Old timer hoping to finally finish his degree. Advice appreciated.

[Vin]

In order to move into a VP role in my company I was told that I need to pursue a degree. At my age I have a ton of work experience but now I'm kicking myself for never just hunkering down and finishing my degree.

What I'm curious about the most is given the amount of experience I have how much of this can I fast track by just testing out for credits?

Here's my info:   

Your Location: New Jersey, USA
Your Age: 47
What kind of degree do you want?: Bachelors in Computer related field.  I currently work in IT and figure a Bachelors in IT would make the most sense since I'm already in that field.

Current Regional Accredited Credits:  I did attend NJIT back in 1993-95 and had TESU do a transcript eval, here was their response

Your current Academic Evaluation indicates that you have 75 semester hours (SH) remaining to complete your BSBA in Computer Information Systems. 
Based on your current Academic Evaluation, I recommend that you consider registering for one or more of the following Thomas Edison State University courses. Please note that course recommendations below are based solely on currently available transfer and course completion information.
                        ENC-102:       English Composition II (ENC-102)
                             This course will fulfill one of your General Education requirements.
                        SOS-110:        Living in the Information Age (SOS-110)
                             This course will fulfill one of your General Education requirements.

Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: none

Any certifications or military experience? I have an ITIL Foundations Certifications, Villanova Master Certificate in IT Service Management, Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems,
Budget: I make a decent salary and can probably come up with 5K right now and more later.
Commitments: I have a family and a full time job and work about 10 hours per day.  My job is very stressful and can sometimes consume my time.
Dedicated time to study:  I can probably study 1-2 hours per weekday and 4-6 hours during the weekend.  Total approximately 10 -15 hours per week.
Timeline: Finishing the courses required for the degree as fast as possible would be ideal.  I would like to finish within 4 years if possible.
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: my employer provides Tuition reimbursement I believe 5K per year.

[ss20ts]

If you're looking to move into a VP role, you probably would be better served by completing a degree in business such as management or MIS. A degree in CIS at the VP level does not seem like time or money well spent.

[rachel83az]

Please post your actual evaluation from TESU. If you log into tesu.edu/oss, click on Academic Evaluation. Take a screenshot using something like the Fireshot browser plugin, then come back here and post that. Unfortunately, saying you have 75 credits left doesn't really tell us anything important.

[Vin]

If you're looking to move into a VP role, you probably would be better served by completing a degree in business such as management or MIS. A degree in CIS at the VP level does not seem like time or money well spent.

I was thinking BS in IT.  the role I'm aiming for is VP in IT.  I am already an AVP in IT.

[allvia]

As rachel83az stated post your evaluation (remove your personal information), Fireshot is a great way to gather it all at once.  We can help you fill in what you're missing.  I agree ss20ts on the business degree (which is what you're looking at) since you're in management. I have an IT/CS background and found, before my TESU degree, that you can reach a career point where people don't question your tech skill's (plus, that's what certs are for)...but 'if you only knew something about accounting (finanace, business, etc)' - the BSBA has got you covered.  I would recommend that in addition to the 'BSBA in Computer Information Systems' you have TESU add on the 'ASNSM in Computer Science' (it would likely be a completely free add on, and gets the CS keywords on the resume). You just need to ask/email advising to ADD the associate to your evaluation. We can definitely help you get to your goal, and TESU is a good choice to go as quick (or as slow) as you wish - plus with you being in NJ it makes local sense.

And once you're done you'll probably want a MS-ITM anyway 

[bjcheung77]

@Vin, Welcome back!  I see you getting more credits with the tuition assistance/reimbursement you get... 75 credits left right? I think we're back to 5.5 years ago, where I recommended to finish the StraighterLine courses... My suggestion, get a PDF or a screenshot of your evaluation without your personal details... We'll continue were we left off!

Did you get those done for your BSBA CIS and did you update your spreadsheet? Link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...U-BSBA-CIS
OK, nevermind, so you got some StraighterLine done from this post here... Link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ASBA-first

[Vin]

Please post your actual evaluation from TESU. If you log into tesu.edu/oss, click on Academic Evaluation. Take a screenshot using something like the Fireshot browser plugin, then come back here and post that. Unfortunately, saying you have 75 credits left doesn't really tell us anything important.

Unfortunately the evaluation is no longer active.  I am going to contact TESU to see if they can reactivate it.  it's been 5 years they I'm thinking they probably no longer have it on file.

---

@Vin, Welcome back!  I see you getting more credits with the tuition assistance/reimbursement you get... 75 credits left right? I think we're back to 5.5 years ago, where I recommended to finish the StraighterLine courses... My suggestion, get a PDF or a screenshot of your evaluation without your personal details... We'll continue were we left off!

Did you get those done for your BSBA CIS and did you update your spreadsheet? Link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...U-BSBA-CIS
OK, nevermind, so you got some StraighterLine done from this post here... Link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ASBA-first

Thank you! Your advice was very helpful. 5+years ago I was second guessing even getting the job I'm in now and after I got the job I let this plan fall to the wayside.  Fast forward to the present now I have an opportunity to move up and get to the next level hence why I am back.

On another note. Will StraighterLine courses transfer to TESU? Never mind found some of my old info and answered my own question.

[bjcheung77]

@Vin, yes. StraighterLine is accepted still... This is your homework for today, create a spreadsheet with these two plans, paste the courses you have completed already into the spreadsheet for us to review, save the file to your one drive or google drive and make the link viewable (not editable).  

TESU BSBA CIS: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...egree_Plan
Comp Sci & CIS: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...egree_Plan

It'll be easier/faster than sending us the pdf attachments, you may want to try signing into TESU OSS even if you're inactive, you may need a password reset but the old one should still work... If you can logon, create a pdf or screenshot without your personal details and again save a viewable link for us to review.

Here's a thread you want to review, don't take this particular course until you finish the Sophia.org and more courses in the degree plans above: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...robachelor

[Vin]

I found an old document.

https://1drv.ms/x/s!AqhKFEdFM3UvtC6oCvtr...w?e=9eER7h

My other question is considering my position is the better approach BS in IT or BS in Business Administration?

[bjcheung77]

@Vin, A BSBA CIS... I would follow the General Education, BSBA Business Core and the BSBA CIS recommended courses in the WIKI provided earlier.   Since you have a 4 year "timeline" and $5K/year, you can get this done much cheaper and faster.  I still suggest doing the 16 credits to waive the residency requirement.  In brief... You can do 12 easy credits this year and the capstone/cornerstone next year and be done with the degree.