Which of the big 3 are cheapest if you have all credits required to graduate already?

[Randyb100]

Hello, I'm not new here. I've been a lurker for a while and have another account, but it's been a few years and I forgot what it was. I decided to just make a new account instead.
I'm basically just trying to get a bachelor's degree in anything and then come back later to get something specialized. Most of my credits (over 120) are in IT and business. I have two AAS degrees from Tulsa Community College and then went to WGU for a while. I have probably 40 or more from them, and then some from Sophia and Straighter line as well.

I'm currently taking the IBM cyber security certificate at Coursera and plan on taking some TEEX classes for cyber and investigation since they're free.
I know that probably overkill but I want to make sure I have enough to finish. I'm on an Uber scholarship at ASU and they only let me transfer in 60 credits, so I'm doing gen eds with it and plan on transferring it all next year. I have to retake Eng 2 and then take science classes, I know.
So which of the big 3, with all allowable transfer credits completed, will cost the least to finish? I was reading a thread about Charter Oak, I believe, and it still came out to 3-4k with the capstone and other fees.
Could someone point me to a thread of imthis has already been asked? I did search but maybe misworded it.

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I do want to mention that I did enroll in a few colleges that are mentioned here to see how credits would be transferred. South Texas College and TAMUC both barely accepted any credit hours. Even with Tulsa being in a bordering state and probably under the same regional accreditation, they did not accept the majority of my credit hours. I don't think they accepted any WGU hours at all.

The programs are cheap but I would only recommend them if you're starting from scratch.

[rachel83az]

What credits do you already have? Why do you think you'll need to redo English Comp and possibly other gen eds?

COSC is no longer viable for most students. If you're okay with competency-based classes, UMPI will be your best bet. Otherwise, Excelsior is cheapest for a BALS and TESU would be the place to go for a business degree.

UMPI can be as cheap as $1400 or $2800, depending on how fast you can go. You cannot get any cheaper than that, unless your employer pays for stuff.

[davewill]

What's your status with WGU? If you can finish in one term, it would be cheaper than most of the others.

[dfrecore]

It's best to list all of your classes here (do it this way):

School, info like RA or NA, semester-based or quarter-based
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Course #, Full course name, number of credits, grade if less than a "C"
Course #, Full course name, number of credits, grade if less than a "C"

Repeat for each school

The only ones that may be an issue is WGU, because it's hard to tell what's UL and what's LL. But we can figure that out later.

Then, we can tell you the fastest, cheapest path to a degree. My guess is going to be WGU, but it's just a guess.

[Randyb100]

I definitely have to redo comp 2 because I had a D in it. TCC let me graduate with it but it wouldn't transfer. WGU did accept it for some reason, probably because I had the degree. I basically did one assignment and passed it. I had other stuff going on.

As for WGU, I am out of financial aid. Loans are maxed. Pell is maxed. Can't use the student loan relief to get more loans, apparently. I'm on an ASU scholarship because I work for Uber. I also have Amazon Career Choice if I need to use it. I'm using this time to take some gen eds for free. I'm also doing the IBM cybersecurity certificate and possibly some TEEX classes in hopes they are transferrable.

Well I didn't know you guys were that willing to help, but I will list my courses. I appreciate it but I was trying to keep it brief.

Tulsa Community College - RA - semester-based
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CSCI 1203 Computer Concepts & Apps - A - 3 credits
CSCI 1xxx Networking Essentials CCNA I - B - 3 credits
CSYS 1203 Intro to Computer Programming - B - 3 credits
CSCI 2843 Intro to C++ - A - 3 credits
ENGL 1113 - English I - A - 3 credits
MATH 1513 College Algebra - A - 3 credits
POLS 1113 American Government - B - 3 credits
CSCI 2133 Intro to Java - C - 3 credits
CSYS 1013 XHTML - B - 3 credits
CSCI 1483 Intro to UNIX/Linux - A - 3 credits
ENGL 1213 English II - D - 3 credits
CSYS 2563 Enterprise Security - A - 3 credits
CSYS 1033 Photoshop - A - 3 credits
CSYS 2033 Javascript - C - 3 credits
CSYS 1073 Advanced Photoshop - A - 3 credits
MKTG 1393 Web Design and Marketing - A - 3 credits
BUSN 1053 Intro to Business - C - 3 credits
CSYS 2643 Database Design and SQL - B - 3 credits
CSCI 2043 MS Access - A - 3 credits
CSCI 2163 Windows OS - A - 3 credits
CSYS 1443 E-Commerce - B - 3 credits
MKTG 2423 Principles of Marketing - C - 3 credits
CSYS 2293 Social Media - A - 3 credits
CSYS 2463 PHP Programming - B - 3 credits
HIST 1493 US Hist Civ War to Present - C - 3 credits
MGMT 2123 Leadership Development - C - 3 credits


