TESU portfolio tips

[tesu-acct-student]

This is just getting confusing.

When you said that "...It's not a requirement for the price. It's a requirement to submit a portfolio at all..." I don't see how that is substantively different from what I said regarding needing to take the intro sequence in order to qualify for the $379 fee. That fee is actually pretty motivating, to me at least.

[tesu-acct-student]

This is just getting confusing.

When you said that "...It's not a requirement for the price. It's a requirement to submit a portfolio at all..." I don't see how that is substantively different from what I said regarding needing to take the intro sequence in order to qualify for the $379 fee. That fee is actually pretty motivating, to me at least.

[sanantone]

This is just getting confusing.

When you said that "...It's not a requirement for the price. It's a requirement to submit a portfolio at all..." I don't see how that is substantively different from what I said regarding needing to take the intro sequence in order to qualify for the $379 fee. That fee is actually pretty motivating, to me at least.

You're not taking PLA 100 and 200 to qualify for the discounted price. There is no discounted price. That is the only price there is. You are taking PLA 100 and 200 or transferring in an equivalent course (if you have never done a PLA before) to be able to submit a portfolio at all. Saying that you need to take them to qualify for the fee is incorrect. It implies that people who don't take an introductory course pay a different fee.

[tesu-acct-student]

Yes. If you have never been awarded credit for a PLA and have never taken an introductory PLA course, TESU will not allow you to submit a portfolio for assessment. It has nothing to do with how much they charge you. The first 12 credits will always be $379 and each additional 6 credits is $215. There is no other price listed for the portfolio assessment fees.

I feel like we are talking past each other. FOR ME, it has a lot to do with how much they charge. $379 for 12 credits is a lot cheaper than many other routes, especially for the classes I need. When you said that "...It's not a requirement for the price. It's a requirement to submit a portfolio at all..." I don't see how that is substantively different from what I said regarding needing to take the intro sequence in order to qualify for the $379 fee. In other words, if one must either take the intro sequence OR have successfully submitted a portfolio anywhere in order to submit a portfolio at TESU, then this qualifies them to get credits at a really good price. I don't think we are in disagreement, we are emphasizing different aspects.

[sanantone]

I feel like we are talking past each other. FOR ME, it has a lot to do with how much they charge. $379 for 12 credits is a lot cheaper than many other routes, especially for the classes I need. When you said that "...It's not a requirement for the price. It's a requirement to submit a portfolio at all..." I don't see how that is substantively different from what I said regarding needing to take the intro sequence in order to qualify for the $379 fee. In other words, if one must either take the intro sequence OR have successfully submitted a portfolio anywhere in order to submit a portfolio at TESU, then this qualifies them to get credits at a really good price. I don't think we are in disagreement, we are emphasizing different aspects.

People who take PLA 100 and 200 pay $379 for the first 12 credits.
People who transfer in the Kaplan or Learning Counts course pay $379 for the first 12 credits.
People who have never taken an equivalent course but have received credits for a PLA at another college pay $379.
People who have never completed an equivalent course or a PLA cannot submit a portfolio at all.

Again, saying that taking PLA 100 and 200 qualifies you for the discounted fee is incorrect and misleading. There is no such thing as a discounted fee. There is only one fee. People who do not take PLA 100 and 200 or an equivalent course but still qualify to submit a portfolio because of past PLA experience pay the same fee. You're not qualifying for the fee because there is only one fee. You qualify to submit the portfolio and the $379 is just what you happen to pay for that assessment.

[sanantone]

Let me use a different example. You need to take Intro to Biology before enrolling in a Microbiology course. The Microbiology course is $200 per credit hour. You aren't taking Intro to Biology to qualify for the rate of $200 per credit hour; you're taking it so that you can enroll in Microbiology. $200 per credit hour just happens to be the cost, and the only cost, of the course. To say that you need to take Intro to Biology to qualify for the rate of $200 per credit hour is incorrect and misleading.

[sanantone]

I forgot that there is an exception to this. TESU will let you take PLA 100 and submit a 3-credit portfolio, but that will be the only portfolio you will be allowed to submit unless you take PLA 200 or an equivalent course later. If you have already completed a PLA at TESU or another college, you won't have to worry about taking any PLA courses. They call this the single course option, and it will cost $173 per credit hour as a matriculated student or $238 per credit hour as a non-matriculated student.

[tesu-acct-student]

Object lesson in how misunderstandings arise on the internet (at least with me)! Just for clarity's sake... when you said:

I have never seen anywhere that you need to take PLA 100 and 200 to qualify for the $379 rate for a portfolio assessment...

... this promoted me to reread TESU's info on their website more carefully. Upon closer examination it became clear to me that there were no clearly labeled requirements for submission of a portfolio. I couldn't find something like, "One of the following is required in order to submit a portfolio: completion of our PLA100/200 sequence, completion of that sequence at another institution, completion of a portfolio here or elsewhere." And so, based on your above statement, plus what I discovered about the lack of clearly labeled requirements, it seemed as if you were suggesting that people who had not completed the intro sequence nor a portfolio elsewhere would be eligible to submit a portfolio. But I obviously misunderstood. Perfect example of how misunderstandings arise on the internet!

I was using "discount" loosely, too loosely I see now. I think you are using the word "discount" in a more strict sense. I take your point about how there isn't a discount regarding credits earned via portfolio. I had speculated that there might be a (very narrowly applied) per credit option for those who did not fulfill the previously mentioned requirements but I was wrong about that. There is only one rate for those kinds of credits and it is given to those who have met the pre-reqs. Having said that, portfolio credits can be much less expensive versus other options, such as "per credit" courses at $520 per credit. Some of us really appreciate that "discount," since we need courses that there is no test for. I may continue to use the word "discount" in that sense.

[Mamasaphire]

So is there anyone who has recently submitted (and had accepted for credit) non-business related TESU Portfolios who would like to share an example here or in a PM to me?

I took the Kaplan courses over a year ago (but never turned in Portfolio to Kaplan) and am all for submitting my TESU Portfolios without retaking PLA-200 since it appears from what has been repeatedly posted that I wouldn't *have* to retake it at TESU (which would save me $1100 at the $520/cr + online course $60 fee).

However I would greatly appreciate seeing a successful example of an approved recent Portfolio to make sure I have a solid idea of what TESU wants the Portfolio to look like & include, since it is now apparently different from what Kaplan suggests.

[tesu-acct-student]

Let me use a different example. You need to take Intro to Biology before enrolling in a Microbiology course. The Microbiology course is $200 per credit hour. You aren't taking Intro to Biology to qualify for the rate of $200 per credit hour; you're taking it so that you can enroll in Microbiology. $200 per credit hour just happens to be the cost, and the only cost, of the course. To say that you need to take Intro to Biology to qualify for the rate of $200 per credit hour is incorrect and misleading.

I don't see how it's incorrect. I see it as a true statement in this format: if this then that. If bio then $200 per credit for micro.