Since I can not attend WGU (int. student), what should I do?

[ecdw94]

Hello,

I have finished a 3 year long apprenticeship as a software developer   (Software developers do not earn much in Germany in most companies, and about 42% of my paycheck goes to taxes and socials xD) in Germany, and I am now in my second official year of work experience. 

So, I do have almost 5 years of programming experience and a few more of private programming experience. From Java and TypeScript to various Frameworks such as Spring and Angular, CI/CD, Databases etc etc etc.

I theoretically do not need a bachelors degree, except that I need one. A masters degree even would be better. For various reasons I do not want to study in Germany.
I am planning on immigrating to Canada in the near future and I due to bureaucratic processes, it would be much easier for me to reach my goal with a diploma from an RA University.
 
Currently I am attending UoPeople and spend around 1-2 hours a week on my two courses that last 9 weeks. (Bachelors of Science in CS), and I am planning to accelerate the process by getting external credits from Sophia and co. Then I was planning to get the Masters Degree from UoPeople too, and I was hoping that UoPeople would get WASC RA in the near future but it seems like it might take up to 2026 for it to gain RA from WASC.  That would render my UoPeople BS/MS degree pointless and a waste of time (personal timeline goals) and money since I am doing it strictily for bureaucratic reasons. 

That is when I found out about WGU and I was so excited, thinking that I could start my MS degree there due to the fact that it is competency based and is under 5k for, but then I realized that it is closed for International Students. 

I have looked up TESU but they do not accept a BS degree from NA Universities as a prerequisite for admissions to the Masters programs (plus, they said that you still have to provide an IELTS/TOEFL english certificate as an international student, even if you have an Bachelors degree from an US University, what a joke). 

So what should I do? How can I make it as fast as possible and as cheap as possible? (since I already have experience, competency based programs seem like a wish come true)

The conditions I would have at WGU (degree in 1 Term and under 5k, are just perfect), is there an alternative or can I somehow attend WGU at all? Maybe come as a tourist and attend? Like, is there any gray area but still legal since I do not want to have problems later).  I have heard people using a P.O Box in USA while not even living in USA, but it seems like they were really only military personell... 

Everything else is too expensive.

[rachel83az]

I'm pretty sure it's not allowed to come to the US as a tourist and enroll in university. The US is very strict about that. I believe that you could enroll in short training programs (such as a 6-week glassblowing course or something similar), but not university. WGU would also want proof of US residency, which you wouldn't have as a tourist.

One possibility would be to get a TESU BA Computer Science (which can be done in under a year) and then move on to a Master's degree such as Georgia Tech's OMCS. I think if you have a US undergrad, Georgia Tech doesn't require an English exam.

For TESU, at the Bachelor's level, you can bypass the TOEFL/IELTS with at least 9 credits from another US university with a grade of C or better. https://www.tesu.edu/admissions/apply-in...al-student Depending on your budget, you could do 3 classes from Arizona State University Universal Learner or from TEL Learning. The ASU courses would cost $425 each and be relatively easy to complete. TEL Learning courses are only $200 each, but each one has multiple assignments and two proctored exams.

Then you could get some free/cheap credits from a Finnish University like XAMK or Metropolia to fill out the remainder of the RA credits that TESU requires. Optional would be to take a 16-credit flat-rate term from TESU to lower your tuition costs to $4,778, plus whatever Sophia & Study.com cost.

If you did this, you could potentially get your TESU degree in 8-12 months and then spend 1-2 years getting your Master's degree. There are a few competency-based programs available to non-US students, but for undergrad they probably won't be any faster and will be arguably more difficult than getting a TESU Bachelor's degree. https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Co...d_Programs

You will also probably get advice to attend UMPI. Technically, this is a possibility. However, they don't have a Comp Sci or similar degree at this time. The best you could do would be to get a degree in Project Management and to fill your electives with the prerequisite classes from Study.com that Georgia Tech (and other Master's programs) would want to see on your transcript.

On the bright side, Anabin does like UMPI better than it does TESU, so a UMPI degree might be more useful if you do need to use it in Germany. Downside would be having to study a bunch of business classes that probably don't interest you in the slightest.

[ecdw94]

I'm pretty sure it's not allowed to come to the US as a tourist and enroll in university. The US is very strict about that. I believe that you could enroll in short training programs (such as a 6-week glassblowing course or something similar), but not university. WGU would also want proof of US residency, which you wouldn't have as a tourist.

One possibility would be to get a TESU BA Computer Science (which can be done in under a year) and then move on to a Master's degree such as Georgia Tech's OMCS. I think if you have a US undergrad, Georgia Tech doesn't require an English exam.

For TESU, at the Bachelor's level, you can bypass the TOEFL/IELTS with at least 9 credits from another US university with a grade of C or better. https://www.tesu.edu/admissions/apply-in...al-student Depending on your budget, you could do 3 classes from Arizona State University Universal Learner or from TEL Learning. The ASU courses would cost $425 each and be relatively easy to complete. TEL Learning courses are only $200 each, but each one has multiple assignments and two proctored exams.

Then you could get some free/cheap credits from a Finnish University like XAMK or Metropolia to fill out the remainder of the RA credits that TESU requires. Optional would be to take a 16-credit flat-rate term from TESU to lower your tuition costs to $4,778, plus whatever Sophia & Study.com cost.

