Military Needs advice before starting Excelsior

[Unistic]

Hello all,

I'm in the military I have less than two years remaining. I've completed my associates in Criminal Justices only because it goes with my career field. My love is in computers. But I need to complete a BS before I get out and I'll use my GI Bill towards my Masters when I get out.

I'm clepping a course on Monday. But my CCAF does have 78 credits attached to it. From what I read on this site its easier just to go for a Liberal Arts degree I can do that. Now my question is I'm seeking an entry level job in Information Technology when I get out. So would already having a CCAF in criminal justice how many credits do you think I would need to finish an associate in Information Technology at Excelsior then roll straight into a BS in Liberal Arts? Or should I just go for the BS in Information Technology right away.

Again I need to complete this degree in less than 2 years. And for the sake of insanity lets just say I don't clep anything and just take all of Excelsior courses. How long would it take? And does anyone have experience in taking Excelsior courses i.e 8 week course. Or someone that's taking IT courses at Excelsior can tell me how difficult the courses are? Can I manage two course while working Monday-friday 7am to 5pm? And maybe can I take on more than 2 in order to finish alittle faster? Thank you!

[UptonSinclair]

If you are looking at taking actual classes rather than testing out. You might want to have a look at Fort Hays before you jump. They are very generous with CCAF credits and have an extensive networking curriculum. They are more affordable than Excelsior and allow up to 65 transfer credits. They are a state college in Kansas. It isn't a good fit for people who want to test out of more classes, but there are very few information technology exams. The best solution might be a Bachelor of General Studies with a concentration in information and networking at Fort Hays.
http://www.fhsu.edu/virtualcollege/degre...education/


I think you will find Excelsior very stingy when it comes to transfer credits in their Technology program. They offered me only 24 of my 59 credits toward an electrical degree, which was my career field in the Air Force. If you choose to jump straight into the Liberal Arts program at Excelsior, you will most likely get all of your credits. You can do a concentration in information technology in the liberal arts program if you do a BS. You will need 21 credits in information technology for it to appear as a Area of Focus on your transcript. It will not be listed on your degree.

You may also consider Thomas Edison. They seem to be a little more flexible than Excelsor and many on here choose them over Excelsior.

Again, the biggest benefit of the big three, Charter Oak, Thomas Edison, and Excelsior is their liberal acceptance of exam and transfer credits. If I were taking actually classes I would choose another option.

As a side note, if you are looking for a good entry level IT option, consider passing your A+, Network+, and Security+ before you get out. Then look into government contract jobs. You will still have an active clearance making you a valuable asset. Down the road, you may consider leveraging your security background with networking to pad your resume in the direction of cyber security.

[Unistic]

Thank you for your reply it was really in-depth. Can you elaborate more on TESC? When I looked all their degrees were Applied Science and not just a BS? I see that their courses can be taken many different ways i.e class room or self study methods. If you don't mind please give me your opinions about TESC and why do others choose that over EC? And right now I"m studying to take the SEC+ then the NET+ not sure on A+ though. Thanks!

EDIT:

I'm now lending towards the BS Liberal Arts with EC. I'll do all 7 (21 credits) in technology first. Once I'm done I see about CLEPng the other classes I needed. Then I'll move on to either WGU for a masters or UMUC for a dual masters program.... Waiting on EC to call me back!

[UptonSinclair]

I am afraid I can't elaborate on TESC. There are regular contributors here who attend TESC, but I am a current Excelsior student.

With the Liberal Arts degree at Excelsior, you probably have all of your applied professional credits except the upper 9. Obviously, that is just a guess, but your CCAF credits are mostly applied professional. You can ask EC to exclude some if you choose. Keep in mind that you will need 60 credits of liberal arts (Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Math, Etc.) with 21 being upper level. There are DSST that will cover some of the upper level requirements if you choose.

