Grad School & General Resources Assistance

[alexiarnps]

Hello all! I found this forum while researching CLEP-style graduate-level credit by exam.

I am needing a little help navigating all of the fantastic information I have been finding here while figuring out my educational path. I'll try to be brief about my current enrollment and situation. I know it's long, but stick with me! :-)

I am enrolled in 16 quarter credits at Bellevue College (online) and a Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) workshop at Maryhurst University here in Portland. Summer quarter I will be doing the 6 quarter credit class, but writing PLA papers for 15 credits, then completing a full time year (F/W/S) which includes a couple more PLA classes with 3 credit hours and 9-12 credits in addition for PLA papers. I have also identified several credit by exam tests that I will be taking that MU accepts (CLEP, DSST & Excelsior). I am expecting to graduate Sprig 2014 with a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus in Public Administration and Women, Infant and Child Health. I am basically completing 90 credits over the next four terms, of which only 48 are traditional, in-class (or online).

My issue is that I need to direct the focus of what the topics of my PLA papers will be in order to make sure I am meeting any requirements for a Master's program. I am at the end of my funding for my undergraduate degree and need to "step over" into the graduate side if I want to keep going (and yes, this is all avenues, my first year of undergraduate studies back in the '90s was at a private school). Anything that I want to do requires that I have a Master's. I don't really have additional funding for "mistakes" with undergraduate credits / prerequisites for graduate school entry. I may be missing a FinAid caveat that they consider upper division undergraduate credits that are unfulfilled prerequisites for graduate program entry? But I doubt it.

I'm still chin deep in my existential crisis about not knowing what I want to be when I grow up, caused entirely by having no clue what Master's programs I *can* attend. When I started this journey I was going to go to school for my MPH (I'm certified in half a dozen peri-natal fields already) and follow up with a PhD in Public Policy. Now the issue is that I either need to finish in one year with tuition and fees coming in less than the $20,500 annual maximum for graduate loans, or I need to find a longer program that is ridiculously cheap so I can hope for some residual income from loans (not ideal, I know). In Portland because of the competition Graduate Assistanceships are rare, so that isn't an option.

I am solidly in the Medical Social Work, (Certified) Counseling / Psychologist, School Counselor / Psychologist, Public Administration: Healthcare Management, Social Work, etc. category. I'm looking to make sure that I am not cutting myself off from the possibility of semi-retiring in 20 years into high school teaching or guidance counseling, but will be looking for something that will put me in an administrative role (with administrative pay). I have saved information for American Military University (which sadly has a lapse in the accreditation for its MPH program right now), Columbus State University and Fort Hayes State University.

I am open to graduate credit by exam, inexpensive transfer credits, yearly packages, self-paced programs, tips on starting at one place and transferring to another later, pitfalls y'all have run into. Anything. If anyone here can help me "unlock" the magic that will get me my degree without having to cave and go back to menial jobs (that also ironically boot me out of FinAid while I do it), I would be eternally grateful!

[sanantone]

I don't think you're going to find anything for public health. Graduate-level CBEs are rare, period. The ones that do exist I believe are in the business field. Geteducated.com is a good site to search to get a general idea of tuition rates even though the information can be a little outdated.
Online Degree Search Results: 1405 Accredited Online Masters Degree Programs | GetEducated.com

You can match it up with CEPH's list of accredited, online programs.
Search for a Degree Program | Council on Education for Public HealthCouncil on Education for Public Health

University of West Florida looks to be your best option.

[Jonathan Whatley]

I am open to graduate credit by exam, inexpensive transfer credits, yearly packages, self-paced programs, tips on starting at one place and transferring to another later, pitfalls y'all have run into. Anything. If anyone here can help me "unlock" the magic that will get me my degree without having to cave and go back to menial jobs (that also ironically boot me out of FinAid while I do it), I would be eternally grateful!

CBE at the graduate level is almost unheard of. Transfer credit acceptance is also very limited. It's very common for master's programs to limit transfer credit to a maximum of 0, 3, or 6 semester hours. Thomas Edison State College and Excelsior College are relatively generous, but their required in-house courses are relatively expensive. Amberton University is relatively generous and their required in-house courses are relatively inexpensive. They have a Christian tilt. You could take some courses from their counseling program (regionally accredited, not professionally accredited by CACREP) by distance.

Generally, you have some great options at other graduate schools, but possibilities based on transfer credit will be very limited.

[alexiarnps]

Thanks for the tip! :-)

Yeah, AMU has an MPH program, but it says their accreditation lapsed on January 1st, 2013. It could be an oversight on their part, or it could be that they were not eligible for renewal. I'm going to call CEPH tomorrow and find out what the deal is. The CEPH FAQ doesn't have much information about the process for lapsing, but says that it can take up to three years for a school to get accreditation. I still have a full year and change before I really need to make a choice, but it is definitely nice to see that UWF is only *slightly* more expensive, but doesn't have the pesky problem of lapsed accreditation.

[Yanji]

I am solidly in the Medical Social Work, (Certified) Counseling / Psychologist, School Counselor / Psychologist, Public Administration: Healthcare Management, Social Work, etc. category. I'm looking to make sure that I am not cutting myself off from the possibility of semi-retiring in 20 years into high school teaching or guidance counseling, but will be looking for something that will put me in an administrative role (with administrative pay).

I think your lack of focus should be a much more troubling concern right now. Figure out what you want to do and decide on a Masters degree later, seeing as you're not graduating until next year anyway. With the possible exception of hard science fields, a Masters degree doesn't get you out of a menial job, so you're really going to have to figure out what you want to do before you commit to anything. Undergrad is the time to not know what you're doing, it's expected that you know what you want before you start any Masters programme.

[alexiarnps]

I think your lack of focus should be a much more troubling concern right now. Figure out what you want to do and decide on a Masters degree later, seeing as you're not graduating until next year anyway. With the possible exception of hard science fields, a Masters degree doesn't get you out of a menial job, so you're really going to have to figure out what you want to do before you commit to anything. Undergrad is the time to not know what you're doing, it's expected that you know what you want before you start any Masters programme.

My track was very clearly set on an MPH with laser focus on developmental psychology pertaining to early intervention programs. These are programs here in the States - I am assuming with the "programme" that you are in a Common Wealth - that focus on what health education programs are provided to new mothers, in hopes of reducing the effects of neglect and poor nutrition in children during that first three years of crucial brain development. My track was to be completed at University of Washington in Seattle where I was living, but my father-in-law pasted away suddenly last summer and my husband and I made a choice to return to our home state to be closer to my husband's family. Now I am in a state where the MPH program is an hour and a half drive each way, so I am looking at what my options are.

Working for Department of Health here means that I can have a range of different degrees, since the different levels of jobs require different levels of degrees to meet job requirements. A masters allows me to allows me to apply for director positions, but any of the ones I mentioned meet that criteria as all of those degrees indicate that you are proficient in working with families, and all of the positions that I would be pursing are working with families. My personal "work smarter not harder" about working with at-risk populations is that those critical first three years creates a foundation that will break the cycle, or it will perpetuate it. All evidence indicates that support and education of the caregivers for these children makes for a healthier and smarter child, all things that reduce a person's likelihood of future reliance on public assistance, future criminal activity, poor academic performance, or possibility of teen pregnancy.

Whoops! Tangent! No, focus for me is not an issue. Funding and time, on the other hand, are. :-)