advice for completing General Education credits for son in High School

[EducationSeeker]

My son is a 16 year old High School Student and we are trying to resource plan for his Bachelor's degree. My older son has decided to finish his degree after 1.5 years of traditional year university at UMPI with a Bachelor's degree in Management and Leadership so I think this will serve as somewhat of a guide for a degree plan.

The goal is to resourcefully plan so he can get the equivalent of an Associates degree so he can get his General Education credits out of the way. He thinks that he will want to get his BS in Cybersecurity, Technology Management, or in Business. 

Also, he is looking at getting a Bachelor's degree in Liberal Studies from EU or a BPS at TESU. I am not sure what exactly the BPS concentration is, but, it seems to be a general Bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary Business fields?

He attends a STEM High School and also is interested in Welding Engineering. The local community college, Eastern Gateway, has a general Associates degree options, Manufacturing, and Welding Technology. They have a transfer agreement with Ohio State which is one of the few programs in Welding Engineering. 

With all this said, he is still figuring out what he wants to major in College and has 3 years to decide (graduating HS in 2025). So, I think it makes sense if we can get the equivalent of a general Associates degree or at least the General Education credits out of the way (as close to if not more than 60 credit hours) by the time he graduates, it would at least give him a head start in only having 2 years of college left potentially. What is a good model to get a General Associates or GEC credits out of the way? Is the Pierpont AAS a good model to follow. Any degree planning advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Education Seeker

[rachel83az]

There are no universal general education credits. Example: TESU allows CLEP for the English Comp requirements. Excelsior does not allow CLEP for English Comp requirements. TESU does. Please direct your son to create an account here, because filtering this information through a third party is just going to lead to confusion and extra work for everyone involved.

The Pierpont degree, or emulating the Pierpont degree, is not a good idea because of the vastly different requirements.

[Library2HospitalChaplain]

He attends a STEM High School and also is interested in Welding Engineering. The local community college, Eastern Gateway, has a general Associates degree options, Manufacturing, and Welding Technology. They have a transfer agreement with Ohio State which is one of the few programs in Welding Engineering. 

With all this said, he is still figuring out what he wants to major in College and has 3 years to decide (graduating HS in 2025). So, I think it makes sense if we can get the equivalent of a general Associates degree or at least the General Education credits out of the way (as close to if not more than 60 credit hours) by the time he graduates, it would at least give him a head start in only having 2 years of college left potentially. What is a good model to get a General Associates or GEC credits out of the way? Is the Pierpont AAS a good model to follow. Any degree planning advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Education Seeker

The answer is to find out if Eastern Gateway Community College allows Dual Enrollment for High School students, and to get your student working on those. Many community colleges also accept CLEP exams and some also will accept ACE credits. That's the answer we're using with my high school student in Pennsylvania, dual enrollment. I strongly suggest taking English Comp 1+2 or Eastern Gateway's equivalent through the community college. Your student will need those skills. Later colleges and universities will deem the community college credits as more generally acceptable than the alternative sources.

[ss20ts]

How many sons do you have? Seems like you've worked on plans for at least 3 sons at this point. I keep saying it over and over to have them join and ask questions. This back and forth with a third person creates so much miscommunication.

He would need to figure out which college he wants to attend before trying to complete any gen eds. Every school has different policies and different requirements for gen eds. Having an associate degree does not waive one from gen eds at most 4 year schools. It doesn't even usually transfer in as 60+ credits.

[dfrecore]

Since your son is only 16, and not sure what he wants to do, getting Gen Ed credits is a good idea. I would not recommend doing ACE credit though, if he wants to go to Ohio State (or if that's going to be a possibility in the future). Instead, I would look at DE, and get an AA/AS at Eastern Gateway.

Pierpont can't be done until you're 20, so that's not really an option, and I wouldn't even think about it.

I would also not get a degree at TESU/EU any time soon. Many colleges have wonky policies on getting 2nd bachelor's degrees, and you don't want to fall under those rules if you an avoid it. Much better to stick with a more traditional plan and do the Eastern Gateway-to-Ohio State for now; if he changes his mind later, he can always come back here with his new plan.

