Seeking to complete my academic goals, any help or guidance appreciated!!

[UptonSinclair]

I don't see how a liberal arts degree would be any better in the private sector. There are degrees sort of related to military studies that would have more flexibility. The marketability of these degrees at the undergraduate level isn't great, but definitely better than liberal arts: political science, criminal justice, homeland security, and public administration.

All of the degrees you just listed are liberal arts degrees.

Let me give an example of two similar degrees and the different impression they might present. A criminal justice degree and a sociology degree are very closely related. In the criminal justice system, the criminal justice degree might have a slight advantage over a sociology degree, but if one were to seek a degree outside criminal justice I believe the sociology degree would be far more flexible. I believe the situation for military studies to be similar. It is essentially a social science degree with a little management thrown in. A degree in political science, international relations, or public administration would be far more flexible.

Finally, in a situation where the student is in their field and wants to advance, the major is far less important. My Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies combines computer technology and electrical technology. Though it is technically a liberal arts degree, it fits a niche in my industry.

Anyway, I am sure the op knows what is best in his circumstances. I just figured it wouldn't hurt to throw the thought out there.

[publius2k4]

Another question I had was if there are any test-for-credit options using just the internet as I cannot get to a Pearson center?

I hope that all of this makes sense, and if anyone of you have anything to add or resources that you think I would be best served by using or really anything at all (Even some motivation!) I would very much appreciate hearing from you!

Thanks!

This will show you how your Straighterline courses will transfer to Excelsior.

Straighterline/Excelsior

Sanantone provided a link to TESC. As said, their TECEP's will be done through ProcterU real soon.

Your options are limited since there are no test sites in Baghdad, that I'm aware of.

PLA is a bit of a crap chute, because you can only gain credit in PLA for courses that do not already have a credit by exam available. Also, it's pretty difficult to get credit for general education courses through PLA, since PLA goes off of life experience. In other words, most of your credits in PLA will be electives or courses for your specific major.

Sanantone posted about a program called Sophia, which is similar to Straighterline, but not yet as popular or robust. But, it might be worth a look. They have several course offerings that Straighterline does not. Here's a link to the thread.

Ace Credits From Sophia

If you are open to the idea of changing from Excelsior to Charter Oak State College or Thomas Edison, TESC and COSC grant credit for many of the FEMA Emergency Management Institute courses. It's possible to get as many as 30+ credits at no charge, which would probably satisfy all of your elective needs.

Charter Oak has a fantastic Public Safety Administration program. I've taken 3 PSA courses at COSC, and I'm very pleased with the content of the courses. I've learned quite a bit. Their PSA courses are 5 weeks each.

Most of my experience is with Charter Oak, so I can't speak much about the other two of the big 3. YMMV.

Best of luck, brother.

[sanantone]

All of the degrees you just listed are liberal arts degrees.

Let me give an example of two similar degrees and the different impression they might present. A criminal justice degree and a sociology degree are very closely related. In the criminal justice system, the criminal justice degree might have a slight advantage over a sociology degree, but if one were to seek a degree outside criminal justice I believe the sociology degree would be far more flexible. I believe the situation for military studies to be similar. It is essentially a social science degree with a little management thrown in. A degree in political science, international relations, or public administration would be far more flexible.

Finally, in a situation where the student is in their field and wants to advance, the major is far less important. My Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies combines computer technology and electrical technology. Though it is technically a liberal arts degree, it fits a niche in my industry.

Anyway, I am sure the op knows what is best in his circumstances. I just figured it wouldn't hurt to throw the thought out there.

I'm not talking about liberal arts in the general sense. I'm talking about degrees that are titled liberal arts, liberal studies, general studies, etc. It's usually better to have a more focused degree that's easily recognizable. It's more of a hassle when you have to explain what your degree covers. You have to hope that HR will read your cover letter, closely take a look at the focus of your degree on your resume, or give you a chance to explain in an interview. There is a chance that HR software will filter out your application or resume if you don't have a degree with the right title. I've gotten interviews for jobs that required or strongly preferred a degree in criminal justice, but I believe I've also lost out on interviews because my degree is in social science.

Still, when looking for social service jobs, a social science degree is not that bad. I've seen plenty of caseworker jobs for criminal justice departments that specifically list social science and behavioral science. If they won't accept law enforcement or police science degrees (it has to specifically be criminal justice or corrections for many of the openings I've seen), then I doubt they would seriously consider liberal arts degrees. With social science, any halfway knowledgeable person would think, "Oh, maybe this person's degree covers psychology and sociology." With liberal arts, the degree could cover a bunch of things without even touching psychology or sociology: science, mathematics, humanities, and the social sciences that aren't behavioral sciences (political science, economics, history, etc.). If someone wanted a technical degree that's a little easier to complete than information technology or computer science, I would recommend a business degree with a concentration in computer or management information systems. Business degrees are a dime a dozen, but I've seen them asked for in human resources, a few criminal justice and social service, IT, and even safety jobs that also list a preference for safety, engineering, and science degrees. Aside from human resources, I don't know why employers think business administration would be better for these jobs than other non-related degrees, but they do.

This is an example of how picky some employers can be, especially in the public sector.

Bachelor’s degree with major in Clinical Psychology, Psychology, Sociology, Social Work, Family Relations, Guidance and Counseling, Rehabilitation, Criminal Justice-Corrections (not Law Enforcement or Police Sciences), Education (or education certification), or other related social sciences field. No experience required.

http://www.tjjd.texas.gov/JobSearch/JobI...jobID=1414

They don't want law enforcement or police science because these types of degrees usually don't cover much of the social work aspect of criminal justice.

