WGU Bachelor in Computer Science 122 credits instead of 120?

[OP88]

I have 0 college credits, will be starting from scratch and interested in pursuing a Bachelor in Computer Science, as fast and as cheap as possible. Would WGU be the best choice? Or would it be TESU / Excelsior?

I have also been looking at the credit transfer page of WGU: https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/BSCS.aspx , I added up all the transferable credit and it totaled to 110. Then I added the non transferable credit (12 credits), which would make this degree 122 credits instead of 120? Am I missing something here? Please help!

Thank you!

[MNomadic]

" which would make this degree 122 credits instead of 120? Am I missing something here? "

No you're not missing anything. Not every bachelor's degree is exactly 120 credits. It's not uncommon for some to include a few more credits, particularly within STEM degrees.

Also, WGU only lets you transfer in 75% of a degree(~90 credits).




Look at post #7 on this thread for the break down on using alternative credits for the WGU BS CS

https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...-BSc-in-CS

[OP88]

" which would make this degree 122 credits instead of 120? Am I missing something here? "

No you're not missing anything. Not every bachelor's degree is exactly 120 credits. It's not uncommon for some to include a few more credits, particularly within STEM degrees.

Also, WGU only lets you transfer in 75% of a degree(~90 credits).




Look at post #7 on this thread for the break down on using alternative credits for the WGU BS CS

https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...-BSc-in-CS

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Thank you! I'll definitely have to take a look at that link. Oh wow, did they changed that limit? I read a thread on here from Jan 2017 https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...fer-to-WGU post #2 that mentioned that there was no maximum credit transfer for WGU. I noticed you've done quite a few courses on Sophia and Study, which one do you like better and why? Are the exams on Sophia open book like Straighterline? Thanks!

[bjcheung77]

OP88, that's true for most institutions, you can transfer in unlimited amount to the school; This goes for all the Big 3/Competency Based Education colleges/universities, but they will only apply up to 75% in most cases to the degree program. The only exception are the Big 3 where they allow up to 113/114 credits or the applied bachelors of a few universities that allow up to 102 credits, you can still send in an unlimited number of lower level credits but you'll still be missing the final 25% which is mainly upper level credits.

[MNomadic]

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Thank you! I'll definitely have to take a look at that link. Oh wow, did they changed that limit? I read a thread on here from Jan 2017 https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...fer-to-WGU post #2 that mentioned that there was no maximum credit transfer for WGU. I noticed you've done quite a few courses on Sophia and Study, which one do you like better and why? Are the exams on Sophia open book like Straighterline? Thanks!

Well, it could have changed since then or that person could have been wrong. Or I could be wrong. Your best bet is to verify with WGU to get the official answer instead of accepting 2nd hand sources.


Sophia is completely open book for everything. In the post I linked you to, I recommend getting everything you can from Sophia(with the caveat of not doing sophia's database course). Sophia is generally quicker and cheaper then most other sources so it's a good idea to exhaust that resource first. After that, I recommend study.com since they're pretty affordable, quick and offer the most different courses of any other provider.

[rachel83az]

I don't think Excelsior would work for CS. I don't think that they accept enough Study.com courses as UL to make it work out. It's possible though.

TESU can work out to be cheaper than WGU depending on how long it actually takes you. If it takes you 8 months to finish your degree, it's a toss-up between TESU and WGU. The best you can hope for when it comes to easy transfer credits to a CS degree at WGU is 81. https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...142&pid=86 This is largely because they do not have many general education requirements.

Cheapest of all will be UMPI. They don't have a CS degree on offer right now but they will be offering one later this year or early next year. You must take 30 credits at UMPI but they only cost $1400 every two months instead of having to pay for six-month chunks at a time, like you have to do at WGU. So long as you finish in under a year, UMPI is cheaper than TESU.

Finally, WGU does not accept international students but both TESU and UMPI do.

[bluebooger]

I don't see that Excelsior even offers a CS degree

> If it takes you 8 months to finish your degree, it's a toss-up between TESU and WGU

how is that ?

each term at wgu is 6 months
2 terms at wgu is $7040 (that includes fees) and cost of all courses and proctor fees

[rachel83az]

I don't see that Excelsior even offers a CS degree

>  If it takes you 8 months to finish your degree, it's a toss-up between TESU and WGU

how is that ?

each term at wgu is 6 months
2 terms at wgu is $7040 (that includes fees) and cost of all courses and proctor fees

For some reason, when I wrote that, I was thinking that WGU was about $3600 per term. That would make the costs roughly equal. 

Regardless, with WGU, you don't have to constantly worry about life getting in the way. Not everyone makes it within 1 or 2 terms at WGU. WGU themselves say that only 70% finish within 23 months.

[ss20ts]

I don't see that Excelsior even offers a CS degree

>  If it takes you 8 months to finish your degree, it's a toss-up between TESU and WGU

EC has a BS in IT. Many schools have gotten away from CS degrees and moved into IT degrees and even those are now being broken down into more specific areas such as cybersecurity, data science/analytics, etc.

[bluebooger]

I don't see that Excelsior even offers a CS degree

>  If it takes you 8 months to finish your degree, it's a toss-up between TESU and WGU

EC has a BS in IT. Many schools have gotten away from CS degrees and moved into IT degrees and even those are now being broken down into more specific areas such as cybersecurity, data science/analytics, etc.

an IT degree is nothing like a CS degree           
they aren't comparable at all      

and I'd really like to see a list of schools that have gotten rid of their CS degree and switched to IT degrees                  
in fat, WGU has actually added a CS degree to its list of IT degrees