Trying to figure out a game plan

[cookderosa]

I'm not sure if this belongs in this section or in the "Big 3" section. I am 36 and am sick of just barely making it. It seems like getting an accredited Bachelor's degree would be the best way to get a better job. I have an Associates degree, but it's from an unaccredited bible college so it's not worth much, though a Nationally accredited bible college did say they might take some credits from it if I applied with them (Luther Rice University.) I have about 10 FEMA credits and I've taken the US History II CLEP which I passed with a 73.

Charter Oak looks to be my best option out of the Big 3. They take FEMA and Saylor Foundation credits and I could do a consortum with another school for financial aid to best take advantage of The Pell Grant. Other options I've been looking at is my local community college for the low cost and APU since they include books, take FEMA/Saylor and I get 15% off as an employee at Walmart .

What would be the best strategy for me? Should I see how many credits I can transfer to LRU and if it's a decent amount get a degree from them in spite of their National Accreditation? What would be the concentration that would be easiest to "test out" of at COSC? (I like History, Political Science, American Studies and Liberal Arts.)
Thanks in advance for your advice.

I like your options, AND I have to compliment you on your research- you've done well to know what options you have in front of you. You're ahead of the game in that regard!
Regarding your associates..... I hold a nationally accredited associate degree too, and spent a lot of time looking for ways to make it count. In the end, it was (literally) faster for me to just test out of those 60 credits starting from scratch than jump the hoops that were necessary to get someone to grant me some credit; in addition, if I'd received that credit, it would have been elective credit anyway- my point is that sometimes you can spin your wheels fitting square pegs in round holes or you can look for the fastest path to the finish line. I don't know if your associate degree will be worth fighting for, however, it doesn't hurt to spend a little bit of time finding out. If it does end up counting for something, great, if not- drop it like a hot potato and move forward. Of the big 3, Excelsior will hear arguments / accept petition for nationally accredited credit (doesn't hurt to ask). TESC and COSC won't accept NA credit at all.

Excelsior and TESC won't accept your FEMA, while COSC will.

US History II CLEP will be accepted by all 3.

Pell Grant- can use at any regionally or nationally accredited school

Community college- low cost, but also won't accept your associate degree or FEMA. Might have a decent CLEP policy, worth looking into.

APU- love them. I'll tell you the best part in a moment. First, they are really test-friendly and I like that you get a discount. I remember when Walmart went into that partnership (things like that are big news for edu-nerds like myself lol) but you'd be the first person I've met around here to use that benefit. Another advantage of APU is they are on nice short overlapping semesters. You would have a minimum credit requirement in-house (called a residency- but doesn't mean physical campus, it would be online) while the big 3 don't have a residency requirement. Now, the best part of APU, is that they accept nationally accredited degrees/credit and you GET a regionally accredited degree. This is "credit laundering" in its purest form. They are currently the only college in the country that has this policy. (there are some schools that do this under the table, but APUS is open about it). You might get to use your bible college credit. They are also not expensive. This is the leader of your options in my opinion.

Luther Rice- avoid. Nationally accredited degrees create barriers that you'll spend your whole life trying to work around. RA degrees create no barriers. ....as you've found.

Major- it either matters or it doesn't. What I mean by that, is if you want to be a nurse, you're degree has to be in nursing. If your career doesn't matter (any degree will do) then do whatever you enjoy. History, business, liberal arts, social science and psychology are very test-friendly. It is RARE that ANY of the social science/liberal arts/soft science degrees will EVER contribute to direct employment. Which makes them equal. That's not a reason NOT to get one, it's a reason to get one that you can enjoy completing. Again, if you wanted to go into something specific to be something specific, then get that specific degree (which might be an associate degree or require a masters- that's really up to you.) My confidence level is ZERO that any one liberal arts is more employable than another. It's going to come down to what you make of it.

*EDIT* I wanted to add here something else, sometimes the credit that a school gives to you on the front end might be more at one school than another, but the cost/time/effort to COMPLETE the degree can be the issue. For example, all of them will allow you to test out of your gen eds- so that's not an issue. How you fill the last 60 is where it gets interesting and sometimes where the cost creeps in. APUS (unlike TESC) teaches every class it requires for every degree. At TESC, there are still a number of degrees that you'd have to go to a second school to meet all the requirements (if you didn't already have the credit). Liberal Arts, Social Science, and Business are exceptions, which is why they are popular degrees.

Easy & Fast- Testing out gives you all the autonomy, but it also gives you all the responsibility to control the process. In other words, if you study every night for 4 hours and test relatively well, you could have your degree (starting from scratch) in a year. OTOH, you study 4 hours a week.....well, no one is there to tell you to do your work, so it may not even happen at all. This type of degree process rewards the highly motivated by saving an exceptional amount of time and money. I decided to dump my old degree and just start from zero. When I did that, I completed an AA and BA from TESC in 18 months. Around here, that's not considered fast, that's pretty average.

Welcome to the board!!

Before you decide, I'd suggest you do a bit of homework.