Trying to figure out a game plan

[cesmith78]

I'm not sure if this belongs in this section or in the "Big 3" section. I am 36 and am sick of just barely making it. It seems like getting an accredited Bachelor's degree would be the best way to get a better job. I have an Associates degree, but it's from an unaccredited bible college so it's not worth much, though a Nationally accredited bible college did say they might take some credits from it if I applied with them (Luther Rice University.) I have about 10 FEMA credits and I've taken the US History II CLEP which I passed with a 73.

Charter Oak looks to be my best option out of the Big 3. They take FEMA and Saylor Foundation credits and I could do a consortum with another school for financial aid to best take advantage of The Pell Grant. Other options I've been looking at is my local community college for the low cost and APU since they include books, take FEMA/Saylor and I get 15% off as an employee at Walmart .

What would be the best strategy for me? Should I see how many credits I can transfer to LRU and if it's a decent amount get a degree from them in spite of their National Accreditation? What would be the concentration that would be easiest to "test out" of at COSC? (I like History, Political Science, American Studies and Liberal Arts.)
Thanks in advance for your advice.

[sanantone]

You said you're barely making it, but you're considering degrees that won't necessarily lead to good paying jobs. A lot of history majors have a hard time finding a job unless they're willing to teach. Even then, there is not much demand for history teachers outside of rural areas and problem, inner-city schools. You'll have the same problem with American Studies. Political science is a hard field to break into with just a bachelor's degree. Liberal arts is too broad to give you a skill in anything. What would you do with a religious degree from the bible college? Are you looking to become a pastor or chaplain? You'll most likely have to go on for an MDiv.

[cesmith78]

I know none of those majors have great job prospects; thus why I don't want to go into a bunch of debt for a degree in them. I'd either be using it to "check the box" for jobs that require a Bachelors degree or to qualify to enter into a Master's program. If I get a Bachelor's and all else fails, I might go to Korea for a year to teach English. Are there any majors you recommend that aren't STEM or Business?

[sanantone]

Not really. A degree in psychology can lead to a job in social services, but there is a lot of competition. I'm not too familiar with the job prospects for communications majors, but they should be better than history.

[mrs.b]

Degrees in Psychology, Communications, Mathematics and/or Nat. Sciences can be somewhat flexible. Psychology can also feed into management or mgmt-related positions. Communications can have a variety of applications. Both will open doors into the business world, though.

Is teaching an actual interest, or is that just something you'd look at doing for a paycheck to get you out of your current situation?

What do you enjoy? If money, credentials, and all those other inconvenient credential hurdles were not an issue, what would you do for a living?

[cesmith78]

Probably be a pastor Mrs B. The Social Sciences degree at TESC might be a possibility. Could combine Some psych classes with Political Science and History ones and it would look better on a resume.

[mrs.b]

What denomination or religion? It makes a difference. You need not say so here if it's private information for you, but do a search for "Baptist pastor degree requirements" or a similar search and see what comes up. Speak to the pastor of your own church to see what is usually preferred when they are seeking. I would think something in Theology or similar would be more desirable, perhaps with a minor in Psychology (for in-house counseling). Ask how important accreditation might be.

You could, perhaps, build a Theology-like program within a Liberal Arts degree at TESC or Excelsior. Or an Individualized Studies plan at COSC. From a quick search, it looks like most pastor resumes look best with a Masters degree of some kind, so your undergrad will likely mean little. A graduate program (the name and degree title) will always overshadow your undergrad; it's just a necessary stepping stone to get to the graduate level, so you would want to build in as much preparation for yourself as possible.

I do feel obligated to say that you were upset about barely making it, and wanting a better job. While a pastoral career would be more spiritually and (most likely) emotionally enriching, it is most definitely not a road to financial comfort for most.

[cookderosa]

I'm not sure if this belongs in this section or in the "Big 3" section. I am 36 and am sick of just barely making it. It seems like getting an accredited Bachelor's degree would be the best way to get a better job. I have an Associates degree, but it's from an unaccredited bible college so it's not worth much, though a Nationally accredited bible college did say they might take some credits from it if I applied with them (Luther Rice University.) I have about 10 FEMA credits and I've taken the US History II CLEP which I passed with a 73.

