Leveraging an existing BA for another BA?

[ezmac028]

Hi folks - new forum member here and just dipping my toes into ways to quickly and efficiently get an additional degree. 

I have a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara (College of Letters & Sciences; Film & Media Studies major - I also jumped majors a few times, so a lot of general education and humanities classes as part of that) that graduated from way back in 2007.  

Are there schools here (like "the Big Three") that will just let me skip their general education requirements based on the classes I already took from this existing BA back in the day? 

I also have a fair amount of FEMA and FEMA adjacent (eg TEEX) both in person and independent study courses too.  Is there a path to a quick degree combining this with my previous BA?

Thanks in advance, and sorry if this is a dumb question!

[jg_nuy]

Since you have a BA already, both TESU and UMPI would waive the general education and free electives. You might want to fill out the template and addendum to get a better recommendation. You can find the details on how to do that at the link below:

https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

[bjcheung77]

Welcome to the board, that's a great initial post to get the ball rolling and I also would recommend completing the addendum plus template to provide a bigger picture of your scenario. You may want to elaborate on what degree you're interested in, says a Business Admin, Comp Sci, Psych, etc, your budget, commitments, study habits, possible transfer classes or alternative credit you've completed after the BA etc. The more info we have, the better we can assist you further...

[midnite123]

Could you get a second BA,
with an additional 30 credits, or would you need more than that?

[Jonathan Whatley]

Could you get a second BA,
with an additional 30 credits, or would you need more than that?

Maybe. There's a hard minimum of at least 30 semester hours to complete any second BA at most schools (at TESU, it's 24). You might have to complete more than that if your major requirements have more to them. 

TESU's Award of Degrees Policy
UMPI's Post-Baccalaureate Study for Second Degree Policy

[bjcheung77]

Basically, getting a second BA depends on the degree and institution you're attending. It can range from 30-60 credits with a different major and institution. Here's an example, you're looking at Georgetown to get a second bachelors, they will only take 60 credits, you'll have to complete the remaining credits from them. That's when people need to decide if a Bachelors is what they want, or to ladder into a Masters degree instead...

[Vennpauly]

I will save this post for reference when choosing later.

[bjcheung77]

I will save this post for reference when choosing later.

That's great, I'll just remove the hidden link and then ban the account...

[ezmac028]

Hey sorry, it’s been a while but I’m turning my attention back to this.

Reflecting more on my goals and motivations, I am looking to round out and future proof my existing resume which includes a BA. My BA is from a great brick and mortar (UCSB), but my major was Film & Media Studies. I had a nice 10 year career in that field, but that’s over now. I currently work in a non-technical role at a tech company, but not sure if I will stick with it as I get older, and unknown what my true second career will be; public sector, private sector, consulting - who knows how things will shake out over time.

This uncertainty, and the hyper specific liberal arts focus of my existing BA is why I’m interested in either a broadly applicable BA, BAS, BS or Masters. Also open to programs with Grad Certificates to Masters paths. Like any overly specific major, I also feel like an MBA or MPA would limit my options, so unless I have a very low lift and quick path to one of those, I wouldn’t consider them at this time.

The field could be emergency management (I have real world experience and lots of certs), cyber security (some certs), business operations, government administration - I honestly don’t want to limit my potential career path. While I’m undecided but completely confident in myself to make it happen when I identify the path and opportunity, I’m just trying to future proof myself for any degree requirements. That’s why I’m looking for more widely applicable degrees - but with the usual fast + cheap requirements that bring us to this forum to begin with. I want to invest as little as possible into securing the degree by leveraging as much of my existing credit paths as possible, since I’m taking a risk by not having an explicit goal for the degree at this time. 

Your Location: CA, USA
Your Age: 39
What kind of degree do you want?: BA, BAS, BS, or Masters (must be RA)
Current Regional Accredited Credits: At least 116 semester units (175 quarter units) from my completed brick and mortar BA in 2007, but plenty of those had poor grades at the time. Possible a few more credits from transfer work from high school before college.
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: I’ m not totally sure how to map this? See certifications below
Any certifications or military experience?
1. Infrastructure Disaster Management Certificate (TEEX)
2. IBM Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate (Coursera)
3. Google IT Support Professional Certificate (Coursera)
4. National Emergency Management Basic Academy (FEMA)
5. Professional Development Series (FEMA)
6. Level I Professional Continuity Practitioner (PCP) (FEMA)
7. Atlassian Agile Project Management Professional Certificate (LinkedIn Learning)
8. AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals (Microsoft)
9. Google Project Management Professional Certificate (Coursera - in progress)
10. A substantial number of additional FEMA EMI or FEMA approved courses outside of the above Certificate or Certification programs
Budget: $5000/yr
Commitments: 40 hour work week, plus a toddler, and some evening and weekend commitments to volunteer service organizations.
Dedicated time to study: 5 to 10 hours/week
Timeline: None, ideally less than 2 years
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: Possible path to $5k/yr through State program related to volunteer service org.

Thanks!

[bjcheung77]

Great update! There are a few things you need to review, here are the following items I would look at. I usually recommend a balanced mix/match trifecta of certs, degree, experience. Basically, you want to work with these and customize it to your liking, go at your pace and get things the way you want.

1) You have a Bachelors, adding a second bachelors won't really help you unless it's in a very different field. Do the Masters instead as it trumps a Bachelors any day of the week.
2) You mentioned "I also feel like an MBA or MPA would limit my options" - "business operations, government administration", that's basically the same thing, contradicting...
3) You can't reuse the credits for another Bachelors as a max of 90 will go towards the Bachelors, you'll need 30 credits, thus, a Masters would do better. HAU MBA for $3K flat.

With the $5K, you should complete the HAU MBA for $3K. For next year, once you finish the MBA with a concentration of your choice, you can do a different Masters of your choice at WGU for example, or even UofPeople as they just got RA status. You can use the $5K/year and get an additional Masters of your liking, rinse and repeat for the UofPeople degree if you want the following year.