Path suggestions, school and program

[AirborneAgent]

Your Location: US, Georgia
Your Age: 41
What kind of degree?: Bachelors

RA Credits / Other:  A few classes from various state colleges in Florida:
CTS-2142 Project Management
ENC-1101 English Comp 101
CGS-1100 Microcomputer Applications
CET-1178 Computer Hardware Support
CGS-2557 Internet Technologies
CTS-2120 Security Fundamentals
CTS-2134 Networking Fundamentals
ISS-1013 Into to Social Sciences
POS-2041 American Federal Government
POS-2112 State and Local Government
CCJ-1020 Intro to Criminal Justice

Sophia Learning Credits: None, yet.

Any certifications or military experience?
CompTIA Security+ and Network+
Certified Law Enforcement Officer (State of Florida)
Airline Transport Pilot (FAA)

Budget: No budget constraints.
Commitments: Full time work and a wife, but I have some extended ammounts of free time through the end of the year.
Dedicated time to study: Unlimited for the next several months.
Timeline: ASAP
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: Tuition assistance program is currently suspended by my employer.
Goal?: Obtain a bachelor degree of any type ASAP

I am wanting/needing to complete a bachelor degree of any type (BA, BS, BLS, other?), in any major, as quickly as possible.  I have a few classes noted above to transfer from a couple different state colleges in Florida, and look forward to utilizing Sofia, Study.com, and the others to transfer additional credits if able.

I know there are some colleges and universities which offer credit for completion of law enforcement academies such as Excelsior, College of Central Florida, and others.  There are also some which offer credit for possession of professional pilot certificates such as Utah Valley University and some others.  

My only hard line will not attend is Liberty University as I did take two courses with them and withdrew after major disagreements with professors not following the course description or syllabus.  They both instead opted for the students to spend the semester chronicling their journey of converting their target to christianity, and the final paper critiquing why or why not you were successful, which had nothing to do with the courses.

Any suggestions on schools and/or programs which can be completed quickly would be greatly appreciated.  I have been researching UMPI, TESU, Excelsior, and others, but the amount of information is overwhelming when trying to compare school to school, program to program, against what can be completed utilizing Sophia and other methods.

Good evening, and thank you in advance for any and all advice.

[bjcheung77]

@AirborneAgent, Welcome to the board... Great introduction post with the addendum, template, and extra information I always look forward to reading! My recommendation nowadays have been a balanced mix/match trifecta of certs, degree, experience. My suggestion is (because of the budget, energy, free time), you may want to get the Pierpont BOG AAS with Info Systems emphasis (or another one of your choice), ladder that to the UMPI BAS with a double minor in MIS & PM and take 4 classes (3 of which go towards the MAOL), lastly complete the MAOL next year. Here's the thread I would suggest you follow: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...on-to-MOAL

[jg_nuy]

For speed and efficiency, I suggest the Bachelor in Liberal Studies from UMPI, with a minor or two of your choice, such as criminal justice or management. You can use Sophia for the vast majority of your electives that are not already filled by your prior college credit.

Here is the link for the General Education: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...ts_Roadmap

Here is the Criminal Justice minor at UMPI - you can find some of the equivalent classes on the BA in Criminal Justice page:
UMPI catalog page: http://catalog.umpi.edu/preview_program....turnto=225
BA Criminal Justice degree plan: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...egree_Plan

Here are additional degree plans and other details:
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:UMPI

[AirborneAgent]

My suggestion is (because of the budget, energy, free time), you may want to get the Pierpont BOG AAS with Info Systems emphasis (or another one of your choice), ladder that to the UMPI BAS with a double minor in MIS & PM and take 4 classes (3 of which go towards the MAOL), lastly complete the MAOL next year.

I do not see the BAS degrees on the UMPI YourPace page.  Is there much of a difference between YourPace programs and those UMPI programs which are not?

[Duneranger]

My suggestion is (because of the budget, energy, free time), you may want to get the Pierpont BOG AAS with Info Systems emphasis (or another one of your choice), ladder that to the UMPI BAS with a double minor in MIS & PM and take 4 classes (3 of which go towards the MAOL), lastly complete the MAOL next year.

I do not see the BAS degrees on the UMPI YourPace page.  Is there much of a difference between YourPace programs and those UMPI programs which are not?

