Quick, cheap, own pace, Business degree

[Carnation]

Background:
Ds graduated from high school in June 2020... 
Unfortunately Children's believes he had MIS-C from Covid in June 2020 and still runs 102 degree fever when he gets run down.
His father is on oxygen from Covid so Ds cannot attend college in person.

In 2019, 2 music classes were completed from our local community college and he passed the DSST Civil War and Reconstruction.
He also completed a couple of courses from Sophia when they were free one summer, Macroeconomics and College Composition 1.
He has not done any math classes since 2019, which would require reviewing and possibly relearning a subject which is not his favorite and he hates Aleks math with a passion!

I am looking for the best way for him to earn a Business degree where he can work at his own pace (testing out and/or online college) where he can take breaks from classwork whenever necessary for his mental and physical health but yet give him hope of actually completing a bachelors degree.
Perhaps starting out doing a bunch of credit by exam for him to see that a degree is doable?
I've read about CLEP exams being free by going through Modern States and he can now test from home!

I originally looked into the Big 3 when ds was in high school mainly because he does not tolerate busy work or the thought of repeating high school (Liberal Arts) courses.
I know much has changed in the last 5 years and we would love any insight and ideas this wonderful community can provide us regarding the best paths forward.

One last tidbit... Ds loved learning from Study.com and we used that as part of his homeschooling back when it was a free site under another name.
Not sure if that can still be used to earn college credit or how expensive that would be if he couldn't complete a bunch of classes in a month.

[rachel83az]

CLEP from home is NOT recommended. Based on what others have said, it has a lot of bugs and you may wind up losing your results because of mislabeled buttons! Not good. Instead, I would recommend Sophia for credit. Sophia is currently $99/mo. or $599/year for all you can take. https://www.sophia.org/online-college-credit/ Even if you work slowly, you should be able to finish most of Sophia's offerings in 6-12 months.

As far as schools go, I would recommend either TESU or Excelsior. Excelsior can be cheaper, but TESU has a lower UL credit requirement. Having to get 30 UL credits for an Excelsior degree could be disheartening for someone who is having health issues. I think they also technically require more math (at least more advanced math) for their business degrees than TESU does. For a TESU business degree, you'd want Sophia Algebra, Sophia Stats, and CSM Learn. It sounds daunting, but the Sophia courses are pretty easy and CSM Learn is barely even math.

For a TESU degree plan, take a look at:
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...re_Roadmap
The first link has a list of different BSBA Areas of Study that can be taken. I would not recommend General Management because that requires at least one Accounting and/or Finance class. If he hates math, that'd be torture. Perhaps Marketing or HR/Org. Management?

[bjcheung77]

Hi Carnation, can you provide us a little bit more details in regards to the courses he has taken by following this template and the addendum. It may be a good idea to list whatever he has currently: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

My suggestion for his "math" is the CSM Learn course, as it's not proctored and self-paced. Another thing he may want to do is invest in a second monitor and work on the Sophia.org courses as he may be more familiar with that system. He can also try CLEP if would like to take exams that are not offered by Sophia.org

At this time, I would also recommend the TESU BSBA, but work on the General Management option for now, he can "switch" to any AOS once he is nearly complete, I would work on the AOS last, he'll get to know the Professional Business Requirements and decide which AOS suits him more when he takes relevant courses.

[Carnation]

Hi Carnation, can you provide us a little bit more details in regards to the courses he has taken 
- I listed the courses he has taken:
 Sophia Macroeconomics
 Sophia College Comp 1
 DSST Civil War and Reconstruction
 2 music courses from our community college

My suggestion for his "math" is the CSM Learn course, as it's not proctored and self-paced.
- Thanks for the suggestion. I will look into CSM Learn.

At this time, I would also recommend the TESU BSBA, but work on the General Management option for now, he can "switch" to any AOS once he is nearly complete, I would work on the AOS last, he'll get to know the Professional Business Requirements and decide which AOS suits him more when he takes relevant courses.
- This makes sense.

I know he needs RA courses... do TECEP exams count toward that? 
The TECEP exams I looked at were CR/NC grading like CLEP and DSST exams.
Trying to figure out the RA coursework he will need to fulfill.

[carrythenothing]

Hi Carnation, can you provide us a little bit more details in regards to the courses he has taken 
- I listed the courses he has taken:
 Sophia Macroeconomics
 Sophia College Comp 1
 DSST Civil War and Reconstruction
 2 music courses from our community college

My suggestion for his "math" is the CSM Learn course, as it's not proctored and self-paced.
- Thanks for the suggestion. I will look into CSM Learn.

At this time, I would also recommend the TESU BSBA, but work on the General Management option for now, he can "switch" to any AOS once he is nearly complete, I would work on the AOS last, he'll get to know the Professional Business Requirements and decide which AOS suits him more when he takes relevant courses.
- This makes sense.

I know he needs RA courses... do TECEP exams count toward that? 
The TECEP exams I looked at were CR/NC grading like CLEP and DSST exams.
Trying to figure out the RA coursework he will need to fulfill.

Yes, TECEP exams are RA credit (but won't count toward the 16 TESU credits required to avoid paying the residency waiver fee).

[rachel83az]

For RA credit, there aren't a lot of TECEPs that a single person could reasonably take. For instance, not everyone is going to want to take "The Science of Nutrition".

