Help w/ Degree Plan for BSBA Finance at TESU Please

[MaMichelle]

I'm trying to pull together a degree plan for my son maximizing use of SDC & TECEPs. I'd love input on if I'm missing anything, what mistakes there are, & how this plan needs to be changed to work.

[rachel83az]

I am a bit confused about the layout of this plan.

1.) Why do you have so many UL TECEPs planned? You have these listed as "other electives". However, these are NOT general education credits and the BSBA Finance only has 6 free electives.
2.) Are CLEP locations even open where you are? A lot of them are closed. Since you say he likes SDC, I would suggest looking at Olivet Nazarene University for English Composition. The format is not quite the same but it is similar and they are RA credits.
3.) I would really, really recommend that he try out Sophia. He'll be done so much faster than by sticking entirely to SDC.

---

Oh, one more thing: instead of "Communication 101" for the Oral Communication requirement, use "Communications 120: Presentation Skills in the Workplace". It's literally just one exam and the whole thing should be super easy for a business professional. He can probably get it done, including the exam, in under a day.

[ss20ts]

Rachel said in the other thread that TECEP's are not RAA credit unless you're military. I do not see 30 RA credits. I see way too many UL courses. Why no Sophia courses? They're easier and faster than SDC.

rachel83az
Questions/comments about what you understand:
1. I think TESU is the only one that specifically has BSBA Finance. Others have Accounting or something along those lines but not finance.
2. Which certifications? It looks like some are UL credit and some are LL credit.
3. This is okay. You don't need to have a bunch of transfer credits. But the AP exam will count as non-collegiate credits. I think he can use this in his gen eds.
4. Full tuition reimbursement or partial? What kind of limit? This is important!
5. How soon does he need to get his degree by? Is his employer expecting him to take the full 4 years in order for him to get a promotion or do they expect him to have it more quickly? To some extent, the faster he wants/needs his degree, the more expensive it could be.
6. SDC is good but Sophia is recommended for most courses because it's both faster and cheaper than SDC (unlimited courses at Sophia for $79/mo. vs. 5 per month at SDC). If he goes entirely with SDC, his degree could wind up taking longer than expected.
7. He should figure out which TECEPs he'd want to take first and then fill in the rest from SDC/Sophia. In general, you want to fill out your gen eds first and then go from there. See https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap
8. The TECEPs for English Comp are actually easier than the courses! But, if he wants to avoid the TECEPs then he can get those classes at SDC, Sophia, Olivet Nazarine, or TEL Learning (RA credit).
9. The roadmap/plan is written to mostly utilize SDC and Sophia.

Things you don't yet understand:
1. Unless your son qualifies for the military plan, TECEPs do NOT count towards the residency requirement. However, ePack courses do. These are essentially TECEPs but you pay full tuition rate for them: https://www2.tesu.edu/listallc.php?type=EP

Depending on tuition reimbursement + timeline, one possible route would be to register for 2 ePack courses + the cornerstone + the 1-credit Jane Austin course ( https://www2.tesu.edu/course.php?CourseCode=ENG-298&sem= ) for one term and then the capstone + another ePack course later. This would bring your son up to 16 residency credits and avoid the residency waiver. Tuition reimbursement does not usually cover the residency waiver, though it wouldn't hurt to ask. The remaining 14/15 RA credits could come from TECEPs/TEL Learning/Olivet Nazarine University/etc.

If he needs a degree as of yesterday and doesn't want to wait for tuition reimbursement and then do two terms at TESU, paying the residency waiver is likely going to be unavoidable.

Again, you need to figure out which RA credits to use first before filling in the remainder of the degree with alt credits. Doing it backward could result in the duplication of credits/classes and a longer time to completion. This is especially important for a BSBA degree because there are very few electives compared to other degrees.

[MaMichelle]

I am a bit confused about the layout of this plan.