[sanantone]

This will show you how your Straighterline courses will transfer to Excelsior.

Straighterline/Excelsior

Sanantone provided a link to TESC. As said, their TECEP's will be done through ProcterU real soon.

Your options are limited since there are no test sites in Baghdad, that I'm aware of.

PLA is a bit of a crap chute, because you can only gain credit in PLA for courses that do not already have a credit by exam available. Also, it's pretty difficult to get credit for general education courses through PLA, since PLA goes off of life experience. In other words, most of your credits in PLA will be electives or courses for your specific major.

Sanantone posted about a program called Sophia, which is similar to Straighterline, but not yet as popular or robust. But, it might be worth a look. They have several course offerings that Straighterline does not. Here's a link to the thread.

Ace Credits From Sophia

If you are open to the idea of changing from Excelsior to Charter Oak State College or Thomas Edison, TESC and COSC grant credit for many of the FEMA Emergency Management Institute courses. It's possible to get as many as 30+ credits at no charge, which would probably satisfy all of your elective needs.

Charter Oak has a fantastic Public Safety Administration program. I've taken 3 PSA courses at COSC, and I'm very pleased with the content of the courses. I've learned quite a bit. Their PSA courses are 5 weeks each.

Most of my experience is with Charter Oak, so I can't speak much about the other two of the big 3. YMMV.

Best of luck, brother.

Charter Oak might be worth a look if they'll accept FEMA credits toward the Public Safety concentration. TESC has the Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness degree where you can use FEMAs toward the major electives. It's still great to be able to use FEMAs to fill up the free electives in almost any degree, which would be expensive to do at Excelsior. As Publius2k4 said, COSC and TESC will take these directly for free. While I'm not a huge fan of criminal justice degrees, they do have more flexibility and are easier to complete with alternative sources than a military studies degree. Propero and Penn Foster offer a lot of criminal justice courses that are ACE-approved. You might also want to look at Propero in addition to Straighterline and Sophia for other courses. Propero works a lot like Straighterline.
Courses | Propero | Pearson

[EdSeeker]

Does Propero offer online proctoring like Straightliner does? I looked at their website that you provided, but I couldn't see where they detailed the testing for credit procedures.

Another question I had was if I took classes from TESC, or transferred in the FEMA courses for credit, would I be able to than transfer those courses to Excelsior for credit towards my program?

I realize that utilizing TESC for a degree via their CJ program seems to be the best route, but I really do not want to seek out a CJ degree as I see the market is flooded with many CJ graduates, and to be honest my type of employment is not "regular" law enforcement,hence my interest in pursuing a Military Studies degree or an International Studies program.

Thanks for all the information that you have all given me, it is very appreciated and it is helping me format an action plan to help me complete this goal, getting information from those who have BTDT or are in the process is so much more reliable than trying to make sense of the information passed out from each individual school!

Charter Oak might be worth a look if they'll accept FEMA credits toward the Public Safety concentration. TESC has the Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness degree where you can use FEMAs toward the major electives. It's still great to be able to use FEMAs to fill up the free electives in almost any degree, which would be expensive to do at Excelsior. As Publius2k4 said, COSC and TESC will take these directly for free. While I'm not a huge fan of criminal justice degrees, they do have more flexibility and are easier to complete with alternative sources than a military studies degree. Propero and Penn Foster offer a lot of criminal justice courses that are ACE-approved. You might also want to look at Propero in addition to Straighterline and Sophia for other courses. Propero works a lot like Straighterline.
Courses | Propero | Pearson

[sanantone]

Does Propero offer online proctoring like Straightliner does? I looked at their website that you provided, but I couldn't see where they detailed the testing for credit procedures.

Another question I had was if I took classes from TESC, or transferred in the FEMA courses for credit, would I be able to than transfer those courses to Excelsior for credit towards my program?

I realize that utilizing TESC for a degree via their CJ program seems to be the best route, but I really do not want to seek out a CJ degree as I see the market is flooded with many CJ graduates, and to be honest my type of employment is not "regular" law enforcement,hence my interest in pursuing a Military Studies degree or an International Studies program.

Thanks for all the information that you have all given me, it is very appreciated and it is helping me format an action plan to help me complete this goal, getting information from those who have BTDT or are in the process is so much more reliable than trying to make sense of the information passed out from each individual school!

While the TECEPs are only $36 per credit hour, TESC courses are $476 per credit hour unless you pay the $3,000 enrollment fee which brings down the tuition rate to $229 per credit hour. This is not a very good option. Excelsior accepts FEMA credits, but they require that you get them on a Frederick Community College transcript. They were charging $77 per credit hour the last time I checked. There might be some other community colleges Excelsior will take FEMA credits from, but I believe they all charge.

The market is flooded with CJ degrees, but you do have other options which were listed previously: political science, international relations/studies, public administration, homeland security, public safety, and maybe even history or anthropology. If you ever plan to work in intelligence, I'm sure you know they love political science, international relations, and national security degrees. Although, there aren't that many undergraduate degrees in national or international security. My master's is in security studies which is basically the same as national security, a sub-field of international relations, and often a concentration in political science programs. I sometimes have to explain to people it's not the same as homeland security which is often paired with CJ or emergency management.

Does anyone remember if Propero uses ProctorU or any proctor at all?

[sanantone]

I don't think Propero requires proctoring.
http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...post144950

DreamDegree also offers ACE-approved courses. I don't know how much they cost.
Courses - DreamDegree