Age waiver denied from TESU. Policy changed Jan. 1, 2018

[cookderosa]

If this is the case why be in a hurry? Maybe it's better for her to learn that in life you have to mix the "hafta" and "wanna" all the time. Maybe she could use the time waiting to get into TESU (or whatever) to pursue some of her wannas.

fork, I'm not answering for the op, but I will add that when you are DIYing your degree, it is important to lock in a catalog so the requirements don't change. As an example, if you're planning your courses and exams - but TESU changes their gen eds this summer, that's a big deal. Not a big deal when you have a few credits, but a VERY big deal when you have 90+ credits. So, there is a sense of urgency to get credits counted and applied as soon as possible. (that doesn't mean as soon as possible at a certain age, rather at a stage of credit-earning) In the case of this post, they've already been pushed back multiple times. It's fair to be nervous in this case.

This brings up a question for me that maybe you can advise on cookderosa-what would you do with a 15yo (almost 16) with 62 credits? It's more than a few credits, but certainly not 90+. On one hand, they are half way there, but on the other, they cannot apply for two more years. In reality they could finish before the 2 years are up. You are right that any changes in gen eds could be difficult, but probably not insurmountable. We have been pondering this since hearing about the age requirement change and are not sure if we should change course (ie. switch schools), continue on with TESU and hope that they don't change the age requirement again or ????

Since you asked my opinion, I am of the opinion that shortening k-12 isn't a good idea, but rather bringing the goalpost of a college degree closer is a great idea. So, if this were my son (and I have 4 sons, each has been/is/will be in the same situation as yours) I would construct a plan B. TESU, if they become hard-core on this issue, is not an option for your son. Without special exception, he's 5 years away from enrolling. When parents have a plan to finish so far ahead of a traditional age, I'm probably not the best person to give targeted advice since I haven't spent time in that pursuit with my boys. If, however, one of my sons told me they wanted to finish high school (stop homeschooling) at age 16 AND finish their degree at that time, I would be quite sad- because in our house that means its time to launch - and I like having influence over them for at least a year or two into their 20's.

Thank you for your opinions. We certainly have a lot to think about. We are worldschoolers so we travel extensively. The flexibility of the TESU program really worked for us. I would always tell fellow worldschoolers that there kids could still travel the world and go to college because we were doing it. Now, I'm not so sure. Shortening K-12 is also not my goal. However, I also see a a lot of value in not repeating coursework and moving the college goalpost closer. We are just finishing up gen ed's with my two (almost 16 and 17) and this change has thrown us for a loop. We decided to slow down our travels in order to utilize the dual enrollment program in our state for the next two years (maximum), but now our future is not as clear. I think I really need to explore COSC and EC and try and map out a new path, but it seems like a daunting task.

It is daunting for sure.
The catch 22 is that the ACE courses are perfect for homeschoolers who don't have easy access to AP courses (especially regarding cost and exam location) and CLEP works if you have your own curriculum....which is usually also daunting for parents. So, these benefits are perfect for homeschoolers, but the colleges that allow the most credit seem to target adults- which means that our 15,16, 17 year olds with tons of college credit don't have a ton of options for taking that credit somewhere. The big 3 are fine, but even if they were open enrollment, there are a lot of occupations that are not a good fit for those schools. I had high hopes for the Alternative Credit Project to bridge ACE credit into traditional colleges, but not so much.
You should try the Colorado Community College system as an option. I don't have degree plans or anything, but the entire state participated in the ACPE, which was a guaranteed transfer into Colorado University schools as a full and perfect transfer. I don't know what kind of ACE credit your teens have, but if any of it was part of ACPE, you can go back and have their ACE transcript updated showing both. Colorado also has distance learning. There are a lot of barriers in this path (ACE for teens).

