TESC Plan Help To Test Out

[SunTzu558]

I have been lurking and reading on this website for about 2 months and was blown away as to how much knowledge the members have and are willing to help fellow students.. I have seen several post of members helping set up a plan and am in desperate need of the same...


I want to complete a bachelors ASAP. I have applied for a position as a Case Manager Trainee for The Childrens Home Society and need a BA/BS in order to be considered for permanent placement. (preferably in a Human Services/Criminal Justice related field as those are given preference when it comes to hiring..

I have already signed up for InstantCert and am currently working on English Comp 1 which I figure I might as well get the courses that are required basics out of the way..

After looking at the different options I think my best 2 choices are:

Bachelors of Science in Human Services Thomas Edison State College: Flexible human services degree that leverages your professional expertise
Bachelors Art in Criminal Justice BA in Criminal Justice at Thomas Edison State College


My Background: I have 8 yrs experience working in an Art Gallery as an Assistant Manager and over 10 yrs working as the CEO of my parents Janitorial Company. I also have 4 yrs of volunteer work with an organization that fights BSL (Breed Specific Legislation) at a legislative level and through education and campaigning for votes to overturn the ordinance. I have not enrolled at TESC as I feel it would be pointless and a waste of money if I have to study and test out of as many of the 120 credits as possible that I need.

Any help, suggestions and guidance is greatly appreciated. This is all new to me and a bit overwhelming when trying to do it by yourself with no experience or knowledge..


Thanks in advance for any input!

[mednat]

The CJ degree will be significantly easier from a test-out perspective. The Human services degree also requires 1 year of work in the field.

Take a look at sanantone's CJ plan: Sanantone's BA in Criminal Justice - Degree Forum Wiki . She usually keeps these pretty up to date.

[SunTzu558]

Thank you Madnat. Also would you happen to know which of the Aleks maths I could take that would count for Collage Level Math Course at TESC??

[sanantone]

I looked at the job opening at the Florida agency; I don't know if that's the state you're in. They say they have a preference for a human services-related degree. A lot of majors are considered human services-related: sociology, human services, behavioral science, psychology, criminal justice, criminology, counseling, social science, and social work. TESC's social science and psychology programs are much more test-friendly. Psychology degrees are also more widely-desired across social services occupations.

The CJ degree isn't test-friendly per se. Penn Foster offers a lot of ACE-approved courses that can fulfill most of the requirements. Of course, this is more expensive and time-consuming than testing. The equivalencies I listed are just educated guesses, and TESC will not tell you how they will transfer ahead of time because they have a policy of not doing this for ACE and NCCRS courses except for CLEP, DSST, and maybe Uexcel if you catch the right person.

[SunTzu558]

Yes Florida is my state, but in order to get a HS degree TESC requires 1 year of experience in the field? Correct? Yet CHS does not require any experience. So how would I go about getting a BSHS without any experience? Unless my volunteer hours can be considered by TESC.

Figuring this all out is very stressful. Thank God I found this forum.

[sanantone]

Yes Florida is my state, but in order to get a HS degree TESC requires 1 year of experience in the field? Correct? Yet CHS does not require any experience. So how would I go about getting a BSHS without any experience? Unless my volunteer hours can be considered by TESC.

Figuring this all out is very stressful. Thank God I found this forum.

Have you talked to them? Their ad does not say a human services degree is preferred; it says that a human services-related degree is preferred. These are your options at TESC.

BA in Social Science - very test-friendly and has no experience requirement
BA in Psychology - very test-friendly and has no experience requirement
BA in Criminal Justice - not test-friendly, but there are Penn Foster and Propero courses you can take and there is no experience requirement
BS in Human Services - it's hard to tell if it could be test-friendly because TESC doesn't list what exactly can be used; has an experience requirement
BA in Sociology - not test-friendly, but has no experience requirement

You have 4 years of volunteer work experience that TESC might accept. I don't know if they'll consider BSL related to criminal justice or social services. You can test out of many of the core requirements for the human services degree.

Theoretical Foundation* - All I know is that developmental psychology is one course that can be used. That can be tested it out of with a CLEP (Human Growth and Development) or DSST.
(9)
Intervention* (i.e. PSY 331 Intro Counseling) - DSST Fundamentals of Counseling
(6)
Client Populations* (i.e. PSY 350 Abnormal Psyc) - TECEP or Uexcel
(6)
Research (i.e. SOS 492 Research Methods) - Uexcel
(3)
Management (i.e. MAN 301 Prin. Of Management) - CLEP

These areas have been used by previous students for the professional track.

Administration of Justice
Child Development Services
Community Services
Emergency Disaster Services
Fitness & Wellness
Gerontology
Health Services
Legal Services
Social Services

Social services and administration of justice will be most relevant and most friendly to testing and/or ACE-approved courses.