If you did this, you could potentially get your TESU degree in 8-12 months and then spend 1-2 years getting your Master's degree. There are a few competency-based programs available to non-US students, but for undergrad they probably won't be any faster and will be arguably more difficult than getting a TESU Bachelor's degree. https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Co...d_Programs

You will also probably get advice to attend UMPI. Technically, this is a possibility. However, they don't have a Comp Sci or similar degree at this time. The best you could do would be to get a degree in Project Management and to fill your electives with the prerequisite classes from Study.com that Georgia Tech (and other Master's programs) would want to see on your transcript.

On the bright side, Anabin does like UMPI better than it does TESU, so a UMPI degree might be more useful if you do need to use it in Germany. Downside would be having to study a bunch of business classes that probably don't interest you in the slightest.

Hey, thank you for your reply.

I am still analyzing your answer and going through Georgia Tech's website, but you are talking about starting a bachelor's degree at TESU. What about my current bachelor's degree that I am work on, at UoPeople? My grades are A to A+.

Edit: Ah. Gatech also requires your bachelor's degree to be from an RA University. Sad.

[rachel83az]

There are very, very few schools that will accept a NA degree as being acceptable to progress to a Master's degree. So, IMO, it's not really worth continuing the UoPeople degree. It can't be used for immigration and it can't be used to progress academically. I think Excelsior MIGHT accept an NA Bachelor's for their Master's programs, but Excelsior isn't cheap for a Master's degree.

[dfrecore]

I'll throw a few things out there, but don't know enough about them to give any advice, it's just a place to start:

1) SNHU has a BS in CompSci, and they allow 90cr of transfer; they're $320/cr, so taking 30cr there would cost $9,600. Not sure though, if you can maximize your transfer credits due to not being able to take a lot of them via inexpensive alt-credit (Study.com, Saylor, Sophia, etc.). So it might end up costing more than the minimum. Not sure if they will take XAMC or Metropolia courses, but it's worth checking. They are a Sophia & SL partner, and accept SDC courses as well.

2) Franklin University is the rare RA school that accepts NA credit, and they have degrees in CompSci, CyberSec, IS, IT, and Web Development - not sure if any of those will work for you. Tuition is $398/cr x 30cr = $11,940, but again, not sure if you can maximize (although with UofPeople, maybe you can). They used to have a SL scholarship, not sure if they do any longer. They are a Sophia and SL partner.

3) Wilmington University is also RA but accepts NA credit, and they have degrees in CompSci, CyberSec, IS Mgmt & Web Design. Tuition is $390/cr x 30cr = $11,700, but again, not sure if you can maximize (although with UofPeople, maybe you can). They are a Sophia and SL partner.

These are in addition to TESU of course.

I would probably apply to all of them and send in your UofPeople transcripts so you can see what's available for you. And find out what hoops you have to jump through to get accepted as an international student. And research if you can use SDC courses for your major.

[davewill]

...
The conditions I would have at WGU (degree in 1 Term and under 5k, are just perfect), is there an alternative or can I somehow attend WGU at all? Maybe come as a tourist and attend? Like, is there any gray area but still legal since I do not want to have problems later).  I have heard people using a P.O Box in USA while not even living in USA, but it seems like they were really only military personell... 

Everything else is too expensive.

Military personnel are actually allowed to enroll at WGU while living abroad. The people I've heard of using the P.O. Box dodge are U.S. citizens who are living abroad and want to attend WGU. Foreign citizens would need either a green card or a student visa, which WGU doesn't sponsor.

In your shoes, I'd do the TESU BACS. It's true you won't be able to transfer your UofP credit (only two courses?), but you should be able to duplicate it rapidly and cheaply as alt credit.

[ecdw94]

...
The conditions I would have at WGU (degree in 1 Term and under 5k, are just perfect), is there an alternative or can I somehow attend WGU at all? Maybe come as a tourist and attend? Like, is there any gray area but still legal since I do not want to have problems later).  I have heard people using a P.O Box in USA while not even living in USA, but it seems like they were really only military personell... 

Everything else is too expensive.

Military personnel are actually allowed to enroll at WGU while living abroad. The people I've heard of using the P.O. Box dodge are U.S. citizens who are living abroad and want to attend WGU. Foreign citizens would need either a green card or a student visa, which WGU doesn't sponsor.

In your shoes, I'd do the TESU BACS. It's true you won't be able to transfer your UofP credit (only two courses?), but you should be able to duplicate it rapidly and cheaply as alt credit.

Hello,

No, I am sorry, I meant that the Terms in UoPeople last 9 weeks and I do 2 courses every term. 
And I already have 30 credits (aka about 10 courses). in a few weeks I'll be at 36 credits. That also means I have already spent $1200
I am planning to do Sophia courses to fill up the rest.

[allvia]

I would finish up with UoPeople being so close. I'm sure there are a number of affordable RA schools for your master degree - especially as an international student. If you truly discover you need a US RA degree (after you finish the UoPeople BSCS ) to get into a program that meets your goals, then you can look at UMPI for a RA Business Degree (which would be very affordable, and only add to your skill set as a listing on your CV/resume). There is a plan on the wiki for Sophia to UMPI

[nomaduser]

Then try University of the People BS in CS. Some graduates of the program could get into FAANG.

[rachel83az]

I would also go ahead and finish up UoPeople because you're so close. But it is pretty useless for the purpose you need, unfortunately. You may have no choice but to duplicate your effort a bit for a degree from TESU or UMPI. It sucks to spend over a thousand dollars on something like that, but it happens sometimes. Most students here have done similar, or worse, in the past and have come here to get set on the path to a valid, useful, degree.