CIP Codes Warning

[sarahmac]

Oh, this is very important information for the people who come here asking for advice about degrees for immigration. How do you see what the CIP code for a given degree even is? I had no idea this was a possibility.

Update: confirmation from registrar. BSBA CIS doesn't technically exist in programmatic terms. It has the same CIP code as the basic BSBA and is a general business degree. The CIS concentration is an "in name only" thing.

Given the other techie-type degrees are all coded as multidisciplinary studies, anyone coming to the forum looking for STEM-type degrees for migration/military/fed employment purposes would likely need to do BA Comp Sci.

How painful! And infuriating. It definitely sounds at least marginally fraudulent. Looking at the list, I just... wow. 

No Math. No History. Biology is just... generic science, I guess?  (Doesn't bode well for students who might want to continue to a Biology Master's abroad.) The AS Computer Science is just a generic Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies degree, I guess? (The ASNSM is just generic sciences, which I kind of expected, TBH.)

For a lot of students here, probably none of this matters. But there are plenty of international students (or students who hope to move abroad) for whom this matters a lot. I wonder if this is why TESU essentially has "????" in Anabin.

Honestly, I'm mad about this. I feel misled. We've wasted over a year on my partner's stuff at TESU, he's only a couple classes away from finishing the BA Math and BSBA CIS. Except it's not actually a BA Math legally. They've just named it that, for... fun?

Have you decided what you're going to do? Maybe add a BACS to the BA Math? It adds more time, but at least it is what it says on the tin. Otherwise, that's just... disheartening.

We haven't decided.

His BA at TESU is Math and Environmental Studies. The Environmental Studies is all filled out already. He is a geography dude by trade (GIS analyst) and getting that was important to him. The whole point of the dual BA was to get into a good Spatial Data Science / Climate Analytics type masters.

So now we have no idea what to do. Doing BA CS and Math means dropping Env Studies. Swapping CS for Math means not getting the Math degree he wanted and has put so much effort into. 

It is super disheartening, and there is no way to "win" here.

We have come up with a few alt options:

1) Keeping everything as it is now at TESU but doing an additional CUNY SPS BS Info Systems. He has all the credits for this, he'd only need to do the mando 15 on a flat rate term. It has the right CIP as a comp and info sciences degree.

On the first option, it'd be an additional 3.8k but we're paying less than we expected for TESU because the free TECEPS count for residency for military. So TESU is only costing 2250 total for the BSBA/BA capstones plus Calc 3 if we can't find it elsewhere.

2) Switching the BA to CS and Math at TESU to get that CS CIP, and then working out with UMPI if you can add a second major not normally offered through Your Pace via transfer credit (the way you can a minor) to pull off Env Sci.

On the second option, he already has all the credits for their Env Sci major bc he started off his college journey at a brick and mortar doing nuclear chemistry and geosciences.

Jessica is currently looking into this with the dean and registrar to see if its possible. If they were two different degrees you'd need to meet the reqs for each separately, and it so it wouldn't be. But they aren't. Technically it would be one BA.

The way UMPI degrees work is dual majors are one degree with two areas, where one is the primary. So BA History & Politics and BS Env Sci would come together as BA History & Politics and Env Sci, with H&P as the primary.

So theoretically, you only need to meet the overall BA requirements.. right? The thing is, they don't know. Apparently nobody has asked before and the answer was not immediately obvious to them.