Associates degree advice

[anthony3070]

Hey everyone,

I'm in a situation that I think is common. My wife wants to start working again, but a lot of the jobs we're looking at require an associates degree. She attended some university in Mexico, but for all intents, has no credits that would transfer. So is starting from scratch. She has work experience in the field she's applying for, but no associates degree.

What is the best associates degree, in your opinion, that she could do online? Something accredited. Time isn't a huge factor, but we'd like here to be able to do it in a year, if that's possible - so the ability to work at your own pace is probably one of the more important factors. 

I apologize in advance for the complete newbie question, but searching online is just a swamp of companies advertising. It's hard to discern what's legit and what's not.

Thank you!

[ss20ts]

Does she have any college credits at all? If she passed a course, then she has credit. Pierpont is a free associate degree she can complete fairly quickly. There is no fee for the degree such as graduation or other fees, but she will have to pay for courses on places like Sophia and she will need at least 1 RA credit. Here's some info about the degree program:

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pierpont_C%26TC

[anthony3070]

Does she have any college credits at all? If she passed a course, then she has credit. Pierpont is a free associate degree she can complete fairly quickly. There is no fee for the degree such as graduation or other fees, but she will have to pay for courses on places like Sophia and she will need at least 1 RA credit. Here's some info about the degree program:

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pierpont_C%26TC

Awesome, I'm going to look into that. She has credit from a university in Mexico. I have her transcript that says that she has 145 credits over a period of 5 semesters. I'm sure that the credit system in Mexico is different than here, but not sure where to even begin with this transcript.

Thanks for your help btw!

[ss20ts]

Does she have any college credits at all? If she passed a course, then she has credit. Pierpont is a free associate degree she can complete fairly quickly. There is no fee for the degree such as graduation or other fees, but she will have to pay for courses on places like Sophia and she will need at least 1 RA credit. Here's some info about the degree program:

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pierpont_C%26TC

Awesome, I'm going to look into that. She has credit from a university in Mexico. I have her transcript that says that she has 145 credits over a period of 5 semesters. I'm sure that the credit system in Mexico is different than here, but not sure where to even begin with this transcript.

Thanks for your help btw!

She may want to look into getting a credit evaluation from WES. She may have all of the credits she needs or close to it. If she wants to go on to a bachelor's that could really help her out!

[anthony3070]

Does she have any college credits at all? If she passed a course, then she has credit. Pierpont is a free associate degree she can complete fairly quickly. There is no fee for the degree such as graduation or other fees, but she will have to pay for courses on places like Sophia and she will need at least 1 RA credit. Here's some info about the degree program:

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pierpont_C%26TC

Awesome, I'm going to look into that. She has credit from a university in Mexico. I have her transcript that says that she has 145 credits over a period of 5 semesters. I'm sure that the credit system in Mexico is different than here, but not sure where to even begin with this transcript.

Thanks for your help btw!

She may want to look into getting a credit evaluation from WES. She may have all of the credits she needs or close to it. If she wants to go on to a bachelor's that could really help her out!

What is WES? Again, sorry, I'm very new to this whole process.

[bjcheung77]

@anthony3070, Welcome to the board and that's a great compact and concise introduction, but it's missing many details. You really need to follow the template and last post addendum in providing us more details.  From the looks of things, she should decide on a degree and school for the Associates and see if she would like to ladder that up to a Bachelors.  A possible combo option would be to get both the AALS and BLS with a minor at UMPI.  Link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

[dfrecore]

What field is she working in? That's going to make a difference as to which degree she should get.