1.) Why do you have so many UL TECEPs planned? You have these listed as "other electives". However, these are NOT general education credits and the BSBA Finance only has 6 free electives.
2.) Are CLEP locations even open where you are? A lot of them are closed. Since you say he likes SDC, I would suggest looking at Olivet Nazarene University for English Composition. The format is not quite the same but it is similar and they are RA credits.
3.) I would really, really recommend that he try out Sophia. He'll be done so much faster than by sticking entirely to SDC.

---

Oh, one more thing: instead of "Communication 101" for the Oral Communication requirement, use "Communications 120: Presentation Skills in the Workplace". It's literally just one exam and the whole thing should be super easy for a business professional. He can probably get it done, including the exam, in under a day.

1. I haven't figured this part out yet. After working through what would fill GE requirements I just started looking for what he would need for the Finance degree.
2. IDK about testing locations here. I like the suggestion of Olivet Nazarene or TESU (not TECEP) for English. Thank you.
3. I agree, Sophia looks like a better option than SDC--I'll sub in Sophia wherever possible.
4. Thanks for the suggestion on Communications 120! That's great to know!

---

Rachel said in the other thread that TECEP's are not RAA credit unless you're military. I do not see 30 RA credits. I see way too many UL courses. Why no Sophia courses? They're easier and faster than SDC.

rachel83az
Questions/comments about what you understand:
1. I think TESU is the only one that specifically has BSBA Finance. Others have Accounting or something along those lines but not finance.
2. Which certifications? It looks like some are UL credit and some are LL credit.
3. This is okay. You don't need to have a bunch of transfer credits. But the AP exam will count as non-collegiate credits. I think he can use this in his gen eds.
4. Full tuition reimbursement or partial? What kind of limit? This is important!
5. How soon does he need to get his degree by? Is his employer expecting him to take the full 4 years in order for him to get a promotion or do they expect him to have it more quickly? To some extent, the faster he wants/needs his degree, the more expensive it could be.
6. SDC is good but Sophia is recommended for most courses because it's both faster and cheaper than SDC (unlimited courses at Sophia for $79/mo. vs. 5 per month at SDC). If he goes entirely with SDC, his degree could wind up taking longer than expected.
7. He should figure out which TECEPs he'd want to take first and then fill in the rest from SDC/Sophia. In general, you want to fill out your gen eds first and then go from there. See https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap
8. The TECEPs for English Comp are actually easier than the courses! But, if he wants to avoid the TECEPs then he can get those classes at SDC, Sophia, Olivet Nazarine, or TEL Learning (RA credit).
9. The roadmap/plan is written to mostly utilize SDC and Sophia.

Things you don't yet understand:
1. Unless your son qualifies for the military plan, TECEPs do NOT count towards the residency requirement. However, ePack courses do. These are essentially TECEPs but you pay full tuition rate for them: https://www2.tesu.edu/listallc.php?type=EP

Depending on tuition reimbursement + timeline, one possible route would be to register for 2 ePack courses + the cornerstone + the 1-credit Jane Austin course ( https://www2.tesu.edu/course.php?CourseCode=ENG-298&sem= ) for one term and then the capstone + another ePack course later. This would bring your son up to 16 residency credits and avoid the residency waiver. Tuition reimbursement does not usually cover the residency waiver, though it wouldn't hurt to ask. The remaining 14/15 RA credits could come from TECEPs/TEL Learning/Olivet Nazarine University/etc.

If he needs a degree as of yesterday and doesn't want to wait for tuition reimbursement and then do two terms at TESU, paying the residency waiver is likely going to be unavoidable.

Again, you need to figure out which RA credits to use first before filling in the remainder of the degree with alt credits. Doing it backward could result in the duplication of credits/classes and a longer time to completion. This is especially important for a BSBA degree because there are very few electives compared to other degrees.

The TESU person I spoke with on the phone said TECEPs are RA credits. Son is not military, so I definitely need to find out for sure whether they are or are not. I agree, working backwards starting with RA credits is the best way to do this.

[rachel83az]

TECEPs are RA credits. But they don't count towards residency. You could take every single TECEP available (not recommended, haha!) and still have to pay the residency waiver.

