Teaching plan?

[Piwi737]

Hi! Thank you so much for the forum and your help here. It truly is helpful! 

Your Location: California

Your Age: 30

What kind of degree do you want?: Education, French or Physical education

Current Regional Accredited Credits: No

Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: No


Any certifications or military experience? No

Budget: 10K is my budget for the moment. I can push to 20K later.

Commitments: Full time employment.

Dedicated time to study: I have the nights and all the holidays break, I currently work in a private school.

Timeline: Finishing as soon as possible!
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: Its unlikely there would be any help.

Bio: 
Originally from California, aged 30 and without children, I currently work as a supervisor in a private school. However, my ambition is much greater: I passionately desire to further my education to become a teacher. My goal is to obtain a Bachelor Degree, Master's degree, and perhaps even a PhD, in the field of education. My motivation knows no bounds, and I am determined to succeed in this endeavor. I am fluent in English, French, and Spanish, which opens up a wide range of professional opportunities for me. Although my initial aim is to obtain a degree to become a Physical Education coach, I am also open to the possibility of becoming a French teacher.

Goal:
Although my initial aim is to obtain a degree to become a Physical Education coach, I am also open to the possibility of becoming a French teacher. I want a BA, MA and why not PHD after.

Thank you everybody.

[Duneranger]

Hi! Thank you so much for the forum and your help here. It truly is helpful! 

Your Location: California

Your Age: 30

What kind of degree do you want?: Education, French or Physical education

Current Regional Accredited Credits: No

Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: No


Any certifications or military experience? No

Budget: 10K is my budget for the moment. I can push to 20K later.

Commitments: Full time employment.

Dedicated time to study: I have the nights and all the holidays break, I currently work in a private school.

Timeline: Finishing as soon as possible!
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: Its unlikely there would be any help.

Bio: 
Originally from California, aged 30 and without children, I currently work as a supervisor in a private school. However, my ambition is much greater: I passionately desire to further my education to become a teacher. My goal is to obtain a Bachelor Degree, Master's degree, and perhaps even a PhD, in the field of education. My motivation knows no bounds, and I am determined to succeed in this endeavor. I am fluent in English, French, and Spanish, which opens up a wide range of professional opportunities for me. Although my initial aim is to obtain a degree to become a Physical Education coach, I am also open to the possibility of becoming a French teacher.

Goal:
Although my initial aim is to obtain a degree to become a Physical Education coach, I am also open to the possibility of becoming a French teacher. I want a BA, MA and why not PHD after.

Thank you everybody.

Focus on the BA and MA. Most people have no clue what an actual PhD entails. They are 4-6 years long of grueling research mostly on your own and extremely competitive for funding. Paying out of pocket for one is asinine.

It’s not a why not shrug your shoulders sort of thing.

[rachel83az]

Everyone has their own hobbies. If someone wants to pay for a PhD instead of building racecars or knitting or hiking... why not? But, of course, absolutely don't spend ridiculous amounts of money on it. The ROI isn't very good.

That said, gotta start at the beginning.

If you want a BA French, it's not going to be cheap. The cheapest option is probably going to be through TESU, but even then that's going to be kind of expensive/time-consuming, compared to other options. We don't even have a plan for French, per se, but we do have a basic plan for Spanish. The requirements are more or less the same (replacing, for instance, "Spanish History" with "French History"), so you can get a rough idea of what TESU expects by checking out the Spanish plan: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...egree_Plan You might be able to get a French degree for ~10k, however, depending on what you can find.

They also have a BALS with a Health & Wellness concentration, but that's not easy or cheap either. It might well cost about the same as the French degree and be arguably less useful.

However, there's also UMPI. They have a BLS Educational Studies degree that might interest you. https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...egree_Plan If done right, following the degree plans we have here, this degree should cost right around $5k. This would leave $5k for the French degree at TESU (which might work out, depending on the French classes you can find) and then $10k down the road for an MA. Or skip the French degree and have $15k for the MA. You're highly unlikely to get a BA, MA, and PhD for under $20k. So if you really want a doctorate, you'll have to deal with that later and maybe try to get accepted into a fully funded one.

