Second Degree: My Patten University Experience

[Saharapost]

Background:
As some of you already know, after completing a BSBA General Management degree at TESC (now TESU), I went ahead and applied to Patten University’s BA in Management –Leadership. Before Patten, I also completed and earned a BRS from NationsUniversity. Also, I had earlier applied to Eastern New Mexico University’s MBA program where I completed two classes in one term before deciding to hold off of the MBA and address the issue of my undergraduate GPA.

Utility of my TESU degree:
My decision to earn another RA degree was not because I wasn’t satisfied with my TESU credentials, but that I needed a GPA on a transcript so the government of the country I reside can have my degree recognized for further studies here. They found it difficult recognizing my degree on the ground that, though it is from an accredited US university and has been apostilled as required, its lack of a CPGA made it difficult for them to classify and offer me a full recognition. Other than the issue with getting the degree classified and recognized, my TESU diploma landed me my first interview and job at IBM International Service Center where I still work. So for me, my online GPA-less education got me in for interview and landed me a job! I am satisfied with my TESU experience and I am really proud of being a TESU Alumni!

Patten Experience: Credit Transfer
I started at Patten on June 15, 2015 and applying to Patten University was hassle-free. My enrollment advisor assisted me with the relevant information I needed. One thing I liked about Patten was that one doesn’t necessarily need to have official transcripts mailed in to know what courses will transfer.
With my unofficial TESU, Straighterline, and ACE transcripts, I had a pretty idea what transferred and what didn’t. Without wasting time, I was gotten straight to my classes after signing the Enrollment Agreement. And, unlike what I have read on this forum a few times, Patten does accept ACE credits. Relevant courses from Straighterline, TEEX, Sophia, and of course TECEPs (all as long as they fit into one’s degree plan) were accepted.
Of the over 120 credits I transferred to Patten, about 91 were accepted to create room for earning the additional 30 institutional credits.
Now this is where things got a little bit tricky - ordinarily, I should complete 10 more classes to earn the “second degree,” but I wanted to be able to have as many graded credits as possible on my transcript. After receiving my official evaluation and seeing that 91 credits transferred in, I contacted the Registrar’s Office, requesting to have only 60 of the 91 credits transferred to my evaluation. Patten was flexible, my request was honored. In the end, I was asked to indicate which class I wanted to retake. After providing my list, I had about 56 credits to complete my BA Management- Leadership degree. Below are the classes I took and the grades I got:

Credits Earned & Grades
1. PSS100 - Academic Strategies: A
2. COM146 Communication – A
3. LDR364 Organizational Behavior – A
4. ENG101A Reading and Composition – B
5. MGT303 Management Theories and Practices – B
6. ENG101B Critical Thinking, Reading & Writing – B
7. HIS227 Ancient World History – B
8. SSC304 World Religions – B
9. MGT407 Managerial Economics – B
10. MGT313 Business Law and Ethics –B
11. MGT410 Human Resource Management –B
12. LDR472 Mentoring and Team Leadership – B
13. LDR481 Principles and Practices of Leadership – B
14. PSY421 Social Psychology – B
15. PSY476 Counseling – B
16. MGT499 Capstone Integrated Management Project – C
17. ENG348 Modern American Literature – C
18. MGT301 Leadership in Organizations and Business Management – C

How the classes and exams look like:
I think most members of this forum already know how Patten works. Like WGU and other competency-based models, one takes as many classes as one is able to take in a term - one class at a time. A typical Patten undergraduate class comes with a Pre-test (which gauges your knowledge but whose grade doesn’t factor into your overall performance), 8 units lessons, unit assignments including posting short responses to unit questions and turning in about 3 to 4 papers for the total 8 units, a final project, a pre-final exam to unlock the final, and a final proctored exam. This is the normal route if you are not challenging the class. If you know the material or are not interested in doing the unit assignments, you could take the MANDATORY pre-test, go straight to the final project, take your MANDATORY pre-final exam to unlock the final and then sit the final Examity-proctored exam.
I can’t recall how many classes I challenged, but I did turn in all unit assignments in more than half of the classes. Honestly, I wasn’t in a rush to complete the program since I already had a degree and moreso, my total Patten tuition of $2,388.00 was to cover as many classes as I could take in a year.