TESU Associate of Arts

[cjm00g3]

Hi everyone im new to the whole world of credit by examination and im thinking of going for an AA degree however im uncertain what resources CLEP, Sophia, etc to take any advice would be appreciated very much                                                                                                                                                                                               
Subject/Category
CreditsI. General Education
40-42
A. Intellectual and Practical Skills
15

• Written Communication
  

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(6)
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• Oral Communication
  

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(3)
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• Quantitative Literacy
  

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(3)
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• Information Literacy
  SOS-110: Critical Information Literacy
  

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(3)
B. Civic and Global Learning
9
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• Diversity
  

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(3)
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• Ethics
  

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(3)
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• Civic Engagement
  

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(3)
C. Knowledge of Human Cultures
12
D. Understanding the Physical and Natural World
4-6
II. Electives
18-20
Total Credits
60[/font][/color]

[rachel83az]

We really, really don't recommend an Associate degree from TESU because of the cost. An AA on its own is only about $1500-2000 cheaper than getting a Bachelor's degree.

If you're at least 20 years of age, I recommend checking out the FREE Pierpont degree instead: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pierpont_C%26TC

If you want to get a Bachelor's degree and an Associate's degree from TESU at the same time, that's totally possible. There are a number of Associate's degrees you can get for "free" if you get them at the same time as a Bachelor's degree.

[bjcheung77]

Hey OP - You have applied to TESU? That seems like a copy/paste of an evaluation or are you copy/pasting that from their website? Anyways, you should provide us with more details. Which state are you from? What college credits do you have already? How young are you? Give us more details on what certs/etc you may have that can be used for credit. Are you an international student? Things like that, married? Have kids? What your budget its, etc. Anything more you can think of that can get you some credits, like do you have a GED? AP/IB classes?

[cjm00g3]

Hi I have not applied yet i was just looking at the requirements for the program and to determine what tests i would need to take i am 29 years old a HS graduate I live in Missouri and i do not have any college credits my main goal is to be able to teach ESL I already have my TEFL however i want to be able to supplement that and open more doors

[Dorothy44]

Hi I have not applied yet i was just looking at the requirements for the program and to determine what tests i would need to take i am 29 years old a HS graduate I live in Missouri and i do not have any college credits my main goal is to be able to teach ESL I already have my TEFL however i want to be able to supplement that and open more doors

Hi.  I have 3 grown kids enrolled @ TESU.  My sons are graduating in August with a BSBA degree and a AA degree in computer science.  They have done a ton of CLEP, and my daughter did a ton of Sophia.  The courses each have their advantages and disadvantages.  Sophia is cheap @ $79 a month, and it is easy to take an average of 4 courses a month.  Most courses are fairly easy, and my daughter received 42 credits in a couple of months during COVID when Sophia was greatly discounted.  However, they do not offer the same courses or variety as CLEP.

CLEP is free from Modernstates, and now you can take the exams at home.  https://modernstates.org/ The exams have some easy and some harder, but they are fairly straight forward.  The Written Communication (English) is much easier to take from CLEP.  My kids also liked the Analyzing Literature, College Math, Marketing, Management, and American Government since Sophia did not have those courses.  There is a bit more studying, but there are practice exams available, and you only need to score a 50 to pass.  This place has REA books with practice exams available.  We bought the actual books, but this works too.   LINK REMOVED

Lastly, no matter where you attend for your AA degree, you need to know what is required regarding mandatory credits from that institution or whether the credits have to be Regional Credits or will ACE credits work.  Thomas Edison has a requirement regarding a set number of regional credits for an AA degree plus certain ones that can only be taken from TESU.  Even if you went to a local community college, you may not be able to count credits from Sophia.  Most community colleges will accept a set amount of credits from CLEP, but you may need to check on how many that institution will accept?  I know most colleges here would accept 30 credits of CLEP, but no more, and definitely not any from Sophia.  

I hope all that makes sense.  Just ask if you need any more help.  CLEP, Sophia, Study.com, and this board of people are amazing.

[rachel83az]

If you want to teach, skip the AA and get a Bachelor's. Most states require at least Bachelor's degrees these days, many require Master's. If you want to teach overseas, a Bachelor is the bare minimum needed.

Pick a school/degree and we can advise you what you need. TESU has some good degrees. UMPI has a lib studies degree with an education minor.

I would skip CLEP. They may be free through ModernStates but you can get credits at Sophia so much more quickly. If you count time as money, CLEP can actually cost significantly more than Sophia. There are a few CLEP exams that can be worth it, depending on the degree you want, but otherwise Sophia has everything you need.