TESU BS in HSEM

[willyca718]

Good evening,

I've been lurking on here for a long time.  I was formerly in the military and did some college courses in the early 2010s.  I have just been accepted to TESU and ready to work on finishing up my BS in Homeland Security and Emergency Management at TESU.  I currently work for Department of Homeland Security in the Law Enforcement side for the last 13 years.  All 60 of my credits were accepted to my BS in HSEM.  hoping to receive some advice and direction on how to achieve this degree as quickly and cheap as possible. Any insight or help would be super appreciated! Thanks!


BS HSEM (Earned: 24; Required: 45)

A. INTEL & PRAC SKILLS
ENC-101 (3 CR)
ENC-102 (3 CR) -Needed
COM-209- Public Speaking (3 CR)- Needed
MAT 121-  College Algebra (3 CR)-Needed
SOS-110-Information Literacy-needed

B. CIV & GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
SOS-101 Intro to Sociology (3 CR)
Ethics (3 CR)-Needed
POS-110-American Govt (3 CR)

C. KNOWLEDGE HUMAN CULTURES
AOJ 101-Intro to Police Theory (3 CR)
HIS 114-American History II (3 CR) needed
ART 101- Intro to Draw/Paint (3 CR)
ETH 124- PR Hispan Amersoc (3 CR)
ART 100- Intro to Art (3 CR)

D. SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE
COS 101-Intro to Computers (3 CR) needed
AST-101- Intro to Astronomy (3 CR)


2. Additional Gen Ed (if needed) (Earned: 4)
CJA 204-intro to Crim Just


3. Homeland Sec & Emer Mangt Area of Study (Earned: 1; Required: 39)

A. CULT Diversity (3 CR)
SOC-322 -Cultural Diversity in the US.-needed

B. CRITICL Thinking (3CR)
HLS-355 Criticial Thinking for Homeland Security-needed

C. Terrorism (3CR)
SOS-440 Terrorism-needed

D. Counterterrorism (3CR)
HLS-410 Counterterrorism: Constitutional and legislative Issues-needed

E. Prepare/Prevent (3CR)
HLS-420 Homeland Securityreparedness, Prevention and Deterrence-needed

F. Response/Recovery (3CR)
HLS-429 Protecting the Homeland: Response & Recovery-needed

G. Research Methods (3CR)
SOS-492 Research Methods in Social Sciences-needed

H. HSEM Capstone (Earned: 0; Required: 3)
*Needed: HLS-498 Through TESU (3 CR)

I. AOS Electives (Earned: 1 Required: 15)
First AID

Electives (Earned: 32 Required: 36)
Intro to Criminal Court System 
Foundations for Gen Ed
Secretarial Procedures I
Filing & Records Mgmt
Microcomputer Software Applns
Clerical Office Practice
General Navigation
Seamanship
Special Topics in Physical Ed
Personal Health
General Psychology 1
Drug Use and Abuse
*Needed: (4 CR)*

[rachel83az]

Does it have to be a BS in Homeland Security? Because that's a very expensive degree. Of all of the required AOS classes & AOS electives, I believe only SOS-492 Research Methods in Social Sciences can be taken elsewhere. Everything else needs to come from TESU. The gen eds and free electives can be completed at Sophia.org and/or Study.com as seen here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap

Since essentially nothing was accepted into your AOS, it'd be faster/easier/cheaper to choose literally any other degree listed on the wiki link above.

[allvia]

Do you get tuition assistance through your employer?  If so it could make this degree option far more affordable, although a little bit slower to obtain. As rachel83az asked - does it have to be 'this degree' or are you open to other options to 'get that needed bachelors' (check that box!) for career advancement? What is the order that is most important Budget, Ease or Speed - see: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid363958

[willyca718]

Does it have to be a BS in Homeland Security? Because that's a very expensive degree. Of all of the required AOS classes & AOS electives, I believe only SOS-492 Research Methods in Social Sciences can be taken elsewhere. Everything else needs to come from TESU. The gen eds and free electives can be completed at Sophia.org and/or Study.com as seen here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap

Since essentially nothing was accepted into your AOS, it'd be faster/easier/cheaper to choose literally any other degree listed on the wiki link above.

I'm considering changing to Criminal Justice because of the ease of getting the degree faster and also cheaper. I guess any degree works because I'm trying to check that box but I do like majoring the HSEM field. Thank you for the links, much appreciated!

