Helping My Brother Work Toward Associates

[Whitepines]

Hi all,
My brother has a reading disability and struggles to write papers, so a capstone would probably finish him off. I am encouraging him to start with onlinedegree.com classes. But we aren't sure which associates would be best/easiest. He doesn't really care what it is in - just wants to be able to advance in his job and they seem to only promote people with an associates. Hospitality or culinary arts type degrees would be great. An AA is fine. He is not going to go beyond an Associates and doesn't need RA over NA, but UofP is almost all text based. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Katelyn

[ctcarl]

Hi Katelyn,

I'm helping a family member in a similar situation.  I would suggest that your brother earn as many ACE credits as possible through Sophia Pathways.  Right now, they are $79 per month for as many courses as you would like to take.  There's a slim possibility that you may find someone willing to provide a promotional code to enable you to take six months or so of Sophia courses for a one-time payment; please check this thread if you would like to learn more about that.

While taking those courses, he should learn everything he can about the various AA/AS/AAS degree programs available.  If he graduated high school at least two years ago, he should consider this program from Pierpont Community & Technical College.  There is no cornerstone or capstone, and the degree requirements are very flexible.  For example, the English requirement is actually English/Communications, and the Math requirement is Math/Science.  They allow you to transfer up to 48 credits from alternate providers like Onlinedegree, Sophia, Study.com, Straighterline, InstantCert, Saylor, Coopersmith and Davar Academy.  The remaining 12 credits must come from a regionally-accredited, traditional brick-and-mortar college or university.

There are a few programs that will allow him to take online courses and obtain RA credits, either directly or through partner colleges.  ASU's Earned Admissions program is one very well-regarded example.  He might also want to consider TelLearning or Outlier.  Depending upon the schools in your area, he might find a local community college to be a good, low-cost source of RA credits.

The key is to do your research, and you can do most of it right here.

[StoicJ]

Can your brother take community college courses? If so, browse local college catalogs and see what they offer. You brought up hospitality and culinary arts. What other interests does he have? What industry is he in right now?

[Whitepines]

Hi Katelyn,

I'm helping a family member in a similar situation.  I would suggest that your brother earn as many ACE credits as possible through Sophia Pathways.  Right now, they are $79 per month for as many courses as you would like to take.  There's a slim possibility that you may find someone willing to provide a promotional code to enable you to take six months or so of Sophia courses for a one-time payment; please check this thread if you would like to learn more about that.

While taking those courses, he should learn everything he can about the various AA/AS/AAS degree programs available.  If he graduated high school at least two years ago, he should consider this program from Pierpont Community & Technical College.  There is no cornerstone or capstone, and the degree requirements are very flexible.  For example, the English requirement is actually English/Communications, and the Math requirement is Math/Science.  They allow you to transfer up to 48 credits from alternate providers like Onlinedegree, Sophia, Study.com, Straighterline, InstantCert, Saylor, Coopersmith and Davar Academy.  The remaining 12 credits must come from a regionally-accredited, traditional brick-and-mortar college or university.

There are a few programs that will allow him to take online courses and obtain RA credits, either directly or through partner colleges.  ASU's Earned Admissions program is one very well-regarded example.  He might also want to consider TelLearning or Outlier.  Depending upon the schools in your area, he might find a local community college to be a good, low-cost source of RA credits.

The key is to do your research, and you can do most of it right here.

Thank you. This provides a great starting point.

---

Can your brother take community college courses? If so, browse local college catalogs and see what they offer. You brought up hospitality and culinary arts. What other interests does he have? What industry is he in right now?

He has taken community college non-credit courses in welding, small engine repair and forklift. With Covid right now, he would prefer to work online. He is in the culinary field, but his job is sort of random. He's also repaired a few cars and a lot of broken equipment and other odd tasks - you know. The good ole other duties as assigned.

[rachel83az]

A Pierpont degree has another upside. It is completely free. (That is, you don't pay anything to Pierpont but only for the courses that you've taken.) It can be a bit complicated to deal with so make sure you check the instructions here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pierpont_C%26TC Although only math courses are listed under the "math/science" section of suggested Sophia courses, Sophia's science courses should work.

