Helping my friend plan to get a BA

[Dowew]

My background, I hold both a BA in Political Science and a Masters in Library and Information Science, however due to the limited jobs available for librarians in Canada I have been working as a loans officer for a major bank in Canada for a few years. Recently I decided to try some online courses and completed some post-graduate courses in political science via the University of Wollongong's OERu offerings.

This has led to discussion with a friend of mine. He does the same job as I do in the bank but his formal education ends with his High School diploma.

His background : High school diploma. Took some courses thru Athabasca University in Canada but did not finish them after discovering that running for a fringe political party provided just as good a foot in the door for jobs as a BA did (ie he is starting from scratch). Unfortunately, he is finding that his career at the bank is plateauing and he needs to credentialize in order to get ahead.

He is 30 years old, married with 5 young children. He has worked as a financial advisor for several years and has held almost every major financial license in Canada. He also has a unique religious requirement that he cannot work (including doing coursework) on Sundays.

I figure it will take several years to get a degree.

His ultimate goal is that he would like to eventually obtain an MBA. From what I can tell the cheapest option for that is the University of the People.

I am going to ease him back in University by him taking a course in Art Appreciation thru OERu when it is offered later this year as you can see from this link Introduction to Art Appreciation and Techniques | OERu

I have also purchased the textbooks for Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Organization Culture used by Straighterline.

I figure once hes back in the groove he can plow thru straighterline courses.

Essentially, I am trying to help him hack a degree -- find the cheapest, fasted, simplest method of getting a fancy piece of paper. While I do not intend on spending the rest of my career working in the bank (certainly not being customer facing) this job provides a living wage, great benefits, and a (until recently) happy organizational culture, and he would like to stay in this company for the next couple of decades. For this, he must be credentialized.

So, my questions are as follows :

1) Which is the best option for him? I am leaning him towards something like General Studies at Charter Oak. Ultimately the BA he obtains is irrelevant once he gets an MBA.
2) Are there cheaper, better options for testing out courses and transferring them than straighterline ?
3) How much of his degree can he do self paced by testing out. By my math about half ?
4) What roadblocks do you predict he will hit in his endevour ?
5) What essential information do I need to know to counsel him on this subject?

[topdog98]

1) Which is the best option for him? I am leaning him towards something like General Studies at Charter Oak. Ultimately the BA he obtains is irrelevant once he gets an MBA.
2) Are there cheaper, better options for testing out courses and transferring them than straighterline ?
3) How much of his degree can he do self paced by testing out. By my math about half ?
4) What roadblocks do you predict he will hit in his endevour ?
5) What essential information do I need to know to counsel him on this subject?

1) A BS in Business Administration will probably be about as easy as a General Studies major at COSC, especially since he is starting from scratch. The BSBA is very easy to test out of at COSC. This may even help him with his MBA by already having a basic knowledge of business subjects, and some MBA programs require some prerequisites if you do not have a BSBA.

2) Straighterline is a great way to get most of the general education credits and lower level requirements for the major. See this list: Charter Oak State College Course Equivalency Guide | StraighterLine

3) At COSC he can take all of his degree self paced and by testing out except for two courses that must be taken online through COSC.

4) I predict he will have very few roadblocks in his coursework if he is diligent and motivated to succeed. Of course, you cannot predict external trials of life that may arise.

5) There is too much to say here. I can help you develop a plan of action if you choose COSC. I would say start with the general education credits and go from there.

If you choose all Straighterline, this would be:

Written Communication (6 credits)
SL English Composition I and II

Oral Communication (3 credits)
SL Intro to Communication

Information Literacy (1-3 credits)
This will be covered by cornerstone course at COSC

Ethical Decision-Making (3 credits)
SL Business Ethics

U.S. History/Government (3 credits)
SL American Government or US History I or II

Non-U.S. History or Culture (3 credits)
SL Western Civilization I or II.

Global Understanding (3 credits)
SL Cultural Anthropology or Introduction to Religion

Literature and Fine Arts (3 credits)
The Analyzing and Interpreting Literature CLEP is best for this or a Music/Art appreciation option

Social/Behavioral Sciences (3 credits)
SL Macroeconomics

Mathematics (3 credits)
SL College Algebra or Business Statistics

Natural Sciences (7-8 credits)
Two of the SL science courses plus one lab

For COSC, I like to replace some of the above with upper level options, such as some upper level DSST exams since 30 upper level credits will be needed. This list is valuable for exams: http://www.charteroak.edu/exams/exams-master-list.pdf

It is really nice of you to be helping out a friend in this way. If he is interested, have him get a membership here, and we will be happy to help with his questions.

[dfrecore]

The BSBA at TESU can be gotten just as easily as the BSBA at COSC, and I think for a little less. Easily for less than $5000, and he can test out of the Capstone for $114, and he shouldn't need the Cornerstone if he pays the $2000 residency waiver (this is included in the $5000 cost). Not sure what the COSC degree will cost off the top of my head.

I would send him here to look at what he needs to do: http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...llege.html (start at the beginning). This is for TESU, but much of it will also work for COSC.

Both TESU and COSC are state schools, RA, and non-profit.

He could do either of the degrees from start to finish in 6 months if he was dedicated, but with 5 kids I'm thinking it would be closer to 12-18 months.