Western Governors University - RA - term based
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BUSI LWC1 Fundamentals of Business Law and Ethics - Pass - 6 credits
BUS C484 Organizational Behavior and Leadership - Pass - 3 credits
BUSI LIT1 Legal Issues for Business Organizations - Pass - 3 credits
ITEC C182 Intro to IT - Pass - 4 credits
HRM C232 Intro to HR Management - Pass - 3 credits
BUS C717 Business Ethics - Pass - 3 credits
MGMT C722 Project Management - Pass - 3 credits
ITEC C172 Network and Security Foundations - Pass - 3 credits
ITEC C175 Data Management Foundations - Pass - 3 credits
MGMT C721 Change Management - Pass - 3 credits
BUIT C724 Information Systems Management - Pass - 3 credits
ITAS C836 Fundamentals of Information Security - Pass - 3 credits


Sophia Learning - ACE credit approved alternative learning
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Approaches to Studying Religions
Introduction to Psychology


Arizona State University - RA - semester based (future)
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English Composition 2
Intro to Physics 1 with lab


TEEX - ACE Credit only (future)
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https://teex.org/program/cybersecurity/
Cyber 201 program for 8 credit hours
Considering doing this but haven't yet. They also have a forensic investigation course that looks interesting.


Coursera IBM Cybersecurity Analyst certification - ACE Credit only (future)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
https://www.coursera.org/professional-ce...ty-analyst
Almost finished with one course.
I have financial aid at zero cost to me until May, so I'm going to do this and ASU part-time then go ASU full-time for the rest of the classes I need.



I also took some orientation classes at each school, and didn't list any of the classes I withdrew from (didn't fail any, though). I actually transferred from one community college to TCC but it's RA and easier to list under TCC. To explain my mish-mash of IT majors, I have a general IT AAS and one concentrated in website management. When I started at WGU, I was in their IT management program but decided I wanted to go cyber and changed in my last semester. I had a long gap between these as well. I withdrew from WGU originally in 2015 to pursue a career as a truck driver, and didn't return to WGU until 2021.

Anyways, I'm looking at taking ENG 2 and a science course in the upcoming term at ASU. I'm going part-time and studying to finish the IBM cert as well. I'm almost finished with one course. It's supposed to qualify as 10 credit hours, but I don't know if it would apply as any specific classes. I think those and then a humanities or communication should hopefully cover my gen eds. I'm hoping the IBM and TEEX programs count as upper-level classes as well. I don't see how someone can CLEP out or do ACE credits for upper-levels.

I'm just trying to finish my bachelor's to be honest. If I can get an IT degree or cyber without many hoops to jump through then sure, but I'll be fine with a general studies or liberal arts degree. I plan on doing a master's and will just specialize then. It'll be something like Harvard Extension or an MIT program that doesn't care what your undergrad major is, anyway.

Thanks for any help, though. I'll look into UMPI and Excelsior. Last I checked they weren't really mentioned and COSC was a lot different. I just went over the TESU requirements and have most of the general studies already, but it really depends on how these classes actually transfer. UMPI is very affordable and looks great but I don't know how my classes will transfer. Excelsior's liberal arts concentration in supply chain management fits my work history, though. Neither offer IT from what I saw.

EDIT: I found Study.com's transfer guide and UMPI accepts a ton of their IT and business classes as upper level. It sucks they don't offer cyber as a major because they accept a lot of their courses. They do have business and management information systems, though, so that might be my shot at finishing. I doubt a lot of what I already have will transfer in and I don't want to have to start over yet again.

[Randyb100]

I forgot to add MATH 0123 - Intermediate Algebra - Pass under TCC. It doesn't have a letter grade. I took the COMPASS and did all 3 back-to-back, and basically just clicked through the math section because I was tired. I had to take this class as a result. I got an A in College Algebra so I'm not bad at math (just lazy).

I'm checking through Study.com and various colleges, including Excelsior and UMPI, to see what I can accomplish. Excelsior accepts their cyber classes as upper level electives as well.