[NHarr01]

fork, I'm not answering for the op, but I will add that when you are DIYing your degree, it is important to lock in a catalog so the requirements don't change. As an example, if you're planning your courses and exams - but TESU changes their gen eds this summer, that's a big deal. Not a big deal when you have a few credits, but a VERY big deal when you have 90+ credits. So, there is a sense of urgency to get credits counted and applied as soon as possible. (that doesn't mean as soon as possible at a certain age, rather at a stage of credit-earning) In the case of this post, they've already been pushed back multiple times. It's fair to be nervous in this case.
[/quote]

This brings up a question for me that maybe you can advise on cookderosa-what would you do with a 15yo (almost 16) with 62 credits? It's more than a few credits, but certainly not 90+. On one hand, they are half way there, but on the other, they cannot apply for two more years. In reality they could finish before the 2 years are up. You are right that any changes in gen eds could be difficult, but probably not insurmountable. We have been pondering this since hearing about the age requirement change and are not sure if we should change course (ie. switch schools), continue on with TESU and hope that they don't change the age requirement again or ????
[/quote]

Since you asked my opinion, I am of the opinion that shortening k-12 isn't a good idea, but rather bringing the goalpost of a college degree closer is a great idea. So, if this were my son (and I have 4 sons, each has been/is/will be in the same situation as yours) I would construct a plan B. TESU, if they become hard-core on this issue, is not an option for your son. Without special exception, he's 5 years away from enrolling. When parents have a plan to finish so far ahead of a traditional age, I'm probably not the best person to give targeted advice since I haven't spent time in that pursuit with my boys. If, however, one of my sons told me they wanted to finish high school (stop homeschooling) at age 16 AND finish their degree at that time, I would be quite sad- because in our house that means its time to launch - and I like having influence over them for at least a year or two into their 20's.
[/quote]

Thank you for your opinions. We certainly have a lot to think about. We are worldschoolers so we travel extensively. The flexibility of the TESU program really worked for us. I would always tell fellow worldschoolers that there kids could still travel the world and go to college because we were doing it. Now, I'm not so sure. Shortening K-12 is also not my goal. However, I also see a a lot of value in not repeating coursework and moving the college goalpost closer. We are just finishing up gen ed's with my two (almost 16 and 17) and this change has thrown us for a loop. We decided to slow down our travels in order to utilize the dual enrollment program in our state for the next two years (maximum), but now our future is not as clear. I think I really need to explore COSC and EC and try and map out a new path, but it seems like a daunting task.
[/quote]

It is daunting for sure.
The catch 22 is that the ACE courses are perfect for homeschoolers who don't have easy access to AP courses (especially regarding cost and exam location) and CLEP works if you have your own curriculum....which is usually also daunting for parents. So, these benefits are perfect for homeschoolers, but the colleges that allow the most credit seem to target adults- which means that our 15,16, 17 year olds with tons of college credit don't have a ton of options for taking that credit somewhere. The big 3 are fine, but even if they were open enrollment, there are a lot of occupations that are not a good fit for those schools. I had high hopes for the Alternative Credit Project to bridge ACE credit into traditional colleges, but not so much.
You should try the Colorado Community College system as an option. I don't have degree plans or anything, but the entire state participated in the ACPE, which was a guaranteed transfer into Colorado University schools as a full and perfect transfer. I don't know what kind of ACE credit your teens have, but if any of it was part of ACPE, you can go back and have their ACE transcript updated showing both. Colorado also has distance learning. There are a lot of barriers in this path (ACE for teens).
[/quote]

And just like that, my mind is blown again Thanks for the suggestion. I will begin looking into the Colorado Community College system and ACPE as well because we do have several ACE courses on the current transcripts (As well as B&M, CLEP/DSST, study.com, Straighterline, etc). If anyone else has info or experience going the Colorado Community College route please share it here or we could even start another thread. Let's try to help each other out as much as possible.

[eriehiker]

I might consider inverted college plans. Pick everything you might seriously take when of age and then avoid that. Then take all of the other stuff now. It would make a person incredibly well rounded and remove the time component completely.