If you pass your Sec+ and Net+, chances are you have enough knowledge for the A+. I am not sure about the need. It is common to hear the three listed together. My information on the IT side of things only comes from casual conversations with friends at the government building where I work. As with anything information, verify everything you are told. Your best advocate is you.

Good luck with your decision. It took me 6 months to decide on a program and I still second guess that decision on a regular basis.

[dcan]

TESC has a full range of degrees, from arts to science to business to applied science. For IT they have both a business CIS degree and a full-blown computer science degree. The BSAST is only one "arm" of their degree programs.

Here's a list of their degrees: Thomas Edison State College: Undergraduate Degrees

I am in a similar position and same point in my career, and I'm enrolled in TESC for a BS in business with a concentration in CIS. It is a good program if you can stomach the business courses.

If you want "IT" (i.e. not programming but networking/etc) Excelsior may have a better lineup.

[Prloko]

Hello all,

I'm in the military I have less than two years remaining. I've completed my associates in Criminal Justices only because it goes with my career field. My love is in computers. But I need to complete a BS before I get out and I'll use my GI Bill towards my Masters when I get out.

I'm clepping a course on Monday. But my CCAF does have 78 credits attached to it. From what I read on this site its easier just to go for a Liberal Arts degree I can do that. Now my question is I'm seeking an entry level job in Information Technology when I get out. So would already having a CCAF in criminal justice how many credits do you think I would need to finish an associate in Information Technology at Excelsior then roll straight into a BS in Liberal Arts? Or should I just go for the BS in Information Technology right away.

Again I need to complete this degree in less than 2 years. And for the sake of insanity lets just say I don't clep anything and just take all of Excelsior courses. How long would it take? And does anyone have experience in taking Excelsior courses i.e 8 week course. Or someone that's taking IT courses at Excelsior can tell me how difficult the courses are? Can I manage two course while working Monday-friday 7am to 5pm? And maybe can I take on more than 2 in order to finish alittle faster? Thank you!

You sounds like you're short on time. A possible strategy you can use is to quickly get any bachelors at TESC(the quickest), whether it's liberal studies or another. Then you can use one year of your GI Bill to do the Oregon State U "Second Bachelors in Computer Science", which can be completed in about a year or two. You will still have 3 years worth of GI Bill left for your Masters in whatever (MIS, maybe?). You will have to get a good math foundation before you start though. You can also try TESC's BSBA in Computer Information Systems, but most of your Criminal Justice credits won't transfer.

[Unistic]

Wow!

So I can go to any school and do the AU-ABC Air Force program to get 60 credits using my CCAF towards a bachelor in Criminal Justice and get that done ASAP. Then roll into Oregon State for that second bachelors! Now not to sound bad. I need to knock out my Bachelors as soon as possible I know Trident offer 5 weeks classes and I could be done with the bachelors in Criminal Justice in less than a year. I think Excelsior or TESC would take alittle over a year to complete. Any suggestions. Loving the second bachelor degree idea.

[sanantone]

Wow!

So I can go to any school and do the AU-ABC Air Force program to get 60 credits using my CCAF towards a bachelor in Criminal Justice and get that done ASAP. Then roll into Oregon State for that second bachelors! Now not to sound bad. I need to knock out my Bachelors as soon as possible I know Trident offer 5 weeks classes and I could be done with the bachelors in Criminal Justice in less than a year. I think Excelsior or TESC would take alittle over a year to complete. Any suggestions. Loving the second bachelor degree idea.

Penn Foster offers a lot of self-paced, ACE-approved courses in criminal justice that are accepted by the Big 3: Charter Oak, Thomas Edison, and Excelsior. TESC requires less UL courses and will give UL credits to many courses that COSC and Excelsior consider LL. The good thing about the Big 3 is that they have no residency requirements other than a capstone (COSC also requires a cornerstone course). Just about every other college will require you to take at least 25% of your credits with them and many have limits on CBEs (CLEP, DSST, etc.)