PF, TESC, or other for CJ

[PonyGirl93]

Well, I had this thread before the refresh, so I'm just re-posting it for more opinions [:

So, I think I've pretty much decided to take my first year of CJ classes at PF instead of TESC to save money. But I'm not really sure how they work (they really need some website renovation!!) as far as transferring credit & choosing classes. Can I sort of "pick and choose" classes (staying basically within their outline), or is the plan on their website set in stone?

I'm also open to other cheap online CJ programs... They obviously have to accept my CLEP credits & be transferable to TESC. I wanted to just take them online @ my local CC, but they have *one* online CJ course :mad:

hey pony,

I got my Associate's from Penn Foster in Criminal Justice,,, TESC accepted all of my ACE reviewed courses (all but maybe 4 PF classes in the CJ program were ACE reviewed) and ALL of my upper-level credits are complete. This, mixed with a few CLEPS and FEMA credits, and I have 99 credits at TESC and just have a few lower-level humanities and general electives to take.....

Penn Foster is awesome, I know you can take individual courses, but the degree programs are set up really nicely, a semester at a time,,,plus I think the courses end up to be cheaper if you sign up for a degree plan??
The courses are all pretty straight forward, you won't ever have to contact the school for help,,,basically you read the text and fill in the answers....some classes had essays, also very easy. Everything was pretty darn easy...and cheap...

i'd be happy to answer any questions you have about PF..... good luck!

Oh i forgot to mention, I am in the Social Sciences program at TESC, not Criminal Justice. However my advisor said the credits would have been 99 for either program with all the same requirements fulfilled...I chose to go with Social Sciences because I'm not sure if I want to pursue CJ or not...

[NAP]

Hi!

Do Excelsior and/or Charter Oak offer degrees in Criminal Justice?

I'm not sure how many schools allow at least 60 exam credits. That would narrow the field quite a bit.

One problem with EC would be losing the credits you have for the 2 English Comp CLEPs.

[TMW2010]

Well, while not exactly cheap, I can vouch that EC has at least one good CJ professor. :p

THey'll take all the ace approved courses from PF and all that fun stuff and if you're anticipating having to actually take courses, you can save a chunk of cash by getting a POAG (Peace Officers of Georgia) membership which not only cuts the cost per credit hour down to $250, but also cuts about $750 off of the enrollment fee and $300 off of the grad fee. The only downside is having to take 12 credits through them. (Well and like NAP pointed out, you'd lose the 2 english cleps.)

The Info for the CJ program at EC is on page 34 of the Liberal Arts catalog. Unfortunately, you can only apply 2 ECEs to the major, if you were looking at taking any. (You can apply as many as you want to the core stuff, though)
They've got four emphasis of study for the CJ program

• Administraton of Criminal Justice (Hurm - sounds like a path to a boring desk job, but hey..;p)
  
• Corrections emphasis
  
• Criminal Profiling and Investigative Analysis Emphasis (Wasn't this what you were interested in doing in the CJ field?)
  
• Homeland Security emphasis (I think TESC is already flooding the market for this, with the FEMA courses and all that)
  

CJ majors do have to take the 1 credit Research and Writing course (I've got like 15 of them in the 18 people in my class right now)

I was looking at the Criminal Profiling & IA emphasis... That's a pretty interesting set of classes right there...

[PonyGirl93]

I'm really loving the look of the profiling & IA emphasis... How do excelsior costs compare to tesc??

[TMW2010]

Basically, if you're going to cover all of the required courses outside of the school in one way or another the costs are -
$75 for the Application
$895 for Enrollment for the first year. Drops to $495 after that, or wavied if you take 6 credits or more through EC
$495 for Graduation costs

If you need to take specific courses through them, its $325 a course, I believe.

Unless you enroll under a partnership agreement (like POAG $20-25/year). Then it is
$75 for the Application
$130 Enrollment fee for the first year
$195 for the graduation fee
Courses cost $250/credit

Under the Partnership agreement, you agree to take 12 credits of courses through EC. Partner schools and ECEs do not count towards this. (Even if EC isn't offering a class you need, and a partner school is...) So, you're looking at about $3250 for the classes if you go through the partnership.

Now you're saying 'Wait! Shouldn't it only be $3000?' Well, because you have to take a 1 credit Research and Writing in the major (if you're doing a major) you get stuck 2 credits short or 1 credit over with what you have to take, and its just cheaper to knock it out while you've got the discount on the class, unless you can get it waived - how to do so is in the catalog..)

