So long story short I attended Missouri State University until 2009. Got within 3-5 courses of obtaining my Bachelor's and foolishly dropped out. With frustration, embarrassment, etc I didn't go back and finish up my Bachelor's Degree. So fast forward to now I am in a spot fiscally/professionally where I can go back and finish my Bachelor's Degree. Does anyone have any thoughts between Charter Oak State College, Thomas Edison State University, and Excelsior College? I have looked at all of them a bit and they seem like a good option to finish my Bachelor's in Business with a regionally accredited institution. So with all that said I guess my question is 2 fold: 1. Does anyone have any experience thoughts on which option is the best? 2. Will I have difficulty once I obtain a Bachelor's Degree from one of these institutions to be accepted by a local state university for their online MBA program?
1. What's best for you is not what's best for someone else. 2. No. Do some reading here https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?forums/clep-dantes-and-other-exams-for-credit.15/
wb1985, to be clear, do you mean you have a total of say about 35-37 courses completed from Missouri State? What is your budget and do you have tuition assistance/reimbursement? All three would do, I recommend TESU though. 1) If you are just 3-5 courses left and the program you were in has an online option, go back to them! Online programs link: https://outreach.missouristate.edu/online/ You may want to ask them and see if you can complete the degree there instead, unless the tuition is expensive. 2) Many people with a Big 3 or a competency based degree provider such as WGU can go onto any local state university Unless you're going for a Top Tier or a Top 25 Ivy League school, the Big 3 and competency providers would be similar to a relatively unknown state college/university. These schools mentioned above are public/state institutions, they're regionally accredited like any local state university.
AsainStew thanks for the reply! My concern with Missouri State was I had heard that my credits could possibly have lost some of their usefulness since it had been over 10 years since I last attended. Do you think that might not be the case? If so that would be a far easier option as their tuition is actually a bit less than one of the Big 3. That would also allow me to probably just continue on and pursue the online MBA option that Missouri State offers as well.
Yes - the one from which we individually earned our own degree. This forum has several graduates of all three programs. And almost everyone I've encountered who graduated from one of them favors that particular school. Having said that, don't be too anxious - since all of your credits are from 2009 or earlier, you will likely find that many of them will not transfer to one of the Big 3. I don't know what their current policy is but when I was at then-TESC (35 some years ago) it was that they would not accept business credits older than 10 years. My take is that all of these schools have limitations on the age of your credits - a so-called "demonstration of currency" requirement. One suggestion: Check out your online options with Missouri State. Since you almost earned a degree there, the question is whether they will still consider your credits to be current. Even if they knock some out, you may be left with a requirement to do less work than you would at one of the Big 3. And presumably you would save on credit transfer fees that you might have elsewhere. None whatsoever. Graduates from all of the Big 3 have made it into all kinds of graduate programs, including medical and law schools. One thing to keep in mind anywhere - the demonstration of currency requirement may exist at some MBA programs. Therefore, even if a course transfers you may have to do additional work just to get into a program.
Just wanted to follow up and let everyone know. I contacted Missouri State and they did a degree audit on me. I am 3 classes short of obtaining my Bachelor's of Science in Administrative Management. I have enrolled back at Missouri State and will be able to take those 3 courses all via online this semester to finish my degree. Thank you for all your help everyone!
Woo hoo! That was what I was thinking, you're so close to that degree and it's an AACSB Bachelors. The MBA is also AACSB and only $11-12K, it is one of the cheapest I have seen! If you do have the energy/money/time on your hands, after you finish up the Bachelors, you can decide on staying with them for the MBA. There are only a handful that can match or is around that price range, of under $15k for an AACSB MBA/Masters. Good luck on your last 3 courses!