Too many choices!

[Stitching Belle]

Well, I went and did it. I fiddled with that little button that TESC has to let you see how your evaluated credits will fit into another degree plan. And so now I've got more decisions to make!

Originally I asked TESC to evaluate my credits for a BA in Liberal Studies. It came back saying that I need 9 hours of free electives, all of which I can take from FEMA online for free.

Then I decided to see what classes I would need if I decided to pursue a BA in Humanities instead. Surprise--I still only need 9 hours! A 3 hour upper level humanities class and 6 free electives (those FEMA classes again) and I can have a BA in Humanities. There is a 3 hour Straighterline class I can take, it will set me back less than $150, and will take a month or two longer to finish. Maybe the change in degree title is worth it...

And never one to leave well enough alone, I asked to see what I would need if I changed my degree to a BA in Communications. WHAT? ONLY 9 HOURS? These will be a little harder (and more expensive) to pursue: 3 hours in either Mass Communications or Interpersonal Communications (lower level OK), and 6 credits of Communications electives. I'm not sure that I can test out of all of these requirements, so right now I can't estimate what the additional costs might be. And it would take me maybe a year to finish if I can't test out of everything.

So what to do? I'm wondering how important it is to me to have a degree in a subject area--especially at this point in my life. After all, my reason for finishing my degree is to honor the promise I made to myself and my parents when I 'stopped out' of college in 1979.

So I have three choices: quick and cheap, a little slower and a little more expensive, or much slower with an unknown (at this time) increase in expense.

What to do... what to do...what to do...

[rebel100]

Im in the get it done fast and cheap camp. I would equate the "liberal studies" as essentially eqaul to "humanities", not enough difference there to bother IMHO. I don't se the communications track as being particulary marketable nor do I feel others will consider it particularly demanding or in any way better than BSLS.

I say spend the weekend on 9 easy FEMA's and fulfill your promise Make seven credits the FEMA professional Develpment series and Uncle Sam will send you a nice cert in emergency management you can hang in the den right under your new sheepskin. Emergency Mangagement Institute | Professional Development Series (PDS)

......................you do realize 9 FEMA's could becompleted in just a few days, then you would be a college graduate! Heck, you could have finished one while you were playing around on the TESC website.

[dew125]

Look at your local community college for communication classes, or at another one in-state for distance learning. Really it depends on what you want, but communication sounds even better than humanities. Also check LSU, Adams state and BYU for reasonably priced distance learning, and there are a few options through TECEP that may work. In a lot of ways we are in a similar situation, where the decisions are the most difficult part.

Quick is a great option too!

[Jonathan Whatley]

For Communications: There's a fairly new ECE in Interpersonal Communication. The TECEPs in Public Relations Thought & Practice, Introduction to News Reporting, and Technical Writing seem almost certain to count - or do you already have these down? Advertising, Marketing Communications and Sales Management might conceivably too. TESC BA in Communications Credit Distribution.

If you weren't in an enormous hurry, you might even think about Two Areas of Study Within One Degree.

[Jonathan Whatley]

I would equate the "liberal studies" as essentially equal to "humanities", not enough difference there to bother IMHO. I don't see the communications track as being particularly marketable nor do I feel others will consider it particularly demanding or in any way better than BSLS.

All else being equal and knowing nothing else about Stitching Belle or her situation, I'd say, between the two, look at Humanities first. It's very very similar to liberal studies but a more specific and focused subset of them. It could give a bit of an edge in working in or around the arts somehow someday.

And I think there's a lot to say FOR Communications. Communications is one step away from marketing, and a step or two from organizational management. It's also a step away in the other direction from sociology and psychology. Along with Economics, Communications has to be one of the best subjects you can spin as an applied, management subject on the one hand, and a social science, liberal studies, creative - this last might be a harder sell for economics - subject on the other. And you'll know how to spin it. You're in communications!

Admittedly, there probably is a stereotype out there where Communications is an easy degree for college athletes and people who like to talk.

[rebel100]

All else being equal and knowing nothing else about Stitching Belle or her situation, I'd say, between the two, look at Humanities first. It's very very similar to liberal studies but a more specific and focused subset of them. It could give a bit of an edge in working in or around the arts somehow someday.

And I think there's a lot to say FOR Communications. Communications is one step away from marketing, and a step or two from organizational management. It's also a step away in the other direction from sociology and psychology. Along with Economics, Communications has to be one of the best subjects you can spin as an applied, management subject on the one hand, and a social science, liberal studies, creative - this last might be a harder sell for economics - subject on the other. And you'll know how to spin it. You're in communications!

Admittedly, there probably is a stereotypical out there where Communications is an easy degree for college athletes and people who like to talk.

