I have a few questions about how to approach the TESU residency requirements

[aviator guy]

Ok folks, forgive me. Other than one TECEP to keep my enrollment active, I basically took 2016 off and missed much of the hubbub when the residency waiver came about. I have read much about the residency requirement but I still have questions. For the record, I have been continuously enrolled since 2014 so I'm under the "old" catalogs.

What I want – AS and BS in BA from TESU

What I was going to do previously – earn the required residency via TECEP (I believe it was 25 credits or so)

What I have now – 6 credits of “pre residency BS (pre 2016)” via TECEP, plus one more "post residency BS" TECEP, for a total of 9 credits via TESU.

What I am trying to figure out: How to meet the 16 hours, or if I should pay the waiver.

Option 1: Pay $5000 for 10 credits (3 courses and waste $500 on PLA100) On the up side, I get a GPA (see below) but on the down side I would have to pay this out of pocket and it would suck.
Option 2: Pay the residency waiver - $2500-$5000
Option 3: Sign up for the comprehensive plan for $10,000. On the downside, this is $10,000 and I would most likely have to use a student loan (yuck.) On the up side, it completely eliminates the need for any residency BS, and it also gives me a GPA should I wish to attend grad school (a distinct possibility.)

Question 1 – It appears that the residency waiver is good for a year. If I were to meet the requirements for my AS, pay the waiver and then rain hell fire upon my BS and complete that within the year, would I have to pay the waiver again? If this is a possibility, the down side is that if life were to get in the way of completing the BS I would be on the hook for another $2500.

Question 2 – Is there a residency requirement above and beyond the 16 credits now? Am I correct in assuming that under the per credit plan I am only held to the 16? This is somewhat important to me, as if I go the route of the residency waiver I’ll probably only take one or two more TECEPs and acquire credit via more palatable sources.

[davewill]

1. We're pretty sure that so long as you do both within a year, you only have to pay the waiver once. Delay applying for graduation for the AS if that what it takes to be sure you'll complete the BS in time.

2. Yes, it's 16 credits, and you have 6 credits that count towards it now. I can't see any good reason for you to pay for courses unless your major is one that it's not possible to find cheap courses for.

To get going, take some courses from Study.com. The guardian scholarship gets you three free months, and six free courses (the first must be Personal Finance), and even more importantly, being a Study.com member gets you affiliate pricing at TESU which includes the residency waiver for $1800. They're bound to have something you can use. If not, you can stop after the required Personal Finance course. For at least the next 15 months or so, everyone is going to want to go the Study.com route. As soon as you're signed up, email TESU and ask them to add the affiliate pricing to your account.

[aviator guy]

Ok, good info... thank you very much.

Now, another question regarding the study.com deal... I thought that was for those that had been participating in the program previously, however if the discount applies to new study.com customers that seems like a great deal.

But... how exactly does that work? Can I sign up for Study.com, do a few courses and cancel after a month or two and still receive the discounted residency waiver? Does one need to be a paying customer of study.com at the time the waiver is paid?

[Synicaal]

Ok, good info... thank you very much.

Now, another question regarding the study.com deal... I thought that was for those that had been participating in the program previously, however if the discount applies to new study.com customers that seems like a great deal.

But... how exactly does that work? Can I sign up for Study.com, do a few courses and cancel after a month or two and still receive the discounted residency waiver? Does one need to be a paying customer of study.com at the time the waiver is paid?

Hard to say how it truly works (how they would verify you are a study.com member) I feel like if they get everything all said and done and ready for you to graduate yet they didn't receive a single credit in from Study.com they would hit you with the fees. You do NOT need to be a continuance member or even a paying member the scholarship accounts work fine. TESU has no way to know if you paid for study.com or not. But my feeling says they can easily verify people from the ACE transcripts that get sent in.

[davewill]

Ok, good info... thank you very much.

Now, another question regarding the study.com deal... I thought that was for those that had been participating in the program previously, however if the discount applies to new study.com customers that seems like a great deal.

But... how exactly does that work? Can I sign up for Study.com, do a few courses and cancel after a month or two and still receive the discounted residency waiver? Does one need to be a paying customer of study.com at the time the waiver is paid?

It's more likely that they intended it for new users as it's essentially a promotion of Study.com. however, they are allowing past and current users to take advantage. I think that so long as you are either a current member or have at least one study.com course transferred to TESU, you'll be good.

[bricabrac]

Maybe I misread your post or TESU has changed its policy. I was under the impression that if the enrollment never lapsed you are still under the original pay per credit tuition plan, which allowed tecep's for residency. I would first call, or email, the bursar before making any changes.

[aviator guy]

Maybe I misread your post or TESU has changed its policy. I was under the impression that if the enrollment never lapsed you are still under the original pay per credit tuition plan, which allowed tecep's for residency. I would first call, or email, the bursar before making any changes.

From the reading I did at the time of the change, my understanding was that only TECEPs taken before the date of the change (May or something) counted towards the needed resident credits.

I did email them to see what they have to say.

[aviator guy]

Ok, well just for the sake of anyone that winds up here via a search in the future... I've confirmed that I am held to the 16 credit policy, same as everyone else. So... residency waiver it is.

[bricabrac]

Ok, well just for the sake of anyone that winds up here via a search in the future... I've confirmed that I am held to the 16 credit policy, same as everyone else. So... residency waiver it is.

Well, that seems unfair and does not follow their own academic policy. TESU was loosing boatloads of money with folks taking advantage of the TECEP loophole. But I would have fought this all the way to the Dean; I tend to argue a case, especially when I know I'm right, until I'm blue in the face. Oh well, the waiver is still a huge savings when compared to tuition at traditional schools.

[dfrecore]

Ok, well just for the sake of anyone that winds up here via a search in the future... I've confirmed that I am held to the 16 credit policy, same as everyone else. So... residency waiver it is.

I have a copy of the 2014-2015 catalog that I'm under, and it does say that TECEP's are counted towards residency. I would argue that one for sure if you are under that catalog. It's in writing!

BUT, it also says that you need 24cr of residency, meaning 8 exams. So, you'd have to decide that you were willing to take 8 TECEP's to get that.

If you already have 9cr of residency, you'd need 5 more exams. If you need at least 15cr that they offer, it would be worth it.

I have 15cr of residency from TECEP's, and so I need 1cr more to fulfill my residency. It's actually cheaper/easier for me to just do the 1cr cornerstone for $300 than it is to do 3 more TECEP exams. Plus, I don't want to fight them on this, since they could then implement the 24cr residency requirement on me and make it a real pain; I'm close to being done.

I think if I were you, I might fight them on this. Since your catalog is older, it does say that TECEP's count towards residency, and you could hold them to it. But you'd have to be prepared to take 5 TECEP's. But you'd certainly save some money on the residency requirement ($1800 - $570 = $1230 saved).