How to proceed?

[Bearcat999]

Your Location: Ohio, USA
Your Age: 59
What kind of degree do you want?:[b]UMPI Bachelor of Liberal Studies-Managment minor (Tentative)[/b]
Current Regional Accredited Credits:0



Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits:
Project Management -3
Human Biology -3
Macroeconomics- 3
Microeconomics -3
Visual Communications – 3
Conflict Resolution – 3
Financial Accounting – 3
Art History 1 – 3
Art History 2 -3
Intro to Ethics – 3
Environmental Science- 3
Ancient Greek Philosophers -3 
Introduction to Business – 3
Developing Effective Teams – 1
IT Career Exploration -1 
Essentials of Conflict Management – 1
Us History1 – 3
US History2 -3
Workplace Communication - 3
Spanish 1 -3  


Provider Total Credits: 51
Any certifications or military experience? No

Here is my situation; I read your forum for awhile and figured that now that the kids are grown, I may as well start another project.  I decided to get a degree.  
I started with Sophia on 10/11.   I have been able to knock out a fair amount by avoiding those with Touchstones. (In that time I broke 2 ribs and was off work for a week, so I was in bed and able to really focus on Sophia.) 
Anyway, I was primarily looking at UMPI, but I am open to suggestions. 
40 years ago I went to college for a year on an athletic scholarship, but got hurt and quit.  
My career has been as a manager, so a lot of the business courses were pretty easy for me.  However, I work for the government and I am not looking to move up from my current position, so I am open to what the degree is in and where it comes from.  I suppose I am doing it to "check the box" because I feel like it was a mistake to quit years ago.  

My primary considerations are: 
I like taking as many Sophia and alternate sources as possible. 
I would like to complete as quickly as possible.  
Money is not a significant consideration.  
I have looked at degree plans and will dig further into them.  Right now I am hoping I gave enough information to get advice as to what may be the best school/program. And which classes I should focus on on Sophia. 

Thanks

[bjcheung77]

@Bearcat999, Welcome to the board, you've done the template but missed the last post addendum!  I usually recommend more details which you've added at the bottom of your post, but doesn't really give us your budget, commitments, dedicated time to study, your study habits and so on.  Link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

At the time being, you should continue with your Sophia.org to get up to the max of 90 or more credits for transfer into UMPI, those credits should also be able to transfer to Excelsior or TESU if you need, I suggest keeping your options open too, UMPI is a great choice, but something like Excelsior or TESU may be better if you want to maximize the transfer limit.

Last but not least, you may want to make sure to get a transcript of some sort if you have credits from the old school, or even bills/payments pending if any.  You want to 'clear' all the hurdles in case something comes up from the old school audit of transfer credits and transcripts in the National Student Clearing House when you apply to UMPI or elsewhere.

[Bearcat999]

@Bearcat999, Welcome to the board, you've done the template but missed the last post addendum!  I usually recommend more details which you've added at the bottom of your post, but doesn't really give us your budget, commitments, dedicated time to study, your study habits and so on.  Link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

At the time being, you should continue with your Sophia.org to get up to the max of 90 or more credits for transfer into UMPI, those credits should also be able to transfer to Excelsior or TESU if you need, I suggest keeping your options open too, UMPI is a great choice, but something like Excelsior or TESU may be better if you want to maximize the transfer limit.

Last but not least, you may want to make sure to get a transcript of some sort if you have credits from the old school, or even bills/payments pending if any.  You want to 'clear' all the hurdles in case something comes up from the old school audit of transfer credits and transcripts in the National Student Clearing House when you apply to UMPI or elsewhere.

Thank you for your reply.  I apologize, I thought I had the correct template.  
My budget is pretty flexible.  I will be paying out of pocket, so I don't want to throw away money, but it's not my primary concern.  I figure anything that gets me out below $10k is a steal.  
Study habits are pretty good.  My kids are grown and my time obligations are few. Realistically I can 20-25 hours a week studying.  I am fairly disciplined with time management.  My primary concern is completing as quickly as possible.  

My current thinking is that I am moving through the Sophia courses fairly quickly and when I get to 80, consider applying at one of the schools.  Excelsior may be a good choice, but I haven't seen as many degree plans for them, so it's hard to know what to take.

