WGU vs UMPI for BA in Education

[sdahir@hotmail.com]

Hi, 

I am new here, I have AAS from CC. I am planning on taking BA from either WGU or UMPI. Most of my credit will not transfer since it was technical degree. 
I think only these will transfer to either college: 

Psych 101, and Developmental psych 
College algebra
Eng 101

I need help with degree planning so I can take CLEP classes. I just finished prepping for Ed. psychology and I am planning on taking that CLEP exam. I am very grateful for finding this website and all you input.

Thank you
Sofi

[ss20ts]

Give us the school name, course number, course name, number of credits, and if you passed the class. UMPI will accept a lot of credit. You'll have a lot of general electives that need filling with the BLS at UMPI. You can't get a BA in Education from UMPI. You can get a BLS with Educational Studies Minor.

[rachel83az]

I'm not sure what you're asking. Do you need help getting those credits you've listed? Are those the credits you have that you think will transfer? UMPI and WGU are VERY different when it comes to both credit acceptance and what is required. With UMPI, most of your AAS should transfer as electives. I think you could potentially do a BAS with Education Minor instead of a BLS with Education Minor and most of your current credits would be good. WGU's education-based degrees probably will not accept most of your credits, you're correct.

If you want help with degree planning, you'll need to figure out your exact goals so that you can pick a degree. Then, we can help you plan!

[dfrecore]

I think it would be easier if you told us what your AAS was in, what credit you got, and then what you were interested in, and we could help you figure out the best path. Without knowing what degree you want, it's impossible to tell you what credits to shoot for.

WGU is going to be the least flexible in terms of credit acceptance, since they have zero electives. Not saying that they're not a good option for some, but they just won't take all of the credits you spent time getting.

[bjcheung77]

I agree with the responses you received... I would highly recommend providing more details as to what you're trying to do with this BA, are you looking to teach in the US, a specific state, or to teach elsewhere, a specific subject matter? Is there a specific BA you're looking at? WGU has several offerings, UMPI only has a minor in Educational Studies. You need to give us more details, like your age, your commitments, amount of time you're dedicating to your studies, a budget, anything more you can think of... Have you just decided on these two because of them being competency based? If you have commitments such as kids/work that take your time, it'll be expensive to continue term after term to finish.

For WGU, I suggest you look at their partners.wgu.edu site and see all the national partners they have, you can take courses towards the degree of your choice using this as a reference of where to get the most alternative credits for that specific degree. Link: https://partners.wgu.edu/ And for UMPI, here are the CLEP options for credit if you decide on a BAS/BLS minor in Educational Studies: https://mycampus.maine.edu/c/document_li...pId=223854

[sdahir@hotmail.com]

I am sorry my question wasn’t clear I was in rush when I posted it. I have AAS in Respiratory Therapy and the local university told they will accept only 16 credits including the those I mentioned above. My question is which university(WGU or UMPI) will give me shortest time to complete With bachelor degree in education with license. I am aware of the difference in tuition but time is what I am wondering about mainly.

I am also interested in knowing which courses or exams I can take before I start the university. I am studying now CLEP exam for Ed. Psychology and I wonder if I even need. This course is very similar to psychology 101. I thought I should ask you before I take bunch of classes that I may not need it at all.

Thank you for all your help

[ss20ts]

I am sorry my question wasn’t clear I was in rush when I posted it. I have AAS in Respiratory Therapy and the local university told they will accept only 16 credits  including the those I mentioned above. My question is which university(WGU or UMPI) will give me shortest time to complete With bachelor degree in education with license. I am aware of the difference in tuition but time is what I am wondering about mainly.

  I am also interested in knowing which courses or exams  I can take before I start the university. I am studying now CLEP exam for Ed. Psychology and I wonder if I even need. This course is very similar to psychology 101. I thought I should ask you before I take bunch of classes that I may not need it at all.

Thank you for all your help

You can't get a teaching license in many states with a BLS with Educational Studies Minor from UMPI. It's not that kind of degree. What state are you in? WGU degrees won't working for teaching in all states either.

[rachel83az]

ss20ts is right. It depends on your state. Some states will accept literally any Bachelor's degree for teaching. Some require a specific degree. A few don't care about your Bachelor's degree, but you must have a teaching Master's degree. Knowing which state you're in will help us help you sort things out.

Please list your state/the state you intend to teach in and more info about your AAS. This includes the school it came from and ALL of the credits that are listed on it. If UMPI is right for you, they will almost certainly accept more than 16 credits.

[bjcheung77]

I am sorry my question wasn’t clear I was in rush when I posted it. I have AAS in Respiratory Therapy and the local university told they will accept only 16 credits including the those I mentioned above. My question is which university(WGU or UMPI) will give me shortest time to complete With bachelor degree in education with license. I am aware of the difference in tuition but time is what I am wondering about mainly.

I am also interested in knowing which courses or exams I can take before I start the university. I am studying now CLEP exam for Ed. Psychology and I wonder if I even need. This course is very similar to psychology 101. I thought I should ask you before I take bunch of classes that I may not need it at all.

Thank you for all your help

The answers you're looking at is best to be answered by yourself. As mentioned by previous members, there are variables in play, we don't know your situation thus can't help you until you provide more details. It's great you've provided the AAS, but there were more questions and details that's missing. It's like a puzzle, you're not providing enough puzzle pieces and you're asking people to complete the puzzle for you.

This is what I suggest, review the entire thread and answer any questions you may have missed. You know your schedule and how much energy/hours you can put into it, you know your commitments, find how long it would take you to complete a set of required courses that can transfer to BOTH institutions. I mentioned to look at the degrees at WGU and select the partners.wgu.edu to see what transfers in.

Create yourself a spreadsheet... If you're going for WGU degree or UMPI BAS/BLS, you still need general eds/electives, take as many Sophia.org courses as possible that transfers. Start by taking courses from Sophia.org that can transfer into BOTH UMPI/WGU through this link, cross reference the requirements from the partners site mentioned above: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/So...lency_List

We're trying to help you the best we can, but you're not providing enough info, this is what you really need to do, take your time to answer the questions in the thread honestly. We're not here to pry info from you, leave your personal details off, we want to know your situation to provide you an honest answer. By completing those courses above, now you can "gauge" how fast you do things, as other people may be either faster/slower working than you, speed is subjective!

[dfrecore]

UMPI doesn't have a licensure program; WGU does, but only in certain states.

Every state is different as to what you need to become a teacher. It also depends on what level. What you need to become an elementary school teacher may be different than what you need to become a middle school or high school teacher. So you need to figure that out. You also need to tell us what exactly you want to teach.

My state (SC) requires a teaching degree to become an elementary school teacher (K-6). But they have several alternative licensing programs for middle/high school - they all require a bachelor's degree, but then a different number/type of credits in the area you want to teach in. One program requires 30 graded RA credits in the area, and 21cr of that must be UL. But the program I'm looking at only requires 21cr (non-graded) in the area of teaching, and they'll take things related to the area (i.e. accounting counts towards math). They will also take alt-credit as long as it's on an RA transcript (i.e. CLEP, ACE, NCCRS, etc.).

The easiest thing you can do is look up what you need to become a teacher in your state for the grade level or area you want to teach, and then see if there are alternative certification paths available. Some states make it VERY easy to teach, others are harder. Some have free programs, while others make you pay. Some even pay you a stipend while you're going through their programs. Some allow you to become a substitute teacher while you're becoming licensed, while others don't.

So, grade/area you want to teach (4th grade, 7th grade science, high school history, whatever the case may be), and the state you live in (or want to teach in). I live on the border of NC, so I could find out what it takes to teach there instead if I wanted to.