Other options include UExcels: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UE...es_at_TESU
ASU: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Ar...al_Learner
Olivet Nazarene: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Ol...University
TEL Learning: https://www.tellearning.org/courses-on-demand/ Each TEL course has 2 exams plus a number of assignments due.

[dfrecore]

I would suggest starting with ONU for the RA credit - definitely English Comp 2, and then any other courses he is interested in. At $150 each, and self-paced, they're right up his alley (and English Comp 2 there is better than either Study.com or Sophia). Do 1 course at a time.

At the same time, do the CSM Learn course for math. It's required for TESU, and will count as a GE elective no matter where he ends up.

Then, while he's doing all of this, start on Sophia. Take 1 course and see what he thinks. If he likes it, then sign up for the annual plan and get moving on that. Take as much as he can. Cover Ethics, Intro to Business, Accounting, Business Law, Management, Finance, and Project Management. Those will work just about anywhere. Take some science. Math (College Algebra and Stats). A few Humanities courses. Some SocSci courses. Intro to IT. Cover all the bases, so that no matter what school you end up with, you have everything covered.

[Vle045]

I 100% agree with dfrecore. Especially with Sophia. The annual cost is only a few hundred dollars and since it is all open book, it’s a little less stressful. Plus some corses (such as math) have 10 free tutoring sessions included. I think Sophia is perfect for someone who needs to take their time for medical, financial or even travel reasons.

[Carnation]

I figured we would start with some CLEP exams since he could test out of a bunch of classes that he did in high school likely with a Modern States review... depending on the Covid fog brain. These were his strengths plus they are CR/NC grading so no pressure, just needs to pass.
History
American Government
Literature


He did really well with Persaonal Finance and World Religions in high school so we might take those 2 DSST exams

I was asking about TECEPs because they have 2 Political Science exams which were courses he chose to take in high school as well as a computing exam (not sure how this transfers compared to the CLEP / DSST exams) . Again, they are CR/NC so no pressure to perform for a grade and may help him see that he remembers more than he realizes. The added bonus is that they would count toward his RA credit requirement.
I read that some TECEPs could be taken at home... how do you know which ones?

If he can get to the end of his bachelors degree, we don't mind paying the residency waiver fee. We just didn't want to pay a bunch of money into credits that he decides is too much for him to do, and quits. So I guess the cheap is mainly to get started and know that he will stick with it. He has agreed to try it out to see how it goes.

I have looked at UExcel exams and he may do some of those, but they are graded so we will hold off on those until he is more confident in his abilities.

The Sophia courses gave a grade so I will wait until he gets in the groove of learning again before beginning with Sophia.

He was decent at math, it just wasn't his passion like history, political science, and literature. He was discouraged to realize how much he has forgotten and that is why he didn't want to even think about college. CSM Learn I think will be helpful in getting him in math learning mode but approach it in a way that doesn't feel like he is having to review what he already learned.

Thank you all for helping me get a plan in place to help get my son headed in a positive direction!
One of these days he will come to grips with the fact that he is not the same person he was before Covid, and that is okay.

[dfrecore]

I figured we would start with some CLEP exams since he could test out of a bunch of classes that he did in high school likely with a Modern States review... depending on the Covid fog brain. These were his strengths plus they are CR/NC grading so no pressure, just needs to pass.
History
American Government
Literature


He did really well with Persaonal Finance and World Religions in high school so we might take those 2 DSST exams

I was asking about TECEPs because they have 2 Political Science exams which were courses he chose to take in high school as well as a computing exam (not sure how this transfers compared to the CLEP / DSST exams) . Again, they are CR/NC so no pressure to perform for a grade and may help him see that he remembers more than he realizes. The added bonus is that they would count toward his RA credit requirement.
I read that some TECEPs could be taken at home... how do you know which ones?

If he can get to the end of his bachelors degree, we don't mind paying the residency waiver fee. We just didn't want to pay a bunch of money into credits that he decides is too much for him to do, and quits. So I guess the cheap is mainly to get started and know that he will stick with it. He has agreed to try it out to see how it goes.

I have looked at UExcel exams and he may do some of those, but they are graded so we will hold off on those until he is more confident in his abilities.

The Sophia courses gave a grade so I will wait until he gets in the groove of learning again before beginning with Sophia.

He was decent at math, it just wasn't his passion like history, political science, and literature. He was discouraged to realize how much he has forgotten and that is why he didn't want to even think about college. CSM Learn I think will be helpful in getting him in math learning mode but approach it in a way that doesn't feel like he is having to review what he already learned.

Thank you all for helping me get a plan in place to help get my son headed in a positive direction!
One of these days he will come to grips with the fact that he is not the same person he was before Covid, and that is okay.

All ACE/NCCRS courses are Pass/Fail, so no pressure on any of them (CLEP, DSST, Sophia, Study.com, Coopersmith, ICC, etc.).  Sophia does not give you a grade other than what your score is - they report to ACE as P/F, and TESU, EC, and most other schools we discuss here bring them in as P/F.

TECEP exams are also P/F, although can be difficult.  All are taken from home.

UExcel exams are graded, and can also be difficult.  You can take about half of them from home - if you go to  the website and click on an exam, it will tell you if it's OnVue which is from home.

CLEP from home is ok - but there have been a lot of issues, so you may want to see if it's worth doing from your home, and your computer.  I would use a computer with no info on it (so, like not your home computer where you do banking and have personal info on there).

DSST must be taken from a testing center (usually a college) and can be harder to find.  You are probably better off with another provider, especially if he is trying to avoid being around people.