Next after WGU BSN with TESU credits banked

[Merlin]

Thanks for your input. Just want to clarify the 9 credits thing. I was taking credits towards an IT concentration. Those credits are NOT being applied to the BSN. TESU will not allow me to use them even though they are already on my TESU transcript?

I just checked the latest TESU catalog to verify the above, and it looks like TESU either changed things or, more likely, I was misremembering and mixing up people coming back for a second baccalaureate degree with people pursuing a second area of study in a single degree.

In any case, the 9 credit overlap rule does NOT apply for people coming back to pursue a second bachelor's degree. It only matters for people who are trying to earn a second area of study in the same degree. So you can ignore that bit above.

However, the 24 new credit requirement is accurate:

"To earn a second bachelor's degree at TESU you must complete a minimum of 24 credits including the required Capstone for the degree. These credits must be in the area of study and/or core of the degree. These credits must be earned after the date the most recent degree, regardless of academic level, was conferred. Additionally, students must complete all other degree requirements as listed in the current Thomas Edison State University Catalog."

For the BACS, this means you need to complete the required courses in section A (Intro to Programming, Data Structures, Calculus I, Discrete Mathematics, Operating Systems, and Computer Architecture), the Liberal Arts Capstone (LIB-495) aka section B, and the 18 Computer Science electives in section C, for a total of 39 credits. At least 18 of those credits must be upper level (300 level or above) and at least 24 of those credits must be new credits that were earned after the conferral of your BSN degree. This means you can reuse up to 15 credits (rather than 9) from prior coursework.

So, if you already have 15 credits from prior coursework at TESU or WGU that will meet the BACS section A or C requirements, that means you only need to complete 21 new credits (7 courses) and transfer them in to earn a BACS. This also assumes that at least 15 of the total credits in sections A and C are upper level (regardless of being new or old).

Hopefully, that makes sense. I apologize if you were confused since I apparently was. I felt like there was something I was missing so I'm glad I took the time to go back to check the requirements in the catalog.

Since I am also comparing second degree options between returning to TESU for a BACS or pursuing a BSCS at WGU, this does mean that I could potentially see a few more courses come in to meet BACS requirements than I had originally planned for. However, it doesn't change the time or cost requirements. I still think that WGU will be cheaper and faster, and probably a better option for the purposes of being used to support graduate degree entrance requirements.