TESC Aviation Flight Technology

[AirspeedAlive]

Hi Everybody,

I'm still very new to all of this, but excited for the possibilities. I was wondering if anybody here has gone through the BSAST in Aviation Flight Technology? I have all of my pilot's licenses through Airline Transport Pilot, including multiple type-ratings and experience as a regional airline captain. From what I've been able to find on these forums, they should award me somewhere between 40 and 50 credits at TESC for my flying experience for the BSAST. I also have prior firefighting experience, not sure if that matters much. Unfortunately, I was young and dumb when I went to flight school and racked up $50,000 in high interest debt. I have no prior college credits and I hope to refrain from accruing any additional debt. I'd like to complete the rest of the degree for under 10k. Many major airlines and corporate flight departments require a 4 year degree (in absolutely anything) to even be considered as an applicant.

Sorry for the long backstory, but my real question is as follows. What would be the most economical and time-saving way to go about earning my Bachelor's Degree? Do I enroll into the BSAST Aviation Flight degree, because of the credits that will be awarded for my flight experience? From my searches on this forum, it sounds like fulfilling the Physics I and II requirement can be a pain... Especially since my schedule varies and I am not home every night. Are there any other courses I need to worry about or won't be able to test out of?

See the degree requirements here: Thomas Edison State College: Aviation Flight Technology

Would it be better to earn my degree in something that does NOT require a lab instead? Would it, in your opinion, be more economical/time efficient, even though I won't get the credit for my prior work experience?

I sincerely apologize if this has been addressed before, but my search came up empty.

Thanks for the help!

[JohnnyHeck]

It is very hard to beat the TESC BSAST when you can come into the program with your professional certifications. All your upper level courses except for the TESC specific capstone, Current Trends have already been met and all that is left is your 60 hours of Gen-Ed and 15 hours of free electives. You can test out or CC all of these courses at very low cost. While the Physics I.II with labs may look daunting as first, just consider them as a type of specific Gen-Ed. You only need one other sciences such as Bio so it's not really asking all that much. Until recently, all Gen-Ed typically required 2 science courses for any major. The real issue with the Physics req. is to have met your Gen-Ed math req. with sound work, i.e. real learning vs. "ticket punching" This can be accomplished inexpensively through ALEKS. But instead of completing Pre-Calc. to the minimal 70% you just make sure to go all the way to 100%. After this level math skills any non calculus based Physics sequence (such as TESC's and perhaps less expensive options such as a hybrid course at your local CC) will be a breeze. Since it seems you need almost all your Gen-Ed credits + Free Electives, it would seem that the "per credit Tuition plan" using TCEPs except maybe for Physics would fit you best. Good luck!

[Yanji]

I'm also a former airline pilot and a TESC alum so I hope I can shed some light on this... I only flew right seat before I got bored of flying so I only have a CPL + ME/IFR, which I didn't actually end up even transferring into TESC because I found that there were other degrees which were more flexible. However, I had a significant amount of credits before starting at TESC, so I didn't really need the credits. If you're starting from nothing else, obviously it's a different story.

IMO, Professional Pilot degrees are just about the most useless degrees, since they don't teach you anything useful outside of aviation and their only use within aviation is to "check the box". I would advise a degree in just about anything else so that you have something to fall back on in case you get bored, lose your medical, get laid off, etc. You can use your licenses to fill general elective credit and study what interests you, meaning you don't have to take Physics if you don't want to.

[smf6824]

You could do a BSAST degree then get a graduate certificate, graduate degree, or a 2nd bachelors.

[johnvan]

You probably encountered my thread regarding the BSAST and the physics requirement. I ended up switching to the BA liberal studies. This dropped a lot of my transferred credits for my aviation experience (27 credits lost I think)
I ended up doing 13 straighterline courses in about 2 months. I think it cost me about $1100 which ended up being cheaper and faster than doing the physics.

[AirspeedAlive]

Thanks for the quick replies! I've known Aviation degrees to be useless for a while now, but the purpose of this first degree would be to "check the box"... and to do that I need every credit I can get right off the bat. I would continue on to a 2nd Bachelor's or a Master's in a different area soon after. Would the ALEKS math classes be the first place to start studying?

EDIT: Yes, johnvan, it was your thread that I was referencing. I forget, did you come in with any previous college credit?

[smf6824]

Thanks for the quick replies! I've known Aviation degrees to be useless for a while now, but the purpose of this first degree would be to "check the box"... and to do that I need every credit I can get right off the bat. I would continue on to a 2nd Bachelor's or a Master's in a different area soon after. Would the ALEKS math classes be the first place to start studying?

EDIT: Yes, johnvan, it was your thread that I was referencing. I forget, did you come in with any previous college credit?

Do Aleks. It is cheap and you learn stuff.

[johnvan]

I had 18 credits from previous schools. I did the college composition clep for another 6 with no preparation. I used ALEKS for another 9 (couldn't finish statistics) I did 39 credits through Straighterline and have written 1 TECEP with plans to write 6 more (one today actually) Then the Capstone, that should be it.

It was painful to switch and see all those credits drop off but honestly, it was a lot simpler. I'm really glad I made the switch. The TESC Physics II would have cost me $1500 plus the lab and textbook and taken 3 months.
I think we're in the same situation, regional jet captains who just need to tick that box. Cheap, easy and accredited, nothing else matters.

[learflyer]

Hey. Nice to see some fellow aviators here. I'm a Citation X captain for a charter company. I'm enrolled in Excelsior's Liberal Studies program. I'm just checking a box too and don't care. The whole "get your degree in something else to fall back on " argument is understandable. But....If you're in a cockpit for 20 years and all of a sudden you lose a medical and trying to use that I.T. or Engineering degree after being out for 20 years you may not be marketable. I will use my aviation experience and Lib Studies degree to work at an fbo someday should I medical out.

[JohnnyHeck]

If you have not already been dissuaded from Physics for reasons other than cost, look at Ocean County College: Ocean County College E-learning They have totally online Physics I,II w/homeLabs. Lot cheaper than TESC.