Charter Oak looks to be my best option out of the Big 3. They take FEMA and Saylor Foundation credits and I could do a consortum with another school for financial aid to best take advantage of The Pell Grant. Other options I've been looking at is my local community college for the low cost and APU since they include books, take FEMA/Saylor and I get 15% off as an employee at Walmart .

What would be the best strategy for me? Should I see how many credits I can transfer to LRU and if it's a decent amount get a degree from them in spite of their National Accreditation? What would be the concentration that would be easiest to "test out" of at COSC? (I like History, Political Science, American Studies and Liberal Arts.)
Thanks in advance for your advice.

I like your options, AND I have to compliment you on your research- you've done well to know what options you have in front of you. You're ahead of the game in that regard!
Regarding your associates..... I hold a nationally accredited associate degree too, and spent a lot of time looking for ways to make it count. In the end, it was (literally) faster for me to just test out of those 60 credits starting from scratch than jump the hoops that were necessary to get someone to grant me some credit; in addition, if I'd received that credit, it would have been elective credit anyway- my point is that sometimes you can spin your wheels fitting square pegs in round holes or you can look for the fastest path to the finish line. I don't know if your associate degree will be worth fighting for, however, it doesn't hurt to spend a little bit of time finding out. If it does end up counting for something, great, if not- drop it like a hot potato and move forward. Of the big 3, Excelsior will hear arguments / accept petition for nationally accredited credit (doesn't hurt to ask). TESC and COSC won't accept NA credit at all.

Excelsior and TESC won't accept your FEMA, while COSC will.

US History II CLEP will be accepted by all 3.

Pell Grant- can use at any regionally or nationally accredited school

Community college- low cost, but also won't accept your associate degree or FEMA. Might have a decent CLEP policy, worth looking into.

APU- love them. I'll tell you the best part in a moment. First, they are really test-friendly and I like that you get a discount. I remember when Walmart went into that partnership (things like that are big news for edu-nerds like myself lol) but you'd be the first person I've met around here to use that benefit. Another advantage of APU is they are on nice short overlapping semesters. You would have a minimum credit requirement in-house (called a residency- but doesn't mean physical campus, it would be online) while the big 3 don't have a residency requirement. Now, the best part of APU, is that they accept nationally accredited degrees/credit and you GET a regionally accredited degree. This is "credit laundering" in its purest form. They are currently the only college in the country that has this policy. (there are some schools that do this under the table, but APUS is open about it). You might get to use your bible college credit. They are also not expensive. This is the leader of your options in my opinion.

Luther Rice- avoid. Nationally accredited degrees create barriers that you'll spend your whole life trying to work around. RA degrees create no barriers. ....as you've found.

Major- it either matters or it doesn't. What I mean by that, is if you want to be a nurse, you're degree has to be in nursing. If your career doesn't matter (any degree will do) then do whatever you enjoy. History, business, liberal arts, social science and psychology are very test-friendly. It is RARE that ANY of the social science/liberal arts/soft science degrees will EVER contribute to direct employment. Which makes them equal. That's not a reason NOT to get one, it's a reason to get one that you can enjoy completing. Again, if you wanted to go into something specific to be something specific, then get that specific degree (which might be an associate degree or require a masters- that's really up to you.) My confidence level is ZERO that any one liberal arts is more employable than another. It's going to come down to what you make of it.

*EDIT* I wanted to add here something else, sometimes the credit that a school gives to you on the front end might be more at one school than another, but the cost/time/effort to COMPLETE the degree can be the issue. For example, all of them will allow you to test out of your gen eds- so that's not an issue. How you fill the last 60 is where it gets interesting and sometimes where the cost creeps in. APUS (unlike TESC) teaches every class it requires for every degree. At TESC, there are still a number of degrees that you'd have to go to a second school to meet all the requirements (if you didn't already have the credit). Liberal Arts, Social Science, and Business are exceptions, which is why they are popular degrees.

