Need a Bachelor's... need some guidance, please!

[CLEP101]

Well, in your case I think you will probably finish a BA Libera Arts faster through TESC. Simply because you can fill up the 27 free electives with FEMA courses which are free and you can do several in one sitting.

[peace123]

Well, in your case I think you will probably finish a BA Libera Arts faster through TESC. Simply because you can fill up the 27 free electives with FEMA courses which are free and you can do several in one sitting.

Go to this link to see the requirements for TESC BA LS Thomas Edison State College | BA in Liberal Studies Credit Distribution It appears you only need 18 credits that are level 300/400 courses. In comparison you need 30 UL credits at Excelsior.

I second clep101's recommendation for TESC based on FEMA and the lower requirement of UL courses, you should be able to finishes faster @ TESC.

[peace123]

So Big Jimbo_ 46 ,

What areas of study interest you ?

History
math
Science
Psycology

etc....

Knowing this can help in planning your Roadmap and in helping you find the cheapest and fastest avenues to a degree.

[peace123]

If you are interested in teaching in NY it requires more then just a Bachelors degree.

go to this link Search New York's State Certification Requirements for Educators. to find out the requirements for your are of interest.

You might want to tailor your Bachelors degree toward the requirements.

[peace123]

Good luck with the PLA.

I did not attend TESC, rather I enrolled at Excelsior, so my portfolio experience is only with them.

I did complete a 6 credit portfolio attempt and ended up with 3 credits.
The other 3 credits, I probably could have also gotten, but what they were requiring for an addendum ( ten 3+ page papers ) , was not worth the effort for me. Instead I studied 5 days and took an UL psychology ECE.

From my experience, preparing a portfolio is much more work then taking a course or testing out.

But everyone is different and I wish you much luck with your PLA attempt at TESC. Thomas Edison State College/ Search the Prior Learning Assessment Description Database


BTW- Do you live in NY, if yes, because of your desire to use portfolio credits Empire State College is a school you may want to consider.
They allow up to 96 credits to be earned by portfolio challenge for one set fee of $600. The remaining 32 credits have to be earned by taking ESC courses, which are 4 credits each. And if you are a resident of NY it is SUNY tuition rates.Undergraduate Tuition and Fees
Credit for College-Level Learning


Also in regards to alternative pathways for teacher certification, insider info is always helpful.


Peace123

[barcotta]

Check out this thread:

http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...s-4-a.html

You should start here. Then, start knocking out CLEPs and DSSTs which will be easy for you. Pick a school and a degree and go for it. If there is one thing I know now that I wish I knew then, it would be this:

It's almost always much easier to prepare for a CLEP/DSST exam than it is to monkey around with prior learning assessment or credit conversion. In fact, while it apparently takes next to no effort to obtain FEMA credit--it often doesn't take much more to pass some of the easier CLEP and DSST exams. If you're going for elective credit, which is all you'll get from FEMA, you can take virtually any exam, so keep that in mind.

You can click on the "journey" link in my signature below to learn a little more about how I did it. If you go for a liberal arts degree--it'll be even faster and easier--and likely cheaper. Check out Excelsior's partner programs. I had a great experience there and they appear to be well regarded in NYS. I'm from NY originally and I know that Excelsior has a matriculation agreement with local communitly colleges such as Hudson Valley--and they have some kind of relationship with local employers like Price Chopper, etc.

Just a couple of random thoughts to add to your collection. Good luck!

[peace123]

Just found out from Penn Foster, TESC and ACE that my 1983 CEU's will not transfer for any credits... Penn Foster was not ACE approved before 1985.:mad:

So I basically start from scratch with some FEMA credits.....

I'm very dissappointed that I can't resurrect something out of the work I did. I see a long road ahead.

source : ACE | National Guide Online | Frequently Asked Questions

Can credit be earned for a course completed in the past or taken from a former employer?

Yes. The credit recommendation established for each course described in the National Guide can be used by anyone who successfully completed the course during the period* listed in the "Dates" section of the course exhibit. When "Present" is given as the second date, it means the course is still being offered by the organization as of this edition's publication date. Each organization listed in the National Guide tracks its present and former employees who completed courses during the periods indicated and will supply those records upon request.
(*see my example below )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I took my Striaghterline Accounting 1 course prior to them being ACE reviewed and because I took it during a time period that fell within the "dates" section I could have it added to my ACE transcript.

BTW, In a previous posting you mentioned finding one course that matched up to the courses listed on the ACE national guide website , which course was it and what date did you take it.



For example :If someone took this course "Analytic Geometry and Calculus" in Oct of 1975 they should be able to get it on an ACE transcript even though it was not reviewed by ACE until much later.

Course Title: Analytic Geometry and Calculus
Location: Penn Foster College
Length: Correspondence program
*Version Dates: 10/01/1975 - Present




If the course you took falls within the "dates" section on the Ace review for that course , I would inquire again.

[Lindagerr]

If you are then I recommend you look into Western Governors University
WGU This is a good way to get a teaching certificate good in almost any state. If I had found it earlier I would have gone there myself, but by the time I found it I was to far along with credits.

I have a Guide to Teacher certification testing which tells the traditional and alternate route to teaching in all states from what I can see in both NY and PA if you want to go alternate route your bachelors needs to be in something besides General or liberal studies.

Do not feel to old I am 55 and still working on my BA so I can teach in NJ. I Completed my AA in June 08 and imediately applied to be a substitute teacher( the requirement for subs in NJ is just 60 credits in anything) I love the work I consider it paid on the job learning.

I also had several years of volunteering with Boy Scouts, PTO and church I found they did not transfer well for any PLA courses and even though I have 30+ years experience in the lab I will probably not PLA out of any science courses. From everything I have read and my own experience using prior knowledge to test out of subjects is much less time consuming and less work then PLAs.

Just my 2c Don't delay any longer I did and now I wish I had just given it a try. When I finish my current course this month I will be less then 30 credits from my BA, that is a great feeling.

[rona58]

Hi Big Jimbo:
I'm doing something very similar, but going for New Jersey rather than PA or NY. I thought I was ready to graduate from TESC with a BA in LS (including some arch. drafting courses, ski conditioning, all sorts of ridiculous stuff from various community colleges I took for fun over the past 35 years). Just by chance, I told an advisor at TESC why I'm getting the B.A. and he said "The Board of Ed won't accept your degree without a GPA, and you only get a GPA for courses taken at TESC." Transferred credits and CLEPS, DSST's give you credits, but do not count towards a GPA. By now I'd forked out enough $$ to TESC it's too late to see if Excelsior or Oak have a different policy, so I enrolled in an easy class for which I expect to earn a 4.0, which will then be my G.P.A.! But this delay represents several months because the class is 12 weeks, I had to register 2 weeks in advance, and then the graduation paperwork takes time -- it's not instant as soon as you've earned the credits.
I wish I'd known all of this a few months ago. I earned all the credits I needed through DSST's and CLEP's very quickly and easily, as I am sure you will too -- just make sure you have a G.P.A. associated with your degree or else it's useless for teaching in NY or NJ (and probably PA as well.)
Good luck!

[Lindagerr]

I am also planning on going alternate route teaching in NJ. I knew they required a minimum GPA of 2.75 I believe. I have 9 graded credits from TESC and 43 other graded credits from old CC credits. I was wondering if the board of ed would look at all or just the TESC credits.

Do you have a school in mind to do your student teaching at? I was recently told by my county board of ed that "nobody wants alternate route teachers anymore" She also told me it would be difficult to impossible to find a school to sponser me. I am just going to finish my degree ASAP then hope I can talk my small local school system into giving me a chance.