[dfrecore]

I think there's some confusion (by the OP) about RA vs. Residency.

RA = courses taken at a Regionally Accredited school - TESU requires 30cr of this, and 6cr will be done at TESU with the cornerstone and capstone. That leaves 24cr of RA that need to be taken. I think ONU ($150/course) is your cheapest option for actual courses, then TEL ($200/course). LL TECEP exams are $150 each. Many UExcel exams are $110/exam, but then you have to pay a testing center fee of ~$65/exam, even if you take the exam online (and not all can be done this way).

Residency is the number of credits you have to take AT TESU, which is 16cr - if you don't take a full 16cr there, then you'll have to pay the Residency Waiver of $3,192.

TECEP's count for RA, but they do not count for residency.

---

I also think you're using some kind of old plan for this degree, because you don't have the credits listed correctly. You're missing credits in the GE Electives area, and then using courses that aren't GE in there, and you have too many Free Electives. Other mistakes.

You are missing 15cr in the GE Electives area.

When was the AP Human Geography exam taken? You only get credit if you passed it between 1/1/2001 - 3/31/2016 (and since it wasn't given until May of 2016, really the cutoff date would have been May 2015).

When was the FINRA Series 7 taken? Depending on the date, you either get ACC-101 or ACC-311, not both. You do get FIN-301 either way.
When was the SIE taken?

ACC-102 TECEP doesn't count in GE, it's a core course (Major).
ACC 301: Applied Managerial Accounting - doesn't count in the core, it's an ACC AoS course (so if you're concentration is Accounting) - otherwise it's a Free Elective
You should use the FINRA-Series 7 credits in the AoS, not in the core (FIN-301)
Use the LL option for International business requirement (BUS 120: International Business)

For the AoS in Finance, you need 6 courses, I think with the FINRA and 4 UL Study.com finance courses, you need 1 additional course. ACC-311 will not work there. The Money & Banking DSST exam will work. So will the FINRA Series 3 or Series 9/10 (says the effective dates are 9/2015-3/2021, not sure of the exact date next month, so you'd want to check before taking it).

Not sure why you'd take the UL Marketing TECEP exams (or others), they're more expensive, and you don't need them for anything (except RA Credits, but then why pay $$225 when you don't have to - take LL TECEP's for $150 each).

Be aware that if you take TECEP's that don't fit into your degree plan, they won't count for RA credit! So you need to make sure you take TECEP's that will count WHERE you need them. Very important.

[MaMichelle]

I think there's some confusion (by the OP) about RA vs. Residency.

RA = courses taken at a Regionally Accredited school - TESU requires 30cr of this, and 6cr will be done at TESU with the cornerstone and capstone.  That leaves 24cr of RA that need to be taken.  I think ONU ($150/course) is your cheapest option for actual courses, then TEL ($200/course).  LL TECEP exams are $150 each.  Many UExcel exams are $110/exam, but then you have to pay a testing center fee of ~$65/exam, even if you take the exam online (and not all can be done this way).

Residency is the number of credits you have to take AT TESU, which is 16cr - if you don't take a full 16cr there, then you'll have to pay the Residency Waiver of $3,192.

TECEP's count for RA, but they do not count for residency.

---

I also think you're using some kind of old plan for this degree, because you don't have the credits listed correctly.  You're missing credits in the GE Electives area, and then using courses that aren't GE in there, and you have too many Free Electives. Other mistakes.

You are missing 15cr in the GE Electives area.

When was the AP Human Geography exam taken?  You only get credit if you passed it between 1/1/2001 - 3/31/2016 (and since it wasn't given until May of 2016, really the cutoff date would have been May 2015).

When was the FINRA Series 7 taken? Depending on the date, you either get ACC-101 or ACC-311, not both.  You do get FIN-301 either way.
When was the SIE taken?