Yeah a massive difference in both time and cost

[AirborneAgent]

Yeah a massive difference in both time and cost

Thanks.  Any reason to BOG AAS to UMPI BLS, or should I just go straight to BLS with the goal of obtaining bachelor degree in as little time as possible?

If I’m working toward the BLS, will things like Google and IBM certs count toward electives still?  Or would I need to be pursuing the BAS degrees for that? I assume those certifications can take longer than other courses I could knock out more quickly with Sofia or similar anyway, but I am curious.

Excelsior offers 39 credits for the Florida Law Enforcement Officer certification.

Utah Valley University offers about the same amount of credits toward their aviation degrees for my ATP license, but I don't know how friendly they are toward Sofia and there are a lot of other specialized courses that are not offered outside of more traditional classes.

[allvia]

Any reason to BOG AAS to UMPI BLS, or should I just go straight to BLS with the goal of obtaining bachelor degree in as little time as possible?

What is your professional goal in obtaining a bachelor? Are you in need to just be able to 'check the box' of having a bachelor, or are your goals to shift into a new role or field? It is unclear the field you're working in now. Without us knowing your desired career path, no one here can answer the question above properly or objectively.  If it is because you just need to 'check the box', then go direct for the BLS - it can be completed quickly and at a very low cost. Choose the minor that interests you (or best fits your career goals); you only need 1 minor (many here love to suggest two or more, but you only need one).

[AirborneAgent]

What is your professional goal in obtaining a bachelor? Are you in need to just be able to 'check the box' of having a bachelor, or are your goals to shift into a new role or field? It is unclear the field you're working in now. Without us knowing your desired career path, no one here can answer the question above properly or objectively.  If it is because you just need to 'check the box', then go direct for the BLS - it can be completed quickly and at a very low cost. Choose the minor that interests you (or best fits your career goals); you only need 1 minor (many here love to suggest two or more, but you only need one).

My goal is just checking the bachelor degree box as quickly as possible.

Also, TESU offers 35 credits for my Airline Transport Pilot license according to the credit predictor on their website.  Would I be able to count them toward a BLS degree there?  I emailed them this morning, just curious if anybody here may know.

If TESU does award the 35 credits, would their BLS be a quicker route than UMPI?

Thanks again, all.

[Duneranger]

Yeah a massive difference in both time and cost

Thanks.  Any reason to BOG AAS to UMPI BLS, or should I just go straight to BLS with the goal of obtaining bachelor degree in as little time as possible?

If I’m working toward the BLS, will things like Google and IBM certs count toward electives still?  Or would I need to be pursuing the BAS degrees for that?  I assume those certifications can take longer than other courses I could knock out more quickly with Sofia or similar anyway, but I am curious.

Excelsior offers 39 credits for the Florida Law Enforcement Officer certification.  

Utah Valley University offers about the same amount of credits toward their aviation degrees for my ATP license, but I don't know how friendly they are toward Sofia and there are a lot of other specialized courses that are not offered outside of more traditional classes.

I am not a fan of any BLS degree to be honest. Its a "nicer" name for a general studies degree. If you just need to check the box, then go for it. Otherwise get a specific degree like business

You will find most schools do not give credit for military/police work or Sophia. That's why everyone here focuses on the same handful of schools.

UMPI is the fastest IMO, I literally got another BA, WHILE being in a doctoral program.....it was stupid easy

[berlinerd]

I would recommend you to look at UMPI's BA in Criminal Justice. The only additional thing is this degree has an "internship" class, but maybe... maybe you could cover it with your Law Enforcement Officer certification/experience? Or if you work currently at law enforcement that could be maybe covered too? You'd have to talk to UMPI about this.

You are anyway going to do General Education on Sophia because you do not have the GenEd full curriculum covered by your credit - that is, you are still spending some time to get GenEd credit, whether it is a BLS or BA in CJ, or something else, let's say, at TESU.

I would strongly recommend you to look into that BA in Criminal Justice, or into BA in History & Political Science at UMPI (this one has no internship), because all these are much better than BLS. Like, if in future you will look for some other position, this marginal difference may be actually useful. It's just my view as I work in an environment where there is no way BLS would work. I would say in general, there is no case where BLS is actually better in long run, as you may lose some opportunities in future, so why not spend a few months to collect some extra credit to get a better, even marginally better, degree.