Which of the big three?

[robe4658]

Hello all. I'm looking to get my bachelors degree. My goal is to finish within a year. I have great amount of free time to work on courses/CLEPS/DANTES/SL. My work schedule is 24 hours on/24 hours off. Most of the time, my 24 hours ON shift gives me plenty of time to work on school work, not to mention I have the next day off to work on school work too. I'm looking to get my degree as quickly as possible, I'm looking to test out of my degree as much as possible. I'd love 100% test out, but won't mind having to take a few courses, although the fewer the better. Cost a side, can you recommend a school for me? TESC seems to be most popular. I didn't post any military credits I've obtained.

Currently, I'm deployed and we only have DANTES here. We also only have a select few tests.

List of CLEPS/DANTES I've taken and successfully passed.

Intro to World Religions - DSST
Principles of Supervision - DSST
Principles of Management - CLEP
Intro to Astronomy - DSST
Intro to Sociology - CLEP
Environment and Humanities: Race to save the Planet - DSST
College Mathematics - CLEP

Classes I've taken and passed.

BYU Independent Speech Online
CIS101 - INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS
ENG 101 - FRESHMAN COMPOSITION (E)
MAT 092 - INTRODUCTORY ALGEBRA

My goal is my bachelors in Business, Accounting, Finance, Economics, Computers, IT, CIS. Any of these. Whatever can be tested out of easiest. I'm just wondering what school would be best for it? Thank you.


Tests available while deployed.

[rebel100]

Any of the Big 3 are fine, tesc and cosc take FEMA credits for free, that's something you can do while deployed (up to 30 hours). But there may not be room for 30 free elective credits in some programs ....like tesc bsba which only allows for 6.

When can you access Clep again? DSST alone won't get it done for sure.

[robe4658]

Any of the Big 3 are fine, tesc and cosc take FEMA credits for free, that's something you can do while deployed (up to 30 hours). But there may not be room for 30 free elective credits in some programs ....like tesc bsba which only allows for 6.

When can you access Clep again? DSST alone won't get it done for sure.

I've got another 5 months here. My goal is to finish my degree within a 1-1.5 years of getting back to the States. So I'm not counting the 5 months here, but I can do SL, and some DANTES.

I believe when I posted before I read at TESC if you're enrolled under the military program, you have to take 24 credits with them? Is it possible to just enroll not under the program so I can try to test out of as much of the degree as possible?

I feel more comfortable with TESC when searching because it seems most people go with TESC and their are a lot more degree plans for them.

I'm thinking of doing Micro/Macro Economics with SL while I'm deployed because it'll help for a business degree, but the CIS degree at TESC requires both also.


"To participate in the Military Degree Completion Program, service members must complete at least 12 semester hours toward an associate degree or 24 semester hours toward a bachelor's degree at Thomas Edison State College"

I'd rather not take 24 semester hours, if possible.

[UptonSinclair]

I wouldn't worry about which college at this point. Just start knocking out tests while you are deployed. Prioritize general education stuff: humanities, social science, natural science, math, etc. Once you are past the general education classes you can start getting more specific. If you are on a personal computer with java capabilities, you could knock out some higher level math and statistics through Aleks. If I were starting from scratch, I would finish a bunch of tests before worrying too much about which college.

Depending on your MOS, AFSC, (Navy equivalent), you may have quite a few credits to transfer in. I brought 59 credits from the Community College of the Air Force and most applied to my liberal arts degree.

[robe4658]

I wouldn't worry about which college at this point. Just start knocking out tests while you are deployed. Prioritize general education stuff: humanities, social science, natural science, math, etc. Once you are past the general education classes you can start getting more specific. If you are on a personal computer with java capabilities, you could knock out some higher level math and statistics through Aleks. If I were starting from scratch, I would finish a bunch of tests before worrying too much about which college.

Depending on your MOS, AFSC, (Navy equivalent), you may have quite a few credits to transfer in. I brought 59 credits from the Community College of the Air Force and most applied to my liberal arts degree.

Appreciate the advice. Thanks. Can you tell me more about your Liberal Arts degree? I heard they're quickest to test out of?

[UptonSinclair]

I am at Excelsior. I have included the link to their Liberal Arts catalog. I brought 59 credits from Community College of the Air Force and 6 credits from a community college. In the last year I have tested out of 30 credits through exam and 3 credits through Aleks. The gist of their program is...

6 Credits Written Eng
9 Humanities
9 Social Science / History
9 Natural Science / Math (up to 9 credits below Calculus)
3 Credits Capstone
1 Credit Information Literacy
2x 12 Credits in a depth area including 3 upper level
30 Credits total upper level
120 Credits total

It is best to give their catalog a look. It has the specifics. Some of these credits don't require study. Most people take the Analyzing literature CLEP for 6 credits of humanities without studying and pass.

There are also specific Liberal Arts degrees such as BS in History, BS in Sociology, etc.

I occasionally knock heads with Excelsior because they are slow and at times I feel like I have to pry information from them, but they are liberal in accepting credits so I put up with them. I know only what I read on here about COSC and TESC.

I am new around here, so there are others far more qualified to give advice, but I am willing to help any way I can.

[michaelfrye1970]

I believe when I posted before I read at TESC if you're enrolled under the military program, you have to take 24 credits with them? Is it possible to just enroll not under the program so I can try to test out of as much of the degree as possible?

TESC does require 24 credits under the military program. I enrolled without doing that and don't have to worry about that minimum. The main difference is if you take courses through them you would get the in-state rate for those classes. But if you don't plan on taking any classes with them it won't make a difference.

[rebel100]

The degree forum wiki is a great place to start Degree Forum Wiki

[sanantone]

Besides a liberal studies or social science degree, the easiest degree to test out of is the BSBA in General Management at TESC. It technically does not have a real capstone because you can test out of it or transfer it in as a Business Policy or Strategic Management course from another school. TESC also offers BSBA specializations in accounting, finance, and CIS.

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Degree Program
Sanantone's BSBA General Management - Degree Forum Wiki