[Jonathan Whatley]

If you're in a UMPI program regularly offered on YourPace such as the BLS Educational Studies, it also might be possible to add an additional minor in French, using credits transferred in from another source (or maybe portfolio assessment).

[RJ77]

You're probably well aware, but just figured I'd mention it, for teaching you'll want to find out what the licensing requirements in your state are first. A lot of states do offer alternate route pathways for people who don't specifically have a degree in education, but you'll typically need a certain number of credits, or a major in the subject that you want to teach. And then you'll have to do additional classes in pedagogy and related subjects while you do supervised teaching as a provisional teacher. So basically, decide which subject you want to teach, then find out what the requirements are for teaching in general, and for teaching that particular subject. You probably don't want to get any checkbox degree, only to find out that you then need to do not only extra classes for the provisional teaching license, but also extra classes in the subject you want to teach since the checkbox degree didn't cover those.

[Piwi737]

Thank you guys for your responses. I plan to attend Pierpont and then UMPI. However, I have a question: I would like to apply for master's degrees afterward. Given that I will attend Sophia, I will have 30 credits to complete. The master's programs like UCLA or Cal state require a GPA calculated over 60 credit hours. How should I proceed? Should I complete 60 credits directly at UMPI?

[davewill]

Generally, if you are flexible about where you get your master's, it's not an impediment to use alt credit for most of your bachelor's. If you want to get into one or two particular programs, then it's important to work out those details with the admissions office for those programs up front. Generally, you'll find admissions for master's programs to be more responsive than those for undergrad programs, so don't hesitate to reach out and ask them questions.

While schools often calculate a GPA using the last 60 credits, it doesn't necessarily mean they require 60 credits. More common is that they require certain prerequisite courses, and they may or may not insist that those are graded courses from an RA school. If they do require certain prerequisite RA courses, you can design those into your bachelor's program from the beginning. Even if you don't get all the prereqs while earning your undergrad degree, it's always possible to take them later, so don't let these uncertainties keep you from making progress on your bachelor's'

If admission to the program is very competitive, then while they may not require graded RA credits, it may help to have them.

[Duneranger]

Thank you guys for your responses. I plan to attend Pierpont and then UMPI. However, I have a question: I would like to apply for master's degrees afterward. Given that I will attend Sophia, I will have 30 credits to complete. The master's programs like UCLA or Cal state require a GPA calculated over 60 credit hours. How should I proceed? Should I complete 60 credits directly at UMPI?

If you are trying to go to grad school at a competitive school like UCLA, you will need ALL of your ducks in a row. Cal state is vague as many schools fit that title.

[Piwi737]

I need all my credits to apply for UCLA?

[bjcheung77]

@Piwi737, Welcome to the board, great addendum, template, and additional info/posts.  Don't know how I missed this thread, but here goes... You'll be swayed by advice in all directions, you decide which pathway fits you most. People go for cheap, easy, fast, some add ROI/Value and personalize a response.  Question, have you thought of doing a quick BA, then Masters, and EdD instead of PhD?  Does it have to be a Physical Ed or  French teacher only? How about a mix of French, Spanish, and English/TEFL or TESOL?  Are you set on staying here in the US or would you want to travel? 

There are so many pathways yet variables that can come into play, you want to make sure you hit all the spots just in case you want to pivot ever so slightly to something else.  Depending on your needs/wants and how you decide on your pathway, here's just an example, Pierpont BOG AAS, UMPI BAS/BLS Educational Studies Minor, Walden MS Early Childhood Studies, ACE.edu EdD.  Another pathway, Pierpont, UMPI, Bridget TEFL, ACE.edu Masters & EdD.  You can get to your goal, depending on what that distinct goal post is... I like to get a balanced mix/match trifecta of certs, degree, experience.