Mind reviewing my degree plan? TESU BSBA Acct/CIS

[Kones]

Hello! Using the New Year momentum to hopefully make 2023 the year I finally finish this degree. My answers below may look familiar, I just posted a question a week or so ago but didn't include a degree plan. Now that I've got one set up, wondering if anyone wouldn't mind reviewing it for me? One specific question I have is if Sophia's Intro to IT duplicates TECEP CIS 107 Computer Concepts and Applications? I currently have both on my plan, not sure if that's an issue. I need some TECEP's for RA credit.

Your Location: NJ
Your Age: 40's
What kind of degree do you want?: BSBA with Accounting + CIS concentration
Current Regional Accredited Credits: None. Went to the now defunct Katharine Gibbs back in the day, but they lost accreditation years ago
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: 30 for now. Currently have a Sophia subscription and racking up as many as I can

Sophia (24):

• Intro to Psychology (the old one)
  
• US history I
  
• US History II
  
• Intro to Business
  
• Financial Accounting
  
• Art History I
  
• Intro to Information Technology
  
• Human Biology
  

Saylor (6): 

• Principles of Marketing
  
• Intro to Business Law and Ethics 
  

Any certifications or military experience? No
Budget: I'm okay with whatever it takes, within "degreeforum" reasonability
Commitments: Full time job working from home, husband, kid and I volunteer a couple times a week
Dedicated time to study: .I would say 2-3 hours per night on weeknights and an average of 5 or so hours on the weekends. So, maybe 20 hours per week?
Timeline: Would love to finish by the end of the year, but I think that's pushing it - I have a lot of classes to take and many are not easy ones. 18 months would be amazing
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: I do get tuition reimbursement, the standard federal max with stipulations for remaining employed with the company and obtaining certain grades. I may not bother using it since only actual graded courses are eligible. My plan going in is to just pay my own way, and see if I change my mind

[dfrecore]

I would consider switching to UMPI's BABA in Accounting, and taking several terms to complete your courses (utilize your tuition reimbursement, and not have to go ham on the coursework if you don't want to). You need far fewer Sophia courses, so it will cost you less OOP, and then 2, 3 or even 4 terms at UMPI.

[Kones]

I would consider switching to UMPI's BABA in Accounting, and taking several terms to complete your courses (utilize your tuition reimbursement, and not have to go ham on the coursework if you don't want to).  You need far fewer Sophia courses, so it will cost you less OOP, and then 2, 3 or even 4 terms at UMPI.

Thanks for the input! Is there any reason aside from cost that you would recommend UMPI over TESU? While I'm hoping this time is different, it's not the first time I've attempted to get my degree, and in the past have lost momentum, so the "life happens" aspect has me a bit worried.

[dfrecore]

I would consider switching to UMPI's BABA in Accounting, and taking several terms to complete your courses (utilize your tuition reimbursement, and not have to go ham on the coursework if you don't want to).  You need far fewer Sophia courses, so it will cost you less OOP, and then 2, 3 or even 4 terms at UMPI.

Thanks for the input! Is there any reason aside from cost that you would recommend UMPI over TESU? While I'm hoping this time is different, it's not the first time I've attempted to get my degree, and in the past have lost momentum, so the "life happens" aspect has me a bit worried.

If you're getting a degree in accounting, it's kind of nice to have 30 graded credits available - leaves options open for further studies such as CPA license later.  Plus, I figured you'd want to take advantage of the tuition reimbursement you have.

But if you just want to go with TESU, you can definitely do that.  It will just cost you a lot more.  But that's fine too.

[freeloader]

If you like the TESU degree and since you have the tuition reimbursement, why not load up on ACE/third party credit sources and in the short term and take a flat-rate TESU term in late 2023 and another in 2024?  You could get plenty of graded credits, wouldn’t have to pay the waiver out of pocket, and could definitely graduate by mid 2024.

Dfrecore, why would the TESU degree have to cost a lot more than UMPI?  

OP could take 3 sessions per year at UMPI and have that paid for with the tuition reimbursement or 4 sessions and pay $350 out of pocket. They could start in Summer 2023 and as long as they graduated by summer 2024, it would cost them, at most, $700 for the UMPI degree. 

With the tuition reimbursement from work, OP would have to pay the cost of the ACE/3rd party credit providers. Likely would be more than $350 or even $700, but not thousands more or anything.  But most people end up loading up on ACE credits before UMPI, so that would seem to be largely a wash.

[dfrecore]

If you like the TESU degree and since you have the tuition reimbursement, why not load up on ACE/third party credit sources and in the short term and take a flat-rate TESU term in late 2023 and another in 2024?  You could get plenty of graded credits, wouldn’t have to pay the waiver out of pocket, and could definitely graduate by mid 2024.