If you do the Partnership agreement, I highly HIGHLY recommend that you use the 12 credits on the harder to find upper level courses for the major.

So, if you have the other 107 credits done, the total cost would be $3650 to get in and out of EC via the partnership agreement.

If you don't need any credits, fullfill all the degree reqs (You can have the R&W requirement wavied, but it is a bit harder to get the UL credits required for the major done outside of the school,) you're looking at $1465.

Conversely TESC's costs for out of State are
$75 for the Application
$2520 Enrollment cost (looks to be annual)
$103 for the Tech Services Fee
$180/credit hour
$45 Registration fee.

If you have everything done, and want to get in and out, it will cost $2743

If you need to take classes, tack on $540 for each class you need to take.

Hmm... For an out of state student to take 1 class and get in and out, it would cost $3283 (+books) at TESC. For about $400 more (+books of course) you could take 4 courses (+ the R&W class) through a partnership enrollment.

This assessment of costs does NOT include FEMA courses. For you to use FEMAs at EC, there's a charge of $75 per credit hour to get them transcribed through FCC, and then you have to get them sent on a transcript over to EC. Its just cheaper to take a clep or 3 fill in credits.

So, basically if you need 4 courses to graduate, EC seems to be the better bet under the partnership agreement. Or if you meet all the requirements, EC is MUCH more cost effective. But that's also much more tricky with the UL course requirements.

One thing I'll say about EC compared to TESC.... EC's catalogs seem to be much more informative and aren't obtuse about the requirements from what I've seen.

[PonyGirl93]

Whoaaaaaaaa that went in one ear (eye?? lol) and out the other. Partnerships?? Of what do you speak?? lol I'm confused :\

[TMW2010]

Excelsior has partnership agreements with several corporations, organizations, and community colleges

Members or employes of these partner corporations and students who attended partner colleges can get specific discounts towards tuition and fees at Excelsior through the partnership agreement. But as I stated, the agreement has a stipulation that you take 12 credits through Excelsior. If you end up not taking 12 credits, you have to pay the standard rate for Enrollement and Graduation ($895 & $495) but since the member would have already paid the $130 to enroll, just the balance would be due at Graduation. (IE, you'd have $765 and the $495 to pay off before you can graduate.) Some people have used the partnership to enroll for the $130 and then from that point got everything done outside the school and just paid off the full amount at graduation. (It was a lot easier for me to get the ball rolling for just $130 than it would have been for $895, even though they do have payment plans available for the $895)

Some organizations, like POAG - The Peace Officers Association of Georgia (which you don't have to be a peace officer or live in Georgia to be a member) allow you to pay a membership fee to join the organization, and that gives you access to the partnership agreement.

One thing that I didn't mention about partnerships is the availability of Partner Scholarships. Once you apply for admission, get your unofficial eval, then enroll at EC, and complete a FAFSA (even if you're not going for financial aid) then you're eligible to be chosen for a partner scholarship.

Qualified members and employees of partner organizations must apply, complete an FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and enroll in an Excelsior College degree program. Scholarship awards may be up to $750 and do not include costs already covered by tuition reimbursement. The award of funds will be based on need and other conditions may apply.

Basically, it can cover the cost of a 3 credit course for you, which isn't too bad a perk if you get chosen for it. I *believe* that this does count towards the 12 credit obligation for the partnership agreement as well.

[PonyGirl93]

Hmm, according to my calculations (using the POAG membership, but not a scholarship), EC will cost pretty much the same for me as TESC. Do they accept PF credits?

[TMW2010]

Hmm, according to my calculations (using the POAG membership, but not a scholarship), EC will cost pretty much the same for me as TESC. Do they accept PF credits?

Yep they accept the ACE approved PF courses, and they come over as graded credits (Helpful if you're looking for honorifics on your degree). You just have PF send the transcript when you're ready for them to, with no need to go through ACE. And PF is also the best cost choice to take the Info Literacy course, as well. (And theirs only takes a couple hours to get through, and no proctor required.)

[PonyGirl93]

Cool cool. Now I have to decide :eek:

Can these PF requirements be filled with CLEPs?

ENG100 – English Composition (3 Credits)
CSC104 – Computer Applications (3 Credits) (I haven't taken the IS&CA CLEP, but I could :ack
SSC130 – Essentials of Psychology (3 Credits)
SSC105 – Readings in World Civilization (3 credits)
HUM102 – Art Appreciation (3 credits)
MAT102 – Mathematical Applications (3 credits)