Starting from scratch. Fastest path to Associates on the way to BS?

[nyjosh]

Your Location: Florida, United States
Your Age: 40's
What kind of degree do you want?: Open
Current Regional Accredited Credits: Zero

Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: Zero

Any certifications or military experience? I have about a dozen IT certifications ranging from Microsoft MCSE, to VMware to Citrix, to SAFe Agile. I also have some law enforcement certifications like Peace Officer training from a police academy.
Budget: Ideally under $10k but will consider spending more for easy and fast.  
Commitments: Spouse / two grade school kids and full time job. Study would be nights and weekends.
Dedicated time to study: I can study as much as is needed during the night or weekends as long as my schedule is free. I estimate at least 3 hours every week night and on the weekends, maybe 6 hours, total would be roughly 15+12=27 hours or slightly more.
Timeline: Finishing the courses required for the degree as fast as possible would be ideal

Hi all, I'm starting from scratch. I left high school with a GED in the mid 90's so I could focus on working full time. I have zero college credits from any source. I've been in IT for the last 20+ years and have gotten promoted up to senior leadership. I've honestly gotten farther up the ladder than I thought I could with just a GED.

Every time I start considering looking for a new job I get a huge pit in my stomach when I get to the education section of the application, fearing "Highest level achieved" being GED will instantly knock me out of consideration.

I've been blessed with making good money and smart about savings, so budget isn't much of an issue for me (but I don't throw money away either).

What I'd ideally like to do is fast track an Associates for the sole purpose of changing the "Highest Education Level Achieved" to Associates Degree instead of GED. I'd then like to continue on with a Bachelor's. This is all based on the assumption that I could get an Associates faster than a Bachelor's and then apply the credits earned to the Bachelor's.

I've gotten far enough along in my career that I truly don't think the AOS matters. If Liberal Arts / Studies is the fastest and easiest path, I'm fine with that. I do have an interest in something like Business Management, but it's not a hard requirement.

I'm good at memorizing / studying for and taking tests, so CLEP and related test out options would be ideal. I've also never done well with advanced math, so I'd like to minimize that or pursue options that can baby step me through it.

My primary driver is time, so I'm fine going with a more expensive but significantly faster route.

Lastly, I've been reading up and have mentally decided on TESU. I like their liberal credit transfer policies and I cosmetically like the name and location of the school. I used to live in the NY Metro area, so anyone that sees a New Jersey state school on my resume will just assume I went to a fairly local school.

So all that said, what would the fastest path to success be considering I want to test out and use alternatives to 12 week formal courses as much as possible (again - to save time)?

Are there any precanned roadmaps for speedy degrees starting from scratch?

Last question for now: are there any pros or cons to when I should apply and enroll? I'm assuming I should gather as many test out credits as possible before enrolling but that's just a guess.

Thanks so much in advance for any help you can offer!

[allvia]

You may be interested in going the Pierpont BOG AAS (Information Systems AOS) route, later if you wish to continue for a bachelor (BAS-MIS) through UMPI https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pi...egree_Plan

If you still wish to stay with TESU for a bachelor, the above path to the Pierpont BOG AAS above is still viable as the quickest associate degree in route to a bachelor (you may adjust your course selected based on the TESU degree you're going for), but the UMPI route above would probably be both cheaper and faster.

[dfrecore]

If you just want a generic Liberal Studies degree: I think the UMPI BLS w/Management degree will be your fastest and cheapest option; and EC's BLS will be 2nd. If I were to recommend a BLS to someone, TESU would not be it - they are more expensive, require RA credit (which you don't have) and have a 90/30 split for Liberal Arts/Free Electives (EC has a 60/60 which makes it SO much easier to bring in random credits). It really just depends on whether you want to do CBE or gather up your 113cr and then do a capstone.

