Could I get AA degree at one school before I start BA school this fall?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by skirtlet, Jun 3, 2021.

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  1. skirtlet

    skirtlet Member

    I just got into NYU SPS for a BA... wasn't expecting that at all.

    Could I finish an AA at TESU this summer before I start at NYU? Do most schools allow this?

    I'd have 12 credits to finish an associate's at TESU this summer before NYU in the fall. I'd like a degree to my name.

    I just enrolled at NYU and really don't want to ask them if it's a huge "no-no" to try to confer another degree before enrolling in their program. I'd have 2+ years to finish at NYU, so I'm hoping to get any degree now.
     
  2. AsianStew

    AsianStew Moderator Staff Member

    Yes, but you don't want that. An AA at TESU is overpriced, unless you're an active service person OR work for the DOD. If you only require 12 credits for the AA, I highly think you have at least 12 Regionally Accredited credits from a community college.

    If so, get the AAS for the cost of transcripts at Pierpont, they have a BOG AAS, if you have an emphasis in something, such as Business, IT, whatever, they can add that emphasis into the Associate of Applied Science. Once that is done, go for the NYU Bachelors...

    BTW, which state do you reside in? What degree are you thinking of completing at NYU?
    Pierpont Link: https://www.pierpont.edu/ac/specialprograms/bogdegree
    Pierpont Wiki: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pierpont_C%26TC
     
  3. skirtlet

    skirtlet Member

    Thanks. With TESU, I qualify for a Pell grant and could take all 12 credits in one semester, so it would be maybe $1400 total for me.

    I'll look into Piierpont. I hadn't heard of them.

    I have almost 200 credit hours, but some were Cs and I haven't found a school that would accept all credits. Excelsior would make me finish 18 more credits for a BA. TESU would make me do 12 more credits for an AA (I didn't ask about a BA at TESU).

    I live in Oklahoma, and there are few schools with online programs here.

    The NYU degree would be from NYU SPS - a BA in Leadership and Management Studies. I would have to do 64 credits at NYU SPS to meet residency requirements, which sucks. But, I do qualify for Pell grants and NYU gave me a scholarship that covers a good amount. I've always wanted an NYU degree, even if "just" from NYU SPS and even if it means 2 more years of college.
     
  4. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    When Excelsior says they want 18 credits or TESU wants 12, are those courses to meet a residency requirement or can you CLEP out? With ProctorU you can now take CLEP at home. $80x6=480
     
  5. TEKMAN

    TEKMAN Semper Fi!

    What's about Charter Oaks State College? With 200 credits, you can complete your Bachelor's faster and cheaper. Why's not save NYU for Master's degree?
     
    Maniac Craniac likes this.
  6. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Hey, NYU is a great school, so don't mind me if my idea sucks and isn't what you want! But, have you considered banging out a faster BA from TESU and then working towards a Master degree- if not from NYU than the next best school you can get into? It could take you just as long and actually be less expensive and you'd already have your BA in the meantime while working on finishing the Master's.
     
    SteveFoerster likes this.
  7. skirtlet

    skirtlet Member

    Thanks, I'll look into Charter Oaks. NYU gave me a good scholarship for a BA and I qualify for Pell Grants since I never used them until now. NYU offers very few MA scholarships that I could find so far in my field for online degrees. I'd pay about $10K-$15K total for an NYU BA. An MA from NYU would run me probably $35K-$40K, including a potential $5K MA scholarship if I received one.
     
  8. skirtlet

    skirtlet Member

    I really would love to get a BA right now from any school, but I'm not sure I could afford NYU for a Master's after that. I'd only have to pay about $10K-15K total for an NYU BA after grants and scholarships. I'd have to pay about $40K-$45K for an NYU MA. If I could find a way to get NYU grad school scholarships, I would prefer that option. I just think NYU BA is the only way I could ever afford NYU since they offer undergrad scholarships and I can get Pell Grants now. NYU grad school seems to have incredibly little financial aid available. My job doesn't have tuition benefits (or even healthcare, paid sick leave, or any of it).
     
  9. Rachel83az

    Rachel83az Well-Known Member

    With Excelsior, they require you to take 7 credits from them. You can use alternate sources for everything else (assuming you can find them - some degrees are difficult).

    With TESU, there are a few requirements. You MUST take 3 or 6 credits (depends on the degree) for an Associate or 6 credits for a Bachelor's (the capstone & cornerstone) with them. You MUST have a total of 15 RA credits for an Associate's or 30 RA credits for a Bachelor's degree; the capstone/cornerstone count towards this requirement so that you can bring in 12 or 24 credits from any other RA school. They also EXPECT you to take 16 credits with them or they charge you $3125 in "residency waiver" fees.
     