---

Do you get tuition assistance through your employer?  If so it could make this degree option far more affordable, although a little bit slower to obtain. As rachel83az asked - does it have to be 'this degree' or are you open to other options to 'get that needed bachelors' (check that box!) for career advancement? What is the order that is most important Budget, Ease or Speed - see: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid363958

I do but I haven't signed up for it and I believe its  a annual limit for it. I have to do more research. I'm open to BA in CJ. My order is Ease, Speed and budget. I'm already a supervisor in my field I'm just trying to polish the resume so i can keep advancing upwards. Thank you for the reply!

[rachel83az]

Criminal Justice at TESU is also kind of expensive and difficult to complete. UMPI's CJ degree would be much faster/easier/cheaper to complete. You should be able to get most, if not all, of a degree from UMPI reimbursed. Except, perhaps, the Sophia credits you'd need. It should easily fall under the annual limit (which is usually around $4-5k, IIRC).

[allvia]

Criminal Justice at TESU is also kind of expensive and difficult to complete. UMPI's CJ degree would be much faster/easier/cheaper to complete. You should be able to get most, if not all, of a degree from UMPI reimbursed. Except, perhaps, the Sophia credits you'd need. It should easily fall under the annual limit (which is usually around $4-5k, IIRC).

I'd agree with rachel83az that UMPI's BA in CJ would likely meet your goals better than the TESU option(s) on all counts of Ease, Speed and Budget. Anything you'd be missing for GenEds would be easily obtained through Sophia (at a very low cost).  UMPI's BA Criminal Justice info here - https://online.umpi.edu/degrees/undergra...l-justice/

[dfrecore]

Since there are no outside courses you can take for the major, you are probably better off looking at other schools for this degree; TESU looks to be $16k for tuition, while SNHU, UMGC, and Franklin U all have HS degrees that are probably cheaper.

I'd also consider doing the CJ degree at UMPI, and then getting a Master's in HS from somewhere else - I think that you'd get a lot more bang for your buck that way.  SNHU has a MS in CJ/HS for $22k, UMGC has a MS in Management/HS for $23k, and Wilmington Univ has a MS in HS for $17k.

So go crazy on Sophia courses to complete your GEC at UMPI, finish in 2 terms for $2800 and then go to Wilmu for $17k for the MS.  Less than $20k for both.

EDIT TO ADD: you did not show how many credits you earned per course in the Electives area: you may want to update that.

[willyca718]

Since there are no outside courses you can take for the major, you are probably better off looking at other schools for this degree; TESU looks to be $16k for tuition, while SNHU, UMGC, and Franklin U all have HS degrees that are probably cheaper.

I'd also consider doing the CJ degree at UMPI, and then getting a Master's in HS from somewhere else - I think that you'd get a lot more bang for your buck that way.  SNHU has a MS in CJ/HS for $22k, UMGC has a MS in Management/HS for $23k, and Wilmington Univ has a MS in HS for $17k.

So go crazy on Sophia courses to complete your GEC at UMPI, finish in 2 terms for $2800 and then go to Wilmu for $17k for the MS.  Less than $20k for both.

EDIT TO ADD: you did not show how many credits you earned per course in the Electives area: you may want to update that.

I think your right I'm going to change it to CJ at UMPI then since it will be a lot faster and cheaper. I'll start working on the Sophia courses before I go apply to UMPI. Being that I already have credit should I apply first to see what they accept and work from there or just work on the GEC from Sophia that I haven't completed yet?

[rachel83az]

I would start by working on things that you definitely do not have. Spanish I, Human Biology w/ lab, etc. We have a degree plan for CJ here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...egree_Plan That should help you get started.

[bjcheung77]

@willyca718, How's it going? Great intro and first post... if you're just going for a Bachelors as the end goal, then the UMPI BA CJ Your Pace option would be recommended.  If you have a set budget, you may want to go that route as well.  There are so many variables in play that we don't really know about yet as you haven't filled in the template and last post addendum here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

You're looking for something cheap, easy, fast and you're putting focus primarily on ease/speed to finish over cost.  Depending on the budget, commitments, and time you have, you may want to get a BABA with a concentration of your liking, such as Management and Leadership (since you're already a supervisor).  Then ladder that to the Masters CJ concentration in Public Management & Leadership at Walden, if you finish in two terms, it'll only cost you less than $7 grand.  https://www.waldenu.edu/online-masters-p...leadership