Associates Degree Question

[BlackSheep]

Has anyone on the forum gone the Associates Degree route? I've noticed a far majority of the threads and comments are Bachelors Degree related, and I understand why. Unfortunately, I'm the type of person that needs to have near term milestones or I'll lose motivation. A Bachelors Degree is my end goal, but I thought if I could break this down and get an Associates and then focus on the Bachelors it might be more of an incentive for me. Thinking a business related degree from maybe Excelsior or Thomas Edison State University. Anyone have thoughts, suggestions, or lessons learned?

[rachel83az]

I got an Associate's from Pierpont. It's (almost) free. You only need to pay the cost of the classes you're transferring to Pierpont: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pierpont_C%26TC If you want an Associate's and are American, I would suggest applying to Pierpont as soon as possible because they may be changing the program. Otherwise, the least expensive Associate's degrees that I've been able to dig up can be found here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/As...7s_Degrees

[qiaoyiren]

Has anyone on the forum gone the Associates Degree route? I've noticed a far majority of the threads and comments are Bachelors Degree related, and I understand why. Unfortunately, I'm the type of person that needs to have near term milestones or I'll lose motivation. A Bachelors Degree is my end goal, but I thought if I could break this down and get an Associates and then focus on the Bachelors it might be more of an incentive for me. Thinking a business related degree from maybe Excelsior or Thomas Edison State University. Anyone have thoughts, suggestions, or lessons learned?

I think the sense of accomplishment when you have 60 credits is almost the same as when you have an associate degree. If your ultimate goal is an bachelors degree, I suggest you apply directly for it.

[dfrecore]

TESU & EC are WAY too expensive for their AA's - TESU is $5097, only $1557 less than a Bachelor's there. EC is $5300, the same price as a bachelor's degree there. And, if you wanted to get a BA after your AA, it would be another $1590 for the capstone (you have to take a capstone for the AA as well).

COSC is one where there are minimal fees for the AA - it's $1,717, so not terrible.

If I was going to get an associate's (or advising someone like my son perhaps, who may go that route prior to enlisting if that's what he ends up doing), then I would suggest the Snow College competency-based AS. It's $1743 for a 4mo term, and you can possibly get all 60cr there during that time. If you thought that maybe you couldn't do it that fast, it would be worth bringing in Sophia/Study.com/CLEP/DSST credits first if you wanted to.

The added bonus is that if you wanted to go to COSC or TESU later, you'd have the RA credits fulfilled. For TESU & EC, you'd have 60cr, and most line up well with their GE requirements.

And since it's an RA school, the courses will transfer just about anywhere. There's nothing really oddball in there that will make life difficult later on.

[rachel83az]

By the way, I would definitely suggest UMPI for a Business degree over TESU or EC unless you want a specific minor/concentration that UMPI doesn't offer. The process would be to complete everything at Sophia.org except for English Comp I/II and then apply to UMPI. You could view your "graduation" from Sophia as an Associate's degree and being able to enroll at UMPI as your big milestone.

[Seagull]

I wonder if the OP wants a physical milestone that is applicable in real life as something to show on a CV or just a sense of accomplishment. I have the Pierpont one but somehow I'd like to have the CS associate to apply all my cybersec courses as well as the BALS. And at times it is tempting to just get the associate but have to resist the urge because it is too expensive.
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[StoicJ]

Has anyone on the forum gone the Associates Degree route? I've noticed a far majority of the threads and comments are Bachelors Degree related, and I understand why. Unfortunately, I'm the type of person that needs to have near term milestones or I'll lose motivation. A Bachelors Degree is my end goal, but I thought if I could break this down and get an Associates and then focus on the Bachelors it might be more of an incentive for me. Thinking a business related degree from maybe Excelsior or Thomas Edison State University. Anyone have thoughts, suggestions, or lessons learned

I did the traditional schooling thing for about three years. I quit university, but then later learned about associates degrees, so I did some JuCo courses online and earned an AABA. All my credits were regular RA, but everything was pretty cheap. Being in-district, plus using Pell grants, my out-of-pocket was very, very low.
Are you okay with doing traditional schooling, or do you just want to mostly do alternative credits?

[ss20ts]

I have an associate degree from a community college. It hasn't been super useful in life. Most of it did not transfer into my bachelor's degree program. That's something to think about aside from the cost. You can always go the competency based route and move through a degree program quickly. It's easy to lose motivation no matter how many credits is needed for a degree. Do you have any credits already? An associate degree can't be completed in a single term just like a bachelor's degree can't unless you're transferring in a lot of credits. Setting goals is one way to stay motivated such as completing 15 credits by May 1st. Another 15 credits by June 15th. This kind of thing can help. Creating a schedule and sticking to it helps as well.

[ctcarl]

TESU & EC are WAY too expensive for their AA's - TESU is $5097, only $1557 less than a Bachelor's there.  EC is $5300, the same price as a bachelor's degree there.  And, if you wanted to get a BA after your AA, it would be another $1590 for the capstone (you have to take a capstone for the AA as well).

COSC is one where there are minimal fees for the AA - it's $1,717, so not terrible.

If I was going to get an associate's (or advising someone like my son perhaps, who may go that route prior to enlisting if that's what he ends up doing), then I would suggest the Snow College competency-based AS.  It's $1743 for a 4mo term, and you can possibly get all 60cr there during that time.  If you thought that maybe you couldn't do it that fast, it would be worth bringing in Sophia/Study.com/CLEP/DSST credits first if you wanted to.

The added bonus is that if you wanted to go to COSC or TESU later, you'd have the RA credits fulfilled.  For TESU & EC, you'd have 60cr, and most line up well with their GE requirements.

And since it's an RA school, the courses will transfer just about anywhere.  There's nothing really oddball in there that will make life difficult later on.

That's an excellent point.  I was trying to understand why one wouldn't just go with COSC, but an AA from Snow could have significant advantages down the road.

[natshar]

If I were advising someone to do a cheap and fast associates degree this what I recommend. Go to your local Community College. Because there are cheap, flexible, and have name recognition in your area. Many community colleges also have generous policies that accept CLEP/DSST/AP credit generously. So take as many test outs as you can (some CC's allow as many as 45 credits test out). This is made easier if your specific CC is also a test center for CLEP/DSST. Then do the rest of your credits in one or two semesters at community college. Many states have programs that offer free/discounted community college for adults and if you are younger there are scholarships. If you are low income there is the pell grant. And many CC's offer scholarships through the college can apply for through them. So in the end, this could be super cheap.

This also has the advantage of being RA credit so if you ever decide on going to the big 3 for bachelors you have some ra credit done.


The only issue I have is advising people to take clep/dsst during covid. It all depends on the state and school. So maybe this advice would have worked better a year ago. But at least look into it, more test centers are opening up.


Example. The CC near me:
$90/cr
allows 45 cr from test outs
accepts ap, clep and dsst with spelled out equivalencies on website
CLEP and DSST test center on site
free tuition for those over 65, free tuition for adults over 25 who meet certain criteria, huge scholarships for young students, pell grant more than covers tuition cost if full time
I got an associate degree there. Only 17 credits in residence at the CC. My cost: I got paid $300.

Note that all the stats I listed for price and free tuition only for in-district rates. This is why I recommend checking local because can take advantage of lower rates and special programs your state has to offer.

Also if you are in a union you can get community college for free: https://www.egccfreecollege.org/

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Also you didn't mention. Do you have any prior credit at all?