Best Way to complete my degree

I need a spot of help in finding the best place to finish and get a degree issued.

I'm interested in getting the quickest degree possible. My work will give me a good size raise as soon as I get one. BUT my main focus is continued education. I would love to just get my CIS degree and then do some religious education, and perhaps pursue a masters later.

I've done more and shown a higher level of education and ability than many others who I went to school with and have now graduated.

I'm just looking for a place that will be fair and honest in their assessment. And be willing to count all my past works towards issuing a degree.

USA or Foreign schools it does not matter.



I've received:
112 hours from DeVry University in CIS
~25 hours general ed from Middle Tenn. State

CompTIA A+
CompTIA Network+
MCP Windows 2000 Pro
MCP Windows 2000 Server

Professionally:
PC Tech. - Troubleshooting/Fixing/Upgrading PC's. 1+ year

TechSupport / Helpdesk III - Over-Phone Tech support, did *ever type of computer issue* - 1 year

Software programmer - C/C++/ 2 proprietary languages - DOS/WINDOWS/IBM Os/390 development, completed large project that saved huge amounts of CPU time and saved the company tons of money. - 3+ years

Owner/operator company- small computer tech support, built PC's. Wrote small helper software for individual people. - ~6years total

 

If you are looking to transfer a large # of credits, earn a number via portfolio assessment, and do it all as quickly as possible, you should research the "big 3" in distance education:

Thomas Edison State College (tesc.edu)
Excelsior College (excelsior.edu)
Chart Oak State College (cosc.edu)

Many, if not all, of these credits could be transferrable to TESC, although you would still need to make sure they were applicable to your degree.

These certifications may be worth credit as well - take a look around page 100-110 or so in the latest TESC catalog for info on certifications. Even if they are not listed, they may be willing to work with you on it.

Portfolio assessment for things like C Programming, Advanced C Programming, Small Business Management, etc., may also be in order.

Cheers.

 

Complete my degree

In 2002-2003 I attended university in UK. I talked my way in - they needed the funding, I needed the degree qualification- so that I ended on the third the year.
OK third yes.

We were given the final degree questions in advance or at least very clear hints

I kept my full time job throughout

easy peasy

 

Re: Complete my degree

wow! that is good. Which university is that ? I wish I could get into one like that (in the third year)

 

You have 112 hours at Devry? What other courses do you need to complete that degree there? Sounds like you only need a couple courses to complete your degree in CIS there. If you you stopped because you moved or it was too expensive, what is the transfer agreement for Devry? They may let you transfer the last couple of courses to satisfy your degree requirements.

I think that would be the quickest AND easiest (not to mention least expensive). Just goto Excelsior distance database and search for the coursework you need for that CIS degree and courses as a transient student. Then, transfer those courses and graduate from Devry.

Bill

 

DeVry has "restructured" its degree requirements.

It would put me back far enough for other colleges to be very much worth looking into. Plus there is no love lost between me and that school.

I came away with little more applicable knowldege than when I went in. It was very- Very expensive. and didn't live up to the "Up-to-date cource material"(had to take 3COBOL courses).


Currently I'm with Excelsior, they give me 103 hours.
Most of my MTSU is general ed. so not applied towards CIS.

I've been happy with them so far, but wanted to know if somewhere else might just be a class or 2 away, not 5-6.

To be 100% honest I'd love to just get a degree issued(wouldn't we all!) but know thats not going to happen. Everyone wants some type of course work to get you to spend some more cash with them.


** I have thought about TESC but I recently saw they capped the credits you can get per semester?? ** perhaps I need to look again.

I'm going to see if WGU will put me closer. I'll find out from them some time next week.



Thanks for all the replys... Keep them coming in if you have any thing to add... I'm still very intrested in hearing more options.

 

True - as do most schools. But from what it sounds like, you don't need that many additional credits anyway.

 

I must have read the post wrong, I thought they were saying that you could only bring in(transfer in) up to 28 credits per semester.

I'll give them a call and see what they say.

Thanks

 

CIS Distance Program

Indiana State University has a good distance Computer degree program. It can be completed entirely by distance media. Out of State students are welcome. Tuition is reasonably priced.

This information is provided in good faith and is accurate to my knowledge, use on your own accord.

 

With TESC, you map out your degree plan (type of degree, required courses, etc), and you transfer in exiting credits all at once (again, assuming they have applicability to your degree plan). You can transfer up to 120 credits. For all intents and purposes, with what you've posted above, you look to me to be pretty much an "instant grad" at TESC, provided you can map those credits to a degree plan.

 

Keep in mind that if you transfer to another school you will need to complete a residency requirement with the school. Typically this is 24 sem. hrs. of credit. The exceptions to this are Excelsior, TESC, and Charter Oak.

John

 

COBOL

In defense of Devry, COBOL is still used by a majority of large PC users. I have been in programming for years and it is a common complaint among management that our new hires come in knowing nothing about mainframe programming. In fact, we will hire non programming degree holders almost quicker than ones with CIS degrees because we know we are going to have to teach JCL, CICS and COBOL anyway so why not get someone without some of the preconceived ideas that come with OOPs programmers. I work in Springfield, Illinois and most programmers in this town, public or private sector, will need to know COBOL and CICS. For those of you wanting to be computer geeks for large corporations or government agencies, knowing COBOL will be a big help when you apply.

 

Not going to argue with you there.

I just know, and KNEW going in, that I did not like COBOL.

I just wish that other than 3 Cobol, perhaps they should have offered 3 procedural language options.

overall I feel colleges in general do a poor job in getting students ready for 'the real world'.

I was always under the assumption that a degree was saying "This person is certified to have XXXX abilities."

Really all it means is the person with it found a way to pass the required # of classes.


I know dozens of grads that I went to school with that either cant hold a job or cant get one all b/c they don't know how to do the job. Sure they can study and pick the right answer on a test, but few know how to really do any work.


If you cant tell I'm alittle jaded by my college exp.
But think that the answer lies in geting people better educated on what college gives vs. what real life demands.

I think this website is a great start.