    Dustin likes this.
  10. Rachel83az

    Rachel83az Well-Known Member

    Pierpont requires you to have graduated HS at least 2 years prior to your application. They also require 12 RA credits. The rest can come from Sophia.org (the cheapest source of alternate credits).
     
  11. AsianStew

    AsianStew Moderator Staff Member

    Since you're using Pell Grant, you can go for a BA & BSBA combo for TESU, I wrote about this extensively, to use Pell Grant to the fullest (on the sister board). You have enough Regionally Accredited credits already, you just need 16 residency credits at TESU for the Bachelors! They are a very good option to do a double degree with for the price of one degree, you can get two associates FREE en route to those two bachelors degrees!

    In regards to the BA at NYU, since you have a scholarship, I highly recommend doing the Bachelors to Masters option with them as well, it will shave 1 year off the Masters. Another option: A member on the sister board was able to get scholarship that paid for 50% or more of their degree, she went for this: https://cds.nyu.edu/masters-program/ a Masters in Data Science.

    This is how you can score the full scholarship and use the best of the Pell Grants, by taking only required courses at the institutions and transferring in the max amount. You can finish your double degree at TESU, just don't graduate yet, you can finish the two associate and pay the grad fee. Because you don't have a Bachelors, you're still eligible for the Pell Grant and you can use the Bach2Mast, once you're done with the Bachelors, graduate that and the two at TESU at the same time, voila!
     
  12. smartdegree

    smartdegree Active Member

    NYU SPS's associates degree tuition is relatively cheap (it's much less than the bachelors tuition) so you can consider finishing your associates there?
    Although quite frankly, the associates degree will not really add that much to your profile once you get the bachelors. In fact, I rarely see anyone add that to their CV once they get the bachelors.
     
  13. Rachel83az

    Rachel83az Well-Known Member

    True. It can be a nice stepping-stone/certificate of accomplishment, though. I got a Pierpont one even though I don't exactly need it. But it was nice to be able to say that I'm a college graduate now.
     
    smartdegree likes this.
  14. Vonnegut

    Vonnegut Well-Known Member

    Worth speaking to your advisor and seeing about reverse transfer options. You may be able to have some of your courses in the Fall transfer back and count towards completing your associates. It’s becoming a more common model for 2 year schools to improve their completion rates.
     
  15. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    So get a BA from TESU, Charter Oak, or Excelsior, and get a Master's from somewhere reasonably well regarded that's not NYU and is cheaper. It's your call, but it's very tough to see how spending two extra years makes sense in the long run almost no matter what your goals are.
     
    Rich Douglas likes this.
  16. cacoleman1983

    cacoleman1983 Well-Known Member

    These often unadvertised and inexpensive ways to obtain a degree just blows my mind. I did all my education the traditional way with grants and scholarships. However, I have a spouse now looking forward to going to community college with one year of college under his belt from the Philippines. We are going through WES now to get his transcript evaluated which has been somewhat of a headache. Once he starts school and finish his Associates degree, I will be presenting all these ways I've learned through this and the sister forum to finish a Bachelors degree much quicker.

    If the general public becomes more aware of these paths and they are promoted more often, universities will definitely lose business and the student loan bubble will burst much faster.
     
  17. TEKMAN

    TEKMAN Semper Fi!

    I only recommend an Associate degree if that is your terminal degree. Otherwise, go straight for a Bachelor's degree because once you have a Bachelor's degree, no one cares about the Associate degree. Honestly, all the resumes cross my desk for the last 15 years, I only see two Associate degrees.
     
    SteveFoerster likes this.
  18. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Agreed. I could have gotten one a semester before I got my BS, but by then I didn't see the point, especially since it would have been a separate graduation fee.
     
  19. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    For someone who really struggles with school though, or anticipates life circumstances that will make it hard(er) to graduate with the Bachellor's, an Associates might provide them a safety net that they'll still leave with an awarded credential. If it's one semester difference or something, then, yeah, probably not helpful though.
     
    Rachel83az and LearningAddict like this.
  20. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    Agreed. While I understand and don't necessarily disagree with the sentiment of going for the Bachelor's and for many good reasons, on the other hand it's not a bad idea at all to get an Associate degree first and keep going. Many have done that so they can have a degree in-hand sooner and get to work in their chosen profession, especially professions where you need at least an Associate degree for licensure.
     
    Rachel83az likes this.

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