One thing to consider is ACTFL exams, if she's fluent in Spanish.  Here are the tests available for Spanish, along with the cost, and the different levels of proficiency:

ORAL PROFICIENCY INTERVIEW - OPIc (computerized) $108
    Novice High/Intermediate Low 3cr (3cr LL)
    Intermediate Mid 6cr (6cr LL)
    Intermediate High/Advanced Low 9cr (9cr LL)
    Advanced Mid 9cr (6cr LL/3cr UL)
    Advanced High/Superior 12cr (6cr LL/6cr UL)

LISTENING PROFICIENCY TEST - LPT $51
    Intermediate Mid/Intermediate High 3cr (3cr LL)
    Advanced Low/Superior 6cr (6cr LL)

WRITTEN PROFICIENCY TEST - WPT $108
     Novice High/Intermediate Low 3cr (3cr LL)
     Intermediate Mid 6cr (6cr LL)
     Intermediate High/Advanced Low 8cr (6cr LL/2cr UL)
     Advanced Mid 9cr (6cr LL/3cr UL)
     Advanced High/Superior 12cr (6cr LL/6cr UL)

READING PROFICIENCY TEST - RPT $51
    Intermediate High 2cr (2cr LL)
    Advanced Low/Advanced Mid 3cr (3cr LL)
    Advanced High/Superior 6cr (6cr LL)

She could conceivably get 36cr (24 LL and 12 UL) for $318.  That would go a LONG way towards a BALS at TESU or BLS at EC. I know with 100% certainty that TESU brings all of these credits in as non-duplicating, I'm not sure how EC treats them.  Both schools are too expensive for an AA, but both reasonably priced for the bachelor's degree.
--------------------------------------------
AA's out there:

Pierpont AAS - you only need 1cr graded, the rest can be from ACE/Sophia.  This would be a great place to take your Spanish credits as well, and she could even get an Area of Emphasis in Spanish.  Free!

Local CC - check to see if any are giving free tuition this fall, some are.

South Carolina CC's - there are a Greenville Technical College and Horry-Georgetown TC will let anyone take classes for free this fall, even if you're not a SC resident.

Snow College will let you take courses for an AS for $1898.  You could conceivably go there, bring in 40cr, and take 20cr there in residency (required) to get your degree in a single term.  It's similarly priced as UMPI, but it's for a 4mo semester instead of an 8wk term.  They accept CLEP/DSST/ACE credits.

I wish there were more options for an inexpensive AA/AS degree, but there are such great prices for a bachelor's that I can't really complain.

[Pikachu]

Options for associates for your wife:

- Pierpont
- Purdue Global 
- TESU

Purdue Global
you can complete their IT associates very quickly if you do a few of these IT certs before applying. Their business-related associates can be completed quickly as well. Some of their business associates have IT-related concentrations and those can done done pretty quickly with IT certs. 

PUG gives good credits for almost all of Google's Coursera certs (especially Project Management, Data Analytics, and IT Support Professional). If your high school was Cambridge International-associated, they also give you credits for Cambridge A & AS levels. Make sure to do as many relevant courses from Sophia as possible before enrolling. Check the program's catalog page so you can get an idea of the transfer credits you'll need - you might as well go for one that can be completed fast.

TESU
A ton has been written about TESU on this forum already - just see the TESU sub-forum or refer to this wiki.

[allvia]

Does she have any college credits at all? If she passed a course, then she has credit. Pierpont is a free associate degree she can complete fairly quickly. There is no fee for the degree such as graduation or other fees, but she will have to pay for courses on places like Sophia and she will need at least 1 RA credit. Here's some info about the degree program:

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pierpont_C%26TC

Awesome, I'm going to look into that. She has credit from a university in Mexico. I have her transcript that says that she has 145 credits over a period of 5 semesters. I'm sure that the credit system in Mexico is different than here, but not sure where to even begin with this transcript.

Thanks for your help btw!

She may want to look into getting a credit evaluation from WES. She may have all of the credits she needs or close to it. If she wants to go on to a bachelor's that could really help her out!

What is WES? Again, sorry, I'm very new to this whole process.

WES - https://www.wes.org/ - You will want a 'Course-by-Course' evaluation.  One you have it, report what it reflects here and we can give you a much better understanding of the degree options available.   And I'll repeat dfrecore - 'What field is she working in?' - as it would impact recommendations.

[freeloader]

One other potentially very cheap or free associate’s degree that might be available is the Union Plus program through Eastern Gateway Community College. If you or your wife or a close relative is a member of an AFL-CIO union, this would be free to her. I actually joined the union at my former job specifically for this program.

https://freecollege.unionplus.org/

NOtE: on this page it looks like it’s only for 4 unions. If you click “Get Started” there is a dropdown with all the covered unions.