[rachel83az]

Personally, if you want a business degree, I would probably go for UMPI. If you keep going with Sophia and Study.com, you should be ready to enroll at UMPI for the January "spring" session. You should be able to finish there in 1-3 sessions (2-6 months).

UMPI does require a fair bit of writing (very few, if any, courses have exams; only papers/projects). If you don't want to do writing, I would say TESU. The business degrees at TESU probably cost about the same as the business degrees at Excelsior, because Excelsior is essentially now requiring a minimum of 10 credits taken from them (only for BUSINESS degrees, other degrees should still be just 7 credits). And TESU is easier to understand, with a lot of plans available.

But TESU does require a minimum number of RA credits. This can be done with the flat-rate 16-credit term plus 15 credits from TECEPs/TEL Learning/ASU/etc.

[LevelUP]

Since your career is in management, I suggest doing one of the Bachelor's of Arts in Business Administration.

The BABA Management & Leadership is my suggestion though you can do any one you want.
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...egree_Plan

All UMPI degrees
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:UMPI

The BA Business Administration might take 2-4wk longer than the Liberal Studies-Management minor though I think you can make the 12/27/22 application deadline to start the Spring term at UMPI.

UMPI will cost $1400 for 1 term or $2800 if it takes you 2 terms.

[dfrecore]

If you went to college for a year, you should have credits from there that you can add to this. I would contact the school and get that transcript. You might have 30cr from there, all or most should work towards a degree anywhere. So get that info and get back to us with it.

Regarding a degree, if you're already in management, and think those courses are easier, I would definitely do the BABA at UMPI - with the Management minor/concentration, unless another concentration looks more interesting.

[bjcheung77]

UMPI will cost $1400 for 1 term or $2800 if it takes you 2 terms.

Exactly, OP, you're close to retiring and just wanting that 'check the box' degree. I still recommend what I mentioned in post #2, I suggest completing most of your courses with Sophia.org right now to get up to 90 credits and use Study.com for the science with lab. I would review your options and decide on the degree/school of choice...

Find out if you have any credits from the previous college, if you have RA already, then you can finish TESU with just two courses, the cornerstone/capstone, transfer everything in and pay that residency waiver fee, or even look at Excelsior BSLA... It really doesn't matter which degree/school as you're just wanting that personal checkbox.

[davewill]

If you went to college for a year, you should have credits from there that you can add to this.  I would contact the school and get that transcript. You might have 30cr from there, all or most should work towards a degree anywhere.  So get that info and get back to us with it.

I would add that even if you think those old courses won't be useful, or have some other reason you not to contact them, whichever school you try to graduate from is going to require that transcript before granting your degree.

[ss20ts]

I transferred courses from the 90's into UMPI. I would get ahold of that transcript.

[Bearcat999]

UMPI will cost $1400 for 1 term or $2800 if it takes you 2 terms.

Exactly, OP, you're close to retiring and just wanting that 'check the box' degree.  I still recommend what I mentioned in post #2, I suggest completing most of your courses with Sophia.org right now to get up to 90 credits and use Study.com for the science with lab.  I would review your options and decide on the degree/school of choice...

Find out if you have any credits from the previous college, if you have RA already, then you can finish TESU with just two courses, the cornerstone/capstone, transfer everything in and pay that residency waiver fee, or even look at Excelsior BSLA... It really doesn't matter which degree/school as you're just wanting that personal checkbox.

I did get my transcript.  I found out that I had 9 credits.  (As I said I was on a sports scholarship and was injured.  The injury was serious enough that I lost the use of my predominant arm for almost a year).  

These were also quarter classes not semester.  
Principles of Pysch 2 - 3 credits
Moral/Political Ideas 3 credits
Economics -3 credits. 

I am not sure how these would transfer.  Could someone give me clarification on RA requirements for TESU and how to meet them? 
Secondly, my thoughts were initially UMPI, where the biology with lab would should be done at study.com rather that the college.  Does this apply to TESU?  
I am currently waiting on 2 Touchstones to be graded from Sophia

Approaches to Studying Religion.
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That will give me 60 Sophia credits.