A plan for my wife

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by rickyjo, Apr 8, 2010.

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  1. rickyjo

    rickyjo New Member

    I was looking over my wife's transcripts and discovered she has 71 college credits in pursuit of a 4 year degree path. I have not applied her to TESC yet but the plan is that she has or nearly has the credits required for an associates. I talked to an adviser who very noncommittally agreed that Emily probably has met the requirements but suggests not to be surprised if she must take a class or two, but that's no problem. Since we anticipate a significant delay in continuing her education in a full time way we thought maybe this would be a good plan.

    How much will TESC charge us to print an associates degree if I am correct in believing she has already filled the requirements? In other words, I'm not asking how much classes cost, but how much are the raw fees associated with signing up and receiving the degree?
     
  2. Jeremy

    Jeremy Member

    look at http://tesc.edu/5902.php

    guestimate $2,600 if you have everything
     
  3. japhy4529

    japhy4529 House Bassist

    I believe that Excelsior will be less expensive than TESC. Excelsior enrollment fee is around $995 and the graduation fee is $495. Note that all EC students need to take a 1 credit Information Literacy course.
     
  4. Lindagerr

    Lindagerr New Member

    Do you live in NJ

    If you live in NJ TESC may be cheaper. it will cost $75 to apply that will get you the unofficial evaluation. Then you must enroll for a minimum of one year Tuition and fees ~$1500 for NJ residents and ~$2600 out of state. Plus to get the diploma you must pay the graduation fee $247. So you might be better off with Excelsior if they will take the same credits.
     
  5. AV8R

    AV8R Active Member

    If she doesn't necessarily need an associate's degree for a job or anything else, why not save the enrollment fee just start working towards the bachelor's degree?
     
  6. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef


    You have some great suggestions, but let me throw out one more idea.
    Since you'll have to pay an enrollment fee anyway, it's good for 12 months no matter what. So, why not go ahead and enroll-apply for the associate degree and graduation asap. Then, you can have her look at a bachelor's degree plan and see how much extra time/money it would be to test out or take courses for the remaining credits. If she were really under 30 credits away from graduation, a couple months of testing plus a class or two would rock out a bachelor's degree for the same enrollment fee. Since TESC has no residency, she can price shop her classes and transfer them in.
    :)
     
  7. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Is that how it really works at TESC? At Excelsior, you have to pay the enrollment fee again if you want a second degree (they do discount by about half if you re-enroll in under a certain period of time).
     
  8. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    Just my opinion but you should also look at COSC. They are much better then TESC or Excelsior when it comes to customer service, prices, and options.
     
  9. rickyjo

    rickyjo New Member

    So it sounds like maybe I'm looking at the wrong school. $2600 is awful steep just to print the stupid thing. How much would COSC or Excelsior be?

    What wonderful suggestions, and cookderosa your idea was great but I think Maniac may prove correct about having to pay twice. . Also I think she needs almost 50 credits for a bachelors, isn't it usually 120 credits for a 4 year degree? Jeremy, thanks for the breakdown. That really helps.

    AV8R's suggestion is a good one, but I think it will take her years longer and I want her to have a credential that helps her employ-ability even if it is usually only to make her a stronger candidate for jobs she already qualifies for.
     
  10. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    Where did your wife earn her college credits - if she earned 15 or so at one school maybe she could get an AA from that school.

    I recall you live in CS - have you checked out Pikes Peak CC - perhaps they can help your wife get an AA at a low cost and with limited additional work.

    Otherwise check out Excelsior
    Fees are listed here:
    https://www.excelsior.edu/Excelsior_College/Publications/Undergraduate_Fee_Schedule_2009_2010.pdf
    It looks like it would cost $1495 to earn a degree from Excelsior assuming no additional courses are required.
     
  11. bazonkers

    bazonkers New Member

    Anywhere from $1500 to $2600. The Big 3 need to make a profit off of people that don't take classes with them. That's how they do it. In exchange for being able to transfer classes in from multiple schools and graduate from them, you have to pay a fairly hefty fee. You might be able to find a cheaper AA program but they won't accept all those credits so you'd end up spending money and wasting time on new classes. If you choose Excelsior, she'll need to take one or two required courses from them in order to graduate.
     
  12. rickyjo

    rickyjo New Member

    She could do the Penn Foster information literacy class.
    I was expecting to pay over a thousand just for the diploma I was hoping it would be less than two, not nearly three. The price for the Excelsior degree is a little closer to what I was expecting. If anybody has the data on COSC that would be great too.

    As for Pikes Peak Community College, yes. That's a good school of high reputation and will take all her credits; however, they have a residency requirement and she will have to take 15 credits with them that will all be lower level credit she doesn't need for her 4 year degree path. I already spoke to them. I was hoping we could just pay and not waste her time :(. I'm willing to spend the $1,500. That is a fairly reasonable cost with the amount of time she will save.

    Thanks!
     
  13. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    If she seeks a degree from one of the big three (and many other schools) they will accepts more than 86 (71 + 15) lower division credits although some degrees require some of the LD credits to be 200 level credits.
    Check out the detail requirements at whatever schools your wife is interested in for her bachelors degree.
    For example the Excelsior BSLS requires a minimum of 30 upper division semester units.
     
  14. rickyjo

    rickyjo New Member

    I would like to apologize to Ian for being cursory I re-read your previous post and noticed that you mentioned getting an associates from her current school. I'm afraid it is UCCS and they do not offer 2 year degrees.

    Concerning your new post, I'm not sure if she is interested in completely online schooling. I would have to talk to her about it; however, I'm interested because that sounds like very good advice!
     
  15. rickyjo

    rickyjo New Member

    This post if for the sake of anybody who google's or otherwise searches and discovers this thread:

    Charter Oak State College will charge: $1670 for a 2 year degree if no classes are taken.
     
  16. rickyjo

    rickyjo New Member

    Well, it's done. I sent the application to Excelsior today. At a total cost of under $1500 it was the best price and I received vastly superior information over the phone. With a great deal of disclaimer the counselor looked at her credits and was happy to report there should be no problem with her getting a degree with the credit she already has! I'm so happy.
     
  17. mbaonline

    mbaonline New Member

    Good job. Sounds like a good choice.
     
  18. rickyjo

    rickyjo New Member

    I'm thoroughly frustrated. I got the results back and although close they are not good enough and may be too expensive to pursue.

    Natural Sciences/ Math Distribution: They want two credits in this category having tossed out her statistics class without explanation and I guess astronomy doesn't count as a natural science for some reason? Can she just take an algebra class through ALEKS to satisfy this? That would be an easy solution if EC allows it. Further info on this would be greatly appreciated.

    Information literacy: They want her to take this course although I was under the impression that basic English classes satisfy it.


    Augh. Maybe charter Oak will just give it to her without this nonesense.

    Any thoughts?

    Thanks a ton!
     
  19. rickyjo

    rickyjo New Member

    Additionally, if ALEKS is allowed and conforms to this category at EC what is the lowest level ALEKS course they will take for credit?

    Thanks!
     
  20. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    I'm surprised that they don't allow Astronomy as a Nat Sci courses but then neither does TESC (I am going to check my Excelsior transcript tomorrow since they took my astronomy course).

    English does not satify Info Lit - requirements here:
    https://www.excelsior.edu/Excelsior_College/My_Excelsior_College/Publications/Information_Literacy_FAQ.pdf
     

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