Need help getting started... ready to get a degree

[RICKE95126]

So here is my situation, I have 6 to 10 transferable credits from a CC and 4 year that I attended 20 plus years ago.

 I have no military background and over 20 years experience in sales. Individual contributor and sales leadership roles for both big and small companies. 

I am an OK standardized test taker, but prefer online courses with exams at the end of each section, I'm computer literate and want to go the test by assessment route for a BA/BS degree, area of major is not of concern just the quickest route possible. 

My priorities are in this order 
speed, 
legitimate with government employors, 
ease of process, 
money. 

I would like the option of AA/AS then BA/BS and the option.of MBA down the road. 

I'm read to start ASAP. 

I'm trying to figure best school, 
where/how to get a degree plan built 
Easiest course of study, I don't care what the degree is in.

Does Google's 6 month project management certificate program from Coursesa help?

I'm thinking that a state school would make the most sense but would really appreciate your input

[bjcheung77]

You're best off with the Big 3 options for the undergrad AA/AS & BA/BS, I would opt for a CBE (competency based) for the Masters though. I suggest you invest in a second monitor and complete your general education requirements from Sophia.org at $79/month membership, doing two courses at a time from them until you get all their courses done. You will have at least 90 credits by then... I'll update you with more when the time comes, decide on the program/school while you pickup the courses at Sophia.org - last but not least, which state are you in?

[rachel83az]

Please list your prior credits. It's hard to make recommendations without knowing what you already have. That said, if you want an associate's degree then you should hurry over to Pierpont and apply: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pierpont_C%26TC

Since you have 10 credits already, you need 2 (3) more for the Pierpont degree. Options for quick & easy credits include:

• Olivet Nazarene University - $50/credit ($150 per course) and you don't pay until you are done with the course. Self-paced but the courses can have a lot of work that needs to be done.
  
• TEL Learning - About $66/credit ($200 per course). Pay upfront. Self-paced. Can be a lot of work, depending on the course. 2 proctored exams are required for every course.
  
• ASU Universal Learner - $425 per course: $25 upfront and then $400 to transcript. More expensive and mostly not self-paced but these are mostly pretty easy to complete and only have one proctored exam to contend with. 
  

With your now-13 credits, you'll have 47 left to get your Pierpont degree. You'll fill in the requirements with Sophia. If you scroll down to the bottom of the Pierpont page, you'll see suggestions of which courses will fill what requirements. I would suggest that you skip both English Comp options (even if you don't already have English Comp credits and instead take Communication at Work and Visual Communication for Pierpont's Communications requirement. 

So, you've got your associate's, what next? Keep going and finish off everything at Sophia EXCEPT for English Comp and Project Management. Go to InstantCert and do American Government. If you don't already have a science + lab course, head on over to Study.com and do Chemistry or Biology + Lab. Finally, head on over to UMPI and apply: https://online.umpi.edu/programs/ Depending on the degree, you'll have somewhere between 30 and 45 credits to complete.

[RICKE95126]

Hi there thank you for your response, I hope you don't mind if I ask a few questions.  

Why straight to the master's degree as opposed to associates then bachelor's then masters, I do better with incremental goals and achieved milestones.

Second I've heard there are various different means of collecting credits, straighter line, clep, fema, Dante's etc, wouldn't I want to explore all of those options and figure out which is the most efficient AKA fastest

I've heard that certain CLEP exams require very little pride preparation but some other platforms preparation is a must.

I'm in California

Please do not misinterpret my questions for questioning your advice I just do better with a fuller understanding of a process and a reasoning for a decision

[rachel83az]

Sophia is, hands down, both the fastest and the cheapest way to get credits. End of story. You can get 90 credits in under 5 months and this is something that's difficult or impossible to do with other options. Some people may argue that the quality of those credits doesn't match up to other alternate credit options but that is a different point entirely. Sophia is entirely appropriate for adult learners who just need a degree to show what they know and can do.

StraighterLine is not as cost-effective and they require that you schedule their proctored exams ahead of time, which really limits how many credits you can complete in a set time period. They do offer some courses you can't get through Sophia but this is mostly a moot point when you are trying to get "any" degree".

CLEP: a lot of testing centers are still closed and/or have limited testing availability. Same with DSST (formerly Dantes). This is not a fast way to gain credits, Though, again, there are some credits that you can't get anywhere else, this is not a fast way to get credits.

FEMA: Most schools no longer accept these credits. If they do, it's an expensive and lengthy process. End of story.

Study.com: Limits you to approximately 15 credits (5 exams) per month. This is set in stone and you cannot go any faster than that. Sophia allows you to complete as many courses as you are able to while your subscription is still active.

I also understand the need for incremental steps. You never know if you're going to get sick or if something else might interrupt your degree process. This is why I suggested Pierpont. It is both the fastest and cheapest way that you can attain an associate degree. UMPI is arguably the fastest and cheapest way to obtain "any bachelor's degree".

[bjcheung77]

Ricke95126 - I also do better with goals and reaching each milestone before moving onto the next one! We're probably the same age (I'm in my mid 40's now) and we probably like to do things step by step, in orderly fashion. I recommended to do an Associates and Bachelors from the Big 3 and then move onto a competency based Masters afterwards... the main reason is, if "life" happens, you don't have to worry about paying by a flat-rate "semester or term" and cramming your courses into weeks.

I agree with collecting credits from different ACE/NCCRS sources as well, that is where I usually recommend Sophia.org for Lower Level and Study.com for Upper Level requirements for the Big 3. Depending on the college/university, I would recommend Coopersmith, Davar, Onlinedegree, for Excelsior/TESU, but for COSC, they no longer accept NCCRS sources, so skip these if you're going for COSC.

