Question about TESC,COSC,EXCELSIOR

I am 4 courses away from receiving a BS from UOP, and I was wondering how many credits I could get and what degrees I should pursuse if I wanted a second BS in business (any major) from one of the big 3. I have heard that these schools do not require much if any residency, and I was just wondering if anyone has any advice to offer. The courses I took (or will finish) are:

Employment Law
Computers and Information Systems
Management: theory, practice, applicaton
Organizational Behavior
Economics for Business I
Critical Thinking and Decision Making
Research and Evaluation I (stats)
Research and Evaluation II
Human Resources Management
Financial Analysis for Managers I
Financial Analysis for Managers II
Marketing
Public Relations
Global Business strategies
Quality Management and productivity
E-Business
Interdisciplinary Capstone Course

I also hold an A.A. and an A.S. from Northern VA Community College, a B.A in English from Longwood University (southern VA), and a few credits from my stint at Liberty University (I went there to play division I baseball, and only stayed for one year).

Any advice would be helpful as I am very familiar with how the big 3 work and what they are about, just not the process, residency requirements, and if it is really worth it as I can get about 5,250 out of my employer.

Thanks again for all of the great info on this website, you guys are all a great help to me and my students, and thanks especially to Chip, Bruce, and Bill for starting this site in the first place; and of course Rich for all the great advice.

 

You can find the course requirements for the schools on there websites. That is the first step.

COSC - http://www.cosc.edu/Forms/cps/BusAdmCPS.doc
TESC - http://www.tesc.edu/prospective/undergraduate/degree/bsba.php
Excelsior - https://www.excelsior.edu/portal/page?_pageid=57,76056&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

None of the three you mentioned require any residency.

 

thank you

 

AIC712,

Since you are here, I am proud to be Virginian. Anyway, what I saw on your post...I think you should get Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and concernstration in Fianace w/ Thomas Edison State College. TESC does not require residency....

The tuition around $ 1,500.00....it is not bad at all....unless you apply for Military program; which requires residency...and you don't have to pay anything.


MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

thanks for the information tekman, I am leaning towards either TESC or Excelsior, being that it would probably take a lot less time with them. Do you think it's useful to bank all of my credits first (w/ excelsior or tesc) or to just transfer everything in and let them evaluate it (time is the issue because I want to pursue a master's next year as well, maybe from UOP because it would be free, but I want to diversify).

Also, about the academic/enrollment advisors at these schools, I work in that department at UOP and am very familar with how the process goes. Would they be able to give me a good estimate if I e-mail them everything I have taken (probably around 180-190 credits total) and let me know what I would gaps I need to fill to earn a Bachelor's from them?

 

Just curious, why have you ruled out COSC? The customer service is great and the price is in-line or a little cheaper than the other schools (Excelsior & TESC).

 

I recently contacts all 3 of the big 3 about prices for a person who actually already had courses that met all of the requirements for a Bachelors degree. It worked out like this:

COSC - $1410
Excelsior - $1490
TESC - $1880

clint

 

You may be able to get an unofficial estimate, but until/unless you pay the official fee (or enroll) they won't tell you how many courses you have yet to take.

You don't mention which of your courses were upper level, so that'll be one determinant on what you're missing. However, my guess tells me that you're probably only a handful of exams away - maybe 20 credits you'd have to take. You could do this quickly via CLEP, DANTES and/or ECE exams.

My guesstimate as to the total cost at Excelsior, including your enrollment and graduation fees, exam fees and books (purchased through half.com - not new) would probably fall into the $2000-$2500 range, well within your employer's tuition allowance.

Cheers,
Mark

 

Hi Mark,

Thanks,

Every course I listed was upper division (300-400). The main reason why I went to UOP was that it's 3 minutes from my house and that I work there, so a degree is damn near free ($35 a class for employees of Apollo). I would really like to get into one of the defense companies around here eventually, or the actual federal government. I like working for UOP, but as Rich said, it doesn't pay enough to meet the cost of living around here.

Here are the UOP course names of the ones I listed above, including their division #'s:

Computer and Information Processing CIS 319
E-Business EBUS 400
Economics for Business I ECO 360
Financial Analysis for Managers I FIN 324
Financial Analysis for Managers II FIN 325
Skills For Professional Development GEN 300
Interdisciplinary Capstone Course GEN 480
Management: Theory, Practice, and Application MGT 330
Organizational Behavior MGT 331
Critical Thinking: Strategies in Decision Making MGT 350
Human Resources Management MGT 431
Employment Law MGT 434
Global Business Strategies MGT 448
Quality Management and Productivity MGT 449
Business Research Applications MGT 480
Marketing MKT 421
Public Relations MKT 438
Research and Evaluation I RES 341
Research and Evaluation II RES 342

Lower Division UOP courses:

College Mathematics I MTH 208
College Mathematics II MTH 209

I have a B- and above at all my courses at UOP


I also have several lower division courses from NVCC, Liberty U, and Longwood University. The only upper division courses I have from Longwood are English courses, so they will probably just be a load of excess credits.



