Revisiting Associate of Arts

[RA808]

Long time poster. I started this process a while ago. Basically, I did well in my industry as a creative in advertising self taught, but always worried not having any degree might be a hindrance. Decided in 2011 to pursue a 2 year degree. My career continued to do well and I’ve been in 2 jobs since. Seems few care about degree with established creatives in this biz. THAT said, I would really like to finish this finally. I’m 54/60 credits and would like to just get it done. I put in the time and would rather it wasn’t wasted. And who knows, if I ever encounter a stiff corporate gig in the future it may help. Or even a career change far into the future as a foundation to pursue a BA. 

That said, I’m not sure what the process is with TESC now. Back then, the process seemed to be to do a year of tuition and basically cash in the credits. 

What is the easiest process now? I will look into credit requirements to see if those have changed much. Have they? 

Here’s what I’ve got:

6 Prior Credits (AP English)

Passed: DSST Intro to Computing, CLEP Analyzing & Interpreting Literature, CLEP English Composition, DSST Substance Abuse, CLEP US History 1, DSST Environment & Humanities, DSST Management Information Systems, CLEP Principles of Macroeconomics, ClEP Principles of Microeconomics. CLEP Humanities, ALEKS Intermediate Algebra, DSST Public Speaking, CLEP Introductory Sociology

[bjcheung77]

Skip the Associates at TESU and go for a Pierpont BOG AAS, you just need to get a graded credit for $25 from ASU, and complete a few courses to hit all the requirements, total cost would be the price of transcripts and additional alternative credits.  I suggest taking some InstantCertCredit.com, Saylor.org, Sophia.org, or Study.com courses, you may want to ladder that up to an inexpensive UMPI BAS with a minor concentration later.

Many things have changed, COSC/TESU now require RA credits for their degrees, not just alternative credit, Excelsior requires a cornerstone/capstone, info lit course.  I highly suggest skipping TESU in favor of Pierpont BOG AAS, you can use the money saved towards a Bachelors at UMPI.  You can review this link for details on what courses to take for the Pierpont BOG AAS.  Follow these steps: Pierpont C&TC - Degree Forum Wiki (miraheze.org)

Invest in a secondary monitor for multi-tasking.  You can then take some time and read about UMPI's offerings, here are a couple of recent posts:
Link 1: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ege-Credit
Link 2: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...rs-one-day

[rachel83az]

I agree with bjcheung77: skip the AA at TESU, head for Pierpont.

If I'm reading your credits right, the only thing you're missing from Pierpont's requirements is a math or science course. Human Biology or Environmental Science @ Sophia is a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to meet this requirement.

If you want an area of emphasis in Information Systems, head on over to Coursera and do the Google IT Support Professional Certificate. https://www.coursera.org/professional-ce...it-support That will get you 12 credits + MIS DSST = Info Systems concentration. If you want a Business AOE instead, take everything under "Business" on the Sophia wiki page ( https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/So...lency_List ) except Principles of Management (you can take Principles of Management if you want, but we don't know how long that one takes to grade; it may not be as fast/easy as the others).

You don't NEED an AOE at Pierpont, but it's pretty cheap and easy to get one in either Business or Info Systems if you do decide that's what you want.

[LevelUP]

TESU will only accept a maximum of 45 ACE/Alt credits to an associate's degree or 90 ACE/ALt credits for a bachelor's degree.

The rest have to come from TECEPs or from a RA school. 
https://www.tesu.edu/admissions/transfer-credit

[allvia]

You mentioned back in 2011 that you had a few (less than 10) credits from a local university.  If that is the case, you should already have the required 1 graded credit for the Pierpont BOG AAS.

[RA808]

You mentioned back in 2011 that you had a few (less than 10) credits from a local university.  If that is the case, you should already have the required 1 graded credit for the Pierpont BOG AAS.

Sorry, what is BOG?

[rachel83az]

BOG = Board of Governors.

[bjcheung77]

@RA808, you should spend some time reading the replies in this thread.  I understand you're a busy body and have commitments, and I agree with you that this is the time to get that Associates completed.  You've spent the energy/money/time putting effort into those courses and it'll be wasted if you're not content with missing out on having an associates degree.  At the very least, provide us some more details - how much time do you have to dedicate to your studies? You might have kids, work, other commitments, tell us more...

Here's an example, when Covid happened, around March 2020, Sophia.org provided a year free for their courses, a year later, they provided another discount $149/year for their courses.  A member private messaged me asking how to complete their two decade long journey with just 6 credits (basically their cornerstone/capstone completed at Excelsior).  After 6 months of relatively slow downtime, they finished the degree at Excelsior, a Bachelors of Science in Liberal Arts by transferring in everything else using alternative credits (they were on a very old catalog year).

After skimming through your previous posts, and as allvia pointed out, you may have graded credits already, you may "have" a completed BOG AAS if those courses fit into the degree!  Seriously, for the nominal cost of transcripts only, that degree is yours for the taking!  If you can put some time aside for your studies, the UMPI BAS would be my recommended Bachelors of choice for you to ladder into when the time comes, it only costs $1400/term, if you finish in two terms, that's $2800 for a Bachelors.  Review my posts and links above...Keep up the effort, have fun, good luck on this educational journey!

[allvia]

Here is the official page for this 'Pierpont BOG AAS' we keep telling you about - https://www.pierpont.edu/ac/specialprograms/bogdegree

bjcheung77 already provided you with the links to this forum's resources on how to obtain it. You are already so very close with the credits you told us about. It truly seems ideal for your objective - with an out of pocket cost that would be near impossible to beat. Once you look over the 'what you need' for it vs 'what you already have', it may almost seem too easy (and too low cost, it is practically 'free') - but it is legitimate and quite straightforward to obtain.

[dfrecore]

6 Prior Credits (AP English)

Passed: DSST Intro to Computing, CLEP Analyzing & Interpreting Literature, CLEP English Composition, DSST Substance Abuse, CLEP US History 1, DSST Environment & Humanities, DSST Management Information Systems, CLEP Principles of Macroeconomics, ClEP Principles of Microeconomics. CLEP Humanities, ALEKS Intermediate Algebra, DSST Public Speaking, CLEP Introductory Sociology

Important question: when did you get these credits?  That's going to be an issue for any of the Big 3.

So, your best bet is to list each exam (including AP) and then the date you took the exam.  Then, we can see what they were worth at the time.  Things have changed over the years.

English Comp CLEP - was this with or without essay?  Also, why did you take it after passing the AP exam?

Once you list these with dates, we can tell you how many credits you have, and if any are UL.  That will help determine the best fit for a school.