Sophia is a great source for classes. All of the courses have an audio version of the text. Many of them have videos. You only have to be able to read the questions and not the "textbook". More information about Sophia can be found here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sophia.org


ASU is a good source of RA credits for someone who struggles with reading. It costs just $25 to attempt a class for credit and then $400 to add a passed class to your ASU transcript. There are several classes where you barely need to read anything at all and can rely almost entirely on the videos. Strangely enough, one of their history classes is one of the easiest in this regard. Health and Wellness is a strong contender as well - although there is a weekly post requirement, the posts themselves are NOT graded. It's akin to posting on a forum like this place, but you post based on the weekly topic. You need only to meet the minimum word count. These can be skipped, if needed, since the entire post requirement is only worth 5% of your grade. Computer Applications and Information Technology is a bit more challenging in that you are expected to read long PDFs but I have a way around that (see below). In theory, Human Origins could also work but there are a lot of challenging Latin names that need to be contended with (things like Australopithecus afarensis vs. Australopithecus boisei). Readings are suggested but generally not required. The content is almost entirely in the videos. Since it doesn't cost anything to audit a course and it only costs $25 to attempt a course, I would say that it's worth giving them a shot. 

• Western Civilization - The final exam is only worth 20% of your grade. If you can do well on the main portion of the course (which is open-book), you can completely bomb the final (which is proctored and NOT open-book) and still pass with at least a C.
  
• Health & Wellness - The final exam is worth 35% of the grade. This means you do need to do better on the final but you are still essentially guaranteed a pass if you can do well in the main portion.
  
• Computer Applications & Information Technology - The final is 30% of the final grade. Again, do well on the main portion and you can get at least a C.
  
• Human Origins - 30% again. As previously mentioned, this one is more difficult but getting at least a C should be possible. 
  

TEL Learning has a good number of courses for just $200. These get transcripted as RA credit once you've completed them. However, there does appear to be a lot of text that must be dealt with in the lessons. But I have not personally taken any of these courses and cannot attest to how difficult (or not) they would be for someone who has issues with reading and writing.

For times where readings cannot be avoided, I highly recommend Speechify. I used this on the PDFs for the Computer Applications course at ASU. I loaded the PDFs into my phone and ran Speechify on them so I didn't have to sit and actually read the assigned readings. It does choke a bit on things like URLs but the voice options are pretty good and they even have a browser plugin so it'll read out webpage texts to you. I would recommend Speechify Premium for $140/year to have access to the higher-quality voices but Speechify Unlimited (the deal at StackSocial) is perfectly serviceable. I would recommend trying it out first before paying to see which one is considered worth the money by you/your brother.

[Whitepines]

A Pierpont degree has another upside. It is completely free. (That is, you don't pay anything to Pierpont but only for the courses that you've taken.) It can be a bit complicated to deal with so make sure you check the instructions here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pierpont_C%26TC Although only math courses are listed under the "math/science" section of suggested Sophia courses, Sophia's science courses should work.

Sophia is a great source for classes. All of the courses have an audio version of the text. Many of them have videos. You only have to be able to read the questions and not the "textbook". More information about Sophia can be found here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sophia.org


ASU is a good source of RA credits for someone who struggles with reading. It costs just $25 to attempt a class for credit and then $400 to add a passed class to your ASU transcript. There are several classes where you barely need to read anything at all and can rely almost entirely on the videos. Strangely enough, one of their history classes is one of the easiest in this regard. Health and Wellness is a strong contender as well - although there is a weekly post requirement, the posts themselves are NOT graded. It's akin to posting on a forum like this place, but you post based on the weekly topic. You need only to meet the minimum word count. These can be skipped, if needed, since the entire post requirement is only worth 5% of your grade. Computer Applications and Information Technology is a bit more challenging in that you are expected to read long PDFs but I have a way around that (see below). In theory, Human Origins could also work but there are a lot of challenging Latin names that need to be contended with (things like Australopithecus afarensis vs. Australopithecus boisei). Readings are suggested but generally not required. The content is almost entirely in the videos. Since it doesn't cost anything to audit a course and it only costs $25 to attempt a course, I would say that it's worth giving them a shot. 

