Requiring a bachelors to keep my job! Back to school at 53!

[teacher2mykids]

I had a few classes left towards my Public Relations degree 30 years ago when I found out I was pregnant with my son, married his dad, had a daughter and I homeschooled them both to high school graduation. I ran a homeschool enrichment school for 11 years so I have some work life experience running a small business during that time. Fast forward 25 years, I'm divorced, kids are grown and I am starting over and needing a new career. I need so much advice on how to do this, what degree, what to take first, how much to spend and how fast can I get through it.

Currently, I am an Academic Coach and Academic Support Manager for a small university. I have worked 4 times at this university but this time it is a remote job which aids in my goal of traveling across the country. I traveled in my RV 2 years ago for about 4 months and fell in love with the freedom and exploration. I am now actively working to take my job on the road.

In order to keep my job, the University wants me to be pursuing a bachelor's degree. I took an adult degree completion class from the University but the cost is too high per credit and it is going to take 2 years. The expense and time is too much.

I wasn't planning on going back to school at 53 but I can't get any traction in my life at this time and I need a decent job instead of working 3 gig jobs. I am hoping a degree would help open the door to other opportunities. I would like to have an associate degree first so I can put it on my resume for future Digital Marketing interviews. I also am enrolled in a digital marketing course that gives me a certification and some job experience. 

Your Location: Chattanooga, Tennessee
Your Age: 53
What kind of degree do you want?: Anything - seriously, I just need to get this wrapped up. I'd even take General Studies at this point. I'd like to have something in communications, public relations, graphic design, marketing, etc. I don't want to deal with lots of math, econ, nursing or health services.

Current Regional Accredited Credits: 72 credits

Tri-County Technical College - 26 credits
PSYC 124 Intro to Psychology  C 3.00 
SOCI 125 Intro to Sociology   B 3.00 
SPCH 135 Intr Public Speaking B 3.00 
ENGL LD English Lower Div     C 3.00 
ENGL 101 College Comp I       B 3.00 
ENGL 102 College Comp II      C 3.00 
HIST 174 World Civilization   B 3.00 
MUHL 115 Listening To Music   B 3.00 
OFAD 105 Keyboarding          B 2.00

Southern Adventist University - 46 credits
JOUR 225 INTRO TO PHOTOGRAPY  A  3.00 
JOUR 103 INTRO TO MASS COMM   A- 3.00 
HIST 154 AMER HIST & INSTU    B- 3.00 
RELB 125 LIFE/TCHGS OF JESUS  B+ 3.00 
RELT 255 CHRISTIAN BELIEFS    B  3.00
JOUR 205 NEWS REPORTING       A- 3.00 
MATH 103 SURVEY OF MATH       B- 3.00 
RELT 225 LAST-DAY EVENTS      A- 3.00 
PREL 344 FUND OF ADVERTISING  A  2.00 
PREL 297 PR PRACTICUM         B+ 2.00 
PREL 234 PUBL REL PRINCIPLES  A- 2.00
ART 109 PUBLICATIONS DESIGN   A- 3.00 
ECON 213 SURVEY OF ECONOMICS  B- 3.00 
JOUR 488 MASS COMM & SOCIETY  C+ 3.00 
SPAN 101 ELEM SPANISH I       C  3.00 
RELT 138 ADVENTIST HERITAGE   B  3.00 
BUFN 201 Orientation to Bus   P  1.00
 
Any certifications or military experience?
Prompt Engineer for ChatGPT certification from Vanderbilt University
Currently working on Creativity and AI certification from Parsons School of Design
Currently in Digital Marketing course to obtain job experience and certification 

[b]Budget:[/b] I don't have much savings because I wasn't planning on going back to school but I have some. I need it as cheap as possible, but will consider spending more for easy and fast.

Commitments: I'm pretty open on when I can work on the degree. I set my own hours for all my jobs. I am willing to put aside whatever and bust my butt to get this associate and bachelor's done and as quick as possible.

Timeline: Fast as possible

  Thanks for any and all advice! 

