My turn - restart bachelor's pursuit?

[jb111]

Good evening all! I asked a question for my girlfriend last week and got some great advice. She is weighing her options and will likely start a program this spring. We talked and she asked if I would like to finish my degree as well. Maybeeee

Please let me know what you think: After the army, I used up my Army GI Bill and completed several units from a few colleges ranging from 1995 to 2005. We moved a lot, then I became a full time single father of two - school came to a screeching halt (for good reason). The course work I completed was general ed with later focus on IT. Plus I have IT certifications and 20 years experience. I contacted Excelsior, TESU and CharterOak and find their admission/tuition structure a bit confusing. This is what I figured out so far:

For all, technology classes expire in 10 years (partially dependent on degree being pursued)

-Excelsior - minimum 1.5 classes (something like 4-5 credits), $510 per credit, multi-source incurs Commitment Fee and Annual Student Fee. Is the Commitment Fee refundable if I graduate? They are doing an evaluation based on Unofficial transcript

-TESU - minimum 16 credits (something like 5.5 classes), $500 per credit, minimum 3 credits per year. I believe Syniccal said one TCEP a year would cover this. They are doing an evaluation based on Unofficial transcript.

-COSC - Minimum 6 credits (2 classes), very confusing pricing model due to lab fees but appears to be close to the others. No minimum yearly courses. Student can do their own eval based on transcript.

I don't need to complete this for career reasons (though it may help down the road). This is more of a closure and clean up the resume thing. The big questions for me are:
-As a veteran, do any of these schools provide a less expensive path?
-What should I study? I know this is my decision but open to ideas. IT/Cyber Security lines up with the job and some previous classes. However, since the degree is more like, "Icing on the cake", Liberal Arts could be faster - especially taking into consideration expired technology classes. Lastly, if it came down to the exact number of classes no matter what I did, I'd do something more interesting like psychology. I'm open to different job in the future, who knows

Thanks for checking this out. JB

[ajs1976]

We will need to see list of certs, courses (title and number), and if the schools were 2 yr or 4 yr, NA or RA.

There is a fee that will waive the 16 credit residency requirement at TESU.

TESU will waive the 10 yr thing for IT classes if you have worked in IT for a long time.

How do you feel about business classes? Some of us IT people that need to check the box, go towards the BSBA:CIS at TESU. Others go towards the BA in CS at TESU. If you want Cyber, COSC might be more flexible and cheaper then Excelsior or TESU. look for a thread by JTP for his experience with that program.

[videogamesrock]

Good evening all! I asked a question for my girlfriend last week and got some great advice. She is weighing her options and will likely start a program this spring. We talked and she asked if I would like to finish my degree as well. Maybeeee

Please let me know what you think: After the army, I used up my Army GI Bill and completed several units from a few colleges ranging from 1995 to 2005. We moved a lot, then I became a full time single father of two - school came to a screeching halt (for good reason). The course work I completed was general ed with later focus on IT. Plus I have IT certifications and 20 years experience. I contacted Excelsior, TESU and CharterOak and find their admission/tuition structure a bit confusing. This is what I figured out so far:

For all, technology classes expire in 10 years (partially dependent on degree being pursued)

-Excelsior - minimum 1.5 classes (something like 4-5 credits), $510 per credit, multi-source incurs Commitment Fee and Annual Student Fee. Is the Commitment Fee refundable if I graduate? They are doing an evaluation based on Unofficial transcript

-TESU - minimum 16 credits (something like 5.5 classes), $500 per credit, minimum 3 credits per year. I believe Syniccal said one TCEP a year would cover this. They are doing an evaluation based on Unofficial transcript.

-COSC - Minimum 6 credits (2 classes), very confusing pricing model due to lab fees but appears to be close to the others. No minimum yearly courses. Student can do their own eval based on transcript.

I don't need to complete this for career reasons (though it may help down the road). This is more of a closure and clean up the resume thing. The big questions for me are:
-As a veteran, do any of these schools provide a less expensive path?
-What should I study? I know this is my decision but open to ideas. IT/Cyber Security lines up with the job and some previous classes. However, since the degree is more like, "Icing on the cake", Liberal Arts could be faster - especially taking into consideration expired technology classes. Lastly, if it came down to the exact number of classes no matter what I did, I'd do something more interesting like psychology. I'm open to different job in the future, who knows

Thanks for checking this out. JB

Please list your credits you've completed.