[EducationSeeker]

How many sons do you have? Seems like you've worked on plans for at least 3 sons at this point. I keep saying it over and over to have them join and ask questions. This back and forth with a third person creates so much miscommunication.

He would need to figure out which college he wants to attend before trying to complete any gen eds. Every school has different policies and different requirements for gen eds. Having an associate degree does not waive one from gen eds at most 4 year schools. It doesn't even usually transfer in as 60+ credits.

I have 2 sons. That hasn't changed. One older one who is 21 and taking Sophia and UPMI classes.

As mentioned, the other one is 16. I will encourage them to join. Getting them to take the initiative on the board can be a challenge, but, then again so is online education.

Education Seeker

[dfrecore]

How many sons do you have? Seems like you've worked on plans for at least 3 sons at this point. I keep saying it over and over to have them join and ask questions. This back and forth with a third person creates so much miscommunication.

He would need to figure out which college he wants to attend before trying to complete any gen eds. Every school has different policies and different requirements for gen eds. Having an associate degree does not waive one from gen eds at most 4 year schools. It doesn't even usually transfer in as 60+ credits.

I have 2 sons. That hasn't changed. One older one who is 21 and taking Sophia and UPMI classes.

As mentioned, the other one is 16. I will encourage them to join. Getting them to take the initiative on the board can be a challenge, but, then again so is online education.

Education Seeker

They can join and just read a bit every day, and never post anything.  Lots of people do that.

[bjcheung77]

For your younger son, stick with the Eastern Gateway Community College and their dual enrollment program, if you need extra credits, do the CLEP/ModernStates.org and ACE from Sophia.org courses. I would ladder that up to an Excelsior University degree or another such as WGU...

[EducationSeeker]

For your younger son, stick with the Eastern Gateway Community College and their dual enrollment program, if you need extra credits, do the CLEP/ModernStates.org and ACE from Sophia.org courses.  I would ladder that up to an Excelsior University degree or another such as WGU...

@bjcheung77

For my younger son, I think we are going to look at dual enrollment at Eastern Gateway and get as many classes as possible (thinking he can at least get an Associates when he graduates from High School in 3 years and potentially take the CLEP and LL classes and potentially UL courses from SDC if it makes sense. 

Do you recommend Excelsior University now among the Big 3 courses for an 18 year old right out of high school with some Gen Ed credits from either CC, Sophia, or SDC? I think he going to either major in Business Administration or Cybersecurity. Options we would look that would likely take him 1-2 years after High School graduation would include Excelsior, WGU, or Franklin University. Is Excelsior a better option than TESU?

Thanks,

Education Seeker

[dfrecore]

For your younger son, stick with the Eastern Gateway Community College and their dual enrollment program, if you need extra credits, do the CLEP/ModernStates.org and ACE from Sophia.org courses.  I would ladder that up to an Excelsior University degree or another such as WGU...

Do you recommend Excelsior University now among the Big 3 courses for an 18 year old right out of high school with some Gen Ed credits from either CC, Sophia, or SDC? I think he going to either major in Business Administration or Cybersecurity. Options we would look that would likely take him 1-2 years after High School graduation would include Excelsior, WGU, or Franklin University. Is Excelsior a better option than TESU?

Thanks,

Education Seeker

Excelsior is fine for a BSB, and at this point is about $4000 for 7cr, so you could get the GE done at the CC, and then get the rest from Coopersmith or Study.com or Sophia when he graduates; the only caveat is that they MAY change the degree requirements to force you to take Business Writing instead of English Comp II, which is lame - and then will increase the price of the degree by $1500 if you can't find that course elsewhere for less.

Cybersecurity is not doable at EC via alt-credit.  It would cost a lot (like $25k) to get that degree at EU - you can get it for a LOT less through other schools like Franklin, APU, WGU, etc.  So if he wants that degree, I would choose another school.

TESU is also a good option for a BSBA, and has some nice concentrations, so if EU makes their change to requirements, TESU may end up being the better option (and close in price or even less).