Cost, Financial Aid, Fees...

[dfrecore]

TECEP's count as residency at TESC (they are TESC's own exams). For TESC, you can completely test out of Business, as their capstone is Strategic Management. For the Psychology & Social Sciences degrees, you can test out except the capstone. For Sociology, you can't test out, there are no courses available to give you UL credits or meet all of the Sociology requirements.

Someone else will have to help with EC and COSC as I'm not as familiar with those schools.

[sanantone]

I think what I want in the end is a BA probably in Psychology. Either that or Business or possibly Sociology, but Psych is the one that seems logical for me.

So I could technically just go for that, or I can go for an AA and then when ready use that to get a BA, right?

Thomas Edison State College: Associate in Arts

So is this an AA I could go for?

I was wondering, what is the difference between an Associate OF Arts and Associate IN Arts?

So the BA ultimately would be maybe this:

Excelsior College | Bachelors Degrees | Liberal Arts – Psychology BS | Online Classes

or this:

Thomas Edison State College: Psychology

or possibly this:

Thomas Edison State College: Sociology

or this?

Psychology - Charter Oak State College Catalog

That's a Bachelor's with concentration in Psychology. Is that a BA or BS?

I don't know why TESC calls it that. It should really be called an AA in Liberal Arts or Liberal Studies because that's what it is. At COSC, you have the option of a BS or BA in General Studies depending on how many applied professional credits you want to use versus liberal arts credits. Anything that falls into the categories of natural science, mathematics, social science, or humanities is a liberal art. Excelsior's psychology program is not test friendly.

[Taxandria]

Thank you.

So I will not go with Excelsior for the Psych. So now just leaves the other two. Is it just me or does it seem a lot of people favor TESC?

Is there any great benefit to using TESC over COSC for the BA with/in Psych?

[sanantone]

Cost if you're using the Per Credit Tuition Plan.

[Taxandria]

Hi sanantone,

So I was looking at the per credit at TESC and looks like 12 credits in a year is $5,892. What's a "year" to them, anyway? Hmm. I am assuming those 12 credits are courses I take at the TESC and not ones I test out?

COSC's calculator for an AA showed this, and I'm assuming I'd do the 3 credits at COSC as required and the rest tested out (and this is only if all 41 of my current credits are accepted.)

Year 1 Application Fee: $75
Tuition: $1,038
Testing Cost: $800
College Fees: $490
Books: $126
Estimated Costs:
$2,529

Argh I'm still so confused.

[sanantone]

You can fulfill the residency requirement with TECEPs. TECEPs are always $111 each for non-residents regardless of the tuition plan. You'll need 8 TECEPs or 7 TECEPs and the capstone for a bachelor's degree.

[Taxandria]

Can I go for the AA at TESC:

Thomas Edison State College: Associate in Arts

And from there go for the BA in Psych?

Is it possible to get the Per Credit Tuition plan for an AA at TESC? (Does financial aid cover that, btw?)

I think that's the way I want to go as long as I can afford it and if it will be more affordable than going for the AA with concentration at COSC.

If I did the AA in General Studies at COSC, I could go on to a BA with Concentration there. If I do an AA at TESC, I can go on to do BA in Psych there. So maybe it's just down to cost?

Is there a big difference aside from cost between the AA at TESC and the AA at COSC?

Once I get the BA (after the AA), no one will need to know I had an AA in General Studies anyway, will they? (If I went the COSC route.) Does that really matter much, whether the degree is in Gen studies? I saw someone say it might give employers pause...

Narrowing this down is so hard...

[sanantone]

From a notice Publius2k4 posted, COSC should be offering a major in psychology soon. If you can't afford to pay for TECEPs and other tests out of pocket, then it might be better for you to choose COSC. You need to take at least 6 credits per semester (or 6 months) in order to be considered half-time and qualify for financial aid. Only online and guided study courses count toward the attendance requirement for financial aid at TESC. Financial aid will not pay for TECEPs, portfolio assessments, or e-Packs. However, they are automatically covered if you choose the Comprehensive Tuition Plan, but you will need to attend school full-time in order to receive the full financial aid award. Full-time is 12 credits per 6 months or 24 credits per 12 months since TESC doesn't follow a traditional semester system.

[Taxandria]

So I could get financial aid to cover TECEPs, guided study courses and e-packs if I am going full time and choose the comprehensive tuition plan. Financial Aid said I am eligible for about $5700. Would that be enough? That's going for the AA at TESC. If it's covered, I think I can probably swing it. So it would be I guess a mix of TECEP tests and maybe some "actual" courses? (How would CLEP or Saylor etc. credits fit into that? Or won't they at all?) If I'm looking at an AA then I need 19 credits. So if I did 12 credits in 6 months and some of those are TECEP then maybe I can swing it.

Otherwise I would go for the AA at COSC and do some CLEP and Saylor to flesh things out.

Is it "harder" to do the TESC/TECEP track than using CLEP/Saylor/other testing for COSC?

[Taxandria]

The new COSC Bachelor's in Pscyh mentioned in that newsletter doesn't say if it's a BS or BA. ??