[jb111]

Thanks all. I am open to other majors. Here is what I could salvage from the courses I took (300s and 400s were primarily done at 4 year schools) :
California Colleges
CIS 111 RDBMS Progr
ENG 115 Communications I
ENG 215 Communications II
ENG 221 Oral Communications
FIN 100 Prin Of Finance
HUM 200 Logic
HUM 100 Intro To Art, Music & Lit
HUM 400 Religion And Philosophy
MAT 100 Fundamentals Of Mathematics
MAT 105 Intro To College Math
MAT 300 Statistics
POL 300 Contemp Intl Problems
SOC 100 Intro To Sociology
AST 18 Stars and Energy
PSY 105 Intro To Psychology
ENG 115 Communications I
ENG 215 Communications II
ENG 221 Oral Communications
FIN 100 Prin Of Finance
HUM 200 Logic
HUM 100 Intro To Art, Music & Lit
HUM 400 Religion And Philosophy
MAT 100 Fundamentals Of Mathematics
MAT 105 Intro To College Math
MAT 300 Statistics
POL 300 Contemp Intl Problems
SOC 100 Intro To Sociology
Strayer
CIS 222 Computer Ethics
BUS 100 Intro To Business
CIS 175 Intro To Networking
CIS 450 Network Security
CIS 155 Operating Systems
HUM 300 Hist Mthds Of Sci
ACC 100 Accounting I
HUM 101 Origins Of Western Culture
SOC 300 Soc Of Develop Countries
SOC 300 Soc Of Develop Countries
CIS 417 Computer Forensics
ENG 240 Comm For Bus And The Professio
CIS 210 Systems Analysis And Development

There were about 6 classes that Strayer considered electives – can’t see what they were (probably Art since that was my first major).

[dfrecore]

I am not an expert on EC or COSC, so I am just going to give you the best 2 degrees at TESU for you, and you can see what others say about the other schools, or if they have other options.

First, you can get a BSBA in CIS, and with your previous experience, even if you can't use the IT courses you've taken, you can probably test out of them easily. So that's a good, fast option.

Second, there's the BALS. It's also a good option for you in that you already have some UL courses you can use in the Area of Study. With the additional art courses you said you have, that gives you even more courses you can use towards this degree in the AOS. If any are UL, that's even better.

For all 3 schools, you are only required to take the Cornerstone and/or Capstone. So, you would pay about the same for all of them in terms of fees and courses and whatnot. So really, it's just a matter of which one you think you can get through the fastest.

TESU BSBA in CIS - $2000 for courses, $2400 for fees, for a total of $4400
TESU BALS - $1400 for courses, $3900 for fees, for a total of $5300
For COSC, it's $2900 for fees (including cornerstone and capstone) and then probably $1500 for courses for a total of $4400

I'm also going to recommend looking at WGU. Their IT program is pretty popular on here, and they take a lot of certs as credit. They also take a lot of alternative ACE-recommended credit we talk about here, as long as you get those credits BEFORE you enroll (after you apply, but before you enroll, that's important).

If I were you, I would seriously consider applying at WGU (it's free) to see what their eval looks like, and TESU. Send in all of your transcripts from every school you've gone to. See what they both say. I'm going to guess that it will cost a similar amount for both, but it's worth a shot to see.

Then, come back here and post your evals, and we can advise you on what to do next.

In the meantime, as you're waiting for your evals, continue looking at this forum. Think about taking ALEKS Intermediate Algebra and College Algebra before they expire. Consider taking the Insurance Ethics course. Consider taking the free TEEX courses and the NFA courses. Consider taking some Saylor courses like Comparative Politics, a science course, etc. Things you'll need no matter which option you go with.

[jb111]

Excellent breakdown! On a whim, I sent WGU my official transcripts a year ago and they told me 24 courses required. I liked the fact one could take as many classes/even test out of some. However, full time work/kids makes it tough to take advantage. I'll take a look at the other options you suggested. I can handle up to two classes and can pass near any test so this shouldn't be a problem. Will post more once I've gotten closer to a decision. Thanks again!

[ajs1976]

With your credits, I would agree with looking into TESU LS and BSBA:CIS and I would add TESU BA CS and the Info Systems concentration from COSC. I don't have any experience with Excelsior.

BSBA:CIS has a lot of business, but I'm regretting not going after the BA CS. Wish I had a crystal ball when I made that decision.

COSC requires 30 UL of which 15 must be in the concentration. You will have to take some classes for the ones in the concentration, but the ones outside will have more options.

Once you see how the credits fall into the programs, then you will need to decide cheap, fast, IT, or a combination.

[jb111]

Good afternoon. It appears there are several free TEEX courses. Listed in this thread were Cybersecurity for Everyone, Business Professionals, IT Professionals, Q0118, and Q0318. It appears I can register for some of these. Where/how do I take the test? Thx

[jsd]

Good afternoon. It appears there are several free TEEX courses. Listed in this thread were Cybersecurity for Everyone, Business Professionals, IT Professionals, Q0118, and Q0318. It appears I can register for some of these. Where/how do I take the test? Thx

Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) offers three ACE-approved courses recommended for 2 credits each. These are DHS/FEMA funded and therefore free for the general public to take.

Cyber 101 - Cybersecurity for Everyone (2 credits)
Cyber 201 - Cybersecurity for IT Professionals (2 credits)
Cyber 301 - Cybersecurity for Business Professionals (2 credits)

To signup, use the following link and make sure you sign up for all classes under these three headings, there are multiple courses per heading: Cyber 101, 201, 301: https://teex.org/Pages/Program.aspx?catID=607

After you are enrolled, use this login URL to take the classes: https://my.teex.org

[jb111]

Thanks. I registered for all ten Teex courses. Hoping to knock them out fast