Questions regarding BSBA Finance

[carissimo]

Hello,

I am very new to the concept of testing out for Bachelor's degree and I am very much intrigued by it. I am interested to do BSBA Finance from TESU. 

I would like to ask if earning the Bachelor's degree by testing out would be as effective in terms of knowledge retention since there will be no assignments done.

Would it basically be the same as learning in a B&M college?

Thank you.

[MNomadic]

My 2 cents: in today's internetted world, knowledge is free and available to most everyone in the free world. To me, knowledge and credentials (degree, certificates, etc.) Are 2 different things(within reason, of course I wouldn't let someone perform surgery on me who only learned from open courseware textbooks and YouTube lectures). So you can learn enough to pass a test, but the learning doesn't have to stop there. Many have the goal of getting credentials in the most time and money efficient means as possible. A tesu degree isn't as rigorous as a degree from MIT or other prestigious B&M schools. But one can certainly continually read, research, and learn their material beyond the scope of a future degree even after they pass a test.

[dfrecore]

I agree with MNomadic - I think you get out of it what you put into it. If I was just starting out, and was going to do a degree from one of the Big 3, and do everything except the capstone via test-out, I would definitely think about saving up to get the graduate courses in Finance when you're done. So, you're getting your BA very quickly and cheaply, with the thought that you're going to get a MA and spend the time and money on that instead. It would certainly be awesome to get a BA for less than $5000, and then spend $10-$15k on a Master's in Finance from your local college, where you can network.

If you're already in the business world, and just need a Finance degree as a check-box, then I would probably skip the MA unless I thought it would help quite a bit - or just get a MBA from WGU.

But for those starting their careers, the first option is probably better.

[davewill]

There are certainly plenty of people who do the B&M thing and fail to retain much of it. Depends on the individual and their motivation. You can just try to skate by with 70% on everything, or you can spend the time to really learn the material. Since so many here are just trying to "check the box" we get a lot of discussion centered around moving fast, but you don't have to.

One problem with the competency model, like WGU, is that it encourages doing the minimum needed to pass. After all, if you spend more time, it costs more money.