TESU, when should I enroll?

[jingyu96]

I understand that there is a Residency Waiver Fee to be paid if I enroll.
Is this a one-off fee, or is it recurring, say per term/per year, type?

[davewill]

It's paid once, just before graduation. TESU unlike some other schools, doesn't charge tuition on a term or yearly basis. All one must do is take at least one course per 12 month period to maintain enrollment. This can be a TECEP exam at $117, which is in line with other alternative credit sources.

Therefore I always advise people to apply as soon as they are ready to commit to the process.

[dfrecore]

There have been mixed messages regarding how long the residency waiver is for (one year, a AA and then a BA, one degree only, etc.). But it doesn't matter until you're ready to graduate, when you pay the fee.

Enroll at TESU early, so you have access to advising, can get courses/exams planned into your degree, ask questions, etc. There is no downside to enrolling, because as davewill said, there are no per-term fees for staying enrolled at TESU.

[kalyway]

It's paid once, just before graduation. TESU unlike some other schools, doesn't charge tuition on a term or yearly basis. All one must do is take at least one course per 12 month period to maintain enrollment. This can be a TECEP exam at $117, which is in line with other alternative credit sources.

Therefore I always advise people to apply as soon as they are ready to commit to the process.

I am planning on transferring my transcripts into TESU by the beginning of October. I will be taking a large amount of Shmoop courses in order to finish my BALS degree. If I transfer in my courses and have everything I need then "enroll" in the Capstone before the deadline would that count as a TECEP course?

[bjcheung77]

I am planning on transferring my transcripts into TESU by the beginning of October. I will be taking a large amount of Shmoop courses in order to finish my BALS degree. If I transfer in my courses and have everything I need then "enroll" in the Capstone before the deadline would that count as a TECEP course?

Yes, that will count as a TESU course. That's all you need and you should take it as the "last/final and only" course from TESU, don't get that confused with a TECEP (TECEPS are exams for credit, you get tested and that's it, no classes). I would apply for TESU, get everything transferred in and then take the Capstone (you'll be enrolled when you take the capstone), you're done.

[kalyway]

I am planning on transferring my transcripts into TESU by the beginning of October. I will be taking a large amount of Shmoop courses in order to finish my BALS degree. If I transfer in my courses and have everything I need then "enroll" in the Capstone before the deadline would that count as a TECEP course?

Yes, that will count as a TESU course. That's all you need and you should take it as the "last/final and only" course from TESU, don't get that confused with a TECEP (TECEPS are exams for credit, you get tested and that's it, no classes). I would apply for TESU, get everything transferred in and then take the Capstone (you'll be enrolled when you take the capstone), you're done.

Oh man! That is really exciting to hear!!! I am currently doing Shmoop and have done 5 classes the past week and a half. Gonna try to get all of them done by Oct/Nov then transfer my credit, take the capstone, and graduate. I'm so excited. It feels so close. Just gotta worry about paying off my past school debt and that darn residency and graduation fee by December

[rlw74]

kalyway....I would go ahead and register for that capstone asap if you are that close. I think you can sign up for the October term which runs OCT/NOV/DEC. Don't wait to be done with everything. It will take TESU about a week or two to accept you as a student. It will taken them 4-6 weeks to review all your transcripts (after they get them!). Then maybe another week if changes have to be made to your evaluation such as moving classes around. You could be sitting around for a few months waiting for he "go ahead" from them just to start that capstone. Instead, apply to TESU; get enrolled for October or November capstone; finish up those ace credits; get your transcripts sent over. I waited until everything was "done" before I enrolled. I finished 40+ credits in 12 weeks and then had to sit around for another 3 months going through a very long, very boring capstone course. I wish I had enrolled concurrently. You will be looking at March graduation no matter how you work it so don't feel you need to kill yourself, just don't wait on TESU. They will be the slowest part of this process.

***BTW, it might be helpful to take one month of study.com (if you haven't already done so) just to get the discount on the capstone tuition and residency waiver fee.

[BigDaddy1]

Ok--new to this forum! I have a few questions--I am looking to start BSBA possibly through TESU. I have just 18 hours of undergraduate classes at a local community college. There is so much info on this forum that I am struggling to understand it all. We had a telephone conference with Lumerit (previously College plus) today. But my gut feeling is that I can do this much cheaper on my own. Based on some info I had in an online chat with TESU, 16 hours credit hours must be through them. Is this true, or is the Capstone the only *Required* course through them? Also, one thread on the forum states that study.com is losing ability to provide upper level courses with TESU. What alternatives do I have? Would enrolling with TESU now fix that? Finally, if I have ~10-15 hours per week to dedicate to degree prep, what is a reasonable timeline for finishing a bachelor's degree?
Thanks in advance for your help!

