Questions about graduation at TESC and where to take some CJ courses

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anybody can answer some questions for me. I have more than a 100 credits and I am taking additional classes that end in May. I am trying to get my bachelors degree in Criminal Justice from Thomas Edison State College. I am following their curriculum for the BA but my dilemma is I am 9 credits short. It's a long story but I didn't make the decision to finish my BA until this week so I cannot take the remaining 9 credits from TESC because they won't let me enroll and register for their classes that start April 1st because the late registration ended. The person I talked to said that I could take the classes that start in May and end July 26th. However, I will not be able to make the graduation in September because July 1st is the cut off for the September graduation. I talked to another person from TESC the next day on the phone and was told that if I have classes ending in July 26th, I'd be able to make September graduation. I am very confused. I really need to finish my degree by September because I am leaving for Army bootcamp in October.

So my question is if I enroll now at TESC and start sending in my transcripts, and IF by May (or June 1st) I finish all the requirements, can I still make the deadline? The last adviser I talked to said that as long as all transcripts are received by July 1st, then yes, I'd graduate in September. Can anyone verify this for me? Or give me advise? I'm very confused and wish I could talk to an academic adviser face to face but I've been told that I cannot unless I enroll and start sending in my transcripts.

Also if anybody knows where I could take these courses online or via independent study, I'd be really grateful:

Public Policy and Criminal Justice (3)
Examples:
* Social Policy and Criminal Justice
* Justice Planning
* Public Policy, Crime and Criminal Justice
* Any social policy course

Terrorism (3)
Examples:
* Terrorism
* Terrorism/Counter Terrorism Issues
* Counter Terrorism
* Hazardous Materials and Terrorism
* Domestic & International Terrorism
* Terrorism & Public Safety
* Emergency Response to Terrorism
* International Terrorism

Research Methods (3)
Examples:
* Research Methods in Social Sciences or other similar courses
* Criminal Justice Research Methods
* Justice Administration Research & Evaluation
* Research Methods and Design in Criminal Justice

I checked AMU and they have Research Methods and Terrorism courses that start April 7th and end June 1st but the tuition is a little high for me. If anybody knows where I could take the courses above for less than $500, please let me know. If I don't find an alternative, I guess I'll just take the two courses at AMU but it would still leave me with this course: Public Policy and Criminal Justice.

Thank you to anyone who can answer my questions.

 

Relax. You can easily complete the BA by the end of the summer and certainly by 30 September. As long as Thomas Edison State College has received all your transcripts for all 120 credit hours and they have evaluated those credit hours as being applicable to the degree, they can and will provide a letter stating you have completed the requirements to earn a BA (Criminal Justice) and will be officially graduating in whatever month is the next graduation.

Send all the transcripts you have at this time so the evaluation of those credit hours can begin as soon as possible. Then finish the remaining credit hours and submit the transcripts during the spring and summer for those credit hours.
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How much is your degree worth to you, your career, and your life? The cost of the courses at American Military University includes the textbooks and excellent, for the most part, instructors. I speak as someone who has taken many courses with this institution. The USD1500.00 for the two courses will seem a small price to pay following bootcamp.

Athabasca University offers a course on policy in the social sciences.
Political Science (POLI) 325
Canadian Environmental Policy and Politics

POLI325 has a challenge for credit option, but more importantly it has NO prerequisites and you can start the course any month. If you started in April, then you could conceivably finish the course as early as June or July.

My advice, worth about CAD0.02 these days, is to not worry about graduating in September, but rather focus on completing all the degree requirements before you leave for bootcamp. By the time bootcamp finishes Thomas Edison will have completed its final evaluation of your credit hours and you will graduate during the next scheduled period.

 

Penn Foster has a course called Terrorism (CJS215) that has been ACE evaluated for 3 semester hours of credit. Since it has been ACE evaluated TESC will accept it. You'll have to order it through the Penn Foster Workforce Development number, not the main number. It's in an independent study format with a total price tag of $175 including text books.

Pug

 

I am confused - how do you know which classes are ACE evaluated? Are any upper level?

 

Thanks sentinel! I feel a lot better now. I will do as you suggested. I actually went ahead and enrolled at AMU last night because the deadline for enrollment is March 30th. My budget per course for the "major" classes was $500 but I just decided to go ahead and enroll anyway because I've heard good reviews about classes at AMU. Thanks for the heads up on the POLI325 course at Athabasca University. I'm going to look into it now.

Thanks for the reply Pug! But I tried enrolling for that course at Penn Foster last week and they told me I couldn't take it because it had prerequisites but they couldn't even tell me what the prerequisites were. So I just enrolled in two CJ electives that didn't have prerequisites, Courts and Criminal Law. It took me almost a week though to enroll because at first they said I couldn't take individual classes and must be enrolled in their program and they even charged my card $900+ for the AS in CJ program so I had to sort that out first. They credited my card back though.

 

Hi! You can view what classes are ACE evaluated by going here and registering.

 

It sounds like you did not call the Workforce Development line. That's the exact run around I used to get until I found the correct number to call. I have taken quite a few courses through them and have never been told anything of a prerequisite requirement, not have I ever been charged more than $175 per course.

If you are still looking for a Social Policy/Criminal Justice class, UoP offers CJA 463 Criminal Justice Policy Analysis and CJA 580 Public Policy Issues. I think the second might be a stretch but the first one would probably work. UoP is expensive, but had you been able to enroll in the Penn Foster course instead of APUS you may have able to justify it.

Pug

 

I chose AMU because I've been wanting to take some courses from them for a while now and I have some Docnet courses that I want to transfer in. I checked UoP and for $494/credit is just too expensive for me but thanks for the suggestion!

Also, would you mind giving the number for the Workforce Development line at Penn Foster in case I need it later? Thank you!

 

Penn Foster Workforce Development actually has its own website, at www.workforcedevelopment.com . I believe their number is listed on the site as well.

 

Just an FYI on your AMU transcript AMU will show DOCNET courses as credit transfered in and just the total number of credits. They don't list them out as courses and excelsior did not give me credit for them from my AMU transcript.

 

There are some non-ACE courses offered by the USDA Grad School that might be suited for TESC Credit. (They are good for CEUs, but not semester credit.)
http://grad.usda.gov/search.php?action=search&searchtype=course&as_ccode=PUAP&as_ttlist=DE