need help with picking Big 3 school and degree planning

[EducationSeeker]

Hi all,

I am relatively new to the board and I am trying to assist my wife with gathering information and encouraging her to go back to school. She has about 45 LL credits from a local state university and 40-45 credits from a NA university.  I did post this same question on the EC, COSC, and TESU board, but, thought it might be more relevant to post it here on this section.

She is looking at getting either a Bachelor's in Liberal Arts or a Bachelor's degree in Business. I think she would be leaning towards the Liberal Arts BA/BS because it would be quickest.

Here are some other important factors:

-She is intimidated and not sure if she wants to go back and get her Bachelor's degree.  She has been out of college for 20 years and was not a particularly good student making good grades.  I think at 46, she is wondering if she really needs a degree as she works a customer service job making between $10-15 hr. I make a good salary as a self-employed ERP Training consultant. She was a stay at home mom for about 10 years.  I am really trying to encourage her to go.  I think it is like running a marathon, it is good to push yourself and would give her confidence and set a great example for our High School Senior.

-We are self funding unless she can get a scholarship.  With a combined current six figure student loan debt (mostly mine) load between she and I (and no Bachelor's to show for it for her), we are absolutely looking at self-funding - no student loans. I won't even get started on the ridiculous debt slavery and out of control student loan debt in this country  We also have a son entering college next Fall and are determined to have low student loan debt for him. She doesn't have tuition reimbursement nor do we have VA funding.  Therefore, we are very cost sensitive.

-I would rate the importance of the criteria for her as "Fast, Cheap, Easy Credit" in the following order: 1) Cheap, 2) Fast, 3) Easy Credit.

-We are leaning towards Excelsior College as they are giving her the most credits at 57 credits.  It looks like they are the only Big 3 school to accept Nationally Accredited Credit. They also seem to be the cheapest of the 3 with her credits at about $4k, but, COSC comes close behind at around $4500. Even with her credits, it seems like TESU is the most expensive at $6-7k.  This does not mean she would not look at other schools. She also looked at WGU, but, she only got 108 out of 120 credits so I think that is less likely of an option.

As I am new poster, I am posting the credits she has earned from her under graduate institutions in the rest of this email.  Then I am posting the credit evaluation results from each school: EC, TESU, COSC, and WGU.  I am also listing what I can see as the potential cost rough out the door price. Additionally, I am attaching a spreadsheet with a degree plan that has a template for a degree plan for each university.  I would greatly appreciate any help on a degree plan, opinions on best options, and confirmations of current estimates on tuition.  I feel like getting her and my son a potential degree plan is like getting a second master's degree for me.

Kent State University (D grade or better that transfers. EC doesn't take D grades. COSC/TESU does, however, EC takes NA credits)

College Orientation - 1 cr
English Composition 1 - 3 cr.
English Composition 2 - 3 cr.
Art of the Theater - 3 cr.
Business Writing - 2 cr. 
General Psychology -3 cr. 
Introduction to Sociology - 3 cr.
Fundamentals of Chemistry - 3 cr
7 Ideas that Shook the Universe (Physics) - 3 cr
Introduction to College Math - 3 cr (not sure if this is considered "College" level like standard College Algebra course) 3 cr
Auditory Comprehension Strategies, 2 cr
Dance Exercise, 1 cr
Tennis, 1 cr
Principles of Macroeconomics, 3 cr
Great Books 2, 3 cr
Intro to Financial Accounting, 3 cr
Human Sexuality, 3 cr
Total: 43 hours

Virginia Marti College of Art and Design (2 year career art school in Cleveland area)

History of Art 1 - 3 qtr hr
History of Art 2 - 3 qtr hr
Basic Color Theory - 3 qtr hr
Graphics in Interior Design - 3 qtr hr
Salesmanship - 3 qtr hr
Public Relations - 3 qtr hr
Graphic Tech 1 Drafting - 3 qtr hr
Design Fundamentals - 2 qtr hr
 Graphic Tech 1 Drafting - 3 qtr hr
Design Fundamentals - 2 qtr hr
Graphics in Interior Design - 2 qtr hr
Intro to Interior Design - 3 qtr hr
Graphic Tech 2 Draft - 3 qtr hr
Interior Design 1 - 3 qtr hr
Space Planning 2 Commercial - 3 qtr hr
Rendering Tech 1 - 3 qtr hr
Rendering Tech 2 - 3 qtr hr
Computer Aided Design (CAD) 1 - 2 qtr hr
Total = 45 hours

Excelsior took the quarter hours = 1.33 semester hours.


Thanks,

EducationSeeker

[udi]

Unless she needs a bachelor's degree in anything for a promotion or something, a bachelor's in general studies is not good for jobs. It's hard to answer this question because there are so many options. TEEX, Onlinedegree.com and Saylor are the cheapest options for credit.

