A Few Questions about UMPI

[sacredrain]

Hello,

I have a much younger brother (age 25), who I have taken under my wing to mentor and am prodding him to earn a degree. He has washed out of a few degree programs in the past.  However, he has realized he needs to buckle down and obtain a degree. He has about 36 RA university credits and is working on Sophia courses. Anyways I wanted to ask a few questions for him in regards to UMPI:

1. Are they mostly written or exam assessments?
2. Do courses contain one or 2 assessments like WGU or are there multiple ones in each course?
3. Are there any group projects?
4. Are there proctored exams, if so which service do they use?
5. Are there requirements to interact with an instructor?
6. Are there limits on how many courses you can take per term?
7. Is the payment rate capped for the life of the program or can one expect tuition increases? (I will be the one paying for my brother's degree if he decides to enroll at UMPI)

Thank you to everyone who responds!

[ss20ts]

1. It depends on the degree program how the Final Assessments. I did business courses and about 1/4 were exams.
2. There's 1 Final Assessment
3. No group projects.
4. Don't ask about proctoring because we don't want it added. Examity is HORRIBLE and I wouldn't wish them on anyone after my experience at LSU.
5. Some classes have Milestones where you have to provide a written short answer and the professor responds to it. The professor will also send back the rough draft with changes needed.
6. The only limit is that you must complete a course. You can't carry a course over to the next term. If you don't finish it, you fail.
7. No one knows what tuition will be in the future. Very few schools cap tuition increases.

[dfrecore]

Not trying to be negative, but I think that for someone who has "washed out" of college in the past, a competency-based program is probably not the best option; it requires quite a commitment to going fairly quickly through the program.

Instead, I would spend my time working with him on getting a lot of credit via Sophia and Study.com, and then consider COSC, EC or TESU. Those will allow someone who is unsure to go more slowly and not penalize them for it.

[ss20ts]

Not trying to be negative, but I think that for someone who has "washed out" of college in the past, a competency-based program is probably not the best option; it requires quite a commitment to going fairly quickly through the program.

Instead, I would spend my time working with him on getting a lot of credit via Sophia and Study.com, and then consider COSC, EC or TESU.  Those will allow someone who is unsure to go more slowly and not penalize them for it.

I washed out of college several times. I still earned 2 associate degrees and a bachelor's degree. I'm also currently a grad student. Many people on here have washed out of college. College at 18 on campus is far different than later in life or online. 

I always recommend completing a number of Sophia courses when thinking about UMPI or WGU. Sophia is not on a schedule really. Yes you have 60 days to complete the course, but you have to budget your time and change your priorities in life to make the time to complete those courses quickly. If you don't you won't finish them and you will be in a CBE program for a long time which won't save you money or time.

[ashkir]

UMPI does free courses each spring/fall. Perhaps have him enroll in one of those to see if he can keep up with that commitment.

IS he elgible for the Pell grant?

@dfecore is right, however, I don't think any of the schools are right. If he cannot commit to a Competency Based model (all these schools are almost competency based including TESU, COSC, Excelsior, because you transfer in the max you do on your own). He may need is hand held more, and this, he may need a guided university with actual classes, etc.

Do you think he can commit to a CBE learning session? Even if it's just 2 classes a term?

[sacredrain]

Not trying to be negative, but I think that for someone who has "washed out" of college in the past, a competency-based program is probably not the best option; it requires quite a commitment to going fairly quickly through the program.

Instead, I would spend my time working with him on getting a lot of credit via Sophia and Study.com, and then consider COSC, EC or TESU.  Those will allow someone who is unsure to go more slowly and not penalize them for it.

My brother is working to complete all of the courses he can at Sophia. As for washing out, I too washed out when I was much younger in several bachelors programs, but I managed to pull through. People change and grow up. My brother realizes that he needs a degree to advance so he is serious this time. Plus this is a way for him to avoid any student loans as I am footing the bill for his education and if he washes out this time, no more nice big sis!