[bjcheung77]

@teacher2mykids, Welcome to the board, you've got a couple of goals that can be done quickly!  An Associates at Pierpont, the BOG with an emphasis of your choice, is what you need to start with.  Link: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pierpont_C%26TC

When you've got the requirements for the BOG AAS complete, you can continue with your certs, experience, and also go for the Coursera/TADA offerings here towards an UMPI BAS with a minor of your choice: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Coursera

Wok on the trifecta!  You'll end up with certs, degree, experience.  Here's the UMPI BAS Link: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...egree_Plan

[rachel83az]

I agree that Pierpont's FREE BOG AAS is going to be your best first stop.

The Marketing course, does it award credits or is it just a certificate? If it's a certificate, which? Is it Google or something else? It should be pretty cheap/easy to get an Area of Emphasis in Marketing for the BOG AAS. https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pi...#Marketing

[teacher2mykids]

Thank you BJcheung77 and archel83az soooo much for the quick advice.  I have so many questions!! As a newbie, I hope they make sense.

* How is Pierpont" free?" Is it because I am transferring everything in and not paying for classes through them?
* As far as I can tell, I still need these classes to complete the BOG AS, is that correct?
          OFAD 1150 - Computer Concepts and Applications 3 hr(s).
          SCI 1101 - General Science 4 hr(s).
* Can I do those through Sophia and transfer them in too?
* Do you know where the "area of emphasis" is located on Pierpont site? I've looked all over to figure out where that is, what I need and how much that would cost. I'd love to add marketing to it.
* The marketing course I'm currently taking is through Jobprepped and is just a certificate from them, no credits, but it has job experience with it so that's why I selected it since I'm transitioning to a new field with no experience. Do you think they would accept this course as an emphasis? Its very thorough.

Thank you again, I am finally getting excited about this and seeing a light at the end of a very long tunnel.

[allvia]

I'm not opposed to you going for the Pierpont BOG AAS (because you already have so many existing credits), but I wouldn't spend extra time or money trying to get a specialization that you can't earn in route to what you need to complete a bachelor. As far as the bachelor, I would agree that UMPI would likely be your quickest and cheapest, but pass on trying to get a BAS; too many hoops to jump through. You are 50+ and a prime example of someone who needs that 'check box' bachelor - so much so that it's the basis of your entire post.  I would suggest the UMPI BLS-Management (because it is the minor known to be the quickest to worth through - 1 or 2 terms likely), you can get whatever your missing for through Sophia and then do the 10 required minimum courses at UMPI. I would not wait to apply to UMPI, apply send in your transcripts as it takes a bit of time to have your transcripts evaluated - too many people wait to apply and then ask why can't they start right away. However, you will want to transfer in all else that you can (from Sophia) before starting at UMPI.  Also, I would suggest that you apply for FASFA - it's free to apply and you just never know if you qualify even for a small Pell Grant.

[rachel83az]

Thank you BJcheung77 and archel83az soooo much for the quick advice.  I have so many questions!! As a newbie, I hope they make sense.

* How is Pierpont" free?" Is it because I am transferring everything in and not paying for classes through them?

Yes, there is no application fee. Pierpont doesn't charge a graduation fee. The only cost of Pierpont is transcripts and any additional class(es) you might need. For someone continuing on to a Bachelor's degree, this is a negligible cost. For someone with a significant amount of prior credit, as you have, the additional classes are usually a few tens of dollars at most.

* As far as I can tell, I still need these classes to complete the BOG AS, is that correct?
          OFAD 1150 - Computer Concepts and Applications 3 hr(s).
          SCI 1101 - General Science 4 hr(s).
* Can I do those through Sophia and transfer them in too?

For Pierpont, you need 6 credits in math and/or science. I only see 3 credits, so you'd want to do Algebra and/or Environmental Science (both would be needed for UMPI) from Sophia. UMPI will also want Human Biology + Human Biology Lab. The Human Biology courses will probably take longer, so I'd just go with Algebra or Environmental Science to start.
Computer Concepts & Applications = Introduction to IT at Sophia. This one is also a pretty quick and easy class. You can probably be done with both Environmental Science and Intro to IT in a week or less. (Use the coupon code in this thread to get 25% off your first month: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid400419 )

* Do you know where the "area of emphasis" is located on Pierpont site? I've looked all over to figure out where that is, what I need and how much that would cost. I'd love to add marketing to it.

