Quickest Way to an Associates of Arts Degree? Considering TESC...

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by radarada, Mar 22, 2012.

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  1. radarada

    radarada New Member

    Not sure if this is the correct forum but this seems "General" enough :cool:

    I want to enlist soon in either Airforce or Navy. But I want an Associates Degree first before I enlist because I was told you can get a bonus plus advanced rank enlistment to E-3.

    Here is my College History and Credits along with the course title in case you guys can determine if they will count towards TESC's Associates of Arts degree

    CLEP
    Spanish Exam I got all 16 credits due to being a native speaker :cool:

    Arizona Western College Yuma, AZ
    MAT 122 Intermediate Algebra - 3 Credits
    PSY 101 Intro to Psychology - 3 Credits
    PSY 238 Human Development - 4 Credits
    PER 99 Fitness for life - 2 Credits (this is one is basically you sign in at the college gym and workout for atleast 1hr a few times a week)
    ENG 100 Beginning Composition - 3 Credits
    IS - 120 Intro To Computer information Systems -3 Credits

    Pima Community College - Tucson, AZ
    CIS 103 Microsoft Windows Operating System 4 Credits
    CIS 133 Fundamentals of Personal Computer Security - 3 Credits

    40 Credits Total

    Thomas Edison State College: Associate in Arts




    For Free Electives I plan to just take the FEMA credits.

    Anyone on here that can advise me :p
     
  2. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    You look like you are well on the way to meeting the TESC requirements for an AA.


    You would need at least:
    · * 3 more English Comp units
    · * At least 3 humanities units other than Spanish
    · * 12 Social science units (in 2 subject areas)
    · * 3 natural science/math units


    If TESC accepts your PER 99 and PIMA colleges courses my guess is that they would count as elective units.

    You need to obtain acceptance of these courses from TESC to get a firm idea of what additional courses you need.

    You might want to look into the Excelsior AA and AS degrees – they require 3 units of English composition (which you have) but they require you to take 3 or 4 units through Excelsior. I think these Excelsior degrees have more flexible requirements than TESC. For example they require 3/6/6/6 units for English/Humanities/Soc Sci & History/NaturalScience-Math whereas TESC requires 6/12/12/9. I'm not sure that EC accepts FEMA credits.
     
  3. rebel100

    rebel100 New Member

    Any of the “Big 3” will be a quick route to an AA. They include:

    Thomas Edison State College (TESC)
    Charter Oak State College (COSC)
    Excelsior College (EC)

    All three are Regionally Accredited and offer novel methods of obtaining credit. They will take courses from FEMA (EC will make you launder them through Frederick CC first increasing your cost), Straighterline, CLEP / DSST exams, and will be very liberal in allowing the transfer of your credit acquired elsewhere.

    You need to look at the General Education requirements at each school and decide which you can plug the most of your existing credits into to speed up the process. In General You will need to satisfy the GE requirements then meet a minimal of credits in liberal arts. (Gen Eds are usually liberal arts). For an AA you will need 45 liberal arts credits and the rest could be FEMA.

    Here are the GE requirements for COSC Charter Oak State College - General Education Requirements

    It looks like you could finish at COSC with 8 courses/exams (though I only took a quick look):

    Analyzing and Interpreting Literature CLEP, satisfies literature/Art Requirement and is worth 6 credits

    Ethics – DSST exam

    English Comp 2…if you apply yourself this can be done at your pace in one month via Straighterline for about $150.00, or take the DSST Technical Writing

    Speech…DSST exam

    US History Clep (either one) or the DSST on the Civil War

    A Global Understanding test such as the DSST World Religions exam

    Any 4 credit course in a science CLEP Biology or Chemistry, Straighterline Course in Science with a lab, or go get it done at the CC.

    COSC Cornerstone Course….TESC doesn’t require this, but their upfront fee’s are higher than COSC…you get to pick.

    The above would equal 28-30 credits and satisfy all the requirements…you would be done, no need for FEMA. That COSC course and the fee’s would be around $1100, the exams would run you about $700 depending on where you took them. I know folks that have done a similiar amount of work in just a few months (CLEP and DSST are taken as fast as you are ready)….the COSC course is 8 weeks and runs within their semester system.

    EC and TESC will be similar…if an AS instead of an AA will work look at the Homeland Security AS from TESC…it’s a pretty quick degree that uses FEMA for a good portion of the required credits.