If you want a business degree, UMPI is again the best option if you don't mind CBE. I'm kind of split on TESU and EC if you don't want CBE: TESU requires fewer UL credits, but you need to bring in 24cr of RA; EC doesn't require any RA, but they do require more math. TESU requires College Algebra, Statistics, and Quantitative Skills for Business (CSM Learn - easy course for $39). EC requires College Algebra, Business Stats, and BUSx437: Quantitative Analysis from Coopersmith. So that might be a hurdle that will be a bit harder for some people to get over than others.

An in-between option from EC is the BPS (Bach of Professional Studies in Business & Management). Similar requirements for the Business degree, but only 1 accounting, College Algebra and Intro to Stats, and no Quantitative Analysis. They also have room for more free electives than either TESU or EC's business degrees.

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Forgot to mention: if you list all of your current IT certs on here (include the full name and the date you got it), and your Peace Officer training cert info, we can tell you how many credits you might at each school. That may be a big boost in terms of credit, and help you decide which direction to go. You don't want to let the tail wag the dog in terms of having credits dictate your direction, but you do want all of your information to help make an informed decision.

[nyjosh]

If you just want a generic Liberal Studies degree: I think the UMPI BLS w/Management degree will be your fastest and cheapest option; and EC's BLS will be 2nd.  If I were to recommend a BLS to someone, TESU would not be it - they are more expensive, require RA credit (which you don't have) and have a 90/30 split for Liberal Arts/Free Electives (EC has a 60/60 which makes it SO much easier to bring in random credits).  It really just depends on whether you want to do CBE or gather up your 113cr and then do a capstone.

If you want a business degree, UMPI is again the best option if you don't mind CBE.  I'm kind of split on TESU and EC if you don't want CBE: TESU requires fewer UL credits, but you need to bring in 24cr of RA; EC doesn't require any RA, but they do require more math.  TESU requires College Algebra, Statistics, and Quantitative Skills for Business (CSM Learn - easy course for $39).  EC requires College Algebra, Business Stats, and BUSx437: Quantitative Analysis from Coopersmith.  So that might be a hurdle that will be a bit harder for some people to get over than others.

An in-between option from EC is the BPS (Bach of Professional Studies in Business & Management).  Similar requirements for the Business degree, but only 1 accounting, College Algebra and Intro to Stats, and no Quantitative Analysis.  They also have room for more free electives than either TESU or EC's business degrees.

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Forgot to mention: if you list all of your current IT certs on here (include the full name and the date you got it), and your Peace Officer training cert info, we can tell you how many credits you might at each school.  That may be a big boost in terms of credit, and help you decide which direction to go.  You don't want to let the tail wag the dog in terms of having credits dictate your direction, but you do want all of your information to help make an informed decision.

Thanks for the detailed reply. Is CBE "Competency Based Education"? I'm completely new to this whole universe and am currently drinking from the firehose of information here. Thanks again!

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Another more specific question: Do people focusing on shortest time to completion test to focus more on CLEP and other test based credits vs. something like Sophia? If I understand it correctly, Sophia is essentially still taking the class, but it's self paced, so you can move faster if you're able vs. CLEP which is just a one time test that you take when you think you're ready.

Any benefit or preference to one over the other?

[rachel83az]

Sophia can be thought of as a single long exam, integrated into the "course". For someone like you, you could probably finish Sophia's Intro to IT course in a matter of a few hours. The ones with Touchstones (written assignments) take longer, but mainly due to grading times. Most courses with 0 Touchstones can be finished in just a couple of days. This is generally faster than studying for a CLEP exam, unless you have enough knowledge to take a CLEP cold and pass.

[dfrecore]

Thanks for the detailed reply. Is CBE "Competency Based Education"? I'm completely new to this whole universe and am currently drinking from the firehose of information here. Thanks again!

---

Another more specific question: Do people focusing on shortest time to completion test to focus more on CLEP and other test based credits vs. something like Sophia? If I understand it correctly, Sophia is essentially still taking the class, but it's self paced, so you can move faster if you're able vs. CLEP which is just a one time test that you take when you think you're ready.

