Degree Plan: AAS E,S&ST + BALS

[funknola]

Your Location:   Louisiana, USA

Your Age:   39

School:
TESU
- I chose TESU for their liberal acceptance of alt-credits. My job duties allow ample time for self paced learning, but not really conducive to being in a classroom (virtually or otherwise). While it's not urgent that I graduate asap, my industry is rapidly growing and it would be foolish not to take advantage of this growth. The sooner I can wrap this up, the better. 

What kind of degree do you want?:
AAS in Environmental, Safety & Security Technologies & BA in Liberal Studies
- I am currently working in the Health and Safety field (10+ years). I have reached a point where a degree is required to advance further. Any Bachelor's will do. Having said that, I think it makes sense to add the AAS specific to my career field, especially if it involves minimal additional work.

Degree Plan / Assessments:
A plan and assessment for each degree is attached.* **

* The "Degree Plan" pages are up to date regarding completed courses.
** The "Degree Assessments" are not up to date. TESU is currently awaiting transcripts from Sophia and one previously attended junior college.

Questions:
- Do my degree plans appear to be accurate?
- Is there anything obvious that I am missing or not accounting for?
- Is it possible to only take a single capstone course for both degrees?
- Is there a better way to accomplish the same goal?

**UPDATE**

to clarify:

• the Bachelor's doesn't have to be a BA. That's just the one that appeared to be the "path of least resistance" to completion.
  
• the only reason I'm contemplating the AAS, is because it represents my chosen career field. So it has to be the Environmental, Safety and Security Technologies or similar, otherwise, there's no point. 
  
• money isn't a determining factor in this decision (within reason). The degree will pay for itself in a relatively short period of time. 
  
• choosing a different school would result in 20 credit hours not transferring due to having a "D" grade. 
  

[ROYISAGIRL]

That's very interesting looking plan. I completed the aas in 2019 and it was drastically different. I have also never seen fema credits on TESU before.

Also Sophia's two dimensional design doesn't fit in the wriiten spot. Atleast it didn't use to. It's a free elective most times.

[bjcheung77]

Woo, a 2010 evaluation eh? Do you know a language or have a lab science? Since your ultimate goal is to get a Bachelors, you can skip TESU. I suggest going for the UMPI AALS and BLS with a minor. You can transfer your current credits and see how far you've got with the number of credits. I think you can do a few more with InstantCertCredit for Spanish I, Study.com for Biology w/lab, and Sophia.org to get more credits (up to 90), and apply to UMPI.

[rachel83az]

As far as I'm aware, TESU no longer accepts FEMA credits. I see you have some already on your assessment, but I'm not sure how/why. The TEEX courses are currently not available for credit and we're not sure if they're coming back at this point. Even if you could complete all of these courses, the AAS has a capstone that is completely separate from the BA. So, you're definitely stuck with 2 capstones and 1 cornerstone at TESU.

How set are you on that specific AAS? If you're comfortable with writing papers, you might want to consider UMPI instead of TESU. If you got the FREE Pierpont BOG AAS ( https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pierpont_C%26TC ), you could get a Bachelor of Applied Sciences from UMPI. This would be similar to a Liberal Studies degree, but it sounds a bit better for someone in a more scientific field.

UMPI is 100% self-paced. Sessions are 2 months and the cost works out to be $700/mo. Each course at UMPI is passed with a single short project, paper, or exam; there aren't a lot of exams, but you can choose to focus on courses with exams as much as possible if you're going for a BAS. Most students here are able to graduate within 4-6 months after starting. Even if it took you a year to finish, it should still be more affordable than TESU.

You would need a science-with-a-lab and a foreign language for UMPI. If you already know a foreign language, an ACTFL exam may be the easiest way to get credit there. If you don't know a foreign language, Spanish from InstantCert is recommended. For the science-with-a-lab, Biology 101L from SDC is known to work and Intro to Meteorology MAY work.

If you are dead set on TESU, check out https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap for course recommendations for the BALS.

[dfrecore]

First, I'm not sure where you'd get the remaining 7cr needed in the AoS for the AAS; second, that's an expensive degree to get (that capstone is expensive and not worth it). I would never recommend a 2nd degree that isn't free to add on.
-------------------------------------------------
For either degree plan:

You need English Comp II, Visual Comm doesn't count in that area.
Conflict Resolution does not count as Oral Comm, you need Sophia's Public Speaking or SDC's Presentation Skills or something else
Intro to Soc & Principles of Soc are duplicates and 1 will go away; and Soc doesn't count in Civic Engagement anyway (you need Am Govt or Comparative Politics)

-----------------------------------------

I personally am going to recommend that you switch to EC for the BLS degree, as you can use WAY more of your credits in that degree; or else the BLS from UMPI (any concentration will do). Again, WAY more of your credits will be used.

