Places to park electronics + computer PLA credits (BOG AAS + TESU AAS)

[xicovu]

I'm an off and on user of this forum, and wanted some feedback. Here's my situation:

Employer is requiring I eventually get a B.S. Ideally in Electronics/Computer Engineering Technology but can be anything as long as it's technical.

I've got PLA I've been working on as I've taken electronics courses and have some IT experience. If possible I would like to do Electronics engineer at  TESU or U. of Arkansas Grantham, but more importantly is getting a degree of some kind.

Here are my priorities in order of in order of importance:

1. Subject Matter - I want to avoid as much general ed and credit that is NOT Electronics/Computers as possible
2. Cost - My employer covers 10,000 a year in education costs. I don't mind do RA credit if it is go at your own pace
3. Time - I'd like to avoid as much Study.com as I can to save the $200 out of pocket. OD.com and Saylor is acceptable even though they are less convienent

The two universities I am most interested in are Purdue University (Professional Studies) Global and UMPI (B. Applied Science). Here's the issue: I don't think either one would be able to PLA any of the electronics/mechatronics/electrical/technical courses that I have. 

I'm wondering if a doable option would be to park them in a TESUS AAS Applied Electronics and AAS BOG - Mechatronics to get a total of ~90 or so credits in two AAS degress, then finish the rest and Purdue or UMPI. Both would require 30 credit hours to be done in residency.

Alternatively, is there something at TESU that would be a better place to put them for a full degree? 

Thoughts?

One more benefit I think to BOG AAS and TESU is they would have two seperate specializations, to increase chances of successfully coming up in resume searching for employers.

[ss20ts]

UMPI doesn't have a technical degree available in YourPace. I wouldn't count in being accepted into the BAS as they are really particular about it. Rarely is someone being accepted in it today as a YourPace student. Almost everyone is put into the BLS program. I don't think UMPI is what you're looking for as they don't have anything in electronics or computers in YourPace at this time.

Why would you PLA courses that you've already taken? That doesn't make sense. PLA's for subjects that you have experience but lack credit in usually.

What. is OD.com?

At TESU even an associate degree is going to require RA credit.

[dfrecore]

Not sure if you're in the US, if you are, then you might want to look at WGU - they only require about 25% of the degree be Gen Eds - TESU requires 45cr of GE, UMPI requires 40cr of GE.

OnlineDegree is NCCRS, so will not be accepted at UMPI or WGU. There's only 15 courses there, 5 of which will be Free Electives for a degree at TESU. I would suggest that you actually do Saylor instead; the courses are free (although not all good) and the exams are only $5. Almost all are ACE.

UMPI doesn't have a degree that will meet your needs, I don't think (a BLS in MIS probably won't cut it); TESU's degrees that you're looking at require the 45cr of GE's, but they also require either Chem I & II w/Labs or Physics I & II w/Labs. And some additional math. Most of the major cannot be done alternatively, meaning it will cost more than $10k to do.

[rachel83az]

What do you already have completed and from where? It's not clear from your post. How do you feel about WRITING? PUG classes have a lot of writing.

You said you don't want to do Study.com, but you're fine with OnlineDegree and Saylor; what about Sophia? $99 for a month of all-you-can-eat courses. Depending on which school & degree you eventually decide on, the $100-200 investment out of pocket could be well worth it.

Is the $10k/year per calendar year or per 12 months? If it's 10k per 12 months, WGU might not work out for you. If it's 10k per calendar year, either WGU or TESU could be good choices. Depending on what you have, one possibility would be:

BOG AAS Mechatronics
TESU AAS Applied Electronics
TESU BS Technical Studies

But this will really depend on what you already have and from where. Please fill out ALL of the information in https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works for better assistance.

[davewill]

There should be no issue with completing PLAs at TESU and transferring them to the schools you mentioned. It shouldn't be necessary to actually be awarded an associate's to do that. If you're serious about doing the PLA route, you would apply to TESU as a degree seeking student (any degree), then do your PLA. No need to fulfill the rest of the requirements for an AAS (or any other degree). There are links in my signature to threads about the PLA process at TESU.

Edit: You should probably verify the tranferability of the TESU PLA credit with PUG or UMPI before doing it....just in case.

