Charter Oak has an actual Major

[sanantone]

I thought it was some kind of placement test to see if you're proficient in English sort of like WGU's admissions exam or taking the Accuplacer or Compass for a community college. TESC's enrollment fee is a burden; that's why I'm looking to get around it by taking TECEPs under the Per Credit Tuition Plan.

Texas State University's PhD requires a master's degree in CJ or a related field such as criminology, sociology, public administration, political science, or psychology. I applied with my security studies degree thinking that would be close enough and got in. They offer the highest stipend in the country at $26k. BUT, Texas does not allow full tuition waivers at public universities. They only allow for out-of-state tuition waivers that end up with the student paying in-state rates. So, a $26k stipend in Texas is like a $20k stipend and tuition waiver in someplace like Michigan since you're still responsible for about $6k a year in tuition. There are scholarships you can apply for. I think they also offer a $10k stipend for those attending half-time. You have to work as an instructional assistant for the stipend.

TxState's CJ PhD program is only a few years old. They just graduated their first students last semester. So far, all of them have gotten jobs. I know one is already teaching at University of Houston. I think the program has the potential to be ranked in 5 or 10 years. It looks like that's what they're striving for since almost all of the professors have come from the best sociology and criminal justice programs in the country. All of the courses are offered in the evening. I don't know if they have plans to offer any graduate courses online in the future, but I heard a professor talking about it. If you attend full-time, you can finish all of the coursework (not including the dissertation) in 2-2.5 years. There are students finishing in 3 years including the dissertation. There are students commuting from Austin and San Antonio including myself.