PLA/Electives at Pierpont for BOG AAS

[xicovu]

This talk of Pierpont has piqued my interest. They have the core requirements obviously, but a ton of room for electives. It sounds like they can use a Portfolio assessment for it.

Does anyone know if a program like this:
Electronics Technician Certificate Program | University of Houston-Downtown (uhd.edu)

Could be used for Portfolio credit? If so, this may be the path I go. I'm looking for time efficiency here and having to do the least unnecessary work possible and maximize the credentials I can get out of it.

While on the topic, does anyone know about TESU's B.S. Electrical Studies and getting PLA for those kinds of courses using something like University of Houston's programs and others that provide certificates but no credit?

BS Degree in Electrical Technology at Thomas Edison State University | Bachelor of Science (tesu.edu)

I just want a place to stick credit for what I'm learning on my way to the Masters of Electrical Engineering. I don't mind if the PLA's are time-intensive, I would rather know now so I can make them part of my learning plan.

[rachel83az]

If you do the PLA, the Pierpont degree would NOT be free. It's $300 + $10 per credit for PLA/portfolios at Pierpont. So, I don't think anyone here has done a PLA for Pierpont because it doesn't make sense for most people to do so. Not when you can fill up the electives portion with Sophia credits for less than half of that.

However, if the program grants a certificate then I would wager that there is a very good chance at both TESU and Pierpont that you'd be able to use it for portfolio credit.

But TESU's AS in Technical Studies might be a better fit than Pierpont's BOG AAS: https://tesu.smartcatalogiq.com/Current/...al-Studies You would have to do the Associate Capstone, but you could do that as part of a 16-credit term. The Associate capstone is supposed to be pretty easy so it shouldn't get in the way of anything else. There is also the AS in Electrical Technology. Those two degrees would count as one degree by TESU if you graduated with both at the same time.

In theory, if you did a 16-credit term with:

• SOS-110 (cornerstone)
  
• APS-295 (associate capstone)
  
• ePack CIS-107 (exam that you probably don't need to study for)
  
• One UL electrical technology course (pick the one that looks most difficult to do a PLA for) or ART-100 (take Sophia's Art History I & II first)
  
• PLA-100 (1 credit)
  
• PLA-200 (2 credits)
  
• ENG-298 Jane Austen: Pride & Prejudice or APS-100 Medical Terminology (1 credit)
  

You'd have 16 credits and would avoid the residency waiver fee. You could then graduate with one/both AS degrees at TESU for just the cost of the $300 graduation fee. PLA-100 can be completed in 5-10 hours. PLA-200 shouldn't take much longer. The ePack can be taken without study or with minimal study. Most of SOS-110 can be completed in the first week. This leaves you to concentrate on the capstone, your 1-credit course of choice, and either the electrical technology course or ART-100. This should be very doable for most people.

You would then move on to do the bachelor's capstone later, when your degree is almost complete. This would cost $4639 for the 16-credit term + $519x3 for the capstone for a total of $6196. This is still slightly cheaper than paying the residency waiver which would be $519x6 + $3195 or $6309.

[xicovu]

If you do the PLA, the Pierpont degree would NOT be free. It's $300 + $10 per credit for PLA/portfolios at Pierpont. So, I don't think anyone here has done a PLA for Pierpont because it doesn't make sense for most people to do so. Not when you can fill up the electives portion with Sophia credits for less than half of that.

However, if the program grants a certificate then I would wager that there is a very good chance at both TESU and Pierpont that you'd be able to use it for portfolio credit.

But TESU's AS in Technical Studies might be a better fit than Pierpont's BOG AAS: https://tesu.smartcatalogiq.com/Current/...al-Studies You would have to do the Associate Capstone, but you could do that as part of a 16-credit term. The Associate capstone is supposed to be pretty easy so it shouldn't get in the way of anything else. There is also the AS in Electrical Technology. Those two degrees would count as one degree by TESU if you graduated with both at the same time.