I love learning using various providers, CLEP are now available FREE using ModernStates, if you have an open test center somewhere nearby, this is a great option. But Sophia.org would be my go to for lower level as they recently leapfrogged both StraighterLine and Study.com to be my number 1 recommendation, for the cost, ease, and speed to finish - $79/month for two courses at a time - all you can cram into that month subscription!

I was curious, do you have tuition assistance/reimbursement from work? Are you more into taking courses or exams? If you don't have a limited budget, I would suggest TESU. If you're strapped for cash, COSC. If you want the least amount of work, then Excelsior College...

[RICKE95126]

Sophia is, hands down, both the fastest and the cheapest way to get credits. End of story. You can get 90 credits in under 5 months and this is something that's difficult or impossible to do with other options. Some people may argue that the quality of those credits doesn't match up to other alternate credit options but that is a different point entirely. Sophia is entirely appropriate for adult learners who just need a degree to show what they know and can do.

StraighterLine is not as cost-effective and they require that you schedule their proctored exams ahead of time, which really limits how many credits you can complete in a set time period. They do offer some courses you can't get through Sophia but this is mostly a moot point when you are trying to get "any" degree".

CLEP: a lot of testing centers are still closed and/or have limited testing availability. Same with DSST (formerly Dantes). This is not a fast way to gain credits, Though, again, there are some credits that you can't get anywhere else, this is not a fast way to get credits.

FEMA: Most schools no longer accept these credits. If they do, it's an expensive and lengthy process. End of story.

Study.com: Limits you to approximately 15 credits (5 exams) per month. This is set in stone and you cannot go any faster than that. Sophia allows you to complete as many courses as you are able to while your subscription is still active.

I also understand the need for incremental steps. You never know if you're going to get sick or if something else might interrupt your degree process. This is why I suggested Pierpont. It is both the fastest and cheapest way that you can attain an associate degree. UMPI is arguably the fastest and cheapest way to obtain "any bachelor's degree".

Thanks Rachel, that really clears things up.

When you say "quality of the credits do you mean the content of what you are learning or school that except them?

Also the plan you outlined ended up with a degree from University of Maine any reason for that school apposed to the big 3, I understand that are more liberal with regards to the transfer of credit

[Vle045]

In addition to all of the above, I also like Saylor Academy. Not all courses are eligible for college credit, but they are clearly labeled. They could fill in some of he gaps that Sophia doesn’t cover. Tests are $25 each.

[rachel83az]

There are people who think, because you can complete some Sophia courses in just a couple of days, that they are somehow "bad" or "invalid" credits. But you can get CLEP credits (when available) with just a single test. So I don't understand this reasoning. There are also a couple of courses that weren't written very well and some students have had issues with in one way or another. For instance, the Ethics class is less of an Ethics class and more of a pure Philosophy class. If you don't take Greek Philosophers before Ethics then you will have difficulties with Ethics. (See https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sophia.org for a handful of course-taking suggestions.)

UMPI is very generous with credit acceptance as well. Their biggest hurdle is that they require at least 30 credits, preferably upper-level credits, to be taken with them. However, most of their classes are reportedly both faster and easier than most of Study.com's upper-level offerings. Starting from around 90 Sophia.org credits, you can complete a degree in 4 months (low end) to 12 months (you break your arms and legs and can't complete more than a course or two each term).

---

Almost forgot: COSC is no longer very generous with credit acceptance (they only accept credits from a handful of alternate providers). TESU is headed in the same direction. Excelsior is still okay but it can sometimes be difficult to decipher their requirements. UMPI is simple: take everything at Sophia, then take whatever UMPI tells you.

[RICKE95126]

Ricke95126 - I also do better with goals and reaching each milestone before moving onto the next one!  We're probably the same age (I'm in my mid 40's now) and we probably like to do things step by step, in orderly fashion.  I recommended to do an Associates and Bachelors from the Big 3 and then move onto a competency based Masters afterwards... the main reason is, if "life" happens, you don't have to worry about paying by a flat-rate "semester or term" and cramming your courses into weeks.

I agree with collecting credits from different ACE/NCCRS sources as well, that is where I usually recommend Sophia.org for Lower Level and Study.com for Upper Level requirements for the Big 3.  Depending on the college/university, I would recommend Coopersmith, Davar, Onlinedegree, for Excelsior/TESU, but for COSC, they no longer accept NCCRS sources, so skip these if you're going for COSC.

I love learning using various providers, CLEP are now available FREE using ModernStates, if you have an open test center somewhere nearby, this is a great option.  But Sophia.org would be my go to for lower level as they recently leapfrogged both StraighterLine and Study.com to be my number 1 recommendation, for the cost, ease, and speed to finish - $79/month for two courses at a time - all you can cram into that month subscription!

I was curious, do you have tuition assistance/reimbursement from work?  Are you more into taking courses or exams?  If you don't have a limited budget, I would suggest TESU.  If you're strapped for cash, COSC.  If you want the least amount of work, then Excelsior College..

I do much better with online courses with exams at the end of each section, or knowledge check. I hate proctored exams. Yes we're about the same age and I'm guessing same stage in life,  I believe there is a c l e p testing center nearby that's open but if Sophia is the better deal and faster I'm all about that. I understood Sophia was just under lower division course work? 

What is the cost difference between the three schools?

I've also heard about the option of transferring into a traditional State School, University of Arizona UMass Amherst, enter school name here. etc online programs to finish the last 30 units aside from cost are there any other benefits to the big three? 

Thanks in advance