• Western Civilization - The final exam is only worth 20% of your grade. If you can do well on the main portion of the course (which is open-book), you can completely bomb the final (which is proctored and NOT open-book) and still pass with at least a C.
  
• Health & Wellness - The final exam is worth 35% of the grade. This means you do need to do better on the final but you are still essentially guaranteed a pass if you can do well in the main portion.
  
• Computer Applications & Information Technology - The final is 30% of the final grade. Again, do well on the main portion and you can get at least a C.
  
• Human Origins - 30% again. As previously mentioned, this one is more difficult but getting at least a C should be possible. 
  

TEL Learning has a good number of courses for just $200. These get transcripted as RA credit once you've completed them. However, there does appear to be a lot of text that must be dealt with in the lessons. But I have not personally taken any of these courses and cannot attest to how difficult (or not) they would be for someone who has issues with reading and writing.

For times where readings cannot be avoided, I highly recommend Speechify. I used this on the PDFs for the Computer Applications course at ASU. I loaded the PDFs into my phone and ran Speechify on them so I didn't have to sit and actually read the assigned readings. It does choke a bit on things like URLs but the voice options are pretty good and they even have a browser plugin so it'll read out webpage texts to you. I would recommend Speechify Premium for $140/year to have access to the higher-quality voices but Speechify Unlimited (the deal at StackSocial) is perfectly serviceable. I would recommend trying it out first before paying to see which one is considered worth the money by you/your brother.

Thank you! This is very helpful!

[dfrecore]

My suggestion is: if he can get by with just an AAS (different than an AA or AS, so some employers may be picky and he'll want to know in advance): Pierpont
If he needs an AA, then COSC.

Either way, he'll need 12cr of RA, in which case I suggest TEL Learning. $67/cr, self-paced. Choose things he's good at or interested in for those - like if he's good at math, that's going to be something he won't need to write papers for.

COSC has a cornerstone but no capstone - he WILL have to write a paper. But I've heard it's very manageable.

Either way, he can take Sophia for his GE, and then I'd suggest Study.com for the Hospitality courses (they have 5, and I think 3 require a paper/project).

If you opt for Pierpont, I think they'll take NCCRS credit (someone correct me if I'm wrong). If you can, then Coopersmith has 9 additional Culinary/Hospitality/Special Events Planning courses. OnlineDegree.com also has a Culinary course that's very cheap.

With Pierpont, you can also choose a concentration which is nice.

[rachel83az]

Pierpont CLAIMS that they take NCCRS credit but, in practice, they DO NOT. They insist that NCCRS courses be on an ACE transcript. Which... well, you can see the issue there.

Also, while TEL Learning is technically 1/2 the price of ASU, I'm not sure that TEL Learning is as good a source of credit as ASU is for someone who has difficulty with reading/writing.

[bjcheung77]

What state are you in? Hopefully not in the state of confusion. Anything but that! This is what I suggest, a mix and match combo of credits to get your brother an AAS or AA from Pierpont or COSC. He should look at getting credits in this order... Local/County or State Community College Online classes and Online Regionally Accredited courses, and then ACE, as he will need at least 12 credits from RA sources. Maybe take 1 community college online course or one RA course while working on his ACE credits. Essentially - Skip the NCCRS credits, so that means no Onlinedegree.com just yet...

[ctcarl]

Also, while TEL Learning is technically 1/2 the price of ASU, I'm not sure that TEL Learning is as good a source of credit as ASU is for someone who has difficulty with reading/writing.

This advice is right on the money.  Tel Learning is an excellent value for RA credits, and is self-paced to boot.

But, anyone with special needs or developmental issues should keep in mind the differences in content delivery between, say, Tel Learning and ASU EA.  For example, all the ASU courses I looked at have only one proctored exam (the final), whereas the Tel Learning courses I looked at had two.

While you can ask for accomodations such as the use of a screen reader, proctored exams are, at the very least, annoying and inconvenient when compared to non-proctored ones.  But to someone with anxiety disorder, the specter of proctored exams can be a nightmare.