I got the official email this morning that I'm approved for March Graduation at TESU. The degree is the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration - Computer Information Systems. I'm glad I made the decision to do this, I'm glad it's over, and I literally would not have been able to figure it all out without everyone in this forum helping every step of the way.
Time and Schedule
I officially started this in February of 2018 and I was done with my courses mid-January 2019, so right around the 1 year mark. I think I had only 9 credits to transfer in when I started. For anyone just starting out, it's a hard path to get through and there will be setbacks, but it's doable if you just stick with it.
My schedule was to study for about 2 hours in the morning before work and then some evenings and weekends whenever I had time for it. There were a few months when I was taking one clep every week. That got easier toward the end because there was so much overlap that I was already familiar with a lot of the material for the tests I was choosing (for example, US History and American Government or Psychology and Sociology). However, there were others that took me a month just to get through one course for 3 credits. And during the months I was taking the capstone I focused completely on that course and didn't take anything else.
Cost
Total cost for me was almost exactly $4000. And I made it through with no student loans or debt (barely). Most of that was paid to TESU. Gradation fees, application fees, capstone, residency waiver, etc. (and their residency waiver went up on me!). I took every clep that I could make fit in my plan since they're free with modern states right now. I was also fortunate enough to get the study.com guardian deal, which gave me 9 free credits for courses that were hard to come by cheap. After that i went for Online Degree for a few $9.00 courses. All of those places I completely recommend.
I made the choice early on to use Saylor since they had upper level CS courses for only $25. That turned out to be a mistake. Most of them I had to take 2 or 3 times, so it would have been just as cheap to do Study.com, and then their credits got downgraded on me so it made it a lot harder to get gradation approval. I also spent way more time on those than any other courses, and I feel like l learned the least from them. There are better options for UL CS courses at Study.com now, so I'd have to recommend avoiding saylor's CS courses and taking study.com instead. Don't be cheap like me, just give Straighterline or Study.com your money.
Courses and Degree Plan
When I first came here, I found one of dfrecore's BSBA plans that was modeled on using Cleps. I downloaded that spreadsheet and just customized it to add in the gen ed courses that interested me and then scoured the forum for options on the UL credits I needed. After that I called an academic advisor and spent a lot of time on the phone for him to map every course I had planned onto my evaluation and then I verified that everything was exactly right. I would save it as a PDF each time (they can and will change it so make sure you keep track). After that, I would send emails to verify that the course I had planned would meet the degree requirements. I know I annoyed some advisors, but this actually saved me. Some courses didn't get added correctly at the end, and having everything in writing is what saved me. Fortunately they made exceptions and honored what had been planned.
Outcome
I got a lot of personal satisfaction from this. I've always felt bad for not going to college when I was younger. I felt like I wasn't living up to my potential. So I feel like i accomplished something I've wanted to do for years, and that alone makes it worth it.
As far as the qualifications for high(er) paying jobs, advanced certifications and experience carry a lot more weight than a degree when it comes down to technical qualifications. However, I expect this to open up opportunities at companies that wouldn't consider me previously because I didn't check the degree box, and I think it will help me in salary negotiations since I've been low balled before on account of not having a college education. The degree is just one piece of the puzzle. I added it to my resume as "In Progress" not too long ago and I have already started getting calls for more senior positions.
What's Next
A new job? Industry Certification? Masters? I have no idea. It's not a prestigious school, so I may try to get into a ranked masters program at some point, but right now I'm just taking a break.
Time and Schedule
I officially started this in February of 2018 and I was done with my courses mid-January 2019, so right around the 1 year mark. I think I had only 9 credits to transfer in when I started. For anyone just starting out, it's a hard path to get through and there will be setbacks, but it's doable if you just stick with it.
My schedule was to study for about 2 hours in the morning before work and then some evenings and weekends whenever I had time for it. There were a few months when I was taking one clep every week. That got easier toward the end because there was so much overlap that I was already familiar with a lot of the material for the tests I was choosing (for example, US History and American Government or Psychology and Sociology). However, there were others that took me a month just to get through one course for 3 credits. And during the months I was taking the capstone I focused completely on that course and didn't take anything else.
