Need your opinion on this, Student with Financial aid planning

[Lightorb333]

Good evening, hope everyone is doing well,

I am a student at my local NJ community college.

I receive financial aid and I'm planning on transferring to TESU for my BA in CS.

If I go with TESU to receive my BA I won't really have to use financial aid since I'm paying out of pocket for alternative credit sources.
If you get a Bachelors degree you cannot use financial aid anymore is what I understand.

I was thinking what I should do,
Go to community for a second or third associates degree or another way to exhaust my financial aid, instead of just letting it go by getting my bachelors from TESU.

What do you think?

Thanks

[rachel83az]

You'll definitely want to use your financial aid to get at least 16 credits with TESU. For CS, the easiest path would be to take 6-9 UL CS courses, the capstone, the cornerstone, the 1-credit Jane Austin course, and then maybe one other course (depending on how many UL CS courses you do). If you don't do at least 16 credits at TESU, it'll cost you a lot more out of pocket because you'll have to pay the residency waiver.

Instead of getting a 2nd or 3rd associate's degree, consider getting a BSBA CIS at TESU or just any other degree in general. More value for the financial aid money than a bunch of associate's degrees. As long as you graduate with all of your bachelor's degrees at once, you can continue to use financial aid.

[Lightorb333]

You'll definitely want to use your financial aid to get at least 16 credits with TESU. For CS, the easiest path would be to take 6-9 UL CS courses, the capstone, the cornerstone, the 1-credit Jane Austin course, and then maybe one other course (depending on how many UL CS courses you do). If you don't do at least 16 credits at TESU, it'll cost you a lot more out of pocket because you'll have to pay the residency waiver.

Instead of getting a 2nd or 3rd associate's degree, consider getting a BSBA CIS at TESU or just any other degree in general. More value for the financial aid money than a bunch of associate's degrees. As long as you graduate with all of your bachelor's degrees at once, you can continue to use financial aid.

Ok, so I finish CC and transfer to TESU and apply for Financial aid.
I should take at least 16 credits to avoid the residency waiver using FA.

I'm going to take BA in CS, but If I take credits to meet the requirements for BSBA CIS, can I just apply for graduation even though my major is BA in CS, how does that work?

Also I plan on applying to TESU when I have 24 credits, so I will be enrolled in both CC and TESU, so my financial aid won't apply to TESU until I finish CC since I can't use it for both schools. When I register for the 16 credits do I have alot of time to pay it, or to get my FA active so they cover it?

Sorry for all the questions, thanks

[rachel83az]

I'm not the best one to ask about how financial aid works because I'm not sure. However the way TESU works is this:

1. You need to have 16 credits of residency at TESU OR pay $3125 as a residency waiver fee. Financial aid does not cover this waiver fee. Residency, for these purposes, has nothing to do with whether you live in NJ or not.
2. TESU allows you to get up to two bachelor's degrees with two AOS each. Most people here are going to tell you to stick to the one degree so that you don't get demotivated. However, if you're intent on maximizing the heck out of your financial aid, you're going to at least want to graduate with two degrees. CS and BSBA CIS are good choices. If you're really ambitious, you could do CS and BS IT but the BS IT would be a much more difficult path.
3. To get two degrees, you will need to take one cornerstone but two capstones: one for each "school". BA, BS, and BSBA all have separate capstones.
4. You ask TESU to add both degrees to your degree plan in order to track your progress. When both plans show complete, then you can graduate.
5. You don't have to take the 16+ credits right away but you should make sure that your financial aid is switched to TESU before you actually start taking any TESU classes. Otherwise, you'll be on the hook for paying those.

[Lightorb333]

I'm not the best one to ask about how financial aid works because I'm not sure. However the way TESU works is this:

1. You need to have 16 credits of residency at TESU OR pay $3125 as a residency waiver fee. Financial aid does not cover this waiver fee. Residency, for these purposes, has nothing to do with whether you live in NJ or not.
2. TESU allows you to get up to two bachelor's degrees with two AOS each. Most people here are going to tell you to stick to the one degree so that you don't get demotivated. However, if you're intent on maximizing the heck out of your financial aid, you're going to at least want to graduate with two degrees. CS and BSBA CIS are good choices. If you're really ambitious, you could do CS and BS IT but the BS IT would be a much more difficult path.
3. To get two degrees, you will need to take one cornerstone but two capstones: one for each "school". BA, BS, and BSBA all have separate capstones.
4. You ask TESU to add both degrees to your degree plan in order to track your progress. When both plans show complete, then you can graduate.
5. You don't have to take the 16+ credits right away but you should make sure that your financial aid is switched to TESU before you actually start taking any TESU classes. Otherwise, you'll be on the hook for paying those.

Got it, thank you so much for breaking it down for me.

[bjcheung77]

Hmm...I wouldn't recommend wasting time on a second or third associates either, unless there are no other courses you need for those, don't waste the energy/money/time on those as you should focus on your BA Comp Sci. If you're looking to use up your financial aid, such as Pell Grant and so on, you're a very good candidate for the BACS and BSBA CIS combo. You can use the grant for two or three terms for the year and get both degrees for the price of one... I just mentioned it earlier today in this thread to go for both the BACS, BSBA CIS options: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ast-second