I was actually looking at making the programs separate, but under the umbrella of the same university. I'd want a 4 yr program as most people who go to the Big 3 don't want to stop at an Associates Degree. I know I didn't go to TESC to get an AA. And I'm sure you want a Bachelors too. So stopping at the Associates level doesn't make too much sense to me.

I guess the best example of what I'm looking at doing would be the Univ of AZ. It's a regular 4 yr school, but they also offer graduate level degrees and professional doctorates (pharmacy, medicine, etc.) Think one of the Big 3 with a pharmacy school attached haha.

The 3.5 mil is income, not profit. I can totally envision spending that much on the building, paying off loans, plus other expenses like staffing, electricity, etc.. But once the bills get paid, the rest would be the profit. Pharmacy schools have to be profitable with large enough margins otherwise no school would offer a Pharmacy program.

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Jesse
BA in Liberal Studies, Thomas Edison State College, 2008

Heres my 2c on this hypothetical enterprise.

1. How are students going to raise 100,000 to go to your school? I assume it will take a few years before they will be able to apply for federal loans (Title IV). In the meantime, which bank will be footing their bill?

2. Are you really sure that accreditation is so easy? It seems to me if it was that easy several hundred diploma mills would already have it. I'm going to bet the process takes 3-5 years at least. Given this, why would students (CLEP or other) chose your school over another?

3. To avoid looking like a mill, and being labeled as such. You create a regular curriculum with teachers, tests, fancy website, student tracking software, maybe even an office somewhere. You aggressively pursue RA accreditation and any professional accreditation you can find (3-5 years), the whole shebang.

Now your back where I started. If the students can't pay for the school (1), and if you have a hard time attracting students to you for the first 5 years (2), how do you pay for 3 (for the first few years anyway)?

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Joe

CLEP
Princ. of Management 74, Intro to Sociology 65, US History I 72, Princ. of Marketing 67, Business Law I 66, Macroeconomics 68, Microeconomics 65, A&I Lit 74, Intro. Psych 66, SS&H 76. College Math 70. Humanities 60.
DSST
Princ. of Supervision 69, Statistics 63, MIS 65, Intro to Computers 64, Criminal Justice 57, Law Enforcement 66, Ethics 72, Princ. of Financial Accounting 67, Money and Banking 59, Environment 69, Lifespan & Dev 53, Fund. Counseling 61, Astronomy 63, Finance 63, Business Math 80, Technical Writing 61, Intro Business 65, Business law II 57.
ECE
Organizational Behavior B, Ethics A
Courses
Business Policy (A), Straighterline Managerial Accounting (A), Straighterline English (B) Straighterline Algebra (A), Opertations Management (A)

Actually in accounting terms for any type of business, that would still be revenue. Income is found on an income statement shows revenue - expenses.

Those are very good points. Thank you for the reply. This is exactly what I wanted when I asked for advice/input. Now I have something to think about.

Ok, to answer your questions...
1. I don't know the ins and outs of Federal Financial Aid, but it's becoming apparent that I'm going to have to. The pharmacists I know have tons of student loans. I don't know exactly how they financed their education, but I'll find out.

2. Accreditation isn't that hard to get. It just takes time, money and effort. That's why the diploma mills haven't gotten it. You are right, I think it will take about 3-5 years to gain RA status. Given that, I'll probably have to just enroll my family and friends so I actually have students. Once I gain RA status, then I can begin to aggressively recruit students.

As for why people would go to my school, I want to be the best out of the "Big 4." I've been on this board for a while, and I've heard all the pros and cons of the Big 3. Excelsiors name and crappy looking diploma, TESC's poor customer service and high fees, COSC only offering a BS in General Studies, etc.. I'd really like to have a school that has the lowest fees, best service, best degree offerings, best looking diploma, etc..

3. I agree 100% That's exactly what I'd do.

And the final question: That's another thing I'd have to look into. Schools have to have students to be accredited, but most students won't go to an unaccredited school. It's a catch 22 that I'll have to find a way around.

