Which School to Choose for a Dual Baccalaureate Degree, COSC or TESC?

[Chicagoinvictus]

I am inquiring about obtaining a dual major Baccalaureate degree. This will be my first Baccalaureate degree and I would like to obtain a History and a Criminal Justice degree. Should I just go for the fastest degree and then proceed to the Masters degree? I am a 20 year Navy Reservist and I have 15 years of law enforcement experience.

I am torn between COSC and Thomas Edison State College right now. I have heard good things about both colleges. I am looking for the fastest and most cost efficient way to achieve this goal. I currently have 73 community college credits with a GPA of 3.539 plus ( 147 CLEP/DSST exam credits, 35 military credits, and a DOL 4,000 hour security certificate on my SMART transcript). I graduated with an AGS degree with honors in Dec 2013 and I also have about 9 FEMA courses completed.

I would like to start with my cornerstone course ASAP and I am hoping that with my current credits that I can accomplish this goal with only completion of the cornerstone and capstone courses. I would appreciate any advice on how to proceed to get this accomplished ASAP or what you suggest. I am planning on entering a Master's degree program and want to complete it within one year, any advice here would also be greatly appreciated.

Here is a list of CLEP/DSST exams I have passed:
Natural Sciences
Social Sciences and History
Introduction to Computing
Ethics in America (Essay)
Introduction to Law Enforcement
Criminal Justice
Drug and Alcohol Abuse
Contemporary Western Europe 1946-1990
Introduction to World Religions
Environment and Humanity: The Race To
Save The Planet
Fundamentals of Counseling
Personal Finance
History of the US I
Analyzing & Interpreting Literature
Humanities
Business Mathematics
Principles of Supervision
Introduction to Business
Here's To Your Health
Human Resource Management
Organizational Behavior
Western Civilization I
History of the US II
Western Civilization II
Technical Writing
Foundations of Education
General Anthropology
Human Cultural Geography
College Mathematics
Introduction to Modern Middle East
Lifespan Developmental Psychology
Introductory Psychology
Principles of Marketing
Introduction to Educational Psychology
Human Growth & Development
Information Systems & Computer
Applications
Principles of Management
College Composition Modular
Money and Banking
Business Ethics and Society
College Composition
A History of the Vietnam War
Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union

[Chicagoinvictus]

I have been taking CLEPS/DSST exams for the last ten years and really want and need to obtain my bachelors degree.

[alram]

Congratulations! That’s a very impressive list. Classes start within the next few weeks but you’ll need to get your credit evaluations done first. With cosc you will need at least the cornerstone and capstone courses to complete your degree(s). But I not sure if can take the cornerstone course (where you develop your degree plan) before your eval is completed and that may take 4 weeks. If you call the school and tell them you would like to start classes this semester they may put a rush on your eval after they get all of your transcripts.

[soliloquy]

Someone like KayV or Sanantone will come in and tell you what degree you are closest to achieving at TESC or COSC. I'm still amazed that they can do that so quickly. I suggest that you submit applications to both, see what the evaluation looks like and go with the school that has the most to offer you if your goal is to earn your bachelor's as fast as possible.

[KayV]

Wow, that is an amazing list of testing credits! You already have every single thing you need (except the Capstone) for a TESC BA in Social Sciences, which would incorporate both History and Criminal Justice.

TESC BA Social Science
A. General Education Requirements COMPLETED
1. College Composition 6
2. College Mathematics 6
3. Technical Writing 3
4. Humanities 6
5. Social Sciences and History 6
6. Natural Sciences 6
7. Ethics in America (Essay) 3
8. Introduction to World Religions 3
9. General Anthropology 3
10. Analyzing & Interpreting Literature 6
11. Environment and Humanity 3
12. Information Systems & Computer Applications 3
13. Business Ethics and Society 3
14. Introduction to Computing 3

B. Area of Studies: Social Science (33, 18 UL) (completed except Capstone)
A. Criminal Justice
1. Introduction to Law Enforcement 3
B. History
1. Contemporary Western Europe 1946-1990 HIS-252 3
2. History of the US I 3
3. Introduction to Modern Middle East HIS-309 3UL
4. A History of the Vietnam War HIS-351 3UL
5. Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union HIS-386 3UL
C. Psychology
1. Organizational Behavior PSY-361 3UL
2. Fundamentals of Counseling PSY-311 3UL
3. Lifespan Developmental Psychology 3
D. Social Science
1. Drug and Alcohol Abuse SOS-305 3UL
E. Capstone
NEED LIB-495 Liberal Studies Capstone 3UL

