A bachelors plan for my son

[jb111]

Good evening.  My son was taking classes at the local community college.  He did OK but had issues: 1) Finishing high school during covid (and tragic loss of his best friend) has messed up his confidence around people.  So he only wants to take online classes.  2) The community college has been a mess (bad counselors/instructors and frequent changes in their programs).
Is there a relatively simple path he could take to get a Bachelors?  I did a BALS @TESU back in 2019.  Study.com was easy and took care of my needs.  My son would be fine with liberal studies or possibly history or some kind of life sciences.  He does not like computer and foreign language classes.  What are the options nowadays?  We're in Virginia - he will likely work part-time.  Thanks
Note: He currently qualifies for some financial aid so that may factor in for cost

[bjcheung77]

@jb111, A bit more info would be best, if you follow the template here, we can advise once we know more about his scenario... Link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works - Essentially, I would recommend finishing off his Associates at the community college if at all possible, as they're "local". If not, transfer all the credits to Pierpont BOG AAS if he is of age and hits the requirements. Then I would work on deciding on a Bachelors degree, such as Excelsior BSLA or the TESU BALS, and if he can get past that Language course from Sophia.org - he may want a BLS at UMPI...

[jb111]

@jb111, A bit more info would be best, if you follow the template here, we can advise once we know more about his scenario... Link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works - Essentially, I would recommend finishing off his Associates at the community college if at all possible, as they're "local".  If not, transfer all the credits to Pierpont BOG AAS if he is of age and hits the requirements.  Then I would work on deciding on a Bachelors degree, such as Excelsior BSLA or the TESU BALS, and if he can get past that Language course from Sophia.org - he may want a BLS at UMPI...

No problem BJ.
Your Location: Virginia
Your Age: 21 in November
What kind of degree do you want?: BALS/BLS- he has some interest in (from most to least interest) history, life sciences, music and business.
Current Regional Accredited Credits (community college): Only finished 2 required English, 2 required history, 1 health and 2 music electives (21-24 credits all tolled)
Language skills - did take a year of Spanish in high school (but shy)
Dedication level (while working part time) 10-15 hours a week.  
Funds - we have at least 5K to throw at the degree.  He qualifies for financial aid
Timeframe - 3 years (then dad kicks everyone out)
Kryptonite - complexity.  Things need to be simple/defined

[rachel83az]

Since he's 20+ and has an interest in History, what about a BA in History & Political Science from UMPI? That would probably be the simplest way to complete a degree, provided he either already knows Spanish well enough to get at least 6 credits on ACTFL exams or is willing to do Spanish 101 & Spanish 102 from Study.com.

If he doesn't want to do 6 credits of foreign language, getting 3 credits of a foreign language and then pursuing any other UMPI degree would probably be best as far as lack of complexity and low cost is concerned.

[nomaduser]

Ask your son to:

1. Take the max number of AP exam credits
2. Take the max number of CLEP exam credits

Usually, universities will take max 60 credits from the two exams. The two exams should suffice all liberal arts core requirements.

3. Take one year of online community college credits that are transferable toward his degree of choice.

4. Transfer max 90 credits and go to ASU or Penn State. Graduate within 1 year.

Then he can become a top state university graduate for a very low price within 1 year.

This is EXACTLY what I would do if I could go back in time.

I paid over $100k and wasted 4 years, never graduated. Now I paid another $30k to finally graduate this Fall.
I regret every decision I made at brick & mortar universities.

[rachel83az]

Ask your son to:

1. Take max number of AP exam credits
2. Take max number of CLEP exam credits

Usually, universities will take max 60 credits from the two exams. The two exams should suffice all liberal arts core requirements.

3. Take one year of online community college credits that are transferable toward his degree of choice.

4. Transfer max 90 credits and go to ASU or Penn State. Graduate within 1 year.

Then he can become a top state university graduate for a very low price.

This is EXACTLY what I would do if I could go back in time.

With the son already being 21, I don't think he can do AP exams. It's also quite a bit more complicated to follow the whole 'plan' (and more expensive) than just going to UMPI.

[nomaduser]

UMPI is a no name school. Why do you recommend that? unless you're on an extreme budget, I wouldn't recommend UMPI or Excelsior.

I recommend:

1. Take max 60 CLEP exam credits
2. Take 30 online community college credits
3. Transfer the 90 credits to ASU, finish the degree in 1 year.

It costs 1 year worth of tuition fee plus exam fees plus online community college tuition.
But he can be a graduate at ASU. That'll be much more helpful for job search.

[rachel83az]

UMPI is a no name school.

Literally nobody cares where you get your BALS/BLS, which is what the first request was for. It's a check-the-box degree that does nothing special for you, career-wise. There is no good reason to go into debt for that.

Why do you even recommend that? unless you're on extreme budget, I wouldn't recommend UMPI or Excelsior.

Because this:

Funds - we have at least 5K to throw at the degree.  He qualifies for financial aid

Qualifying for financial aid = cheap degree. There is no good reason to go $30k+ into debt for a degree that won't do that much to help your career goals. Outside of a handful of schools, literally nobody cares where your degree came from. Unless you have specific career ambitions, which it sounds like the son does not, it's ridiculous to suggest an expensive degree. I'm glad it's worked out for you, but I think that most people who qualify for financial aid would rather avoid being in debt for the next 10-20 years.

---

BTW, it's turned around now, but when I was growing up, ASU was a "party school". If you're going to avoid "no-name" schools, you shouldn't recommend ASU either. If hiring managers outside of Arizona even think of ASU as anything beyond a no-name state school, they're of an age to remember ASU's party school status and may avoid hiring ASU grads as a result. Sure, there are some fields where ASU is well-known now, but otherwise ASU is just as no-name for a BALS as any other school.

Does this mean I think ASU is a bad school? No. Well, yes, if you want a generic degree.

If you can't go to a big-name school like Harvard, Yale, etc. for a degree, it doesn't matter where your degree comes from, as long as it's not from a school with a bad reputation. So why spend money you don't have on a degree that won't enhance your job prospects that much?

[jb111]

I appreciate the contrasting ideas (helps us hone in). 
For him, university name does not matter (though Excelsior sounds odd).  This is a kid that has no idea what he wants to do (and I keep telling him that's fine for now).  In my eyes, the degree grows his brain and exposes him to different interests.  His Spanish is weak so guessing he'd be more inclined to do an asynchronous scenario (no other students that hear him).  At this point, I'm just happy he's willing to continue.  Heck, trade school, get a job where he can learn something - as long as he is moving forward.
May I ask what UMPI has over say TESU or COSC?
Note: He's a C+ / B- student (though I saw better grades in early high school)

[nomaduser]

"party school" is nothing but a joke.
ASU graduates are employed by top companies like Intel, Google, Yahoo, etc.

Obviously ASU degree worth much more than UMPI degree.
And it's more well-known among top employers.