I need advice about TESC (or possibly a different school).

I'm considering my options for completing my degree online and could use some assistance. I currently have an AA in liberal arts that I completed back in '05 at a local community college. I'd like to complete my BA in English, preferably with a focus on writing. I don't have a particular career in mind, although I'd like to do something involving writing in a business setting. Right now I work in shipping/receiving. While it currently pays the bills, it's a dead end job that is giving me no relevant work experience. At 30, I feel I'm wasting my time.

In my area, a large portion of the job ads call for a bachelor's. They don't specify what kind of bachelor's. It seems they just want the candidate to have one, which in my opinion reduces the bachelor's to nothing more than a high school diploma. Regardless, I feel like having a degree will open opportunities my AA can not provide alone.

I've looked at Southern NH University, Northeastern, University of Illinois, and some others. They all average around $300 per credit, which is more than I'd like to spend since I don't know how useful the degree will ultimately be. Thomas Edison State College offers a BA in English. As a NJ resident I can get the in-state tuition rates.

1. Does anyone have any experience with the English program at TESC?

2. I don't like the idea of having to pay a yearly fee on top of paying for each credit. Since I'd be taking two classes per semester, this does not benefit me financially. I was thinking of finding cheaper schools that might offer English classes but not a degree, taking the bulk of the classes there, then transferring the credit to TESC since I've heard they are generous with transfer credit. Is this a viable option?

3. Has anyone with a degree from TESC ever felt it was a disadvantage when trying to get a job? I know online degrees are becoming more accepted, but as one of the Big 3, I worry employers know it is a school liberal with accepting credit and allowing students to test out of classes. They may frown upon it, even as an accredited state college.

Any help is appreciated. If anyone knows of a cheap school that does offer English as a major, please let me know.

Thanks.

 

Why do you want a degree in english? If you are thinking of advancing yourself, you are already working in a great career field (logistics). I would seek out ways of advancing yourself in this area, perhaps in management, business or logistics.

With regard to TESC, it is a respected state school. You worry too much about employers, who will just want to know that TESC is regionally accredited. Unless you plan to work on Wall Street or in a big law firm, it will not matter that you did not go to Harvard or Yale.

You are seeking to advance yourself by increments, so I would look to see who might want to hire you with an English degree and a shipping background. It might be sketchy at best...

If you align your background and education, you might find that companies such as FEDEX and UPS might be interested. Also, there are numerous freight forwarder companies in NJ near the Bayonne area.

I would also consider joining the Reserves for the additional experience, benefits such as paid tuition and exposure to other opportunities (Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard or Marines). You do not need to have prior military experience.

When I joined the reserves after active duty, I ended up in logistics, which gave me every advantage in life that I have now. I was able to parlay this experience into a successful logistics career with the government and the reserves.

At 30, you still have much to look forward to... and are not too old to join the reserves. The benefits are well worth it. The National Guard (air and Army) has similar benefits, to include state tax breaks, and so on.

See the following:

Air Force Reserve
Home - Home (US Army Reserve)
America's Navy Reserve - A Global Force for Good: NavyReserve.com
Marine Reserves Pages - home
United States Coast Guard Reserve

Here is some information about the New Jersey Guard:
New Jersey Military and Veterans Affairs - NJ Air National Guard
New Jersey Army National Guard

Keep us posted on your progress.

 

If your goal is to "just get a bachelors" I would suggest a Bachelor of Liberal Arts, it will likely serve you as well as an English degree (unless your looking to teach or something). By pursuing a Liberal Arts degree you can basically make up your own degree plan and just get going. At TESC you will need 18 UL credits, the rest can likely be free FEMA, CLEP, DSST, Straighterline or the like. Your Gen Eds are likely covered by your AA. BA in Liberal Studies Degree at Thomas Edison State College

On the other hand, TESC also makes it pretty easy to complete a Bachelors in Management via credit by exam too Thomas Edison State College: General Management Here again you can complete most, if not all, of this via credit by Exam. I think this would be the more versatile degree considering your situation...probably take a little longer than the liberal studies option.

Here are the CLEP exams they accept and what they give you credit for CLEP - College-Level Exam Program The DSST's DANTES Straighterline Online College Courses - Take College Courses Through Our Distance Learning Courses - StraighterLine by using these you can greatly reduce the expense and time to complete your degree...In fact, in some programs you would never need to take another actual class again to complete the degree at TESC or one of the other "big 3" (Big 3- TESC, Charter Oak State College, Excelsior College) In your case TESC makes a lot of sense being that your a NJ resident.

Scroll through this for some more info: TESC Degree Plans - Degree Forum Wiki

You wouldn't pay the yearly fee if you went this way but once...just do all the work, acquire all the credit, apply at TESC, Matriculate, Graduate. Folks do it all the time.

Good Luck!

 

And honestly, it's rare to find employers that care about the type of accreditation at all, as they pretty much all just care that it is legitimately accredited. The situations where accreditation type becomes an issue are with highly specialized fields, namely technical and health-related where programmatic accreditation is often considered paramount, with some concern involved in the same regard with business degrees mostly at the Master's level.

If I had to choose between TESC or the University of Illinois, I would go with the University of Illinois without a second thought. But you have to consider what you want out of the deal and what's important to you: cost, the pace at which you're allowed to learn within the system (self-paced or guided), etc.