Blended degree

[sebanderson]

Ultimately, my goal is to teach University as a Foreign Expert in Shenzhen, China. Up until 2018, there were no requirements for foreign teachers working in China, and many foreigners taught classes despite having no college experience— unfortunately, those days are over. Now you have to have at least a bachelor's degree to get a required visa, and the best opportunities go to those with a master's or PhD.

I have no degree, and only some college credit, so I'm essentially starting from scratch. 

I'm also interested in getting a blended degree, as I think pedigree is important, and I can probably afford to take some on-campus classes. That means no Big 3 or Western Governors, unless I can transfer those credits to a brick-and-mortar school.

My research eventually led me to the MicroMasters in Data, Economics, and Development Policy from edX. 

Foreign Experts in STEM and economics are highly sought after in China, so having this degree would automatically give me an edge over in competition. However, in order for this to work, I would eventually need to be accepted into the master's program at MIT. Otherwise, as far as China is concerned, the certificate is a useless piece of paper. I spoke to a TA for this course, and he told me that it's "unlikely but not impossible" to get the master's degree without any prior college experience.

I need to get a blended bachelor's degree first. I'm looking for a blended degree in STEM or economics, or perhaps education, from a respectable University. I don't mind doing some on-campus classes, but I should be able to test out of as many of them as possible. 

In the MIT example above, over half of the degree is finished before enrolling. I'm looking for something like that, but for undergrad. Thanks.

[sanantone]

There are hundreds of brick and mortar schools that offer 100% online programs. Whether you decide to take some courses on campus makes no difference on your transcript.

[sebanderson]

There are hundreds of brick and mortar schools that offer 100% online programs. Whether you decide to take some courses on campus makes no difference on your transcript.

Right, but I'm interested in an accelerated bachelor's degree in STEM from a prestigious school, and the fastest method I've found seems to be taking CLEP and other exams, then transferring those for college credit. Just like I can transfer the edX exams to MIT if I'm accepted.

[lacussucceed]

You need to get the credit transfer policies of those universities.

[sanantone]

Each school has a different CLEP, DSST, and ACE/NCCRS policy. The most prestigious schools usually don't accept alternative sources of credit other than AP exams and IB diplomas. Hardly any of them offer online or blended undergraduate programs.

University of Pennsylvania and Havard Extension offer online, undergraduate programs for non-traditional students. For Harvard, you will have to travel to Massachusetts to take some classes. Harvard Extension doesn't have a competitive admissions process. I don't know how this would be viewed in other countries, but some people in the U.S. have the opinion that Harvard Extension is not as prestigious as the rest of the University.

Courses are offered at edX rather than credit-by-exam. You have to look at each Micromasters to see which schools accept it and for which degree programs.

[natshar]

I think the first step is you need to decide on a school (or schools) you would like to attend. Then you can work from there and see what their policies are and what kind of credit you would need (ACE, CLEP, etc.) it all depends on the school's policies.

Another idea is to take TECEPs and transfer those. TECEPs are like TESUs version of a CLEP and they range from $125 to $250 depending on the test I believe. But the beautiful thing about a TECEP is it shows as credit from a regionally accredited University. Not all colleges accept, CLEP, ACE, etc and many have limits, especially prestigious ones. But all colleges accept credit from a regionally accredited University.

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Also you said you have some credit? What do you have?

[sanantone]

I think the first step is you need to decide on a school (or schools) you would like to attend. Then you can work from there and see what their policies are and what kind of credit you would need (ACE, CLEP, etc.) it all depends on the school's policies.

Another idea is to take TECEPs and transfer those. TECEPs are like TESUs version of a CLEP and they range from $125 to $250 depending on the test I believe. But the beautiful thing about a TECEP is it shows as credit from a regionally accredited University. Not all colleges accept, CLEP, ACE, etc and many have limits, especially prestigious ones. But all colleges accept credit from a regionally accredited University.

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Also you said you have some credit? What do you have?

Just make sure that they accept pass/fail credits. CSU Global also offers these things called SSAs. You have to do more than just take one exam, but it's faster and cheaper than a course. The problem with those is that they are listed as non-resident credits on the CSU Global transcript. They're also pass/fail. Excelsior has Uexcels that are denoted with an "X" on the transcript, but I did have traditional schools accept the Uexcel I took. These are graded, but your grade is based on one exam.

[natshar]

I think the first step is you need to decide on a school (or schools) you would like to attend. Then you can work from there and see what their policies are and what kind of credit you would need (ACE, CLEP, etc.) it all depends on the school's policies.

