Residency waiver fee payment means no cornerstone (TESU)

[lovewins]

Were you taking TECEPs to meet the residency? How many have you gotten done? If you got enough of them in, you could avoid the waiver fee.

No, Ive never taken an TECEPs or any courses, period, from TESU but I plan to take the Capstone. So in that case, am I looking at $3500? If so, is there a way around this???

[davewill]

No, Ive never taken an TECEPs or any courses, period, from TESU but I plan to take the Capstone. So in that case, am I looking at $3500? If so, is there a way around this???

Yes, it'll be $2000 + 1497 + the graduation fee of 323. Only TECEPs finished in or before the May 2016 term counted towards residency. At least it looks like you don't have to do the Cornerstone.

[jsd]

It costs $2,000 to waive the residency requirement, about $1,500 for the capstone for BA degrees, and $323 for the grad fee. Plus any cost of the exams/courses you are taking to get your credits from outside of TESU (CLEP, DSST, other ACE-approved options, etc). If you're starting from scratch, you should figure on spending around $5,500 (or more) if you do it the cheapest means possible, out of pocket.

[jsd]

If so, is there a way around this???

No, unless you want to take 16 credits worth of online courses with TESU, which will cost you a lot more than the $2,000.

Even with the $2,000 fee, you're still getting a degree for thousands (possibly 10s of thousands) cheaper than you would a traditional route.

[davewill]

It's not as bad as you're thinking. Even under the old rules, you would have had to take (and pass!) 7 TECEPs @ $111 each for $777.

[dfrecore]

If you go through another school instead, you'll pay different fees. COSC is one of the cheaper ones, but with the 3cr cornerstone and 3cr capstone, plus various fees, you're looking at roughly $2500. TESU wins the price war with COSC for the BSBA because of the Capstone that you can test out of for Business at TESU, but COSC and TESU may be neck-in-neck for the rest of the degrees.

COSC wins for the AA/AS, since that $2000 residency waiver applies to whatever degree you want. I always advise against the TESU AA/AS now, because it's too expensive. Even if you plan on getting your BA/BS at TESU within a year (when the $2000 rw will apply from the AA/AS and you won't have to pay it twice), we all know about the best laid plans - anything can happen, and if you are over the year limit, you will have to pay the $2000 again. No thanks!

[davewill]

... and if you are over the year limit, you will have to pay the $2000 again. No thanks!

I don't think we actually know that for certain. We've had two conflicting reports. If someone wants to get both degrees from TESU, they should probably ask this specific question and get an answer in writing (email).

[jsd]

Even if you plan on getting your BA/BS at TESU within a year (when the $2000 rw will apply from the AA/AS and you won't have to pay it twice), we all know about the best laid plans - anything can happen, and if you are over the year limit, you will have to pay the $2000 again. No thanks!

Wasn't there some question here as one person was told within a year, and another person was told that it would apply to the Bachelor's regardless of time frame? I don't think that was ever clarified. As usual, advising is leaving us with more unanswered questions.

If it is the case that there's no time limit, and you know for sure your end goal is the Bachelors at TESU, then it still makes sense to pickup the Associates along the way. Otherwise, I'd agree with you, dfrecore.

[jsd]

haha, davewill, I feel like I've been just seconds behind your answers all day in these threads today. i swear I'm not just following you around and repeating you

[jsd]

UPDATE

Bad news everyone, looks like there was some confusion (as always, with TESU, apparently)...

We have solved your issue
Hello,

The answer is that it depends on catalog year (degree requirements) for your degree. For the most recent catalog requirements, the Cornerstone course is still a requirement even if the residency waiver fee is paid. For older degrees, the Cornerstone course requirement may be waived if the residency waiver fee is paid.

Take care.
Should you have additional questions, please create a new ticket by sending an email to academicadvising@tesc.edu with your degree program in the subject line. Thank you.
Andrea O. Mirsky, M.Ed

emphasis added. only older catalogs can avoid the cornerstone. though the older catalogs shouldn't technically be subject to the cornerstone even without the waiver, since it wasn't introduced until this year. ugh. I've asked for clarification on that last part. but for the current catalog, looks like you're stuck.