And to AVB: you know what I meant haha

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Jesse
BA in Liberal Studies, Thomas Edison State College, 2008

1st I just received my AA from TESC. I went for the AA because at my age I never know what tomorrow will bring, so I wanted to at least say I have a degree. People ask me all the time where I went to school, now I can say TESC. I wasn't sure I would be able to continue so I am happy they offer an AA.

2nd Can you offer a degree in chemistry or Natural science? I have 18 chemistry credits and could probably PLA more, but I can't find an online degree in any science besides biology. Most of the problem is you have to do labs and you can't do them online. I would just like to get a BS in something like Natural science. If you could take transfer credits at your school and give a BS that would attract us nerdy science types.

3rd If you charge little or no tuition the first couple of years maybe some of us could also be students at your school while being a student at one of the big 3 ( maybe working on a different degree) that would help make your student population look better.

Just my 2 c, I would love to see it work

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Linda

EXAMS TAKEN
1/07 TECEP Psycology of Women (Needed/ acheived) 60/74
1/08 DSST Technical Writing 46/64
4/07 TECEP Word Processing Fundamentals 65/75
4/07 CLEP Info Systems & Computor App. 50/64
3/07 DSST History of the Vietnam War 44/66
11/07 DSST Intro to World Religions 48/65
5/08 CLEP Analyzing & Interp. Literature 50/69
5/29/08 CLEP Intro to Psychology 50/65
6/12/08 CLEP Intro to Sociology 50/69
1/27/09 CLEP Social Science & History 50/66
Finally 3 FEMA Done!!
Planned
Intro to Theater TECEP
Organizational Behavior TECEP or DSST
Physics I TECEP or EXCEL
Physics II TECEP oe EXCEL
Physical Geology TECEP or DSST
Calculus CLEP or EXCEL
Foundations of Education DSST
Intro to Education Psycology CLEP
2-3 FEMA credits
Global Environmental Change class
+ 43 B & M CC credits and 3 TESC credits and Finally on 6/30/08 an AA Degree
Eventually a BA in Natural Science/Mathmatics

I would look at investing time in the school if I trusted that some day it would have RA. Start a degree there and be enrolled while going elsewhere. I would be looking forward to being one of the first grads of the Big 4th, when the RA went through. And the school mascot would be.....?????




Hawkguy- as a side note; I'm at Papago park; 160th finance det. National Guard

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It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer. ~Albert Einstein

I know - but still just wanted to hammer it in! Didn't mean to get you off track however.

Linda... You brought up a very good point regarding the AA degree. I overlooked the draw of an AA program. I've seen several threads on here about them. And the science/chemistry degree is a good idea too. I've always hated science, so I totally overlooked that too My bad

4dkids... I don't know what the mascot would be, or even the name of the school. Any Ideas? It's good to see another Arizonan/Arizonian/Arizonite?? on here haha. I was with 140th AVN out at Papago a few years back. Now I'm with Infantry and looking at going to the Civil Affairs unit out on Deer Valley Rd.

AVB... No worries haha

I'm really glad you guys support this idea. I'd hate to be tilting at windmills here haha. Any ideas on names, mascots, logos, etc..?

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Jesse
BA in Liberal Studies, Thomas Edison State College, 2008

One thing that kinda bugs me about the Big 3 is that none of their names include the state they operate in. Arizona State University sounds much much better and less "degree-millish" than Thomas Edison State College in my humble opinion. I did a quick google search and it didn't turn up any college named University of Southern Arizona. Another option would be Flagstaff University. Both of these dreamworld colleges would have the Patriot as their mascot and school colors of red, white, and blue.

Think of it, it could be the ASU Sun Devils vs. the USA Patriots!

Farmerboy

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There's a Northern Arizona University, why not a University of Southern Arizona haha. I like it.

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Jesse
BA in Liberal Studies, Thomas Edison State College, 2008