new TESU degree - data science (statistics)

[cookderosa]

I'm a new student at TESU, in the Data Analytics program. You have to apply separately @ Statistics.com to be accepted into their program (@ Statistics.com), in addition to the TESU application. The Statistics.com application is a little more lengthy, a couple of essays, etc, with a separate fee of $75.

Basically the TESU degree program is the Statistics.com "Analytics for Data Science" certificate course map, plus 2 more classes...for a total of 12 classes (8 required, 4 electives from a list of 8 options). They offer an 18 month payment plan of $290/month. Once you've been accepted, they send a payment link for you to sign up for the payment plan. That generates the enrollment code that you repeatedly use to enroll in each class. Not every class is offered every month (typically they can be from once a year to 4-5 times a year)...it can be really tricky working out a schedule that accommodates the dependencies, particularly if you're trying to finish on a timeline. The monthly fee is recurring whether or not you're enrolled for a class that month.

Their customer service has been very prompt and helpful.

ETA - You can still pay per-course, or pay one flat fee...it was over $5k, but I don't recall specifically. The payment plan is optional. Also, federal student aid won't cover any of the Statistics.com courses.

Do you know if TESU considers Statistics.com an affiliate? Affiliate partners get a price break on the residency waiver I believe. Any other goodies we should know about??

[homeschoolmom1]

I very much look forward to hear from you in the future, how this degree and the courses work out for you. You are a pioneer of sorts! Did you have to enroll with TESU first and then enroll with statistics.com later? Or vice versa or simultaneously? Could one not take statistics.com courses one by one, even before enrolling with TESU? Thanks for all your information.

[SolarKat]

I very much look forward to hear from you in the future, how this degree and the courses work out for you. You are a pioneer of sorts! Did you have to enroll with TESU first and then enroll with statistics.com later? Or vice versa or simultaneously? Could one not take statistics.com courses one by one, even before enrolling with TESU? Thanks for all your information.

I applied to them simultaneously, but you certainly don't need to. The advantage of enrolling formally @ Statistics.com was the opportunity to use a payment plan, which was essential for me. I applied @ TESU because I had very old brick & mortar credits from the 80s - I wanted to see what they'd take, so I could work out my plan. (Miracle of miracles, they took everything. I'm starting with 47!) Also, I think (but I haven't done the math) that enrolling in the certificate gives you a price break on the 12 Statistics.com classes...vs paying a la carte.

Statistics.com says that they will accept up to 3 classes as transfer *in* for their certificate (Analytics for Data Science), so you don't necessarily need to do all of their in-house courses. The Stats.com "Introductory Statistics" class is 2 4-week sessions (See "Statistics 1" and "Statistics 2"). The remainder are 8 week classes worth 2 or 3 credits each. TESU offers Principles of Statistics (12wk) if you wanted to do theirs (pricey, though). Also, TESU's "R Programming" and "Python Programming" (from the CS department) count towards 2 of the 4 AOS electives, if you want to go that route. TESU does offer an undergrad Data Visualization class, but it's not listed as an option on my degree outline, so I don't know if that meets the degree requirements.

I noticed in another thread, you were asking about this degree as a stepping stone to a MS CS. You could use your info lit & math requirements for some math, fill empty GEs with more math, and use the FE category to do the 18-credit certificate in CS (and still more math, if you have room). The only caveat, you'd need to pack in the math - Calc 1, Calc 2, Linear Algebra, Discrete Math...and depending on where you want to take the CS, Calc 3 (Multivar) and Calc 4 (Diff Eq) will be really helpful if you expect an intersection with computer or electrical engineering. Modeling would be good, too. You can't have too much math, if you're serious about CS. (Also if you're serious about advanced statistical work, or any intersection with the engineering space).

This isn't the strongest data-focused degree program out there, but I felt it was a stronger option than the CS (in Boston, where I live, the CS majors have a much more rigorous BS plan, typically, so I wouldn't be at very competitive in the job market)...and for a technical program, it's FAST. Maybe not as fast as something you can test out of, like some IT stuff,...but for scheduled/instructed courses, I don't think you can get much faster than this one. There will probably be gaps to fill, if you're going on to post-grad study, but it's a reasonable beginning for the price (and time) required.