ACC-102 TECEP doesn't count in GE, it's a core course (Major).
ACC 301: Applied Managerial Accounting - doesn't count in the core, it's an ACC AoS course (so if you're concentration is Accounting) - otherwise it's a Free Elective
You should use the FINRA-Series 7 credits in the AoS, not in the core (FIN-301)
Use the LL option for International business requirement (BUS 120: International Business)

For the AoS in Finance, you need 6 courses, I think with the FINRA and 4 UL Study.com finance courses, you need 1 additional course.  ACC-311 will not work there.  The Money & Banking DSST exam will work.  So will the FINRA Series 3 or Series 9/10 (says the effective dates are 9/2015-3/2021, not sure of the exact date next month, so you'd want to check before taking it).

Not sure why you'd take the UL Marketing TECEP exams (or others), they're more expensive, and you don't need them for anything (except RA Credits, but then why pay $$225 when you don't have to - take LL TECEP's for $150 each).

Be aware that if you take TECEP's that don't fit into your degree plan, they won't count for RA credit!  So you need to make sure you take TECEP's that will count WHERE you need them.  Very important.

You have great answers to my questions; thank you! Residency hours are not important to him; paying the waiver fee is not a barrier and speed is much more important than economy. RA (Regionally accredited hours) are the exact same amount important to him as they are to everyone else--he needs 30. Where he can count TECEPs as RA it's good for him and it doesn't matter that they do not count as residency hours..

1. I need help understanding what is eligible to count as free electives for GE.
2. AP Geography was taken in 2013 or 2104.
3. SIE, Series 7, & Series 66  was taken 2019.


I'm working on revising in light of this advice. Thank you again.

[dfrecore]

[quote pid='331233' dateline='1614477064']
Be aware that if you take TECEP's that don't fit into your degree plan, they won't count for RA credit!  So you need to make sure you take TECEP's that will count WHERE you need them.  Very important.

You have great answers to my questions; thank you! Residency hours are not important to him; paying the waiver fee is not a barrier and speed is much more important than economy. RA (Regionally accredited hours) are the exact same amount important to him as they are to everyone else--he needs 30. Where he can count TECEPs as RA it's good for him and it doesn't matter that they do not count as residency hours..

1. I need help understanding what is eligible to count as free electives for GE.
2. AP Geography was taken in 2013 or 2104.
3. SIE, Series 7, & Series 66  was taken 2019.


I'm working on revising in light of this advice. Thank you again.
[/quote]

1. There are only 6cr of Free Electives in the BSBA degree - so I think you're talking about GE Electives, which is not the same thing.  GE is Liberal Arts - at TESU that means Humanities (Lit, English, Philosophy, Ethics, Art, Music, etc.); Social Sciences (Psych, History, Sociology, etc.); Natural Sciences (Chem, Bio, Physics, Earth Science, etc.); Math; and Computer Science.

2. So AP Geography will count as 3cr, and will fulfill the Diversity requirement at TESU (as well as Knowledge of Human Cultures and GE Electives). But it's best use is as Diversity.

3. SIE will come in as LAW-201, in the Business Core
Series 7 will come in as ACC-311 and FIN-301, which are both eligible for the AoS of General Management. ACC-311 could be used in the Accounting AoS if you choose to (or Free Electives if you don't). FIN-301 could be used in the Finance AoS if you choose it, or the Business Core if you don't.  You'll want to take FIN 104: Financial Management (comes in as FIN-200) for the core to take advantage of having an UL FIN course completed already.

Last, the thing I was saying about taking the right TECEP exams - if you were to take 4 Marketing TECEP exams, he actually would NOT get credit for all of them, not even as RA credit, because only 2 will be able to be used in the degree (as Free Electives) and then the other 2 will just be removed, and it would be as if he never took them.  A course/exam has to count somewhere in the degree plan to be counted as RA credit.  So, I would make it a point to plan those out first, before you do anything else.  You want GE's, or Core, or ones that will fit in your AoS.

So if you choose business and/or finance exams because he is familiar with that already, he could choose those - but don't choose ones like Marking or Ops Management or things that can't be used.