Easy & Fast- Testing out gives you all the autonomy, but it also gives you all the responsibility to control the process. In other words, if you study every night for 4 hours and test relatively well, you could have your degree (starting from scratch) in a year. OTOH, you study 4 hours a week.....well, no one is there to tell you to do your work, so it may not even happen at all. This type of degree process rewards the highly motivated by saving an exceptional amount of time and money. I decided to dump my old degree and just start from zero. When I did that, I completed an AA and BA from TESC in 18 months. Around here, that's not considered fast, that's pretty average.

Welcome to the board!!

Before you decide, I'd suggest you do a bit of homework.

[sanantone]

I like your options, AND I have to compliment you on your research- you've done well to know what options you have in front of you. You're ahead of the game in that regard!
Regarding your associates..... I hold a nationally accredited associate degree too, and spent a lot of time looking for ways to make it count. In the end, it was (literally) faster for me to just test out of those 60 credits starting from scratch than jump the hoops that were necessary to get someone to grant me some credit; in addition, if I'd received that credit, it would have been elective credit anyway- my point is that sometimes you can spin your wheels fitting square pegs in round holes or you can look for the fastest path to the finish line. I don't know if your associate degree will be worth fighting for, however, it doesn't hurt to spend a little bit of time finding out. If it does end up counting for something, great, if not- drop it like a hot potato and move forward. Of the big 3, Excelsior will hear arguments / accept petition for nationally accredited credit (doesn't hurt to ask). TESC and COSC won't accept NA credit at all.

The OP has a degree from an unaccredited college. He or she was considering transferring it to a nationally accredited college that might accept some credits.

Excelsior and TESC won't accept your FEMA, while COSC will.

Excelsior accepts FEMA, but the credits have to be on a Frederick Community College transcript.

[sanantone]

A note on college majors: Some of the liberal arts do lead directly to employment depending on how you look at it. They just aren't vocational programs in that they lead to one specific job; but there are many jobs that require or prefer these degrees. Because this is a pet peeve of mine, I have to emphasize that the liberal arts include humanities (English, art, philosophy, religious studies, etc.), social sciences (economics, political science, psychology, etc.), mathematics, and science (chemistry, physics, biology, etc.). They aren't applied or vocational like nursing, engineering, business, etc. However, I would argue that business doesn't really lead directly to a certain job if you apply the same criteria one would apply to the liberal arts. What you have to figure out is whether or not there are more job applicants in your area than job openings for a certain field. That is often the case for the liberal arts including some of the sciences.

If you want to work in social services, parole, or probation, you almost need a degree in criminal justice, counseling, sociology, social work, psychology, etc. There are exceptions for desperate agencies, but if your goal is to work in one of those areas, you should get one of the degrees listed.

If you want to work in a museum, you should get a degree in history, archaeology, anthropology, cultural studies, etc.

If you want to work in fields like public relations, journalism, technical writing, or editing, then you should consider a degree in English, communications, or journalism.

If you want to work as a lab tech, then you should get a degree in chemistry or biology. If you want to work as a forensic scientist, chemistry is often preferred over a forensic science degree.

If you want to become certified as a chaplain by a credible organization, then you need an MDiv. This is a liberal arts degree. I've found that a lot of MDiv programs require a bachelor's degree in divinity, religious studies, or a related field as a prerequisite. Your denomination might even require you to have a degree in a major related to theology in order to become a priest, reverend, pastor, etc.

Figure out what kind of job you want and work backward from there.

Certain liberal arts fields are more employable than others. Chemistry is more employable than English/literature, for example. Some liberal arts fields come up more in job searches giving you more options to choose from. Psychology comes up a lot in job searches; it certainly comes up more than history. The problem is that there is a lot of competition with so many people having a psychology degree. The problem is even worse for business administration. Psychology is the second most popular major, but there are several times more business administration majors. According to PayScale, business administration/management majors were the first and second most underemployed in 2013 and 2014. Business administration is asked for in a ton of job ads, but there are just too many people with this degree. However, if you want to enter a field that requires this degree, you should consider getting it. You just have to figure out a plan to make yourself stand out.