Any benefit or preference to one over the other?

Yes, CBE is competency-based ed.  In this discussion, it's where you pay by time, rather than per course.  For UMPI, it's $1400/8-week term.  Most people on here are bringing in 90cr and then doing 30cr at UMPI in 1, 2 or 3 terms - with 2 being the "most popular" because it's doable and costs the least (I personally can't imagine doing 1 term, but a couple of people have).  The ones that do 3 terms seem to be people who have Pell Grants so aren't paying out of pocket, or people who want more than 1 minor/concentration (I may be wrong).

Another option, especially for someone who is looking at IT and/or business is WGU, also CBE.  There, you'd bring in less credit since the terms are longer - 6mo terms.  But for someone with no credit, they're a good option as well.

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For courses vs. exams: there is no benefit or preference.  Some people are great test-takers and prefer them; others prefer courses.  For CLEP, if you use ModernStates.org as your CLEP-prep course, you can actually get a voucher and then take the CLEP for free.

I, and probably most on here, use a more varied approach - we do some of everything.  I've taken CLEP and DSST exams for courses I think I can pass easily without study (I took the Management & Marketing CLEP's and the Intro to Computers and Personal Finance DSST's, all in 1 day, and passed them all easily - but I had years of experience with all of that).  So I've taken Exams from CLEP, DSST, TECEP and The Institute (gone).  And Courses from Sophia, Study.com, ALEKS, PennFoster, FEMA (gone), Ed4Credit (gone), and Kaplan (gone). That does not count the college courses I've taken from SIX colleges!

[nyjosh]

Thanks for all the replies so far!

What's the best / easiest way to find/create a course roadmap? I am highly motivated to start Clep / Sophia, etc. right away, but would also like to minimize the number of redundant / useless credits I take. Are there any boiler plate roadmaps that basically "everyone going for an Associate's must take all of these courses regardless" that I can use to get started?

[rachel83az]

The Pierpont degree is "special", and slightly weird. You can see information here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pierpont_C%26TC It only REQUIRES 15 credits in specific areas, the rest can be anything else.

As for gen eds, those are kind of universal, but not. It really depends on which school you plan on attending for your degree. TESU would be VERY different than UMPI, for instance. There is a general roadmap for TESU here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap

[bjcheung77]

@nyjosh, Welcome Back, you followed the template!  You've been busy for the last dozen or more years I see...  As I usually recommend 3 things, certs, degree, experience - you've got the certs, experience and now going for the degree.  My suggestion is the similar to what was recommended,  Pierpont BOG AAS (emphasis in Info Systems) ladder to UMPI BAS triple minor in PM, Management, MIS.  The BAS requires 40 technical credits versus the BLS at UMPI, the requirements are slightly different as well...  here's a link to a snapshot/spreadsheet of how you can slice your degree requirements.  Link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid365771

[ss20ts]

@nyjosh, Welcome Back, you followed the template!  You've been busy for the last dozen or more years I see...  As I usually recommend 3 things, certs, degree, experience - you've got the certs, experience and now going for the degree.  My suggestion is the similar to what was recommended,  Pierpont BOG AAS (emphasis in Info Systems) ladder to UMPI BAS triple minor in PM, Management, MIS.  The BAS requires 40 technical credits versus the BLS at UMPI, the requirements are slightly different as well...  here's a link to a snapshot/spreadsheet of how you can slice your degree requirements.  Link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid365771

UMPI requires 40 technical credits in a specific subject area for the BAS. The have cracked down on who can complete them through YourPace. I transferred with an AAS in Bus Admin with over 40 credits in the subject area and was denied the BAS and had to go for the BLS. I'm not the only one who was denied. This is happening more and more. The Pierpont AAS doesn't guarantee admission into the BAS. UMPI has gotten really specific over the BAS. Might be an accreditation thing.