Recommended bachelor's path - any degree

[BrendaB]

Hi,
Is EC or TESU easier for BS in liberal studies or BA in liberal studies?  Below are the credits my son has accumulated thus far. 

 SOPHIA:
Ancient Greek Philosophers SOPH-0027 CR 3
Approaches to Studying Religions SOPH-0008 CR 3
College Algebra   SOPH 0001 CR3
Conflict Resolution SOPH 0007  CR3
English Composition 1   CR3
Environmental Science SOPH-0016 CR 3
Human Biology  SOPH-0002   CR#
Introduction to Business SOPH-0014 CR 3
Introduction to Ethics SOPH-0020 CR 3
Introduction to Psychology SOPH-0003 CR 3
Macroeconomics SOPH-0012 CR 3
Microeconomics SOPH-0011 CR 3
Public Speaking  CR3
Project Management SOPH-0013 CR 3
US History I SOPH-0022 CR 3
US History II SOPH-0025 CR 3
Visual Communications SOPH-0009 CR 3
Total: 51 credits

DSST Civil War & Reconstruction  CR3

York College:
Intro to Information Technology CIS-123  CR3
English Compositon 2  ENG 123  CR3
American Government - POL 123 CR3
York College Freshman Se. YCS 101 CR3
Physical Science & LAB  PHI-123  CR4

Thank you

Total Credits  69 credits

[rachel83az]

IMO, TESU is easier due to fewer UL credits being required. But it does cost a bit more than EC. Some of that can be mitigated by doing a 16-credit-term to eliminate the residency waiver.

[dfrecore]

It depends. There are pros and cons to both, but my vote is generally for EC at this point in time.

TESU vs. EC
1) TESU is more expensive for a BALS than EC's BAL/BSL (TESU is $2600 more); hard to justify spending more for a generic degree IMO
2) TESU requires 30cr of RA, and you only have 16cr + 6cr of cornerstone & capstone, meaning you'll need 8cr more
3) EC requires 30cr of UL, while TESU only requires 18. EC's capstone gives you 3cr of UL which will help with the BSL (but not the BAL).
4) TESU has more concentrations/certificates
5) EC's Gen Ed is much easier to meet - very few specific requirements (like, no oral communication, no diversity, no civic engagement, no history required). It's much more generic, which makes it easier to deal with.

EC's BAL vs BSL
1) BAL is 90/30 split, like TESU's BALS - 90cr of arts & sciences/liberal arts courses; all of the UL courses for both schools must be in the A&S/LA
2) the BSL is a 60/60 split, so allows MANY more free electives (business, computers, welding, etc.). Also easier to find UL options, as 21cr of UL must be in the A&S, but 9cr of UL can be in the Free electives area, including the cornerstone.

I personally prefer EC's BSL between the 3 options - lowest cost, most flexible.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TESU BALS needed:
- Diversity (Sociology, World Religions, Cultural Geography, etc)
- 5 UL LA courses (Study.com or Coopersmith are easiest options, as well as TECEP and UExcel exams)
- 2 additional LL LA courses that are 200-level or higher (no more Sophia courses that will work here)
- 20cr of Free Electives
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EC BSL needed:
- 6 UL A&S courses (Study.com or Coopersmith are easiest options, as well as TECEP and UExcel exams)
- 2 UL Free Electives
- 19cr of Free Electives
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With the courses you've taken, which cover almost all of the requirements already, it's just a matter of deciding between the 2, and my choice would be on what was cheaper. But that's me.

Both are good options, which is a very nice place to be!

Also, you're not so far into this that you'd lose a single thing by choosing a major!
TESU - Computer Sci, Psych, History, or English
EC - BSB, History, Psych, or BPS

[bjcheung77]

Depends, if your son is into the Big 3 and will get RA credits, you can add COSC to that list. If your son is into competency based degrees, I would add WGU/UMPI and other institutions on the list. How young is your son? Does he have any other interests besides "liberal arts". If he's 20+, I suggest UMPI BLS with a concentration or minor of his choice.

[BrendaB]

Depends, if your son is into the Big 3 and will get RA credits, you can add COSC to that list.  If your son is into competency based degrees, I would add WGU/UMPI and other institutions on the list.  How young is your son? Does he have any other interests besides "liberal arts".  If he's 20+, I suggest UMPI BLS with a concentration or minor of his choice.

He is 17 years old.

---

It depends.  There are pros and cons to both, but my vote is generally for EC at this point in time.

TESU vs. EC
1) TESU is more expensive for a BALS than EC's BAL/BSL (TESU is $2600 more); hard to justify spending more for a generic degree IMO
2) TESU requires 30cr of RA, and you only have 16cr + 6cr of cornerstone & capstone, meaning you'll need 8cr more
3) EC requires 30cr of UL, while TESU only requires 18.  EC's capstone gives you 3cr of UL which will help with the BSL (but not the BAL).
4) TESU has more concentrations/certificates
5) EC's Gen Ed is much easier to meet - very few specific requirements (like, no oral communication, no diversity, no civic engagement, no history required).  It's much more generic, which makes it easier to deal with.

EC's BAL vs BSL
1) BAL is 90/30 split, like TESU's BALS - 90cr of arts & sciences/liberal arts courses; all of the UL courses for both schools must be in the A&S/LA
2) the BSL is a 60/60 split, so allows MANY more free electives (business, computers, welding, etc.).  Also easier to find UL options, as 21cr of UL must be in the A&S, but 9cr of UL can be in the Free electives area, including the cornerstone.

