Help me with a degree path.

[mgates152]

Long time listener, first time caller . I was hoping someone could provide some guidance to the fastest path to a degree, possibly in Criminal Justice or Liberal Arts. List of courses below, I also have a bunch of FEMA EMI Courses. Open to suggestions. Also, Should I take any additional Sophia courses?

Thanks so much

College Courses
Intro to CJ -CJ 001- 3cr
Crim Law- CJ 002- 3cr
English 1- ENG001- 3cr
Public Speaking- SPCH001- 3cr
Jazz- MUS007- 3cr
Debate- SPCH006- 3cr
Computer Info- CIS101- 3cr
Criminal Procedure- ADMJ122- 3cr
Sex and Gender- ANTH150- 3cr
LGBT Intern- LGBT190- 3cr
Hate Crimes- CJT302- .5cr
Recert- CJT 297- 5cr
Campus LE- CJT302- 1 cr
Academy- CJT200- 18cr
Field Training officer- PTSC1571- 1cr

Saylor
Chemistry SAYA-0028

Sophia
Algebra CA1001
Mircoeconomics ECON1002
English 2 ENG1002
Statistics STAT1001
Sociology SOC1001
History  HIST1001
Greek Philosopy PHIL1001
Ethics PHIL1002
Psychology PSY1001

[ss20ts]

Have you looked into where you want to complete your degree? FEMA classes aren't accepted at most schools. Excelsior accepts them but you have to pay some like $88 per credit and file paperwork. It's not worth the hassle especially since they don't fit into most degree plans.

https://online.umpi.edu/programs/ba-criminal-justice.aspx

https://www.tesu.edu/heavin/ba/criminal-justice

https://www.charteroak.edu/criminal-justice/

At both TESU and COSC you're going to need 24+ RA credits. At UMPI this isn't required because you must complete a minimum of 30 credits at UMPI.

[mgates152]

Was thinking Excelsior or UMPI. But open to suggestions.

[rachel83az]

The first group are not FEMA credits, right? Those look like classes from an actual CC somewhere. If so, you don't have to worry about the credit requirements at TESU or COSC. Here's a not fully-tested path to Criminal Justice at TESU: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...stice_Plan

UMPI's Criminal Justice degree would probably be faster/cheaper, though, depending on how much time you actually have to devote to study.

Whether or not you should take any further Sophia courses depends upon where you plan to go.

[dfrecore]

Are all of your courses 3cr? Are the 300-level courses considered UL?

Have you looked at any schools to see where you'd like to go? TESU, EC, COSC all have CJ degrees, as well as BALS degrees. Are you interested in a competency-based degree? All of the following have CJ degrees: UMPI's YourPace, Walden's Tempo Learning, and APU's Momentum (you need an AA to apply).

We need more info before we can help you.

[ss20ts]

Was thinking Excelsior or UMPI. But open to suggestions.

If you decide on UMPI, here's what I would recommend taking at Sophia:
Environmental Science
US History I & II

I do not recommend taking any of Sophia's English courses. UMPI's are much easier, far less writing, and faster. 

Every other course you need, UMPI offers. So I wouldn't waste time hunting around for them. You'll need to complete a minimum of 30 credits at UMPI and complete the GEC (their gen eds), a specific number of UL courses in and out of the major, and the major requirements. I'd take those 3 courses and get them done ASAP then apply to UMPI. The next term begins March 15th. You need to apply by March 1st and get all of your transcripts sent in. There's a new term every 8 weeks. Feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions about UMPI.

[mgates152]

Are all of your courses 3cr?  Are the 300-level courses considered UL?

Have you looked at any schools to see where you'd like to go?  TESU, EC, COSC all have CJ degrees, as well as BALS degrees.  Are you interested in a competency-based degree?  All of the following have CJ degrees: UMPI's YourPace, Walden's Tempo Learning, and APU's Momentum (you need an AA to apply).

We need more info before we can help you.

Updated the original post with the credit allotment. Was looking at excelsior or UMPI, but open based upon any new information received. Thank you all for your patience with me. Total Rookie here.

[dfrecore]

Are all of your courses 3cr?  Are the 300-level courses considered UL?

Have you looked at any schools to see where you'd like to go?  TESU, EC, COSC all have CJ degrees, as well as BALS degrees.  Are you interested in a competency-based degree?  All of the following have CJ degrees: UMPI's YourPace, Walden's Tempo Learning, and APU's Momentum (you need an AA to apply).

We need more info before we can help you.

Updated the original post with the credit allotment. Was looking at excelsior or UMPI, but open based upon any new information received. Thank you all for your patience with me. Total Rookie here.

Honestly, I'd do some more research on this forum. Spend a month reading, reading, reading.  Every post that comes in, read it all the way from the beginning  You'll be amazed at what you learn.

Once you do that, you'll have a better idea of what you want to do - there's a big difference between competency-based and the Big 3, and you'll want to know that going in.  Pros and cons to everything.

For all of the Big 3, you have enough RA (assumption) credits to fulfill any requirements.

At TESU, a CJ degree will be too expensive, unless you are willing to take 16cr in a single semester, most of them UL CJ courses, which I think would be on the difficult side.  But  BALS would be easy enough to get.  You have most of your GE's and Free Electives already, just need a 4 more GE's (all can be done via Sophia) plus 5 UL courses which you could get from Study.com or a few other places.  You'd need Civic Engagement (can be done alternatively but not via Sophia).

At EC, a CJ degree will be too expensive.  But a BSLA would be easy enough to get.  You have most of your GE's and Free Electives already, just need 2 more GE's from Sophia and then 8 UL courses which you could get from Study.com or a few other places.  2 from EC would be good too (only $550 extra for TWO UL courses).  This will be cheaper than TESU, but probably more work with the UL's.  Just depends on if you have more time or money.

At COSC, a CJ degree will be too expensive, but a BSLS would be easy to get.  You have most GE's, just need a lab science and non-US History/Cultures (Religion will take care of that).  The main issue is that COSC requires 2 separate concentrations (or 3) and you don't have any UL CJ courses, and there aren't any available via Study.com, so that leaves you creating a concentration from 

At UMPI, I think it's agreed that you can take all of the Sophia courses and you'll kind of max out on what you can bring in.  But since you have so many RA credits already, I probably wouldn't do that - I'd apply and then come back here and see if there's anything that would be easier to do via Sophia than UMPI.  Otherwise you just get everything else done at UMPI.