Jennifer (cookderosa), to answer your question - I don't know if Statistics.com is a formal affiliate of TESU. I hadn't heard of the affiliate program until after I found this site (and had enrolled). I've sent off an inquiry, though!

[SolarKat]

For anyone interested, my impressions of my first Statistics.com course.

Statistics.com: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS
Duration - 4 weeks
Format - asynchronous online course
Prerequisites - NONE (truly)
ACE Recommendation: 3 semester hours, UPPER LEVEL, in COMPUTER SCIENCE, or INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Course platform: In-house at Statistics.com. (Not Blackboard, Sakai, etc - it's their local version, somewhat barebones but not complicated.)

Instructional methods:

--Textbook (required). Written by professor, based upon the version of this class taught at brick & mortar UMD. $25 used or $35 new or eText at Amazon. You need this because the weekly homework includes exercises at the end of chapters in the text. The text is fairly light, intro material.

--Optional videos, slides, tutorials. Professor-generated content at YouTube (lectures), downloadable slide decks (to accompany the lectures). Tutorials cover software tools used in classwork.

--Software exposure: Gephi (no experience needed, Win/Mac/Linux); NodeXL (for Windows only, an Excel add-on - optional but useful).

Homework/Assignments:

Weekly homework submitted via link inside classroom, PDF or Word format requested. Assignment deadlines are hard deadlines, no extensions allowed. One homework submission may be missed without impacting course grade (pretty darn generous, really). All homework assignments and the final project instructions are available from Day One of the class, but the access to the weekly written lesson summary and accompanying videos is unlocked on a week-by-week basis. The text-based exercises are applied to real-life networks from our lives, making the work rather engaging and interesting. The exercises involve discussions, rather than math problems or code.

--WEEK ONE: Step by step directions to download your personal FB data. One page single-spaced analysis/discussion of results (dialogue, not calculations). You can also do your Twitter, LinkedIn or email accounts, but accessing that data is more complex. Some guidance is given, if you wish to try that route.
--WEEK TWO: Discussion of concepts from a chapter in the text (tie strength), and then applying your discussion to actual live data from a couple of college webcams, with a couple-few paragraphs of discussion of the results you observed.
--WEEK THREE: Six (pretty short) discussion questions from the text (3 different chapters).
--WEEK FOUR: Three discussion questions from the text (3 different chapters).

Final project: Directions available at start of course. Involves downloading and analyzing a small chunk of old Enron (remember them?) email data. A bit of outside research is required, to learn a bit about corporate structure and who the players are, in the data. It's not a big burden. The project is 3ish pages, with additional supporting graphics, but it's not super complicated.

Discussion boards: NOT REQUIRED!! You are encouraged to discuss issues, ask questions, etc...but no fake, forced "discussion questions." Quick response from professor and TA.

Exams/Quizzes: NONE.
_______________________________________________________________________________________-

My impressions: A quick intro class for upper level credit!! This course is one of the 8 required Core courses for the TESU BS in Data Science & Analytics. The material is truly introductory. The professor briefly mentions math, but only to point out a bit of what the software is doing under the hood. The class is definitely applied, rather than theoretical. It might be helpful for someone just getting started with planning a data degree, as the professor discusses the relevance (and importance) of linear algebra, graph theory, algorithms, etc (without getting into technical details)...it might point to additional classes to incorporate for people looking toward postgraduate study, or work in a technical field (coding the actual algorithms, etc). The text is pretty quick reading, doesn't get bogged down with a lot of theory/example (you could call this a weakness, though it's intended only as an intro class). The assignments are pretty interesting and apply to real life...fun to show your friends! My section consists of a couple dozen students - a few are self-described as TESU students, most come from government (does Statistics.com have a fed contract?), and some from business/industry. I am in the TESU degree program, and accepted conditionally at Statistics.com for their PASS certificate (I did that so I could take advantage of the payment plan, not because it was required - to formally join PASS, I need to do their stats 1 & 2 and pass their 3 hour exam)...I was able to register for and join the class on the day it started. There was no "late fee" for waiting until the start date to register. I don't know if you can join beyond the start date, though, due to the short length of the classes. The Statistics.com registrar is extremely responsive and helpful in navigating the process. I encourage you to call or email if you have additional questions.