I personally prefer EC's BSL between the 3 options - lowest cost, most flexible.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TESU BALS needed:
- Diversity (Sociology, World Religions, Cultural Geography, etc)
- 5 UL LA courses (Study.com or Coopersmith are easiest options, as well as TECEP and UExcel exams)
- 2 additional LL LA courses that are 200-level or higher (no more Sophia courses that will work here)
- 20cr of Free Electives
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EC BSL needed:
- 6 UL A&S courses (Study.com or Coopersmith are easiest options, as well as TECEP and UExcel exams)
- 2 UL Free Electives
- 19cr of Free Electives
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With the courses you've taken, which cover almost all of the requirements already, it's just a matter of deciding between the 2, and my choice would be on what was cheaper.  But that's me.

Both are good options, which is a very nice place to be!

Also, you're not so far into this that you'd lose a single thing by choosing a major!
TESU - Computer Sci, Psych, History, or English
EC - BSB, History, Psych, or BPS

This is very helpful.    Could he simply take more Sophia courses to complete the free electives?  if so, this is great!  Thanks again

[rachel83az]

For Excelsior and TESU, Sophia is a great source of LL electives. Yes.

For Excelsior, according to https://excelsior.sophia.org/, Intro to Relational Databases and Intro to Web Development even come in as UL credit, so they would work as UL free electives. I didn't like Intro to Relational Databases, personally, BUT that's because of how much work it is for a LL class at TESU. If you're getting UL credit for it, that's great!

[BrendaB]

IMO, TESU is easier due to fewer UL credits being required. But it does cost a bit more than EC. Some of that can be mitigated by doing a 16-credit-term to eliminate the residency waiver.

thank you

---

For Excelsior and TESU, Sophia is a great source of LL electives. Yes.

For Excelsior, according to https://excelsior.sophia.org/, Intro to Relational Databases and Intro to Web Development even come in as UL credit, so they would work as UL free electives. I didn't like Intro to Relational Databases, personally, BUT that's because of how much work it is for a LL class at TESU. If you're getting UL credit for it, that's great!

Thank you for this info...very helpful.

[BrendaB]

Depends, if your son is into the Big 3 and will get RA credits, you can add COSC to that list.  If your son is into competency based degrees, I would add WGU/UMPI and other institutions on the list.  How young is your son? Does he have any other interests besides "liberal arts".  If he's 20+, I suggest UMPI BLS with a concentration or minor of his choice.

He is 17 years old.

---

It depends.  There are pros and cons to both, but my vote is generally for EC at this point in time.

TESU vs. EC
1) TESU is more expensive for a BALS than EC's BAL/BSL (TESU is $2600 more); hard to justify spending more for a generic degree IMO
2) TESU requires 30cr of RA, and you only have 16cr + 6cr of cornerstone & capstone, meaning you'll need 8cr more
3) EC requires 30cr of UL, while TESU only requires 18.  EC's capstone gives you 3cr of UL which will help with the BSL (but not the BAL).
4) TESU has more concentrations/certificates
5) EC's Gen Ed is much easier to meet - very few specific requirements (like, no oral communication, no diversity, no civic engagement, no history required).  It's much more generic, which makes it easier to deal with.

EC's BAL vs BSL
1) BAL is 90/30 split, like TESU's BALS - 90cr of arts & sciences/liberal arts courses; all of the UL courses for both schools must be in the A&S/LA
2) the BSL is a 60/60 split, so allows MANY more free electives (business, computers, welding, etc.).  Also easier to find UL options, as 21cr of UL must be in the A&S, but 9cr of UL can be in the Free electives area, including the cornerstone.

I personally prefer EC's BSL between the 3 options - lowest cost, most flexible.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TESU BALS needed:
- Diversity (Sociology, World Religions, Cultural Geography, etc)
- 5 UL LA courses (Study.com or Coopersmith are easiest options, as well as TECEP and UExcel exams)
- 2 additional LL LA courses that are 200-level or higher (no more Sophia courses that will work here)
- 20cr of Free Electives
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EC BSL needed:
- 6 UL A&S courses (Study.com or Coopersmith are easiest options, as well as TECEP and UExcel exams)
- 2 UL Free Electives
- 19cr of Free Electives
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With the courses you've taken, which cover almost all of the requirements already, it's just a matter of deciding between the 2, and my choice would be on what was cheaper.  But that's me.

Both are good options, which is a very nice place to be!

Also, you're not so far into this that you'd lose a single thing by choosing a major!
TESU - Computer Sci, Psych, History, or English
EC - BSB, History, Psych, or BPS

This is very helpful.    Could he simply take more Sophia courses to complete the free electives?  if so, this is great!  Thanks again

What type of courses are consider UL Arts & Science at EC... Math, Science, History, Social Science, Humanities, English, and Natural Science?

[dfrecore]

[quote pid='358755' dateline='1645475732']

Also, you're not so far into this that you'd lose a single thing by choosing a major!
TESU - Computer Sci, Psych, History, or English
EC - BSB, History, Psych, or BPS

This is very helpful.    Could he simply take more Sophia courses to complete the free electives?  if so, this is great!  Thanks again

What type of courses are consider UL Arts & Science at EC... Math, Science, History, Social Science, Humanities, English, and Natural Science?
[/quote]


https://www.excelsior.edu/policy/general...uirements/