Dfrecore, why would the TESU degree have to cost a lot more than UMPI?  

OP could take 3 sessions per year at UMPI and have that paid for with the tuition reimbursement or 4 sessions and pay $350 out of pocket. They could start in Summer 2023 and as long as they graduated by summer 2024, it would cost them, at most, $700 for the UMPI degree. 

With the tuition reimbursement from work, OP would have to pay the cost of the ACE/3rd party credit providers. Likely would be more than $350 or even $700, but not thousands more or anything.  But most people end up loading up on ACE credits before UMPI, so that would seem to be largely a wash.

I was thinking that 2 heavy 12-week terms would be a lot, OP has stated that she thinks "life will happen" during this time; so that would mean that she would need to get 24cr of RA + 60cr of ACE, and 15cr of UL for each AoS (so 30cr of UL total); this is going to be 5 months of Study.com for $1000, or even more if she wants to use Coopersmith or something like that.  RA credit is going to cost more than ACE.  Then there's the Residency Waiver of $3200, which will go up next July.

I just think that TESU is going to cost more, and take far longer, than UMPI.  Yes, probably thousands more OOP.

2 months at Sophia to complete 60cr ($200), and then jumping straight into UMPI for a term seems like a better option.  I think it will go much faster, and the sooner you jump in, the sooner you finish the degree.

[Kones]

I appreciate the advice! I've been planning (and replanning, and replanning....) a TESU degree for years. Well before UMPI was on the scene, so to be honest, they just haven't been as heavily on my radar. Definitely an option to consider. I'll need to do some more homework on them.

If I were to ultimately stick with TESU, what about using my tuition reimbursement to take one easy TESU course per term while also racking up ACE credits? I feel like the workload for classes like Intro to Critical Reasoning or Computer Concepts and Applications would be pretty easy to fit into my schedule and allow me to get some graded RA credits without having to pay for them. If I did one per term for the next year, I'd get enough credits to not have to pay the waiver, while also not having to squeeze them all into one term (scary!!). Is that how that works? Is there a time limit for the 16 residency credits?

[davewill]

I appreciate the advice! I've been planning (and replanning, and replanning....) a TESU degree for years. Well before UMPI was on the scene, so to be honest, they just haven't been as heavily on my radar. Definitely an option to consider. I'll need to do some more homework on them.

If I were to ultimately stick with TESU, what about using my tuition reimbursement to take one easy TESU course per term while also racking up ACE credits? I feel like the workload for classes like Intro to Critical Reasoning or Computer Concepts and Applications would be pretty easy to fit into my schedule and allow me to get some graded RA credits without having to pay for them. If I did one per term for the next year, I'd get enough credits to not have to pay the waiver, while also not having to squeeze them all into one term (scary!!). Is that how that works? Is there a time limit for the 16 residency credits?

That should work fine. If you want to be able to go slower like that, TESU is the best choice. UMPI is only cheaper if you're able to cram the required credits into two or three terms. It doesn't sound like that's your bag. Do keep in mind that with 12 week terms, taking one every term will have you in up to three overlapping classes at the same time. Truly taking one course at a time only gets you through 4 in a year. You probably can afford to overlap some of them, but you probably want to be taking (or at least finishing) the capstone all by itself.

[Kones]

I appreciate the advice! I've been planning (and replanning, and replanning....) a TESU degree for years. Well before UMPI was on the scene, so to be honest, they just haven't been as heavily on my radar. Definitely an option to consider. I'll need to do some more homework on them.

If I were to ultimately stick with TESU, what about using my tuition reimbursement to take one easy TESU course per term while also racking up ACE credits? I feel like the workload for classes like Intro to Critical Reasoning or Computer Concepts and Applications would be pretty easy to fit into my schedule and allow me to get some graded RA credits without having to pay for them. If I did one per term for the next year, I'd get enough credits to not have to pay the waiver, while also not having to squeeze them all into one term (scary!!). Is that how that works? Is there a time limit for the 16 residency credits?

That should work fine. If you want to be able to go slower like that, TESU is the best choice. UMPI is only cheaper if you're able to cram the required credits into two or three terms. It doesn't sound like that's your bag. Do keep in mind that with 12 week terms, taking one every term will have you in up to three overlapping classes at the same time. Truly taking one course at a time only gets you through 4 in a year. You probably can afford to overlap some of them, but you probably want to be taking (or at least finishing) the capstone all by itself.

Great point, thank you!! I don't know why I had in my head that the terms were only 8 weeks long.

[rachel83az]

Also keep in mind that if "life happens" during a course at TESU, you can pay a course extension fee to give you more time so that you don't have to fail the class. It's not the cheapest option, but it is there if you need it.