Recently after reviewing some of the threads regarding FEMA courses and their acceptance at TESC, I have begun to re consider my choice of school to complete my Bachelors at. I was all set to finish up at Governors State University (suburbs of Chicago), which happens to be the last school that I attended over 11 years ago. I have a total of 110 undergrad credits; however GSU is only awarding me credit for 101. That leaves me with 19 UL credits to finish my degree (BA in Interdisciplinary Studies). In order to complete these hours, my plan is(was) to complete 9hrs of DANTES testing, 2 hours via online courses and the remaining 8 via various 1-2 weekend long "short" courses/workshops that GSU offers for credit. By juggling my schedule, I would be able to complete everything by the end of April 2007, and participate in a June 2 commencement. This degree doesn't have much utility for me in my career field (IT 12 years); I am finishing more or less for personal motivation, seeing how I am so close to the end. Total cost for everything at GSU, including DANTES test would run me about $2500. Now that I've looked more closely at the free FEMA courses (more especially the Professional Development Series courses), I realize the I could take about 10 courses very quickly (a couple of weeks), and have all requirements met for a BA in Liberal studies complete from TESC, but 12/31, in time for a March 30th Graduation. The cost for TESC would also run me about $2500 when all said and done. Outside of the fact that GSU is a B&M university, the only real difference between my two options is the fact that with GSU, I would have to chance to attend a commencement ceremony (locally) for friends and family to attend in helping me celebrate this milestone. I'm curious to know if a Commencement ceremony (or lack there of), played a significant part in anyone here choosing one school over another. What would you do in you were in my shoes?
