TESU Bachelors of International Studies

[BingCherry]

I'm not very knowledgeable on using message boards so I'm not sure if this should go here, or under my first post.
I've been working on getting a Bachelors Liberal Studies from TESU but am considering switching in April when I enroll with them, to an International Studies degree. (depends on how much extra they require - both in cost and time!)

I read that one should enroll before they close their current year out so I am grandfathered in to the current calendar rules. Did I read that right?

Has anyone done this degree with them and if so is there a plan posted? I was unable to find one. If anyone could help me make a plan for that, I would appreciate it. So far I'm using the basic Liberal Studies plan one of y'all started for me and I'm plugging along on that. ( THANK YOU! It is in it's simplest form currently- no detailed classes on the plan yet except for the math, free courses, and a few English things)

I asked TESU what the requirements were for getting this particular degree - twice - and both times they said they cannot answer me what I would have to take, either in house or at any other college, until I enroll and give them the credits I will have accrued at that time.
My question to them was if it was possible to "test" out (i know it's not all testing out, but you know what I mean ) like I could with a BSBA or Bachelor of Liberal Studies. They won't answer me directly.

So, is there a way to take classes for the International Studies that would apply to my LS? Just in case they require me to do too much for getting the Int Studies and I decline and continue my Lib Studies instead? Can someone help me formulate a plan for that please?
I printed out the TESU requirements for International Studies and have my basic plan for LS here, but can't seem to blend them.(I love geography, history, and cultures- almost everything they have listed on their Int Studies list of requirements)
I am willing to pay for help! I simply cannot work it out for myself at this time in my life.

Thanks for everything! I'm working as fast as I can to complete it all by this year's end.

[socsci]

You will need to find courses/test to meet the area of study below. I have filled in a few courses from straighterline that I know of to get you started, hopefully others will help too.
The info can be found here: Bachelor's Degree in International Studies at Thomas Edison State University

Area of Study: International Studies
48 credits of liberal arts courses in international areas with no more than 6 credits at the 100 level and at least 18 credits at the 300 or 400 level

A. Required Courses
Western Civilization I (3) - Straighterline
Western Civilization II (3) - Straighterline
Foreign Language (6) - possibly Spanish from Straighterline
World Geography (3)
International Relations (3)
Conflict in International Relations (3)
Capstone (LIB-495) (3) - TESU

B. Global Electives Choose 12 credits from these courses.
Cultural Anthropology - Straighterline
Elements of Intercultural Communication - CSU-Global
International Economics
Global Environmental Change -TESU course Global Environmental Change
Global Issues
World Literature
Nonwestern Literature
International Politics
Cultural Diversity - UExcel
Terrorism - Penn Foster course
Comparative Religions
World Religions: Exploring Diversity - DSST/SL/Study.com

Cultural Anthropology, Religion + Global Environmental Change (TESU) = 12 credits

C. Regional Electives Choose 12 credits from these courses.
Geog of E. Europe and Russia
Latin American History
Intro to Chinese History & Culture
African History & Culture
American Foreign Relations
The Middle East
History of Russia - History of the Soviet Union??? (DSST)
Third World Studies
African Literature
Modern European Governments
Government and Politics of Asia
Eastern Religions
Western Religions

[dfrecore]

You definitely cannot test out of the International Studies degree, there are too many requirements that can't be tested out of, plus not enough electives able to be tested out of. This would be one of the more expensive degrees at TESU.

My advice, instead, would be to do the BALS, but use the International Studies degree as your guideline for which courses to take. Then you kind of have the best of both worlds - you get to take courses that interest you, but still keep costs down as much as possible.

Human/Cultural Geography (DSST/Study.com)
Cultural Diversity (UExcel)
Western Civ I & II (CLEP/SL/Study.com)
World Religions (DSST/SL/Study.com)
History of the Soviet Union (DSST)
History of the Vietnam War (DSST/Study.com)
World Conflicts Since 1900 (UExcel)
World Population (UExcel)
World History (TECEP/SL)
Cultural Anthropology (SL)
Intercultural Comm (CSU-Global)
Intro to PoliSci (Saylor)
Intro to Western Political Thought (Saylor)
Intro to Comparative Politics (Saylor)
Comparative Economics and Global Business 1800-present (CSU-Global)

U of Arkansas Self-Paced has courses that will work for $480/course
CSU-Pueblo Extended Studies has courses for $495/course
U of Idaho Independent Studies has courses for $510/course
BYU IS has courses for $534/course
LSU IS has courses for $728/course

[cookderosa]

I'm wondering if you have any international experiences that can be used for a PLA? Mission work, Peace Corps, etc.

Adding to Socsci's plan below, in category B, you can take the TESU course Global Environmental Change. It's 6 credits- many here have taken it successfully. You may have to dig in the archives a few years.

If I were planning this for myself, I'd use the lists below and make 2 lists that compared the content of the liberal studies and international studies. I haven't studied the distribution, but my guess is that the overlap is huge. You probably can follow them both nearly until the end, and then at that point decide to either stay on liberal studies or hop over onto international. The courses inside the international degree ARE liberal studies, so it's not like they wouldn't count. It's just confirming that you're not accumulating too many in one area.

[BingCherry]

Oh! It's possible I might have something I could use for a PLA. I will check into that! Thanks for suggesting.

Do I need to go ahead and enroll and TESU to take that Global course that's 6 credits? I only have 14 credits so far, but can't figure out from other posts if I should wait till I have a hundred credits or if I should go ahead and do it now and lock in to this year's requirements.

Also, should I go ahead and enroll at study.com ? I saw that on to some other threads, to get rid of the Cornerstone class and discount fees.

Thank you so much for giving the suggestions of courses and listing them. Would it be possible for someone to plug them in the BALS list for me? To collate them so I can print it out and hang it on my wall? (putting the International Studies things into a BALS spreadsheet, so I can take what I love and concentrate on that). Or even message me and help me go over the spreadsheet filling in things I'd love to study? I could probably do it with some help.

I guess we could then add it to the wiki in case somebody else would ever be interested in a BALS slanted towards International Studies.
All the plans made so far I have downloaded are predominantly business related. Not really things I want to study. Ha!

My problem is, I don't know where to go next and what to do the order in. I have been unable to figure it out. I'm sorry, my brain doesn't work that way even though I try! :-) It used to, but not recently.

Meanwhile, after reading around the board again some more plus reading through this thread, (I'm not on here often as my mom is late stage cancer and I don't have time to do everything) do I need to pick a concentration for a BALS? If so, where would I find a list of concentrations I could choose from? I want something as close to International Studies as possible. Would that be Humanities? (I saw someone mention that in a different thread.) Or does it even matter? I can't find any consensus on that.

I'm sorry to be such a pain and ask so many possibly obvious questions, but for me they're not easily known and I'm so stressed right now I just need straight up answers. Ha:-)

Thank you very much for all the help.

[dfrecore]

Here's a spreadsheet I made of a BALS degree, utilizing as many elements of International Relations as possible from options under $500 or so. You can replace the more expensive options with less expensive ones if you want. I titled it BALS in International Relations, but it isn't that specifically (you can't get the degree in IR utilizing these courses).

There were some courses in IR that just aren't available, in which case you can take those if you want, or just take the BALS and make it your own.

You don't have to choose a concentration for the BALS. There are some on TESU's website, but then those require you to take 18cr specifically in the course they show, and those aren't test out-able. So I would just go with the general BALS.