C. Free Electives (27 needed; you have 48)
1. History of the US II 3
2. Personal Finance 3
3. Business Mathematics 3
4. Principles of Supervision 3
5. Introduction to Business 3
6. Here's To Your Health 3
7. Human Resource Management 3
8. Principles of Management 3
9. Money and Banking 3
10. Principles of Marketing 3
11. Foundations of Education 3
12. Introduction to Educational Psychology 3
13. Western Civilization I 3
14. Western Civilization II 3
15. Introductory Psychology 3
16. Human Cultural Geography 3

D. Duplicates
1. Criminal Justice
2. Human Growth & Development
3. College Composition Modular

[soliloquy]

Told ya! LOL

KayV is awesome.

That is wonderful. You will have this degree complete in no time!

[Yanji]

I guess an early congratulations is in order! Haha!

[rebel100]

I would apply to both and see where your credits land. TESC may have a better program that is specifically tailored to your goal. All COSC degrees are "general studies" and the degree field is not on the degree, so if that matters to you then I suspect TESC will edge out COSC Completing Your Degree - Charter Oak State College What you can do at COSC is take the courses for dual concentrations, I'm sure History and CJ would mesh fine.

The only potential trouble I see is that you will need 30 Upper Level courses, not sure how many you have. Most CC credits transcribe at the Lower Level, likewise with all CLEP at COSC, true with most CLEP at TESC. COSC will give UL credit for some DSST http://www.charteroak.edu/Current/Academ...r-list.pdf

[bricabrac]

You are obviously using enrolled options tuition plan. Might I make a suggestion building on KayV's advice?

Instead of the dual degree, why not a second bachelor's? The BSBA General Management degree would be easily doable within your one year timeframe. While completing the capstone for the social science degree and awaiting your conferral date, begin knocking out the 15 highlighted Gen Ed credits required for the BSBA.

Once degree is conferred, complete the NEW 24CR in BSBA Core/Area of Study (Award of Degree). This will allow you to earn two bachelor's degrees within the same enrollment year for very little additional costs. The Straighterline (search promo codes) and Aleks ($20/mo) courses are cheap. I've listed a few Penn Foster courses (~$250@), but there are cheaper options (SL, DSST, TECEP).

Note: you could begin the SL of PF course(s) in the Core/AOS prior to conferral date but be sure the completion date falls after. Example if conferral date is Sep 5,you could begin the course(s) Aug 21 and take the final(s) on Sep 14. The date on the ACE transcript would be Sep 14 so the course would be NEW. This is what I did to take advantage of down time between conferral and start of new degree program.


A Intellectual Skills (15CR)
College Composition 6
MAT121 College Algebra - ALEKS
COM300 Intro to Bus Communications - SL
Humanities 3
B. Responsibility (9CR)
Ethics in America (Essay) 3
Introduction to World Religions 3
General Anthropology 3
C. Human Cultures (18CR)
ECO111 Macroeconomics - SL
ECO112 Microeconomics - SL
STA201 Intro to Statistics - ALEKS
Analyzing & Interpreting Literature 6
Technical Writing 3
D. General Ed Electives (18CR)
Social Sciences and History 6
Humanities 3
Natural Sciences 6
Environment and Humanity 3


Business Core (27CR)
ACC101 Accounting I - SL
ACC102 Accounting II - SL
LAW201 Business Law - CLEP OR SL
Information Systems & Computer Applications
FIN301 Principles of Finance (Financial Mgmt) - DSST or PF
Principles of Management
Principles of Marketing
Business Ethics and Society
BUS421 Strategic Management (Capstone) -TECEP or PF

GMS Area of Study: (18CR) 12CR UL reqd
ECO332 Money and Banking 3
CIS301 Management Information Systems - DSST
ACC201 Intermed Accounting I - SL or PF
PSY361 Organizational Behavior 3
MAN331 Human Resource Management 3
CIS107 Computer Concepts And Applic - TECEP

Business Electives: (9CR)
Introduction to Business 3
Business Mathematics 3
Principles of Supervision 3


Free Electives: (6CR)
College Mathematics 6

[KayV]

OP, you might even have some of the credits that Bricabrac lists for the BSBA from your community college classes.

I just checked COSC, and since they consider most of the DSST history exams as lower level, your best bet seems to be TESC.