In theory, if you did a 16-credit term with:

• SOS-110 (cornerstone)
  
• APS-295 (associate capstone)
  
• ePack CIS-107 (exam that you probably don't need to study for)
  
• One UL electrical technology course (pick the one that looks most difficult to do a PLA for) or ART-100 (take Sophia's Art History I & II first)
  
• PLA-100 (1 credit)
  
• PLA-200 (2 credits)
  
• ENG-298 Jane Austen: Pride & Prejudice or APS-100 Medical Terminology (1 credit)
  

You'd have 16 credits and would avoid the residency waiver fee. You could then graduate with one/both AS degrees at TESU for just the cost of the $300 graduation fee. PLA-100 can be completed in 5-10 hours. PLA-200 shouldn't take much longer. The ePack can be taken without study or with minimal study. Most of SOS-110 can be completed in the first week. This leaves you to concentrate on the capstone, your 1-credit course of choice, and either the electrical technology course or ART-100. This should be very doable for most people.

You would then move on to do the bachelor's capstone later, when your degree is almost complete. This would cost $4639 for the 16-credit term + $519x3 for the capstone for a total of $6196. This is still slightly cheaper than paying the residency waiver which would be $519x6 + $3195 or $6309.

Awesome, thank you! My goals are a little different I think from a lot on this forum. Money isn't a huge concern and neither is time, as long as I'm not wasting it on something that isn't electronics.

If I can stick this on FAFSA until the end of the year my work will foot the bill when I'm done with it. $5000 a year for free education that I can use or lose. It does NOT work for Sophia, Study.com/ Straighterline I don't think but I know we partner with them.

[rachel83az]

One thing to consider is that I'm not sure how much of the PLA fees can be covered by FAFSA, if any. FAFSA is meant to cover tuition. PLA isn't tuition. It's excess fees. The FAFSA won't cover the residency waiver and neither will many (most?) workplace tuition reimbursement plans. If you happen to have money left over from your FAFSA, you are allowed to use that to pay the residency waiver just as you'd be allowed to use it to pay for books or even utility bills. But the FAFSA won't cover it directly.

Under those circumstances, it makes more sense for students to pay $300 out of pocket to Sophia for 30-60 credits (or more) than it does to pay $300 out of pocket to TESU for a 12 credit PLA.

I'm not trying to dismiss your plans, just explaining why it's going to be harder for you to find the best help for your circumstances.

Personally, I would not waste FAFSA money on LL credits. Save that for the UL credits that you may need to take completely at TESU. bjcheung77 has done some good writeups on how to maximize FAFSA money at TESU, especially if you want one of the Associate degrees that has a capstone.

[xicovu]

Thanks for that I just went to check and luckily they do cover PLA or tests for credit. I'm trying to figure out if Sophia and the like would be covered too:

What Degrees or Education Programs Are Eligible?
All education programs must be related to the employee’s current job or an established career path within
Advocate Aurora Health. All coursework must result in academic credit.
Educational programs that are covered include:
 Undergraduate Degree Programs (Associate’s, Bachelor’s)
 Graduate Degree Programs (Master’s, Doctorate, PhD)
 Individual Courses
 Certificate Programs
 Certification Courses and Certification Exams
Prior Learning Assessments and Challenge Exams are covered if credits are achieved. When applying, please
select the intended provider, where your credits will be applied toward your degree

If Pierpoint or TESU or Charter Oak can't be used in such a way to get me PLA credit for the electronics coursework I'm doing outside of a proper degree its not worth it to me and I'd just stick with an associates from Purdue University Global because I've already go 30+ credits there and can use work experience for credit pretty easy.

I would much much much prefer a degree that say Electronics/Electrical/Computer Technology or something technical instead of a professional studies degree though. Employers judge your resume in less then a minute and those words would catch better.
My big issue with college has been it is not worth my time to work on coursework that doesn't make me better at my job immediately. If I need to learn something I can. I can't if I'm doing college courses, especially if it is traditional.

[rachel83az]

Sophia and Study.com are nothing like traditional college courses. They're closer in spirit to CLEP or challenge exams, they just happen to have study materials attached. That's another reason why so many of us like them. It's possible to get a degree in as little as 6 months even when following a non-CBE degree like those at TESU.