It's too late to edit that post or I would have added it instead of making a new one.

[rachel83az]

What kind of degree are you looking at getting? Excelsior is becoming... less viable for a Bachelor's degree. They're wanting students to take more and more classes with them. For Business, they want you to take their specific Business Writing class and not English Comp 2. I don't think you can get their IT degree with alt credit at all. IIRC, they're looking for some very specific IT classes.

That leaves TESU ($5-8k out of pocket, depending on a few variables) or UMPI ($1400-$4200 out of pocket). UMPI can be much cheaper than TESU, but the credit transfer limit is 90. You must take at least 30 credits at UMPI. Each class is graded on a single paper, project, or exam (very few exams). Most students here complete this in 2-6 months (1-3 sessions). You would need to have a foreign language from somewhere like Sophia, but you're otherwise probably well-set for one of their BABA degrees.

TESU costs more, but you may already have enough credits to get a generic BSBA in General Management, or be very close to it. Could also be close to a BSBA in Computer Information Systems.

[Randyb100]

What kind of degree are you looking at getting? Excelsior is becoming... less viable for a Bachelor's degree. They're wanting students to take more and more classes with them. For Business, they want you to take their specific Business Writing class and not English Comp 2. I don't think you can get their IT degree with alt credit at all. IIRC, they're looking for some very specific IT classes.

That leaves TESU ($5-8k out of pocket, depending on a few variables) or UMPI ($1400-$4200 out of pocket). UMPI can be much cheaper than TESU, but the credit transfer limit is 90. You must take at least 30 credits at UMPI. Each class is graded on a single paper, project, or exam (very few exams). Most students here complete this in 2-6 months (1-3 sessions). You would need to have a foreign language from somewhere like Sophia, but you're otherwise probably well-set for one of their BABA degrees.

TESU costs more, but you may already have enough credits to get a generic BSBA in General Management, or be very close to it. Could also be close to a BSBA in Computer Information Systems.

Any degree at this point, even liberal arts. I just want to have a bachelor's. I will specialize in a master's program so it doesn't really matter, or take a second bachelor's later when I can afford it. My current employer just requires any degree for higher positions, or 2 years on the job. I am also self-employed and was a truck driver for a while, neither requiring a degree at all.

I thought Excelsior allowed 113 CUs? If it's just that one class I don't mind taking it. I heard TESU required a capstone course or something as well.

I can't afford redoing 30 CUs is the thing. I could just re-enroll into WGU and finish. I only had 12 classes or so left before switching from IT management to cyber.

So TESU is over 5k with all classes already finished? That's a lot.

[rachel83az]

Excelsior does, theoretically, allow 113 credits in transfer. In practice, however, they've been adding more rules that limit transferability. If you don't hit the right combination of 113 credits the first time, each evaluation will now cost $300: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...it-Process Other than that, Excelsior costs, assuming you've got everything transferred in correctly the first time:
7 credits @ $510/credit = $3750
Academic services fees $28 x 7 credits = $196 (will be $40 x 7 = $280 starting summer 2023)
Technology fees $20 x 7 credits = $140 (will be $40 x 7 = $280 starting summer 2023)
Graduation fee: $196
Minimum total cost of Excelsior: $4282

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TESU allows a theoretical maximum of 114 credits. Not including classes taken elsewhere, TESU approximate costs are as follows:
$50 application fee
$52 1-credit TECEP to unlock full enrollment w/ unlimited transcript evaluations
6 credits @ $535/credit = $3210
Residency waiver fee for taking fewer than 16 TESU credits: $3288
Graduation fee: $298
Total: $6888

OR

$50 application fee
$52 1-credit TECEP to unlock full enrollment w/ unlimited transcript evaluations
16 credit flat-rate term (capstone, cornerstone, PLA-100, and 3 easy courses of your choice): $4778
Graduation fee: $298
Total: $5178

=======

UMPI has no application or graduation fees. No textbooks. Everything is included in the price. Most students here are able to finish their required 10 classes in 2 sessions (8 weeks) for a total cost of $2800. You might have to take more classes than you would for TESU or Excelsior, but they are literally the cheapest and fastest way to get many degrees. If you are able to finish in those 8 weeks, it will be cheaper than WGU.

[ss20ts]

UMPI is a flat fee of $1400 for an 8 week session. You complete as many courses as you can in those 8 weeks. Most people finish all of the 30 credits in 1-2 sessions. 5 classes per 8 weeks is really doable for most people on here.