They don't list it on their site. However, from having dozens of students work with Nancy Parks at Pierpont about this, we know that this is a reasonably accurate list of Areas of Emphasis: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pi...f_Emphasis

* The marketing course I'm currently taking is through Jobprepped and is just a certificate from them, no credits, but it has job experience with it so that's why I selected it since I'm transitioning to a new field with no experience.

That's too bad! But it does mean you should have enough knowledge to speed run the Google Digital Marketing Certificate on Coursera. This certificate is FREE through The American Dream Academy (link on the Coursera page on the wiki). That'd give you 9 credits and you'd need 6 more for an Area of Emphasis. Saylor Academy's Principles of Marketing is a $5 exam you could try. And/or maybe take a Study.com Marketing class or two.

[bjcheung77]

* Do you know where the "area of emphasis" is located on Pierpont site? I've looked all over to figure out where that is, what I need and how much that would cost. I'd love to add marketing to it.

They don't list it on their site. However, from having dozens of students work with Nancy Parks at Pierpont about this, we know that this is a reasonably accurate list of Areas of Emphasis: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pi...f_Emphasis

* The marketing course I'm currently taking is through Jobprepped and is just a certificate from them, no credits, but it has job experience with it so that's why I selected it since I'm transitioning to a new field with no experience.

That's too bad! But it does mean you should have enough knowledge to speed run the Google Digital Marketing Certificate on Coursera. This certificate is FREE through The American Dream Academy (link on the Coursera page on the wiki). That'd give you 9 credits and you'd need 6 more for an Area of Emphasis. Saylor Academy's Principles of Marketing is a $5 exam you could try. And/or maybe take a Study.com Marketing class or two.

As again, I always tell people to work on 3 things, the trifecta of certs, degree, experience, it's best to follow the degree links I have on post #2.  You'll have questions and most of them are answered already in the WIKI.  You want to do this in an orderly fashion to get them done cheap, easy, fast, work on the Sophia.org classes that will complete your BOG AAS, here are the answers to your questions in more detail.

To search the area of emphasis, you want to review post #6 of this sticky thread, I wouldn't put too much focus into it if you can just get the degree quickly, a General Business option would do, you do not need the exact classes, it just requires 15 credits in an emphasis: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...f-Emphasis

With the Coursera/TADA, you can get the certificates/experience you want in addition to what you currently bring in ChatGPT certification, Creativity and AI certification, Digital Marketing course.  You can actually get a Pierpont BOG AAS in Info Systems and ladder to the UMPI BAS with a double minor in Marketing, MIS, or even a triple minor in anything else that floats your boat.

[teacher2mykids]

Quick question as I work through all of the above suggestions - does the Google certification "Foundations of Digital Marketing and E-commerce" count toward any credits other than the possible BOG Area of Emphasis?

[bjcheung77]

Quick question as I work through all of the above suggestions - does the Google certification "Foundations of Digital Marketing and E-commerce" count toward any credits other than the possible BOG Area of Emphasis?

teacher2mykids, I've got a quick question for you as well in regards to your "I am an Academic Coach and Academic Support Manager for a small university."  I am curious, do you get any tuition assistance or reimbursement through that institution?

To answer you question, again, you want to do this in an orderly fashion, the "Foundations" is not worth any credit at all.  It's part of the Coursera/TADA offering, you can't get credit for a portion, it has to be the entire set of courses in each certificate.

You need to work on courses that 'hit' multiple requirements, whatever you take towards the Pierpont BOG AAS automatically goes towards your UMPI BAS, these Coursera/TADA offerings and others in the links on post #2 to #7 show you how.

Essentially, there is going to be a lot of details/information to go through, I would complete courses from a provider at a time or select to do the freebies from Coursera/TADA, TEEX first and then a Sophia.org subscription, not all at the same time.

[dfrecore]

I would literally stop everything you're doing that isn't earning college credits, and get that UMPI BLS degree. Apply, send in your transcripts. Start taking courses at Sophia tomorrow.

Sophia
---------------------
Human Biology w/Lab
Environmental Science
Intro to Ethics
US Government
1 easy elective course (Intro to IT would be very easy for you)
Business Communication will free up a space for more UL if you want, but not necessary

That leaves 30cr at UMPI, all in the major and Free electives area. You could opt for Project Management and/or Management (lots of overlap there if you want both).

I'll be you could be done by mid-March of next year.