Pros:
--Upper level credit (in CS, even, if your school accepts it)!
--Pretty cheap, at <$200/credit hour.
--Software packages are free, text is cheap.
--Assignments are interesting, straightforward, and pretty brief.
--They say to allocate 15 hrs/week, but I'm not sure this one requires anywhere near that, for many students.
--No heavy math or coding.
--NO DISCUSSION BOARD REQUIREMENTS.
--NO EXAMS/QUIZZES. (And therefore, no proctor arrangements!)
--Done in 4 weeks.
--Super easy and quick registration process and course access (in my experience).

Cons:
--Very intro level, applied work. Would benefit from a bit more theory, at least.
--Be sure you can commit to finishing this - if you ask to transfer sections before the class starts, the fee is $25, but if you want to change sections once it has started, the fee jumps to $99.
--It is only run twice a year. If you're planning to use it for a degree, the next session is August 2017, and then again in February and August 2018. So pencil it in ASAP. You can register for it anytime (so if you want to register for August 2018, now, you can do that!) This class is a core requirement of the TESU BS degree, so it could potentially hold up your degree conferral if you don't squeeze it in early and wind up having to wait up to 6 months for the next offering.
--Federal student aid doesn't cover these courses - tuition is paid all at once, or if you enroll in their PASS program which corresponds to the TESU program, you can cover all 12 of the degree transfer courses using the Statistics.com payment plan, which is $290/month x 18 months.

[SolarKat]

Just some notes that I've gleaned from communications with TESU about this program.

First, for folks interested in a deeper dive into the field - the R and Python courses will fit into the Undergrad Certificate in Computer Science. However, while ACE lists a couple of classes as CS options (eg Social Network Analysis), TESU transcribes them as Data Science (DSI-prefixed) classes, so these will not count toward CS. Still, a CS certificate does lend a little more heft to an analytics degree.

Next, TESU will accept area of study electives outside of the eight listed on their degree plan. Statistics.com has a number of ACE-accredited options. I submitted them all to my advisor, who is passing them on to the dean for approval. So far, R Programming - Intro 2 is definitely accepted. Will update when I get an answer.

Finally, and maybe best of all...the degree requires 12 credits (4 classes, basically) of AOS electives. TESU lists 8 possible courses. If you select the right group of 4, you will complete the entire grad certificate in data analytics! Once you finish the BS degree, you can turn around and immediately request conferral of the grad certificate. (You do have to wait for the BS conferral - they won't award them concurrently.) Also, these 4 classes complete the Optimization specialization at Statistics.com, so you could request that credential, too. Some decent bang for the buck.

As far as tuition at Statistics.com...this is sort of interesting. First, if you go with the payment plan at Statistics.com, you will be limited to only the classes TESU lists on the degree plan. For any of the other ACE-accredited options at Statistics.com, you'll have to pay up front separately, even if TESU says they'll accept them for your degree. So for me to go "off piste" and take R Intro 2, I had to pay separately for that class...and it won't count toward the Statistics.com credential, though it will count towards the TESU degree. On the plus side, though, Statistics.com gave me an $80 discount on R-2, through my educational affiliation (see the option at checkout when you register for classes @ Statistics.com). Also, I still have the 4 paid-for electives from *within* the degree/PASS path...so I still can do the 4 grad-cert-eligible electives within the payment plan. (If that's confusing, I can try to explain further using my degree plan.)

[homeschoolmom1]

Thank you so much, solarkat. I would be very interested to know which statistics courses transfer in as Computer science courses at TESU. Together with the new´ACE approval of selected uppwer Level saylor courses in cs, a BA in CS is easier than ever to test out of (almost, except the UL math courses). Please continue to let us know about your journey in data science at TESU.