    New Mexico Junior College also accepts a lot of CLEP…they might be a great choice for you. I would take a look at their AA program and their list of acceptable CLEPS…they won’t be quite as quick and flexible as the big three though.

    Have you considered CLEPing out of the rest of the degree at Arizona Western or Pima?

    Good Luck!
    Mike
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 22, 2012
  4. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    I don't know what the tuition is at the two colleges you have listed, but you might save yourself some money by doing Straighterline and Aleks courses instead. You could transfer their courses into any of the Big Three and then knock out the rest of the credits you need with CLEP exams.
     
  5. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    You could meet all, or almost all, required courses by passing CLEP and DSST exams
    CLEP Exams | CLEP
    Test Preparation | DSST | Get College Credit
    DSST exams are $80 each and most CLEP exams are $77 each - much lower than equivalent college courses.
    Excelsior also offers challenge exams but I do not know details.
     
  6. RBTullo

    RBTullo Member

    At TESC, if you were to focus more on the AAS in Multidisciplinary Technology than the regular AA/AS I believe that you probably meet all of the core requirements and could then complete the rest with FEMA courses.
     
  7. japhy4529

    japhy4529 House Bassist

    Be careful with AAS degrees. They are more flexible when it comes to credit distribution, however, many colleges and universities will not accept the majority of credits that comprise this degree program. That said, my alma mater, Bellevue University will accept an associates degree (AAS, AA or AS) in its entirety toward one of their online Bachelors degrees.

    Best of luck,
     
  8. lawrenceq

    lawrenceq Member

    I agree! I turned my AAS degree into a BS but I wish I’d gone the AA or AS route.
     
  9. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    I see no real issue with an AAS at all as it's designed to be more directly career-focused. With an AAS, you likely won't have any arts courses, and you'll likely only have one course in humanities (usually history) unless you're studying a social science like Psychology or Sociology, but all that will mean is that you'll likely to take the full load of humanitites and arts courses later on when moving to a BA/BS instead of taking them now. Either way, you're going to take them eventually unless you move on to a Bachelor's of Applied Science... though I should add that I have heard of BAS holders having a little trouble getting into some grad schools.
     
  10. rebel100

    rebel100 New Member

    If the AAS will work for the Military then the TESC AAS in Environmental Safety and Security is for you! Thomas Edison State College: Environmental, Safety & Security Technologies

    21 FEMA (free)
    Eng Comp 2 (CLEP or DSST Technical Writing?)
    Humanities....several to choose from via CLEP/DSST
    Maybe a Math Class...your Int. Algebra may suffice.

    The list of schools that will allow the use of FEMA is very short. Pretty much the Big 3, AMU/APU, and a handful of CC's. There are a few others. You would essentially have this degree as a stand alone for the purpose of coming in with advanced standing in the Military...expect to make up those 21 credits if you pursue your Bachelors later...I would seriously consider it for your specific purpose though.
     
  11. Petedude

    Petedude New Member

    I'll second TCord's suggestion. I think COSC is the probably the quickest/cheapest of the three, but bear in mind all of their degrees are in General Studies with a chosen concentration.
     
  12. Maxwell_Smart

    Maxwell_Smart Active Member

    TESC is fine, but why not consider all of the available options? In your situation, you have many to choose from.

    There are far cheaper options than TESC, and considering that you're going to the military you could try a Nationally-Accredited program and achieve the same goal for much less.

    TESC is like, what? $250? $350 a credit plus other expenses? You could probably get 75% of the credit for an Associates at Ashworth College, spend $1,000 or less (about $64 per credit with books included), and knock the 5 courses out in a month and a half, 2 months tops.

    Then with your transfer credits combined with the new courses taken at Ashworth, you'd probably be able to qualify for a second degree in another field with only a few more courses, not to mention that you'd get an alumni discount which would make the cost of your second degree next to nothing.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 23, 2012
  13. RBTullo

    RBTullo Member

    I looked at both the AAS in Multidisciplinary Technology and AAS in Environmental, Safety and Security Technologies and I don't see any difference in the programs other than the name (BTW, I think Environmental, Safety and Security Technologies sounds better). I also don't see where it is limited to only 21 FEMA credits. The way it reads it appears you might be able to do as many as 39 FEMA credits, in which case you might be hard pressed to find a program wih a lower per credit cost.
     

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