You said any technical degree would do. How would you feel about tackling the BACS at TESU? I know it's not electronics, but It's a well mapped out path that comes in under $10,000. However, it does depend heavily on Study.com.

[xicovu]

There should be no issue with completing PLAs at TESU and transferring them to the schools you mentioned. It shouldn't be necessary to actually be awarded an associate's to do that. If you're serious about doing the PLA route, you would apply to TESU as a degree seeking student (any degree), then do your PLA. No need to fulfill the rest of the requirements for an AAS (or any other degree). There are links in my signature to threads about the PLA process at TESU.

Perfect! I wasn't sure. I guess the reasoning behind getting an associates before the Bachelor's is just for pay increases and the like. As long as I have a place to start to build up credit that'll work for me.

If completion ends up being 5-6 years out, I can see a benefit of getting an AAS/AS from TESU.

[bjcheung77]

With the 5-6 years and 10K/year...  My suggestion is the following for you:
Pierpont BOG AAS Mechatronics - Cost of transcripts - Get this done ASAP

TESU AAS Applied Computer and ASS Applied Electronics - Cost of associates capstone
TESU BSBA CIS/BACS or BS Tech Studies - Cost of two capstones, pla/transfer the rest if you can

For your grad, a Master's System Engineering and for a little less than 10K, ECPI - Mechatronics!
Link: https://www.ecpi.edu/programs/systems-en...ers-degree

This is how I would play things, Sophia.org for lower level requirements and general education, it's cheap, easy, fast and non proctored.  Make sure to use a second monitor to have the materials/resources open on the second screen.  For TESU, I suggest you do the 16-18 credits for residency instead of paying the residency waiver fee.  PLA will count for RA, but you still need the residency credits, total 30 RA credits required.  Take your time to get the job done properly and in an orderly, systematic fashion.

---

Actually, hmm... I was thinking, since you have so much time, you can probably get the credits and transfer them in using the least expensive options.  I would do the Coursera/TADA options here, 6 months all you can eat, after you do the Sophia.org courses for transfer to Pierpont BOG AAS with an emphasis...

Then you can take all you can eat courses from the Finnish Universities here and see if they can transfer into the TESU programs of choice, even a BSPr would do, you just need the "check box" and get into the master's program I just mentioned. Again, if you have the time, it's to build your certs, get the degree, and gain the experience...

Coursera/TADA offerings: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Coursera
Finnish Universities Wiki: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Fi...iversities

[xicovu]

With the 5-6 years and 10K/year...  My suggestion is the following for you:
Pierpont BOG AAS Mechatronics - Cost of transcripts - Get this done ASAP

TESU AAS Applied Computer and ASS Applied Electronics - Cost of associates capstone
TESU BSBA CIS/BACS or BS Tech Studies - Cost of two capstones, pla/transfer the rest if you can

For your grad, a Master's System Engineering and for a little less than 10K, ECPI - Mechatronics!
Link: https://www.ecpi.edu/programs/systems-en...ers-degree

This is how I would play things, Sophia.org for lower level requirements and general education, it's cheap, easy, fast and non proctored.  Make sure to use a second monitor to have the materials/resources open on the second screen.  For TESU, I suggest you do the 16-18 credits for residency instead of paying the residency waiver fee.  PLA will count for RA, but you still need the residency credits, total 30 RA credits required.  Take your time to get the job done properly and in an orderly, systematic fashion.

---

Actually, hmm... I was thinking, since you have so much time, you can probably get the credits and transfer them in using the least expensive options.  I would do the Coursera/TADA options here, 6 months all you can eat, after you do the Sophia.org courses for transfer to Pierpont BOG AAS with an emphasis...

Then you can take all you can eat courses from the Finnish Universities here and see if they can transfer into the TESU programs of choice, even a BSPr would do, you just need the "check box" and get into the master's program I just mentioned. Again, if you have the time, it's to build your certs, get the degree, and gain the experience...

Coursera/TADA offerings: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Coursera
Finnish Universities Wiki: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Fi...iversities

I've been eyeing the Pierpoint AAS for a very, very long time   people on here seem to dissuade me from that one for some reason.   

I dunno why but it seems like RA credit aside it's a pretty straight forward place to stick credit and they seem to be easy going on the PLA credit.

Long term --- I'm probably going the the MS Electronics Engineering from U of Colorado on Coursera. A huge amount of me wants to just get the BOG AAS and skip the rest of the BS entirely -- or skip the AAS!