Cost
Total cost for me was almost exactly $4000. And I made it through with no student loans or debt (barely). Most of that was paid to TESU. Gradation fees, application fees, capstone, residency waiver, etc. (and their residency waiver went up on me!). I took every clep that I could make fit in my plan since they're free with modern states right now. I was also fortunate enough to get the study.com guardian deal, which gave me 9 free credits for courses that were hard to come by cheap. After that i went for Online Degree for a few $9.00 courses. All of those places I completely recommend.
I made the choice early on to use Saylor since they had upper level CS courses for only $25. That turned out to be a mistake. Most of them I had to take 2 or 3 times, so it would have been just as cheap to do Study.com, and then their credits got downgraded on me so it made it a lot harder to get gradation approval. I also spent way more time on those than any other courses, and I feel like l learned the least from them. There are better options for UL CS courses at Study.com now, so I'd have to recommend avoiding saylor's CS courses and taking study.com instead. Don't be cheap like me, just give Straighterline or Study.com your money.
Courses and Degree Plan
When I first came here, I found one of dfrecore's BSBA plans that was modeled on using Cleps. I downloaded that spreadsheet and just customized it to add in the gen ed courses that interested me and then scoured the forum for options on the UL credits I needed. After that I called an academic advisor and spent a lot of time on the phone for him to map every course I had planned onto my evaluation and then I verified that everything was exactly right. I would save it as a PDF each time (they can and will change it so make sure you keep track). After that, I would send emails to verify that the course I had planned would meet the degree requirements. I know I annoyed some advisors, but this actually saved me. Some courses didn't get added correctly at the end, and having everything in writing is what saved me. Fortunately they made exceptions and honored what had been planned.
Outcome
I got a lot of personal satisfaction from this. I've always felt bad for not going to college when I was younger. I felt like I wasn't living up to my potential. So I feel like i accomplished something I've wanted to do for years, and that alone makes it worth it.
As far as the qualifications for high(er) paying jobs, advanced certifications and experience carry a lot more weight than a degree when it comes down to technical qualifications. However, I expect this to open up opportunities at companies that wouldn't consider me previously because I didn't check the degree box, and I think it will help me in salary negotiations since I've been low balled before on account of not having a college education. The degree is just one piece of the puzzle. I added it to my resume as "In Progress" not too long ago and I have already started getting calls for more senior positions.
What's Next
A new job? Industry Certification? Masters? I have no idea. It's not a prestigious school, so I may try to get into a ranked masters program at some point, but right now I'm just taking a break.
TESU BSBA CIS - March 2019
Clep: College Algebra, Analyzing and Interpreting Literature, History of U.S. I, History of U.S. II, Principles of Management, Introductory Sociology, College Composition, American Government, Financial Accounting, Principles of Macroeconomics, Principles of Microeconomics, Principles of Marketing, Information Systems, Introductory Business Law, Introductory Psychology, Western Civilization I, Spanish Language, Biology, Social Science and History, Precalculus, Calculus
Study.com: FIN-102 Personal Finance, FIN-101 Principles of Finance, ACC-102 Managerial Accounting, BUS-308 Globalization and International Management, CS-302 Systems Analysis and Design, CS-303 Database Management, COM-120 Presentation Skills in the Workplace, BUS-113 Business Communication, STAT-101 Principles of Statistics
OnlineDegree.com: Computer Science CS101
Saylor.org: CS402, BUS303, CS302
Certs: CompTIA A+, Net+, Sec+, Linux+, MCSA, LPIC-1, CCNA
TESU: BUS-421 Business Administration Capstone
Clep: College Algebra, Analyzing and Interpreting Literature, History of U.S. I, History of U.S. II, Principles of Management, Introductory Sociology, College Composition, American Government, Financial Accounting, Principles of Macroeconomics, Principles of Microeconomics, Principles of Marketing, Information Systems, Introductory Business Law, Introductory Psychology, Western Civilization I, Spanish Language, Biology, Social Science and History, Precalculus, Calculus
Study.com: FIN-102 Personal Finance, FIN-101 Principles of Finance, ACC-102 Managerial Accounting, BUS-308 Globalization and International Management, CS-302 Systems Analysis and Design, CS-303 Database Management, COM-120 Presentation Skills in the Workplace, BUS-113 Business Communication, STAT-101 Principles of Statistics
OnlineDegree.com: Computer Science CS101
Saylor.org: CS402, BUS303, CS302
Certs: CompTIA A+, Net+, Sec+, Linux+, MCSA, LPIC-1, CCNA
TESU: BUS-421 Business Administration Capstone
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