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If he tested out completely (or used non-graded courses such as SL, Saylor, ALEKS, etc.), he would be more limited in which schools would accept him into an MBA program. But, WGU is competency-based and will take him, as will ENMU (you can be admitted on a provisional basis, and if you pass 3 of the MBA courses with a B or higher, you're admitted to the program after that). WGU charges $3250/6-mo term, while ENMU charges $260/cr if you take 2 courses or less per term (total cost of about $7800 and 2 years). They are both RA (regionally accredited) colleges which will work in Canada.

There are more schools, but this will give you an idea of what's available for students with no graded credits.

[bjcheung77]

Hey, Nice Alias... It's refreshing seeing you would like to help a friend.
Anyways, where are you and your friend from? I assume you've looked at Athabasca U and Thompson Rivers U?
Royal Roads also has options for distance education, but the three of them are expensive. It's cheaper in the US.

1) The plan for the COSC BSBA degree is a great choice, the AOS (Area of Study) within the degree can be looked at later...
Or if he prefers, he can check out the other degrees available: https://www.charteroak.edu/prospective/programs/

2) If you follow the Beginners Guide thread or the Basic Approach - Online Education Guide on the wiki, it'll give you the majority of the cheapest credits he can take.
Since he's going for COSC, he can incorporate 20-27 FEMA Credits into his program as general education electives.

3) COSC, Excelsior and TESU just require a capstone/cornerstone taken from them, that's just 6 credits, the rest can be transferred in.
He can self pace his education for the entire degree... that shouldn't be an issue at all.

4) I don't see any roadblocks in the future, the main one is to get started, and I've addressed that in the guide.
There are affordable options other than the University of People degree for $4000 MBA that's Nationally Accredited.
You can get a Regionally Accredited degree for the same price or cheaper and it'll be more recognized.

5) Wow, dfrecore and topdog98 has it covered on this... You can review the info on the degreeforum.wikia.com
My Beginners Guide/Online Education Guide is geared towards a TESU BSBA but it should work for this as well.

The main concern is the Upper Level credits are going to be looked at differently.
Work on the General Education and Electives first, then the Business Requirements.
The last part to look into would be the Area Of Study to finish off the degree.

Please review some degree plans on degreeforum.wikia.com for details.
Wikia Resources: The Basic Approach - Degree Forum Wiki - Wikia
Beginners Guide Thread: http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...llege.html

[topdog98]

Not sure what the COSC degree will cost off the top of my head.

For a non-resident, non-military the answer is currently $2869. (This is the amount paid to COSC and doesn't include costs associated with other online courses or exams, such as Straighterline, CLEP, etc.)

$75 (application) + $377 per credit X 6 credits + 267 (student services fee) + $60 (technology fee) + $205 (graduation fee) = $2869

[dfrecore]

For a non-resident, non-military the answer is currently $2869. (This is the amount paid to COSC and doesn't include costs associated with other online courses or exams, such as Straighterline, CLEP, etc.)

$75 (application) + $377 per credit X 6 credits + 267 (student services fee) + $60 (technology fee) + $205 (graduation fee) = $2869

The $5,000 I mentioned for the TESU BSBA includes all 120cr needed. The actual fees are $75 (application), $2000 (residency waiver), $323 (graduation fee) = $2,398 plus courses.

The cornerstone will not have to be taken if you end up not taking any TESU courses, and transfer in all of your credits except the capstone, which is able to be tested out of via a TECEP for $114.

I think one of the main pros of TESU for the BSBA is the speed (since there is no cornerstone or capstone "course", you don't have to take those 2 courses in a term, which subtracts 3+ months from your degree).

[dfrecore]

3) COSC, Excelsior and TESU just require a capstone/cornerstone taken from them, that's just 6 credits, the rest can be transferred in.
He can self pace his education for the entire degree... that shouldn't be an issue at all.

I'd like to clarify this.

COSC requires both a cornerstone and capstone that must be taken with them.

EC does not require a cornerstone, and the capstone for the BSBA is 6 very expensive credits $510/cr x 6cr = $3,060 for one course. They have additional fees of $50 (application), $1095 (Tuition), $495 (student services fee) and $495 (graduation), making the total cost $5195 PLUS courses. If you were able to take the same exact courses as TESU (you probably can't, but it's a good estimate), you're looking at a total of $8,622. Not a great deal for this forum.

TESU does not require a cornerstone if you transfer in all of your credits, and the capstone for the BSBA is $114 (TECEP Exam).

[jsd]

The cornerstone will not have to be taken if you end up not taking any TESU courses

Whoa, when/how did we learn this? I hope it's not another false alarm like the "residency waiver means no cornerstone" thing

[dfrecore]

Whoa, when/how did we learn this? I hope it's not another false alarm like the "residency waiver means no cornerstone" thing

Yes, that's where it came from. You only have to take the Cornerstone if you are going to take courses at TESU. If you're going to pay the residency waiver and transfer in all of your courses, then you don't need to take it.

It will probably be planned into the eval if you are new, but that's because they don't know in advanced that you're going to transfer in all of your courses until you do so (and most people don't apply and then transfer in 117cr, they apply and transfer in some credits, and then take additional courses/exams and transfer those in again). If this is the case, it will probably just be waived when you transfer in all of your courses and sign up for the capstone. But that part is just my guess.

[jsd]

In that same thread that turned out not to be true when others (including me) emailed for clarification