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1. It depends on the degree program how the Final Assessments. I did business courses and about 1/4 were exams.
2. There's 1 Final Assessment
3. No group projects.
4. Don't ask about proctoring because we don't want it added. Examity is HORRIBLE and I wouldn't wish them on anyone after my experience at LSU.
5. Some classes have Milestones where you have to provide a written short answer and the professor responds to it. The professor will also send back the rough draft with changes needed.
6. The only limit is that you must complete a course. You can't carry a course over to the next term. If you don't finish it, you fail.
7. No one knows what tuition will be in the future. Very few schools cap tuition increases.

Thank you for responding! My brother has decided UMPI is where he will go, once he finishes up these courses at Sophia he has completed almost half of all of the courses they offer.

[ss20ts]

Many of us washed out of college in our younger years. We're all not ready for college at 18. Many also have issues at home so that's just another thing to deal with. If he can handle Sophia and complete the courses in a few months, then I believe he can handle UMPI and complete his degree fairly quickly. I didn't think I could handle a CBE program until I started on Sophia. I actually loved not being glued to a weekly schedule and working on courses at my own pace and on my own timeline. for me, the UMPI experience was the BEST college experience I've had and I've been to about a dozen colleges both online and B&M. He won't know works best for him if he doesn't try things out and it sounds like he's trying out Sophia. Good luck to him!

[ashkir]

Many of us washed out of college in our younger years. We're all not ready for college at 18. Many also have issues at home so that's just another thing to deal with. If he can handle Sophia and complete the courses in a few months, then I believe he can handle UMPI and complete his degree fairly quickly. I didn't think I could handle a CBE program until I started on Sophia. I actually loved not being glued to a weekly schedule and working on courses at my own pace and on my own timeline. for me, the UMPI experience was the BEST college experience I've had and I've been to about a dozen colleges both online and B&M. He won't know works best for him if he doesn't try things out and it sounds like he's trying out Sophia. Good luck to him!

I agree!

Also if your brother has motivation issues, later on @sacredrain, challenge him. Make checkpoints with him and more. UMPI claims they "check up" on you, but their learning coach has too much to do and also teaches so they don't really touch base unless you reach out. 

Invite him to this forum. Have him share his updates in our thread we put up each session. this can make him show some pride in his work and we can ALL root him on.

[dfrecore]

Not trying to be negative, but I think that for someone who has "washed out" of college in the past, a competency-based program is probably not the best option; it requires quite a commitment to going fairly quickly through the program.

Instead, I would spend my time working with him on getting a lot of credit via Sophia and Study.com, and then consider COSC, EC or TESU.  Those will allow someone who is unsure to go more slowly and not penalize them for it.

My brother is working to complete all of the courses he can at Sophia. As for washing out, I too washed out when I was much younger in several bachelors programs, but I managed to pull through. People change and grow up. My brother realizes that he needs a degree to advance so he is serious this time. Plus this is a way for him to avoid any student loans as I am footing the bill for his education and if he washes out this time, no more nice big sis!

---

Maybe I should say that if you are "prodding him to earn a degree", then he may not be ready yet.  It should be his idea, with no prodding needed.  Each time I was successful in starting a plan and getting at least a good way through it, it was 100% my own motivation.  When someone relies on another for their motivation, they usually aren't going to stick with it.

I wish him well though - and if he can do a bunch of Sophia courses in a short amount of time, that's certainly a telling sign that he may be ready for a competency-based program.

[bjcheung77]

@sacredrain, if your brother is qualified for Pell Grant, he should use it to the fullest. You shouldn't need to be paying his bill at all. UMPI is a great school, he should focus mainly on the Sophia.org/InstantCertCredit courses and work on the final 25% at UMPI as they require 30 credits residency. If he's doing well with Sophia.org, he should be alright completing his Bachelors, it may take him 2 or 3 terms, even at 4 terms, this is affordable compared to other State university systems.

Give him space/time to do his work and have him show you his progress on a timely manner, like follow up every couple of weeks to see how far he's gone. Last thing, he should create an action plan of courses he needs for the degree... I would focus again mainly on Sophia.org/InstantCert, he may want to review this thread: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...-for-3-222

BTW, why is he under your wing and not the "other" bro who finished his Masters in CIS at Hodges? I mean, couldn't he seek help between the both of you? I would share the responsibility, family is family, pitch in together, get things done together. I have sisters, we work together in everything, I don't focus on helping or being helped by one sister... I think that's different if I have brothers, but I won't know... Anyways, good luck!