[xicovu]

Sophia and Study.com are nothing like traditional college courses. They're closer in spirit to CLEP or challenge exams, they just happen to have study materials attached. That's another reason why so many of us like them. It's possible to get a degree in as little as 6 months even when following a non-CBE degree like those at TESU.

I'm not too crazy new to the degree hacking. I've started Introduction to Robotics on OD and enrolled in one of the Sophia courses when they were free. There is no way I can spend the time to get a degree in six months while also getting these:

DCA-ISM Information Storage & Management
https://education.dellemc.com/content/da...4_Exam.pdf

DCS-IE PowerScale implementation Engineer 
https://education.dellemc.com/content/da...s_Exam.pdf


DCS-E Storage Expert - Powerscale
https://education.dellemc.com/content/da...s_Exam.pdf

And also Electronics Technician 
https://www.etcourse.com/curriculum

And a whole bunch of Electronics Journeyman tests:
https://www.etai.org/senior_master.html

And then this:
Python/SQL Developer
https://careertraining.ed2go.com/edassis...er-science

Until all of those things are done I can't justify taking the time to side track on anything else. Master Certified Electronics Technician takes precedence over a college degree, and so does getting certified as an Storage Expert - Powerscale

I'm sure I could stick those in an AAS degree like these that only requires me to side track for 7 classes or so:
https://www.tesu.edu/ast/programs/aas/el...aintenance

But it would be awesome to take what really is college level learning and get a bachelors from it. Whether that is Technical Studies or Professional Studies or whatever, I don't care, as long as I don't have to deviate much from the above. That's my goal - to spend the next two or so years getting all those and also turn them into a Bachelor's degree. Once I'm done I can do Sophia full time. I would rather spend money then time, even if it's out of my own pocket.

Make sense now?

[ROYISAGIRL]

What courses have you completed? Do you have a degree plan from TESU yet?

[xicovu]

I made one quite a ways back for the computer science I believe. I've done one for Charter Oaks in the past. Only ACE credit is TEEX.

Excelsior is an option I'm thinking about because it might be easy to park credits in that degree. The most important thing I need to figure out is what I can likely PLA and the general format. I plan on doing the PLA's as I go along in the technical courses I have to do for the degree.

---

This BOG AAS appeals to me because it seems to have less extra work for me to do and they sound more willing to take non-college learning.

An AAS + Electronics Technician Cert is for all purposes just going to be viewed as an A.A.S in Electronics Technology.

[bjcheung77]

Thanks for that I just went to check and luckily they do cover PLA or tests for credit. I'm trying to figure out if Sophia and the like would be covered too:

What Degrees or Education Programs Are Eligible?
All education programs must be related to the employee’s current job or an established career path within
Advocate Aurora Health. All coursework must result in academic credit.
Educational programs that are covered include:
 Undergraduate Degree Programs (Associate’s, Bachelor’s)
 Graduate Degree Programs (Master’s, Doctorate, PhD)
 Individual Courses
 Certificate Programs
 Certification Courses and Certification Exams
Prior Learning Assessments and Challenge Exams are covered if credits are achieved. When applying, please
select the intended provider, where your credits will be applied toward your degree

If Pierpoint or TESU or Charter Oak can't be used in such a way to get me PLA credit for the electronics coursework I'm doing outside of a proper degree its not worth it to me and I'd just stick with an associates from Purdue University Global because I've already go 30+ credits there and can use work experience for credit pretty easy.

I would much much much prefer a degree that say Electronics/Electrical/Computer Technology or something technical instead of a professional studies degree though. Employers judge your resume in less then a minute and those words would catch better.
My big issue with college has been it is not worth my time to work on coursework that doesn't make me better at my job immediately. If I need to learn something I can. I can't if I'm doing college courses, especially if it is traditional.

That's a good plan... I would go along with the PLA's and anything that is offered as reimbursement from your list above. Since PLA's part of that list, go for it, while you're getting those certifications, document everything along the way. As long as it's covered, you'll be banking those credits as you go!