[NHarr01]

I might consider inverted college plans. Pick everything you might seriously take when of age and then avoid that. Then take all of the other stuff now. It would make a person incredibly well rounded and remove the time component completely.

Yes, a shifting or even a 'slow down' is an option too. Realistically, we could take the full two years to complete the second half of their degrees. They may even need a slower pace as they move into more difficult material and we do have the availability of B&M classes through dual enrollment. The part of this type of plan that makes me nervous is that it relies on the Big 3 not making any drastic changes. TESU has already upped the age requirement and I don't know if the others will follow or not. I plan on calling TESU later this week to talk with them and get a better understanding of our options.

[dfrecore]

I might consider inverted college plans.  Pick everything you might seriously take when of age and then avoid that.  Then take all of the other stuff now.  It would make a person incredibly well rounded and remove the time component completely.

Yes, a shifting or even a 'slow down' is an option too.  Realistically, we could take the full two years to complete the second half of their degrees.  They may even need a slower pace as they move into more difficult material and we do have the availability of B&M classes through dual enrollment.  The part of this type of plan that makes me nervous is that it relies on the Big 3 not making any drastic changes.  TESU has already upped the age requirement and I don't know if the others will follow or not.  I plan on calling TESU later this week to talk with them and get a better understanding of our options.

I think that if I was in this spot (and we did homeschool up until recently), I would encourage my kids to not be in any kind of rush to grow up.  If the degree situation at the Big 3 changes, then we will have plans B, C & D to work on.

I personally would not encourage someone so young to be in a rush to "get the degree out of the way" because I don't really subscribe to that line of thinking.  Rather, I think teens/early 20's is a great time to really explore and figure out what you want to do.  I'm ok with my kids living at home during that time, and letting them spread their wings a bit, especially if they don't know what they want to do or where they want to work when they're 18.  I have 1 that has no clue, and 1 that already knows kind of what he wants to do (USNA & become a pilot).  So I'm trying to find ways to encourage him especially to pursue those things that interest him, like becoming a pilot through Civil Air Patrol and do some leadership stuff.  For my other one, we spend a lot of time looking at careers as we come upon them, all without actually doing any college courses for now (although she's open to it in the fall).

[NHarr01]

This brings up a question for me that maybe you can advise on cookderosa-what would you do with a 15yo (almost 16) with 62 credits?  It's more than a few credits, but certainly not 90+. On one hand, they are half way there, but on the other, they cannot apply for two more years.  In reality they could finish before the 2 years are up.  You are right that any changes in gen eds could be difficult, but probably not insurmountable.  We have been pondering this since hearing about the age requirement change and are not sure if we should change course (ie. switch schools), continue on with TESU and hope that they don't change the age requirement again or ????

I personally would switch schools, to COSC.

dfrecore can I ask why you suggested COSC vs EC? I have no experience with either and I am trying to understand which one may be the easiest to switch to and why. I've also been looking up what credits they already have and if/where those may apply to COSC, but I feel like I'm making mistakes

[cookderosa]

My 19 year old just applied to COSC last night, I'm waiting to see if he gets any pushback on his age.

[NHarr01]

My 19 year old just applied to COSC last night, I'm waiting to see if he gets any pushback on his age.

Fingers crossed for your son! Please let us know how it goes. I think we are going to end up going through COSC as well-if I can figure it all out

[vetvso]

I am currently doing the same thing with both of my boys. I will apply for the waver for TESC but we assume they will be denied. We are applying to COSC/Excelsior and they will be taking LAB based classes via FSU Panama.

[Murdockb]

My 19 year old just applied to COSC last night, I'm waiting to see if he gets any pushback on his age.

Why would he receive pushback as a 19 year old? This is the policy from their website:


Admission is open to any person 16 years or older, regardless of level of formal education, who has earned nine acceptable college-level credits.

 I’m interested because my 18 year old was going to apply at TESU but is now considering COSC in light of current events. Anyway, I hope your son goes with COSC and the you can become the resident expert.