degree in philosophy from Newlane and can't get one at TESU. In addition, you'll need to time your Spanish credits so that the required number are earned *after* the Newlane degree conferral, or you'll need to take additional ones to get the TESU degree.

And one more consideration: Colleges try to maintain a certain graduation rate (percentage of enrollees who graduate). Completing *all* the requirements of a degree but then refusing the degree harms those figures the same as if you took a few classes and then left. Thus, it's in a college's interests to discourage plans like yours. I can't say whether Newlane has policies in place to prevent/prohibit what you're planning (which could include statement of degree conferral on your transcript, but also things like not providing access to transcript until full degree fees are paid, among others), but it's something to look into.

For your UL humanities credits for the Spanish major, if Newlane doesn't work out, history or literature from study.com is another way to fulfill the requirement.

Hi wow,

I feel like you're suggesting to take what I call the SPAN plan after Newlane to generate SPAN as the fresh credits after Newlane degree conferral. But I plan to never take PHIL 301 Philosophical Writing (because Newlane requires it while TESU does not) to prevent conferral. This would allow me to confer the SPAN plan along the way and use PHIL credits (and potentially study.com UL Humanities credits) as my fresh credit source.

I wasn't aware I only get ten PHIL courses at Newlane, and I wasn't aware a college might not like my plan to take courses there but not graduate. I will have to be much more attentive to my Newlane plan than I was previously. But, so far, I think I can keep Newlane to the ten course limit (and, like you said, study.com can fill SPAN plan electives holes).

[Jonathan Whatley]

Newlane doesn’t take federal Title IV financial aid, its ownership is privately-held, and its accreditation is from the nontraditionally-minded DEAC, all of which gives it less reason to worry about traditional graduation metrics than most colleges…