[SolarKat]

Statistics.com added mandatory discussion board prompts to Statistics 2 (which started today). This is a change from Statistics 1 and Social Network Analysis, which both ended last month. Previously, only weekly assignment submissions were required. In addition to posting directly to the discussion board, the post must be submitted as a separate file upload. Finally, the due date for the post is different than the weekly assignment submission. This is an issue with Statistics.com in general...the weekly assignments have been due on "Tuesdays, by 2am" (so basically Monday night). The discussion board post and upload are due "Thursday by 2am" (so Wednesday). It's weird enough to have random mid-week deadlines, but multiple random deadlines is a calendar headache. And when I look at the page and see "DUE THURSDAY," it's misleading because for all intents and purposes, it's *really* due the day before. And with Statistics.com, there are NO late submissions - the 'submit' button literally switches off at the appointed hour.

Ugh.

I still love that the classes are only 4 weeks long. The content has been interesting so far. The assignments have been challenging and instructive. I'm just disappointed that they've turned what have been, to this point, really useful discussion boards full of relevant questions and conversation, into mostly inane mandatory, repetitive "discussion" threads that waste my time winding through the 20-odd mostly-similar responses to the single prompt. *Sigh*

[Ideas]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Very interesting. I am very curious how the other statistics.com courses will be.

If you select the right group of 4, you will complete the entire grad certificate in data analytics! Once you finish the BS degree, you can turn around and immediately request conferral of the grad certificate. (You do have to wait for the BS conferral - they won't award them concurrently.)

So TESU would allow the grad certificate on the same residency waiver for a person getting a BS? So adding the grad cert means only paying for the statistics.com courses + 1 extra graduation fee? Or are there other fees? I mean for someone who does not want to enroll in a grad degree program, just get a grad cert (because they're probably more lenient if someone is degree-seeking).

[SolarKat]

So TESU would allow the grad certificate on the same residency waiver for a person getting a BS? So adding the grad cert means only paying for the statistics.com courses + 1 extra graduation fee? Or are there other fees? I mean for someone who does not want to enroll in a grad degree program, just get a grad cert (because they're probably more lenient if someone is degree-seeking).

TESU does not charge a graduation fee for certificates (undergrad or graduate). I would double check on the residency fee, as there have been multiple answers in other threads...my understanding is that one fee is good for a year. I'm not aware of any other TESU fees.

You'd register and pay tuition at Statistics.com. If you can register and pay for 3 of the classes at once, you'll pay $399/class for 3 of them ($133/grad credit!). Here's a link, scroll down to the "Optimization specialization". HOWEVER...the grad cert is not the list of 4 classes under the specialization!! Don't choose the wrong ones! The TESU grad cert requires: Risk Simulation & Queuing, Financial Risk Modeling, Regression Analysis, and Integer & Nonlinear Programming. The Statistics.com list includes Optimization, but that's an undergrad class. The Statistics.com specialization *omits* Regression Analysis. (Also, Statistics.com offers a class called Logistic Regression. That's not the same as Regression Analysis.) Then send your classes to ACE, a transcript to TESU, and apply for the grad cert. You are required to have a conferred bachelors degree before you can apply for the grad cert conferral. If you are planning to graduate in December, you could receive the grad cert with the March conferral. (That's my plan, anyway.)

The catch: Timing. Here's the schedule for the 4 classes required for the TESU grad certificate for the remainder of 2017, by start date:

-- Risk Simulation: May 5, November 17.
-- Regression: May 12, September 29.
-- Financial Risk: June 16. (RiskSim is a prerequisite for FinRisk.)
-- Integer/Nonlin: September 22.

(Also, the undergrad Optimization class is the prereq for Integer/Nonlin.)

Along the way, once you've done any 3 of the Statistics.com list (vs the TESU list), you can pay $65 to receive their specialization in Optimization...so that credential might be available to you sooner than the TESU grad certificate. I don't know if they'll be adding more sections of FinRisk (or Optimization, which runs August & next January)...you could call to see if they have plans for more sections. Dr. Ragsdale teaches Optimz, RiskSim, and Integer/Nonlin...so his dance card may already be full, given his teaching commitments on-campus as VA Tech faculty.

[Ideas]

You are required to have a conferred bachelors degree before you can apply for the grad cert conferral.

Thanks! That is very cheap! Tricky on scheduling... very cool you've got it planned out. Have you confirmed that they are fine with you completing all the grad cert courses before your Bachelor's conferral?