Guidance Requested: Is this right for me?

[rachel83az]

Cost comparison for UMPI vs. TESU are the following:

UMPI: Most students are able to finish in 2-3 sessions, but they also aren't active military. UMPI will work with you, but costs could be higher if you windup going on a training exercise or something. However, assuming 3 sessions, it'd be $4200 for UMPI and $299 for a 4-month subscription to Sophia.org. (Sophia will probably only take 2-3 months, but 4 months is the same cost as 3 when you pay for them all at once.)

TESU: You would need to apply ASAP in order to get the active military rate. https://www.tesu.edu/military/tuition-fees You would then want to take 24 credits of TECEPs ($1248-$1848) plus the 6 credits of the capstone & cornerstone ($1500). For the English degree specifically, you would need some CLEP exams, which I understand you can take for free as an active service member. You'd also need about the same amount of Sophia as UMPI, plus some classes from Study.com. For the English degree, you might need one or two extra classes from TESU itself, in which case you'd need fewer TECEPs but pay more for actual tuition.

From start to finish, time-wise, you may spend roughly the same amount of time with both schools. But TESU may be slightly easier/cheaper when you cannot guarantee that you'll always have internet access. As long as you're not in a TESU class (I would leave these until last, after you've been discharged.), all you'd need to do to go on a training exercise would be to cancel/pause your Sophia and/or study.com memberships, as necessary, and go. With UMPI, you'd need to coordinate with your advisor to ensure no penalties go on your transcript.

For learning purposes, TESU's degree is more of a pure English degree while UMPI's is more of a journalism degree.

If you have a GI bill, I would avoid using it for undergrad. Undergrad is cheap, grad school is more expensive. Especially for non-MBA programs. Look for a Master's program that interests you and that takes GI bills. Then figure out how you're going to get there. Depending on the program, it might be that TESU works better. Or it might be that UMPI works better.