[dfrecore]

Ok--new to this forum!  I have a few questions--I am looking to start BSBA possibly through TESU.  I have just 18 hours of undergraduate classes at a local community college.  There is so much info on this forum that I am struggling to understand it all.  We had a telephone conference with Lumerit (previously College plus) today.  But my gut feeling is that I can do this much cheaper on my own.  Based on some info I had in an online chat with TESU, 16 hours credit hours must be through them.  Is this true, or is the Capstone the only *Required* course through them?  Also, one thread on the forum states that study.com is losing ability to provide upper level courses with TESU.  What alternatives do I have?  Would enrolling with TESU now fix that?  Finally, if I have ~10-15 hours per week to dedicate to degree prep, what is a reasonable timeline for finishing a bachelor's degree?
Thanks in advance for your help!

Please, whatever you do, do NOT use Lumerit!  You can plan out your own degree for FREE with help from us on this forum.

I will include a degree plan for the BSBA at TESU.

Regarding Study.com, this is not a major issue with the BSBA, as you only need 4 courses (12cr) of UL in the Area of Study - and those are available in multiple ways.  So no worries there.

Regarding residency, you can take 16cr through TESU, or pay a residency waiver fee of $2500 (or $1800 if you get the Study.com affiliate membership and use it by 6/30/18).  This is a lot cheaper than taking 16cr at TESU.

You can finish a degree at TESU within a year easily, or possibly even 6 months - it just depends on how quickly you can test out/take courses.

[will1975]

Ok--new to this forum!  I have a few questions--I am looking to start BSBA possibly through TESU.  I have just 18 hours of undergraduate classes at a local community college.  There is so much info on this forum that I am struggling to understand it all.  We had a telephone conference with Lumerit (previously College plus) today.  But my gut feeling is that I can do this much cheaper on my own.  Based on some info I had in an online chat with TESU, 16 hours credit hours must be through them.  Is this true, or is the Capstone the only *Required* course through them?  Also, one thread on the forum states that study.com is losing ability to provide upper level courses with TESU.  What alternatives do I have?  Would enrolling with TESU now fix that?  Finally, if I have ~10-15 hours per week to dedicate to degree prep, what is a reasonable timeline for finishing a bachelor's degree?
Thanks in advance for your help!

The 16 credit hours they were referring to is to satisfy the residency requirement.  This is pretty generous compared to most colleges that require you to take the majority of your courses through them.  With tesu you can go one step beyond this though and pay the "residency waiver" what this does is allow you to transfer all of your credit from outside sources and the only class you need to take with them is the capstone. The waiver is 1800 with study.com affiliation or i think 2500 normally. The affiliation will also let you waive the cornerstone course and a discounted tuition rate to take the capstone. Most of the courses effected by the upper level/lower level issue are for liberal arts majors.  Study.com is reworking some courses to have them evaluated by ace as upper level instead of lower level.  On top of this even if a course is recommended for LL tesu can still choose to continue accepting it as UL coursework. There are other options for the business courses that could be affected such as davar or teceps so I wouldn't fret over it too much.  Its hard to say how long it will take you but I can say I just started about 6 weeks ago and I have completed 23 credits so far while still working a full time job.  The straighterline tests are all open book except for the final and can be completed pretty quickly.  I can remember wondering if I should put an application in or not and worrying about what tecep i would take to be able to enroll before my first year ran out. Now it looks like I should be able to take my capstone no problem to satisfy the requirement and graduate shortly thereafter.  Your personal mileage will vary depending on your reading retention and how well you are at testing.  If you haven't taken an ethics course there is the free one from the institutes you can get out of the way.

edit since dfrecore was faster than me... I would like to add since it might be of interest to others, I was wondering if I could pay my residency waiver before the deadline in june in order to get the cheaper price and then graduate sometime after that. I was told no but they did say not to think of that date as a deadline it just means that they will revisit it again at that time similar to the way the dates in the ace registry are renewed every so often. The prices could change as with anything but they will still have the affiliate thing after june.