Is TESU Still The Cheaper Way To Go?

[ss20ts]

CLEP tests have been very easy and wonderful for us!  A single exam pass/fail.  The histories were the very easiest of all.  It was worth trying if it is free.  If he is a history major, then he should be good at history anyway.  

I agree that Sophia was easier to do most of the work though except for the English.  CLEP had some things that Sophia did not have too.

Just because someone is a history major doesn't mean they're a great test taker. Lots of people struggle with tests. Many people struggle with timed tests.

[Dorothy44]

True. I myself happen to be one of those people.

[richlyblessed]

So i plan on finishing my undergraduate degree with TESU. I already had my transcripts evaluated and would have finished last year but Covid-19 struck and everything went down hill. I struggled with personal expenses, rent, e.t.c and tried to stay afloat. Now, i am getting back on my feet and will like to quickly complete my Bachelors, but i had to make a calculation on my expenses if i am to go with TESU and discovered i will be spending a lot. So, i guess my question is, is there a cheaper alternative out there for a Bachelor's degree? This is my breakdown. 

For the fulfilment of a BA in History from TESU ( After the evaluation of my transcript)
Courses needed to complete (27 credits needed)

1) HIS-101 Western Civilization I

2) HIS-102 Western Civilization II

3) HIS-113 American History I

4) HIS-114 American History II 

5) Ethics course ( Business Ethics)

6) Civic Engagement course ( American Government 3)

7) HIS-379 Historical Methods

8) SOS-110: Living in the Information Age

9) LIB-495 Liberal Arts Capstone Course 


So these are the required courses i need to fulfil. Based on my last discussion with a student advisor i will be able to test out numbers 1 to 6 with straighter line to reduce cost. 

Numbers 7, 8, 9 has to be taken with TESU and will cost $1500 each = $4500

Also, i have to pay Residency fee of $2500

This totals to $ 7000

Now i do not know if there are other required fees to be paid later, but based on my discussion with a student advisor last year, this is what it is . So my question still remains, is TESU still a cheaper option, or is there something better out there?
Please, i will like to know. Thanks

I am so grateful for all the suggestions given, to be honest i am amazed. So a little background story. Yes, i live in the US, but before i migrated here, i had completed my Bachelors in my home country in History & International Relations. I Just want to have a bachelors from an American University that won't cost me so much or put me in debt. That's why i opted for TESU initially. Now i hear the mention of UMPI, of which i have never heard of before now. I checked out the website and information and it seems interesting. I will be contacting an enrollment officer and have a chat with them. Then i will weigh my options as against TESU and know which is gonna be cheaper, easier and faster for me.

As for credits, i know i have more than 90 credits fulfilled because when i had my transcripts evaluated for TESU, the company literally asked me why i didn't go straight to do a Masters program because i have way more than 120 credits required only that the school might take out some courses they feel they don't need.

So my questions are:

1) Does anyone know if  UMPI is fully competency based, and by this i mean "No exam or tests required for any course?"
 
2) Also, does anyone know if they accept straighter line courses, because i already made a payment for 1 month and 2 courses, (which i regret) before i made this post. Because if they don't accept straighter line courses and i end up switching to UMPI, then i may need a refund or i might loose my money.

[bjcheung77]

1) UMPI and all competency based degrees are through assessments and exams/tests/projects for all courses... no exceptions.
2) StraighterLine is a partner with the Big 3 and the CBE offerings such as Brandman, UMPI, WGU and so on.

Here's the link for UMPI: https://www.straighterline.com/colleges/...sque-isle/
And the equivalency: https://www.straighterline.com/colleges/...uivalency/

[bluebooger]

So my questions are:

1) Does anyone know if  UMPI is fully competency based, and by this i mean "No exam or tests required for any course?"
 

how do you prove competency without exams or tests ?

even if you have an excellent csv prospective employers still give software developers a coding exam and at least a verbal "exam" to prove what they know

[richlyblessed]

Competency based for some institutions could mean assignments, paper work or presentations, slide presentations and project submission. No question and answer based assessment tests. That's what i was referring to.

[ss20ts]

I am so grateful for all the suggestions given, to be honest i am amazed. So a little background story. Yes, i live in the US, but before i migrated here, i had completed my Bachelors in my home country in History & International Relations. I Just want to have a bachelors from an American University that won't cost me so much or put me in debt. That's why i opted for TESU initially. Now i hear the mention of UMPI, of which i have never heard of before now. I checked out the website and information and it seems interesting. I will be contacting an enrollment officer and have a chat with them. Then i will weigh my options as against TESU and know which is gonna be cheaper, easier and faster for me.

As for credits, i know i have more than 90 credits fulfilled because when i had my transcripts evaluated for TESU, the company literally asked me why i didn't go straight to do a Masters program because i have way more than 120 credits required only that the school might take out some courses they feel they don't need.

So my questions are:

1) Does anyone know if  UMPI is fully competency based, and by this i mean "No exam or tests required for any course?"
 
2) Also, does anyone know if they accept straighter line courses, because i already made a payment for 1 month and 2 courses, (which i regret) before i made this post. Because if they don't accept straighter line courses and i end up switching to UMPI, then i may need a refund or i might loose my money.

I'm an UMPI alumni from the YourPace program. The YourPace program is 100% competency based. Being competency based does not mean there are no exams. Every class has nongraded quizzes. Every class has a Final Assessment which is one of 3 things - a paper, project, or exam. About 1/4 of the classes have exams. 

UMPI accepts certain StraighterLine courses. This link shows what they accept and how it transfers in. 

https://www.straighterline.com/colleges/...sque-isle/

[Dorothy44]

CLEP tests have been very easy and wonderful for us!  A single exam pass/fail.  The histories were the very easiest of all.  It was worth trying if it is free.  If he is a history major, then he should be good at history anyway.  

I agree that Sophia was easier to do most of the work though except for the English.  CLEP had some things that Sophia did not have too.

The main problem with the at-home CLEP exams is the proctor. https://www.consumerreports.org/digital-...a-at-risk/

But there is also the person who took the exam and CollegeBoard had a button there that shouldn't have been there (at least, not labeled the way it was) so that test results almost weren't sent to the school. If you're aware of these issues, CLEP at home can be a good solution. But it's wise to be aware of the pitfalls you might face to decide whether or not the path is right for you.

I am just now reading this. At first when I read the article, it did not specifically mention CLEP.  However, after looking around you are right.   Wow, that would be a big problem.  I had no idea.  Thank you for bringing that to my attention.

[rachel83az]

I am just now reading this. At first when I read the article, it did not specifically mention CLEP.  However, after looking around you are right.   Wow, that would be a big problem.  I had no idea.  Thank you for bringing that to my attention.

It is a big problem and they're not the only one. Examity (used by WGU and Outlier.org) has also had issues. I think that they're the proctor where students could see each other's personal contact information without any hacking. It's just... there. In the site. For everyone to see. Someone here posted about this issue and said that they complained to the site in question but I'm not sure anything was ever done about it.

There are some really, really good reasons why people ask if there are ways to avoid proctoring. Sadly, schools tend to see this as students seeking to cheat and so they make the proctoring requirements even stricter.