Another idea is to take TECEPs and transfer those. TECEPs are like TESUs version of a CLEP and they range from $125 to $250 depending on the test I believe. But the beautiful thing about a TECEP is it shows as credit from a regionally accredited University. Not all colleges accept, CLEP, ACE, etc and many have limits, especially prestigious ones. But all colleges accept credit from a regionally accredited University.

---

Also you said you have some credit? What do you have?

Just make sure that they accept pass/fail credits. CSU Global also offers these things called SSAs. You have to do more than just take one exam, but it's faster and cheaper than a course. The problem with those is that they are listed as non-resident credits on the CSU Global transcript. They're also pass/fail. Excelsior has Uexcels that are denoted with an "X" on the transcript, but I did have traditional schools accept the Uexcel I took. These are graded, but your grade is based on one exam.

Yes definitely be sure they accept pass/fail credits and figure out what the limit is if they have one.

However, the thing about TECEPs (at least from what I've seen according to this forum) is they look just like real TESU credit besides the fact they are CR/NC. They don't count for the residency wavier, but they look the same besides the grade as other courses. Again this is what I've heard from here, so if I'm wrong correct me.

[dfrecore]

I'm not sure why you'd need a degree from a prestigious school to teach English in China? I also can't figure out why you need a "blended" degree at all? I guess if you want to go the traditional route, I'm not even sure why you're asking this forum. Instead, you should just apply to several schools, see what their policies are, and then take credits that will work at those schools. It's much easier to come here and say "I've been accepted to School XYZ and they take these CLEP exams, what should I take to satisfy my GE's there?" or something along those lines.

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

Ultimately, my goal is to teach University as a Foreign Expert in Shenzhen, China. Up until 2018, there were no requirements for foreign teachers working in China, and many foreigners taught classes despite having no college experience— unfortunately, those days are over. Now you have to have at least a bachelor's degree to get a required visa, and the best opportunities go to those with a master's or PhD.

...

Foreign Experts in STEM and economics are highly sought after in China, so having this degree would automatically give me an edge over in competition. However, in order for this to work, I would eventually need to be accepted into the master's program at MIT. Otherwise, as far as China is concerned, the certificate is a useless piece of paper. I spoke to a TA for this course, and he told me that it's "unlikely but not impossible" to get the master's degree without any prior college experience.

I need to get a blended bachelor's degree first. I'm looking for a blended degree in STEM or economics, or perhaps education, from a respectable University. I don't mind doing some on-campus classes, but I should be able to test out of as many of them as possible. 

Ni hao and hello. First, you are likely in the wrong forum, but I'll try to help out and see if we can figure that out for sure first.

I currently live in Beijing, working as an international university admissions counselor. For context, my students filter into those "prestigious" programs like the Ivies and Top 30 and maybe even the Billboard Hot 100; I know a lot more about their admission requirements and expectations than I do about the Big 3. Anyone else here would be able to advise you much more effectively if you go that route, which may or may not work for you. I'm posting as a guy who worked abroad all my adult life, and was even on the hiring committee for teaching staff here and there. I hope some of this advice may be useful for your specific context.

1. If you don't have a BA/BS right now, focus on that and don't be concerned about a MA/MS that is just a pipe dream. Get started on an undergraduate degree, get it, then get in a graduate program if you want. You could be hired in China with the undergrad degree then do distance learning for grad.

2. For the record, China has a surplus of underqualified teachers; it's estimated that around 2/3 of all of them are working here illegally. It's not so unfortunate that they want to tighten down like the rest of East Asia, and I wouldn't do it illegally, but hey, it is what it is. Either way, in addition to the BA/BS degree from ANY accredited institution, you also need to have two years' experience in your field. Have you been instructing, tutoring, and/or volunteering in some way? 

3. With the exception of hard-to-retain positions, university stints here would generally require a graduate-degree, and are often lower-paid than you might expect. Even teachers in Kindergarten would likely pull in more when total hours are added up, so keep that in mind as well. Within the education field, test prep or counseling is often more lucrative.

4. A Bachelor's degree should be your first priority, but you could set yourself apart with a quick TEFL/TESOL certificate if you want to be even tangentially involved in education. More aligned to your interests, however, is Hong Kong University's free University Teaching course that could also show some commitment: https://www.coursera.org/learn/university-teaching

5. A Master's degree is going to require any/a specific Bachelor's as a prerequisite.

6. Blended doesn't matter, but you could. Prestige won't matter for your undergrad degree, unless if you enter into counseling in the education field or maybe a place like Wall Street English, simply due to expectations from clients. I'd say just get any kind of degree--possibly through the Big 3 mentioned often on this forum if you want one quickly--then build up from there. You could even consider teaching abroad elsewhere first to build up experience, if required. If you have specific questions about your own personal context, feel free to ask.