N.J. Governor Wants to Merge Thomas Edison Into Rutgers

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In the end I see both sides of the argument -

People against the merger - see TESC as an invaluable resource due to extremely it's extremely low tuition and flexible credit transfer requirements.

People for - The inherent value of the Rutgers brand, Rutgers is one of only 62 colleges belonging to the Association of American Universities. Rutgers tuition is $11,800 per year for NJ citizens, TESC is $5,800 - not a huge gap considering the difference in quality.

As mentioned 60% of students are military - being former military any increase in tuition will not affect those students, TA will cover their entire tuition. Rutgers DOES have experience with NTS. I doubt most military students are utilizing many CLEPs and DANTES, while on Active Duty in the Air Force, I knew about 20 people who sought degrees from TESC, almost all earned credits towards degrees via on base classes at our education center and online courses. Few if any earned credits via CLEP/DSST. As a taxpayer TESC is losing my money and not benefiting my state in anyway. TESC has zero endowment and relies on the State to maintain itself. Meanwhile Rutgers endowment is over $500 million dollars. At the end of the day NJ faces a $11.4 BILLION dollar budget deficit for fiscal year 2011. Cuts MUST be made, at the end of the day most TESC students are not NJ residents and for the state to pour over $5 million dollars a year to a school that's main focus is credit evaluation is not a good use of taxpayer dollars. For the few students who will be affected I sympathize greatly, however the persons affected will be minimal. Also future test-out degree seekers will still have Excelsior and Charter Oak. If I was going that route Excelsior would be my personal choice, they seem to have better customer service and a better rep overall on this and other internet forums. They also except the GRE for credits which in this poster's opinion is a HUGE bonus. If in fact this proposed mergers takes place, current TESC students and alums will not be affected whatsoever. Future students will benefit from Rutgers continual climb up in University rankings, and their proposed move into the BIG 10 athletic conference for the 2012 school year. I'm all for the merger - for those going after a BSLS or BALS I doubt you will see major changes - the most significant changes will probably in the more specific Majors. The biggest change will probably come in the form of a 30 credit residency requirement. Which we on-campus students must also abide. In the end it seems if the merger would combine UC and TESC a Rutgers degree could be had for around $15000, a steal! I know my Rutgers education is taking me places - after spending 10 years in the Air Force and doing almost zero college, I'll complete my RU degree in a total of 4 semesters. I'll be applying to law school in September and I'm confident I'll get into some great schools with some scholarship money. Again all the facts aren't sorted out yet so people on both sides shouldn't rush to conclusions. In the end I believe a merger will save the state money, and benefit future students who are in a similar position to myself who need more than a RA degree - but also a degree that has some prestige, as well as the opportunity to work with some well regarded faculty within academia.

i totally disagree.. from what i've seen most people in the AF are content on getting their credits via the CCAF .. if they were ambitious enough to take courses they would CLEP courses.

Sad to say most active duty enlisted military did not have the initial desire to go to college in the first place. if they did there is a ton of options including service academies, rotc, military reserves.. etc!


i'm 150% sure that Rutgers is in the Big EAST! Why would they go to the BIG TEN? The Big East is a far better conference...

You do seem to forget that Rutgers is another school system.. like SUNY, Georgia.. UC's.. Cal States.. LSU.. etc.. They all have good and bad portions.. Rutgers isn't climbing up the charts as you suggest.. All schools are improving nationwide! Rutgers is simply keeping pace...


So with all your CCAF credits.. you are still taking an additional 2 years to graduate (4 semesters).. apparently this non traditional student route is not for you! Most people who do the NTS route do not take more than 3 years...


You speak about Rutgers having all this great academia.. but the vast majority of the times courses are taught by Teaching Assistants or Graduate Assistants! So much is subjective in terms of grades...and in terms of one professor to another... An A grade with one professor in Course Dinosaur.. can be a C grade with another professor in Course Dinosaur. Standardized Testings is universal.. a C is a C is a C...no matter where you take it!

The GRE isn't for everyone... Thomas Edison has the benefit of using your basic training credits as well as Federal Emergency Management Courses at a far cheaper rate....than Excelsior..

Good luck in law school. Getting a scholarship to it is tough... at least have your LSAT scores before making some kind of boasts like that. I know a number of 4.0 students at schools like Fordham and Georgetown who didn't get scholarships b/c of low or average lsat scores. Most likely..you'll be taking out a lot of loans...

"One student, graduated from Michigan State University's law school and lives Mich., owes $150,000 in private and government-backed student loans. The monthly payment of $660, takes a quarter of the take-home pay, is scheduled to jump to $800 in a year, leaving the student with stark financial choices. " Bankruptcy Won't Discharge $350,000 of Student Loan Debt for Law Graduate - Above the Law - A Legal Tabloid - News, Gossip, and Colorful Commentary on Law Firms and the Legal Profession

You can say you have military .. but you're competing against student who are military who went to schools like Columbia...
don't believe me...

With New G.I. Bill, More March From Battlefield to College - NYTimes.com