Here are some courses I think will apply, and where UOP placed them credit wise (sorry this is so long, and I appreciate the help)

Liberty U:

1998 CHMN 101 EVAN & CHR LIFE B LD Y 2 HUMANITIES
1998 COMS-101 SPEECH B LD Y 3 COMMUNICATION ARTS
1998 FRSM 101 FRESH SEMINAR P LD Y 1 Interdisciplinary Studies
1998 GNED 101 CONTEMP ISSUE I C LD Y 1 SOCIAL SCIENCES
1998 GOVT 200 CONS GOVT &FREE C LD Y 3 SOCIAL SCIENCES
1998 INFT 101 COMP CONCEPTS B LD Y 1 Interdisciplinary Studies
1998 INFT 102 COMP APPLI B LD Y 2 Interdisciplinary Studies
1999 BIBL 105 OLD TEST SUR B LD Y 3 HUMANITIES
1999 ENGL 102 COMP & LIT B LD Y 3 COMMUNICATION ARTS

Longwood U:

2000 ENGL-101 COMP & LITERARY ANALYSIS C LD Y 3 Electives
2000 THEA 101 ISSUES IN THEATRE C+ LD Y 4 Electives
2001 ENGL-201 WORLD LITERATURE C+ LD N 0 Excess Credit / Not Applicable
2001 PHED-104 BEGINNING TENNIS B+ LD N 0 Excess Credit / Not Applicable
**and SEVERAL 300-400 ENG courses**

Degree Earned: B.A. English (2001)

Northern VA Community College:
1999 BIO 101 GENERAL BIOLOGY I B LD Y 2 PHYSICAL/BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
1999 ENG 009 INDIV INSTR IN WRTNG P LD Y 3 Interdisciplinary Studies
1999 ENG 111 COLLEGE COMPOSITN I A LD Y 3 Liberal Arts
1999 HIS 121 U. S. HISTORY I C LD Y 1 Interdisciplinary Studies
1999 HIS 122 U. S. HISTORY II B LD Y 3 Interdisciplinary Studies
1999 SPA 201 INTER SPANISH I B LD Y 3 Interdisciplinary Studies
1999 STD 100 ORIENTATION A LD Y 1 Interdisciplinary Studies
2001 ECO 201 PRIN OF ECO I-MACRO C LD N 0 Excess Credit / Not Applicable
2001 ECO 202 PRIN/ECO II-MICRO D LD N 0 Excess Credit / Not Applicable
2001 SPA 202 INTER SPANISH II C LD N 0 Excess Credit / Not Applicable
2002 BIO 102 GENERAL BIOLOGY II C LD Y 1 PHYSICAL/BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

**several W's a few more D's etc...(I was working retail full time and kept having to drop courses due to insane work constraints)***

Degrees Earned: A.A in Liberal Arts and A.S. General Studies

And lastly:

CLEP: College Composition: 6 credits

That pretty much sums it up, one other question I have is do any of the big three have policies on transfer's that have earned degrees previously? I.E. UOP will take credits earned with D grades if the candidate has an A.A, A.S, A.A.S, but only as ELECTIVE or INTERDISCIPLINARY (kind of like prior learning assessment). That is why I had to retake the math courses at UOP because I suck at math and goofed around, but was good enough to "pass" with a D. Thanks again for all of the information. And I can easily find descriptions for each of these courses if that will help, as we have access to Collegesource.org, which is a great tool if you are a counselor.

 

Assuming that you plan to complete your UOP degree, many schools (including TESC and Excelsior) are resistant to providing a third bachelor level degree. Have you considered a graduate degree?

 

I am definately going for a grad degree next year, just not sure where. If COSC,Excelsior and TESC frown on obtaining another Bachelor's, then I probably won't worry about it. I will already have 4 (2 as 2 bs) RA degrees, no big deal. As I said before, I could go to UOP for free (basically), but I am considering broadening my horizons. There is no way I am going to a state school like GMU or ODU, because I don't want to spend 3-5 years getting a Master's, so i'm still looking around. Once again, I appreciate all the advice, I was just considering my options, and attempting to enhance my resume as much as possible. The cost of living here is ridiculous (as anyone who lives in the DC area knows), and I really need to get a decent paying job in the next couple years or move. I gues my next step would be to get in gear w/ the Master's, and dig in for another two years, at least if I do that, i'll be done before i'm 30.

 

I personally wouldn't bother with another undergrad if you've already got 2 BS degrees...even if you'd be granted one.

Personally, if you can go to UOP for next-to-free and feel like you could stick it out at Apollo for the duration, that's what I would do.

However, there are a lot of other great MBA programs out there that aren't too expensive. If you do a search of this forum you'll find a lot of options.

Cheers,
Mark