PLA and residency credits

[rachel83az]

Seconding bjcheung77: TECEPs for LL credit, other sources for UL credit. At only $75, TEEX's Death Investigation is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to get UL credit for a BALS degree.

[dfrecore]

The pass rates for TECEP's aren't great; I recommend the easiest possible ones: Liberal Arts Math if you're decent at it, Computers, Technical Writing, English Comp if you can come up with a short essay on the fly, etc. Definitely not UL unless you are a VERY good test-taker.

One specific instance I've heard about: the Network Tech TECEP is supposed to be extremely difficult to pass, but the Network Tech COURSE is supposed to be very easy.

[bsimi]

The pass rates for TECEP's aren't great; I recommend the easiest possible ones: Liberal Arts Math if you're decent at it, Computers, Technical Writing, English Comp if you can come up with a short essay on the fly, etc.  Definitely not UL unless you are a VERY good test-taker.

One specific instance I've heard about: the Network Tech TECEP is supposed to be extremely difficult to pass, but the Network Tech COURSE is supposed to be very easy.

The only credits I need are 15 Liberal Studies AOS UL credits, so all the LL options don't work. Was trying to find a way not to pay the residency waiver - but looks like either PLA (which in the end costs the same as a waiver) or Study.com with the waiver are the best options. Does anyone know if military pays for the residency waiver?

[rachel83az]

Pretty sure that the military won't pay for the waiver. But it sometimes makes the most sense to redo credits that you've already done if it means less hassle/lower costs in the long run.

[ROYISAGIRL]

No the only thing that would be covered is the PLA 100 and 200 courses since they are graded credits. The portfolio fees are out of pocket expenses.

What about the credits that are awarded for the PLA? There is the portfolio assessment fee of $389 for 12 credits and then the credits are charged at $178/credit from what I can tell. Is that true?

I only recommend PLA for hard to find courses. If there's a TECEP or an UExcel(which TA also pays for) that you can get the credit from instead do those. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're looking at BALS no concentration right? They are plenty of other things to look into first before you go the PLA route. If for whatever reason you still wanna do PLA I can answer questions.

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The pass rates for TECEP's aren't great; I recommend the easiest possible ones: Liberal Arts Math if you're decent at it, Computers, Technical Writing, English Comp if you can come up with a short essay on the fly, etc.  Definitely not UL unless you are a VERY good test-taker.

One specific instance I've heard about: the Network Tech TECEP is supposed to be extremely difficult to pass, but the Network Tech COURSE is supposed to be very easy.

The only credits I need are 15 Liberal Studies AOS UL credits, so all the LL options don't work. Was trying to find a way not to pay the residency waiver - but looks like either PLA (which in the end costs the same as a waiver) or Study.com with the waiver are the best options. Does anyone know if military pays for the residency waiver?

Yes military still have to pay for the waiver.

[bjcheung77]

The only credits I need are 15 Liberal Studies AOS UL credits, so all the LL options don't work. Was trying to find a way not to pay the residency waiver - but looks like either PLA (which in the end costs the same as a waiver) or Study.com with the waiver are the best options. Does anyone know if military pays for the residency waiver?

Question, do you have any credits taken at TESU, such as courses or TECEPS? You need 24 residency credits to waive the residency waiver fee. You can get 15UL easy from TECEPS if needed, but if it doesn't hit the residency requirement of 24, then you'll still need the residency fee. So you need to determine what you have and what you need before proceeding...

[ss20ts]

Pretty sure that the military won't pay for the waiver. But it sometimes makes the most sense to redo credits that you've already done if it means less hassle/lower costs in the long run.

I did that for a few classes. It was easier taking them on Sophia than at my college. Faster and cheaper too. Two of the classes I repeated expired in the eyes of the college as they were more than 5 years old. They wanted me to take them at the college instead I took them on Sophia and completed then in a few weeks and saved a few thousand dollars. They were a lot less work too.

[dfrecore]

If I could take 6 easy TECEP exams to get out of paying the Residency Waiver, I would - and I did (well, I took 5). I ended up with more credits than I needed, but it was certainly worth it. Paying $900 to get around paying $3192 is worth it to me for sure. Even if you end up replacing courses you've already taken.

[ss20ts]

Question, do you have any credits taken at TESU, such as courses or TECEPS? You need 24 residency credits to waive the residency waiver fee.  You can get 15UL easy from TECEPS if needed, but if it doesn't hit the residency requirement of 24, then you'll still need the residency fee.  So you need to determine what you have and what you need before proceeding...

Is it 30 residency credits including the Capstone and Information Literacy? Or is it 24 residency credits total? 



ETA: I was looking at the residency waiver fee on TESU. I always find this thing to be confusing! There's this on their website:

NOTE: The Credit Hour Residency Waiver Fee applies to students who have not earned at least 16 Semester Hours from the University’s Online (OL), Guided Study (GS) or e-Pack (EP) courses towards their associate or bachelor’s degree, or to students who have not earned at least 50% of their credits for their certificate from TESU.

So why would the OP need 24 residency credits when the website says it's 16? Or are you talking about the 30 RA credits?

[bjcheung77]

@ss20ts , that's because you're looking at the civilian web page and the user is military. Here's the info: https://www.tesu.edu/military/tuition-fees