TESU is weak on the Liberal Arts degree for anyone who is bringing in a lot of non-liberal arts credit - they only allow 30cr of Free Electives, while EC allows for 60cr of that, and UMPI's BLS allows for 62cr of Free Electives. Both are much better options.

[bjcheung77]

Update to my previous post, if you really want to stick with TESU, you can do the cornerstone/2 capstones, 2 E-Packs, and PLA-100. It will cost you $4639 to finish this degree. You will however need more courses elsewhere, Sophia.org, CLEP/MS, Saylor.org are the cheapest options...

[funknola]

Update to my previous post, if you really want to stick with TESU, you can do the cornerstone/2 capstones, 2 E-Packs, and PLA-100.  It will cost you $4639 to finish this degree.  You will however need more courses elsewhere, Sophia.org, CLEP/MS, Saylor.org are the cheapest options...

This is helpful information. Thank you. I have updated my original post to clarify why I chose TESU and these specific degrees. That is a reasonable price to complete both degrees. 

TESU is in the process of completing another evaluation. We'll see what they do with the FEMA credits and where they slot the new credits I've submitted.

[bjcheung77]

**UPDATE**

to clarify:

• the Bachelor's doesn't have to be a BA. That's just the one that appeared to be the "path of least resistance" to completion.
  
• the only reason I'm contemplating the AAS, is because it represents my chosen career field. So it has to be the Environmental, Safety and Security Technologies or similar, otherwise, there's no point. 
  
• money isn't a determining factor in this decision (within reason). The degree will pay for itself in a relatively short period of time. 
  
• choosing a different school would result in 20 credit hours not transferring due to having a "D" grade. 
  

So, you made an update! I did too before yours! I rest my case, the 16 residency credits is your calling, and I did notice the D grades... Now we just need to know how many commitments you have (kids, volunteering, work, etc), how much time you can spend on alternative credit classes. Do you work the the DOD or FEMA or some other similar agency?

[funknola]

**UPDATE**

to clarify:

• the Bachelor's doesn't have to be a BA. That's just the one that appeared to be the "path of least resistance" to completion.
  
• the only reason I'm contemplating the AAS, is because it represents my chosen career field. So it has to be the Environmental, Safety and Security Technologies or similar, otherwise, there's no point. 
  
• money isn't a determining factor in this decision (within reason). The degree will pay for itself in a relatively short period of time. 
  
• choosing a different school would result in 20 credit hours not transferring due to having a "D" grade. 
  

So, you made an update! I did too before yours!  I rest my case, the 16 residency credits is your calling, and I did notice the D grades...  Now we just need to know how many commitments you have (kids, volunteering, work, etc), how much time you can spend on alternative credit classes.  Do you work the the DOD or FEMA or some other similar agency?

Former municipal employee of a large city EMS department. Those days are behind me. 

Commitments:

• wife, kid and dog
  
• work between 60 - 90 hours per week in Health and Safety in the film industry
  
• for the most part, I work autonomously. This has allowed me to complete a few Sophia courses, while still meeting work goals. I favor that method of earning credit. 
  

Goals:

• I would like to become a Certified Safety Professional. That requires a bachelor's. I am currently a certified Safety Management Specialist.
  

[bjcheung77]

Hmm, that's a bit of commitments, so I would review three things, this is what I suggest you think of before deciding on TESU's degree offerings.

1) The price I mentioned above is if you can complete the 16 credits in one term, it seems you have some commitments that will take some time, you can spit it into two terms, but the cost goes up.  On the bright side, you can add another Associates/Bachelors if you decide to go this route, something like a BSBA Operations Management.  Flat rate for first term + 2 capstones in the second term = $7,483.

2) You may want to go for a Pierpont BOG AAS with an emphasis in "something similar", you can email the director to see if they allow "emergency management or safety management" and then go for a UMPI BAS with a Project Management or some other minor that's offered on the YourPace platform.  This is the cheapest, easiest, fastest option for you, you can finish in two terms for $2800, 3 terms for $4200.

3) Most schools will not take anything lower than a C- or a C, having a few D's won't break admissions into other colleges/universities.  You can try Excelsior for a similar Associates/Bachelors combo as they require 7 credits through them, the rest can come through alternative means and can come in cheaper.  Have you looked into other competency based degree programs on the wiki to see if something floats in your mind?  https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Co...d_Programs