I've also wondered the possibility of backfilling into a BS EET degree with the Masters. They don't seem quite as keen to let you get UL but maybe with a Masters they would be more forgiving to allow PLA and trasnfer, to say, TESU.

It's only DEAC accredited (but is ABET), University of Arkansas Grantham is wear I may likely get the actual engineering degree itself from, especially because they have Computer Engineering.

Not that the Master's is easy by any means, but it may actually be easier than a full BS. It's Embedded Engineering + Power electronics, giving it a fairly narrow scope.

What is some really easy RA credits for the BOG AAS? Do they also take NCCRS (OnlineDegree.com)?

What do you mean when you say TADA?

[ss20ts]

---

Long term --- I'm probably going the the MS Electronics Engineering from U of Colorado on Coursera. A huge amount of me wants to just get the BOG AAS and skip the rest of the BS entirely -- or skip the AAS!


It's only DEAC accredited (but is ABET), University of Arkansas Grantham is wear I may likely get the actual engineering degree itself from, especially because they have Computer Engineering.

If you want to go onto grad school, you're most likely going to need a bachelor's degree that is RA. When it comes to employment, you won't be able to check the I have a bachelor's degree box if you skip everything and go straight for the master's. This could be a problem with some companies.

[bjcheung77]

With the 5-6 years and 10K/year...  My suggestion is the following for you:
Pierpont BOG AAS Mechatronics - Cost of transcripts - Get this done ASAP

TESU AAS Applied Computer and ASS Applied Electronics - Cost of associates capstone
TESU BSBA CIS/BACS or BS Tech Studies - Cost of two capstones, pla/transfer the rest if you can

For your grad, a Master's System Engineering and for a little less than 10K, ECPI - Mechatronics!
Link: https://www.ecpi.edu/programs/systems-en...ers-degree

This is how I would play things, Sophia.org for lower level requirements and general education, it's cheap, easy, fast and non proctored.  Make sure to use a second monitor to have the materials/resources open on the second screen.  For TESU, I suggest you do the 16-18 credits for residency instead of paying the residency waiver fee.  PLA will count for RA, but you still need the residency credits, total 30 RA credits required.  Take your time to get the job done properly and in an orderly, systematic fashion.

---

Actually, hmm... I was thinking, since you have so much time, you can probably get the credits and transfer them in using the least expensive options.  I would do the Coursera/TADA options here, 6 months all you can eat, after you do the Sophia.org courses for transfer to Pierpont BOG AAS with an emphasis...

Then you can take all you can eat courses from the Finnish Universities here and see if they can transfer into the TESU programs of choice, even a BSPr would do, you just need the "check box" and get into the master's program I just mentioned. Again, if you have the time, it's to build your certs, get the degree, and gain the experience...

Coursera/TADA offerings: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Coursera
Finnish Universities Wiki: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Fi...iversities

I've been eyeing the Pierpoint AAS for a very, very long time   people on here seem to dissuade me from that one for some reason.   

I dunno why but it seems like RA credit aside it's a pretty straight forward place to stick credit and they seem to be easy going on the PLA credit.

Long term --- I'm probably going the the MS Electronics Engineering from U of Colorado on Coursera. A huge amount of me wants to just get the BOG AAS and skip the rest of the BS entirely -- or skip the AAS!

I've also wondered the possibility of backfilling into a BS EET degree with the Masters. They don't seem quite as keen to let you get UL but maybe with a Masters they would be more forgiving to allow PLA and trasnfer, to say, TESU.

It's only DEAC accredited (but is ABET), University of Arkansas Grantham is wear I may likely get the actual engineering degree itself from, especially because they have Computer Engineering.

Not that the Master's is easy by any means, but it may actually be easier than a full BS. It's Embedded Engineering + Power electronics, giving it a fairly narrow scope.

What is some really easy RA credits for the BOG AAS? Do they also take NCCRS (OnlineDegree.com)?

What do you mean when you say TADA?

For the Pierpont BOG AAS, you just need one graded credit that is RA, the rest can come from Sophia.org and the Coursera/TADA I was referring to in my previous post, I even have a link there... click the link for more info.  Here's the link for Pierpont BOG AAS, just follow the steps to get it done: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pierpont_C%26TC