I agree with most of this, and if the OP framed a scenario involving teaching, reporting, writing, etc... you might win me over. I could have finished up quicker by going BSLS but did not, in favor of the more business sounding "organizational leadership". That doesn't seem like the case here, maybe the humanities, just for vanities sake.....but no way several months to a communications degree. It is fun to imagine the options though.....but I wanna see your "I'm done" post in about a week~

[sanantone]

Liberal Studies and Humanities are almost on the same level. Even though Humanities is more focused, I actually think a Liberal Studies degree could be more flexible. Just think of yourself at a job interview. With a liberal arts degree, you can say that you took this or that course in science, math, history, social science, etc. With a humanities degree, all you can say is that you studied music, art, philosophy, and a bunch of other subjects that aren't really useful outside of academia and the arts. You can study communications and journalism in a humanities program, but you might as well just get a degree in those since the other humanities subjects aren't useful. I think that Communications is a huge step up from liberal studies and humanities. I've seen plenty of marketing, public relations, and journalism-type job openings asking for a degree in communications. I did a search on Indeed for job ads mentioning "humanities" in my area. Only one page came up and most of the jobs on that page mentioned "serving humanity" and didn't ask for a humanities degree. I did a search for "liberal arts" and only got two pages of results. Most of the jobs were for deans of liberal arts colleges and "liberal arts" was only mentioned because the dean would oversee liberal arts programs. Then, I did a search for "communications." Well, I got a ton of results for job ads asking for "communication skills;" but, after going through a few pages, I was able to pick out quite a few jobs that asked for communications degrees. Actually, it's best to just search for jobs asking for "journalism" degrees and you'll usually find that "communications" is listed, too.

I could have gotten a degree in psychology or criminal justice, but I opted for social science. It was a little too difficult to quickly fill the requirements for the criminal justice degree and I didn't want to take statistics or research methods for psychology. So yeah, I was lazy and just combined the criminal justice, sociology, and psychology credits I had into a social science degree. I think it'll all work out because most social service and criminal justice jobs ask for all of those subjects or something that is social/behavioral science related.

[ryoder]

I strongly believe that a humanities degree is a better choice than liberal studies. At most schools the humanities degree is an actual degree with a focus and requires about 40 credits of specialized HUM courses. At TESC, you are allowed to dip into LIT, ENG, COM and HUM courses so its a great value to have a focused degree name with so much flexibility. Its like if they called my natural science degree a degree in biology. It really isn't because I can take CHE, BIO, MIS, COP, COT, CIS, CNT, MAT, MAC, STA and all other prefixes to complete this degree.
Your humanities degree is just a hair more focused than say a social science degree or a natural science degree but you get a great degree name so I say go for humanities.

[ryoder]

Ok I reread your thread. Go for the communication degree. You will not be disappointed in focusing in and learning more. If you think about it, if you go the FEMA and BALS route, your education stops here and you get a general degree completion type of degree. If you go the COMM route, you learn more and get the most bang for your buck out of your TESC enrollment costs. I doubt it will take you a year to finish a COMM degree with only 9 credits left. Honestly you could complete that in one semester.
Figure out what classes/tests you need for the COMM degree and go from there. I bet SL.com biz comm and the marketing comm TECEP would work for you and then you just need 3 credits right?

PennFoster has
Speech (ENG 200) ACE Number 0242 In the lower division / baccalaureate/associate degree category, 3 semester hours in Introduction to Speech


You also have TECEPs available if you haven't already taken these
Public Relations Thought & Practice (COM-210-TE)
Technical Writing (ENG-201-TE)
Introduction to News Reporting (JOU-110-TE)
Marketing Communications (MAR-321-TE)

[Stitching Belle]

Thank you for all the input. I've got a lot to think about. I'm not sure that it really matters what my degree is--after all, I have 30+ years of work behind me, that's my job qualification. The degree is really about starting what I finished so long ago.

That said, I was in J-School back in the day when I was a full-time student on the Daddy-ride. So picking up a BA in Communications would be somewhat like coming full circle.

Here's a cut-and-paste of my TESC evaluation for the BA in Communications. Because my life is so erratic I really don't want to take any B&M classes if I can avoid them.

Any suggestions are welcome!

I) 2: Area of Study (18SH must be at the 300/400 level)
Credits: 24
GPA Achieved/Needed: 2.000 / 2.000
Complete both subrequirements:
I) A: Commun Theory
> Complete 6 semester hours from TWO of the following
> courses for the Communications Theory Requirement:
> Fundamentals of Speech; Mass Communications I;
> Mass Communications II; Interpersonal Communications I;
> Interpersonal Communications II.
JOU-120 Intro. to Mass Commun. I... 12/01/76 C 3 *TE
____________________________________________________ 3 credits needed

I) B: Commun Electives
> Complete 27 Semester Hours of Communications
> electives. 6SH can be in Journalism. At least 12SH must be
> at the 300/400 level to satisfy the requirement of 18 SH of
> 300/400 level coursework in the Area of Study. LIB-495

> (Liberal Arts Capstone) can satisfy 3SH of this requirement.
> No more than 6SH/2 courses within the entire Area of Study
> can be at the 100 level.
Credits: 21
C) Group 1
Credits: 12
JOU-430 Survey Methods/Public Opini 12/01/78 D < 3> *G *GPA *TE
JOU-316 Investigative Reporting.... 12/01/78 C 3 *TE
JOU-340 Newspaper Makeup and Design 12/01/78 C 3 *TE
JOU-321 Advanced Reporting......... 05/01/78 C 3 *TE
MAR-321 Marketing Communications... 12/01/85 B 3 *TE
I) Group 2
Credits: 3 Required: 9 Remaining: 6
JOU-430 Survey Methods/Public Opini 12/01/78 D < 3> *G *GPA *TE
COM-225 Announcing Techniques...... 05/01/79 C 3 *TE
____________________________________________________ 6 credits needed
C) Group 3
Credits: 6
JOU-430 Survey Methods/Public Opini 12/01/78 D < 3> *G *GPA *TE
JOU-130 Photojournalism............ 05/01/78 C 3 *TE
JOU-190 Basic Editing I............ 12/01/77 C 3 *TE
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