Help with degree completion

Hello all,

My first post here, but I've been reading through the forums for the better part of a week. I realize this is a bit redundant; however, the subject has cause me so much anxiety that I'm uncomfortable going through on borrowed advice.

That said, I have 96 credits towards my BA (120), but it's been 5 years since I was last in school. I know that going back and completing my bachelor's at my university is the ideal choice, but I'd prefer it as a last resort. After tuition/classes, I would end up accruing another 30k in loans and the financial burden was a big contributor to me leaving in the first place.

I've read some suggestions of online degree completion programs (which I'd love to do), but how does that work in regards to transferring credits/specific majors? Also ideally I'd like to complete everything online as fast as possible.

Anyhow, any help you guys can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again!

 

It depends a bit on what degree (what subject area) you're trying to earn and what specific credits you've already got. If you want a degree in Physics and most of your credits at English Lit courses then you've got a long road ahead of you.

You apply to the school and send your transcripts. The school evaluates your coursework and tells you what you'll need to do in order to earn one of their degrees. Issues of course equivalence can come to bear, issues of grades can come to bear, issues of the age of the credits can come to bear. Some schools have a reputation for being generous some not. I'm sure that others will add their thoughts but in the meantime you may want to provide us with some added info regarding the specific degree you hope to earn, current distribution of credits, how much you can afford, and how you hope the degree will move you toward a specific goal, etc. Also, here's one to look at:

http://www.umassonline.net/degrees/online-degree-liberal-arts-degree-completion

 

Hi Kizmet.

At the time I was working on a BA in Sociology with an emphasis on education administration (the school offered a few branches). I think I was 2 core classes (the remaining credits as electives) away from specific degree completion. A bit ironic, but most of my focus/field work at the time was directed towards education and it's a field I hope to end up in eventually. Specifically, my goal would be a position through TEFL which a few of my old contacts have suggested.

 

Wow that's a hard pill to swallow. You're about 1 year or maybe less to getting a degree at your last school. I'd personally try to do everything in my power to graduate from that school but that's just me.

 

I completely disagree. The OP would spend $30,000 on that option. I'm sorry, I can't FATHOM spending $30,000 on a year of undergraduate credit....in sociology....but okay, so I'm going to assume the unspoken part is that you're already $90,000 in?
So, I can talk with you about TESC, where I attended, not so much the other 2. At TESC, education credit in a sociology degree would be considered a free elective (not general education), but everything in any social science will fit into a degree in either social science (what I earned) or sociology. Social science, in my estimation, would be faster since you have education credit, you're going to be lacking in sociology credit. In that case, you probably only have upper level credit left to earn - the hardest and most expensive kind. If, however, you opted for social science, you can then incorporate credit from peripheral social sciences like psychology and history- of which upper level credit is cheap and abundant.
An application and unofficial evaluation of your credit at TESC is $75 and good for 6 months.

 

I misspoke on the 30k but here is the estimate for the '13-14 school year (Estimated Cost of Attendance). I wasn't 90k in debt as grants/work study covered a lot of it, but then the final year I ran into some difficulty with financial aid and I ultimately was stuck with covering nearly all of it should I continue. My academic standing is still fine, but it's as you and Steve said, I'm not sure how feasible going back would be (especially since 24 credits would have to be split over 2 semesters so it's a year with the high fees).

In regards to TESC, the academic calendar starts a term every month so I can in theory do a class or two per month and finish within half a year right? Sorry for the generic question as I've never done an accelerated program before short of summer term.

Thanks again.

 

TESC uses 12 week terms, 4 per year. The thing about TESC, is that you can transfer in everything that fits as long as it's from a regionally accredited college or university. So, by having an evaluation done, you would have a "what's left" list and you can price shop those hours. So yes, you can enroll at TESC and take classes with them (I did that for 24 credits) but it's not the fastest or the cheapest. Let's say you have a few gen ed elective slots open, in that case you can take a CLEP exam that results in 3-6 credits for a total cost of only $80. If you have any such slots, it would be in your best interest to use as many as possible. Also, as I mentioned before, for sociology or social science degrees, they consider education as a free elective credit. HOWEVER, they allow 27 free elective slots, so if you have any slots at all, there is a credit source through FEMA which allows you to take as many 1 credit courses as you want for FREE. As in $0.00. TESC takes these for free electives. Now, if you need upper level in major classes, there are fewer options, but there are still options. In my opinion, anyone with as much credit as you should have an unofficial evaluation done. If you were posting that you only had 12 credits in English, psych, history, and math, anyone here can tell you exactly where those will fall. With >90 credits completed, it's best to get the evaluation. I don't know if you visited their website, but they offer sociology and social science, but I still think you'd faster/cheaper to complete in social science. In my opinion, needing only 24 credits, I don't understand why you couldn't be finished by Thanksgiving. It just depends on what you need.

 

The cost estimate that you provided is for University of the Pacific, a private university in Stockton, California. If you are in the Stockton area, but are concerned about the high cost of Pacific, then have you looked into finishing your degree with the public California State University system -- which costs much less ? For example, Cal State Stanislaus has a satellite campus in Stockton, and it offers numerous online classes as well. Cal State Stanislaus should have no problem accepting transfer credits from the University of the Pacific, which is a very old and respected institution.

TESC (in New Jersey), Charter Oak (in Connecticut) or Excelsior (in New York) are undoubtedly viable low-cost options, but they aren't exactly household names in California. If you finished up with the Cal State University system, your degree would have far more local name recognition, yet it would probably still probably cost much less than Pacific.