[dfrecore]

So first, I'm going to say that if she is not wanting this, you can't make her want it. Believe me, I would kill for my husband to get a degree this way - he works in IT sales, is smart, a good test-taker, and is 60+ credits in. But he's just not motivated right now, and there's nothing I can do to make him so.

Second, saying that D grades works for everything isn't the case. You really have to put the grades on here for anything less than a C (even a C- makes a difference in the major, and for English Comp.

Third, WGU doesn't have a BALS/BSLS, so you're comparing apples-to-oranges there.

[EducationSeeker]

Great point. I know she has to want the degree. She is not against it, but, I think has been out of the groove so is a little intimidated by the idea of school in her 40s.

She had some not so great grades when she started school and did better before leaving for work/family reasons. It looks like only COSC and TESU allow D grades in certain subjects.

I know the bachelors in Business and BALS quote different and therefore she would only get the respective credits. She is looking at either option.

[cookderosa]

Unless she needs a bachelor's degree in anything for a promotion or something, a bachelor's in general studies is not good for jobs. It's hard to answer this question because there are so many options. TEEX, Onlinedegree.com and Saylor are the cheapest options for credit.

I second this. I think the best utility of a degree in her case would be if it were clearing a barrier for her that was holding per back from a promotion. I don't see a scenario that unlocks a lot of opportunities that don't ALREADY align with her employment.

But, if I were in your shoes, I would work this puzzle for my kids. With the debt you're already carrying, you can get him started now and put your resources in that basket to get HIM up and out without any student loans. No matter what your teen's target college, you can start earning college credit now while he's in k-12. I work with homeschool parents who deliberately line up college credit options with their kid's curriculum, and while I'm not saying you have to go that far, he can certainly leave high school with at least 30 college credits. Graduating debt free would change his life. I don't think a $10,000 degree from TESU (which is what it would cost) is going to change hers.

[davewill]

I would suggest that she take a few of the free and ultra low cost (OnlineDegree) courses available. By the time she runs out of those, she will certainly know whether this whole concept is her cup of tea.

[EducationSeeker]

Unless she needs a bachelor's degree in anything for a promotion or something, a bachelor's in general studies is not good for jobs. It's hard to answer this question because there are so many options. TEEX, Onlinedegree.com and Saylor are the cheapest options for credit.

I second this.  I think the best utility of a degree in her case would be if it were clearing a barrier for her that was holding per back from a promotion. I don't see a scenario that unlocks a lot of opportunities that don't ALREADY align with her employment.

But, if I were in your shoes, I would work this puzzle for my kids.  With the debt you're already carrying, you can get him started now and put your resources in that basket to get HIM up and out without any student loans. No matter what your teen's target college, you can start earning college credit now while he's in k-12.  I work with homeschool parents who deliberately line up college credit options with their kid's curriculum, and while I'm not saying you have to go that far, he can certainly leave high school with at least 30 college credits.  Graduating debt free would change his life.    I don't think a $10,000 degree from TESU (which is what it would cost) is going to change hers.

Cookderosa,

Great points. It is not the end of the world if she doesn't get a degree. She survived stage 4 Breast and Thyroid Cancer so we are happy she is alive.  Having/not having a degree per say is not holding her back, but, she is looking at getting another job so it wouldn't hurt to have the degree.  I actually found out about this site as a fluke when I was researching lower cost credit sources for my son. I found out about homeschooling sites and bain4weeks.com that recommended this board and I was blown away by all the wealth of information.  At this point, I am just finding out what her options would be.  If she wants to get a degree and could do it with less than $5k in cost and 1 year or less in effort, she is going to consider it.

My son is currently getting College Credit Plus 12 hours as a senior and would also qualify for free community college for an associates.  He will then likely look at transferring to an Ohio state university and these options combined with CLEP classes will enable him to get his associates debt free (minus some book costs).  He is looking at a total BA/BS cost of likely anywhere from $16-30K for a B+M university (not incl. any scholarships).

Does anywhere on the board have sample degree plans for each of the Big 3 schools? I want to be self-reliant, look at these plans, and then confirm prices with the board and the school. 

BTW..how do people come up with these really colorful screen names?  I am guessing you like Cooking and Ponderosa?

Mine is boring.

Thanks,

Jonathan aka EducationSeeker

[Murdockb]

BTW..how do people come up with these really colorful screen names?  I am guessing you like Cooking and Ponderosa?

Mine is boring.

Thanks,

Jonathan aka EducationSeeker

Goodness, that was funny. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Cookderosa is her last name. But she's also a chef. No idea if she likes westerns.

By the way, there are some degree plans/cost maps on her website you could check out. https://homeschoolingforcollegecredit.com/cost-maps/