Degree Planning Best school to get BA

[Something2Offer]

I really could use some help in figuring out the best way to a BA/BS! Here's what I have taken so far-

Edison State Community College, Higher Learning Commission, semester 
NET 100S Intro to Internet 1 credit
NET 211S Website Design 3 credits, A
MAT 110S Personal Computing 3 credits, A
CIT 232S Windows Spreadsheets 3 credits, A

MTH 099D Mathematics IIA 
MTH 100S Math IIB 2 credits, B
MTH 122S College Algebra 3 credits, D

MUS 120S Music Appreciation 3 credits, A

ENG 121S Composition I 3 credits, B
ENG Composition II 3 credits, B

HUM 121S Intro to Humanities 3 credits, A

PSY 121S Intro to Psychology 3 credits, A
PSY 225S Child Psychology 3 credits, B
SOC 121S Intro to Sociology 3 credits, B
SOC 225S Marriage & Family 3 credits, A

MKT 218S Customer Service 3 credits, B
MKT 219S Advertising 3 credits, B

SPE 121S Fundamentals Communication 3 credits, B

ECD 111S Intro to Early Childhood Development 3 credits, A
ECD 124S Curriculum for ECD 3 credits, A
ECD 125S Observation/Guidance & group Management 3 credits, B
ECD126S Nutrition and Health 3 credits, A
ECD 127S Creative Activities 4 credits, A
ECD 211S Emerging Language & Children's Literature 4 credits, B
ECD 212S Cognitive Development 4 credits, A
ECD 213S Children with Special Needs 4 credits, A
ECD 220L Practicum Lab 3 credits, A
EDC 220R Practicum 1 credit, A
ECD 221S Family & Community Relations 3 credits, B
ECD 230S Creating Instruction Materials 2 credits, A
ECD 299S Reggio Emilia 2 credits, A
ECD 299S Heads Up Reading 1 credit, A

BUS 110S Intro to Business 3 credits, B
BUS 123S Business Writing 3 credits, B
BUS 221S Principles of Management 3 credits, B

CHM 110S Intro to Chemistry/Lab 4 credits, B

ACC 217S Intro to Income Tax 3 credits, B

Urbana University, Semester
BUS 355 Economic Issues 4 credits, A
BUS 356 Management Leadership 4 credits, B
MAT 115 Algebra with Business Applications 3 credits, A

115 credits

Sophia/ACE
PHIL1001 Ancient Greek Philosophers 3 credits

Advice needed for cheapest/fastest way to a degree as I have two teens starting college as well as a hubby that needs a degree!
Thanks for you help!!

[rachel83az]

You have a lot of random credits. It looks like none of those are upper-level. Do you have a degree preference? A Charter Oak degree in General Studies might be the very cheapest for you right now. But UMPI has a Liberal Studies degree with an Educational Studies minor and that could be a better fit for your apparent interests. Or you could do something like spend a little bit more and get a Sociology degree at TESU.

Does your husband have any credits or would he be starting from scratch? Are your kids going to a traditional college or are you wanting help for them, too? I don't want you to get advice for yourself and then go back and tell your family that they must follow in your footsteps.

The "fastest", "best", and "cheapest" degree depends heavily on the individual's needs and interests.

[Something2Offer]

You have a lot of random credits. It looks like none of those are upper-level. Do you have a degree preference? A Charter Oak degree in General Studies might be the very cheapest for you right now. But UMPI has a Liberal Studies degree with an Educational Studies minor and that could be a better fit for your apparent interests. Or you could do something like spend a little bit more and get a Sociology degree at TESU.

Does your husband have any credits or would he be starting from scratch? Are your kids going to a traditional college or are you wanting help for them, too? I don't want you to get advice for yourself and then go back and tell your family that they must follow in your footsteps.

The "fastest", "best", and "cheapest" degree depends heavily on the individual's needs and interests.

Like I said I just need a Bachelors degree so I have one under my belt so to speak and can move on with my interests and other non-traditional learning.

I have an AAS in Early Childhood Development and then was working on a BA in Business Administration. Then the tuition doubled for that 2nd college so I couldn't attend the 4yr University for the UL classes.
Hubby has AS in Internet Securities and teens will just be getting started. I read and read and read enough to know that sitting in the classroom 10-12 hrs a week for 4 years is not the only way to get a degree. I just am trying to find what classes can be taken for FREE and where they can be transferred. 

YES, I know things can change but I have yet to see a chart/spreadsheet listing the Sophia classes for example and how they transfer into Big3/Next9 schools for example. I keep reading about people's checklists and have yet to find them for the Big3, lol.

[rachel83az]

I've got a class right now and can't do a long post, but check out the wiki. Here's a chart for Sophia: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/So...lency_List

If nobody else posts in the meantime, I'll have a longer post later.

[rachel83az]

If you still want a business administration degree, your options are: TESU, COSC, and UMPI.

TESU is the most expensive but some people like specific concentrations that they have.

COSC can be the cheapest but they require a science with a lab (which you already have) that some people don't want to mess with.

UMPI is the simplest option but they require a foreign language and the science with a lab. It's usually not important, but it's also a Bachelor of Arts instead of a Bachelor of Science like at TESU or COSC. They're competency-based, which means that you pay a flat fee every term no matter how many or how few classes you take each term.

On the other hand, a general studies degree at COSC might be the absolute easiest and most affordable for you specifically.

If your husband is interested in a technical degree, his options would likely best boil down to a BSBA in Computer Information Systems or a BA in Computer Science from TESU or he could work on filling in gaps in requirements at Sophia while waiting for the Computer Science program at UMPI to start. The UMPI program might not start until late this year/early next year, though. Purdue Global is another option but that depends on what sort of industry certs (if any) he might have for his degree.

Your kids can't do UMPI (too young), but they can do COSC or Excelsior. TESU is also possible but there are more hoops to jump through.

As far as free credits go, there really aren't any. At least, none that would do much for you. There are some free credits at TEEX and CLEP is technically free, as outlined here, https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Fr..._of_Credit but there are a lot of ifs and caveats. TEEX is not accepted at COSC. OnlineDegree has courses for only $9 but they're also not accepted at COSC. The design of Saylor courses can be really hit-or-miss so, at only $25, they may still not be worth it.

You are mostly in need of UL credits and the best inexpensive source for those is Study.com. For lower level, you will need an Ethics class (Sophia). You'd also want a Statistics class if you do go on with a BSBA (Sophia). If you choose TESU, you also need a government/politics class and that can be obtained cheaply at InstantCert.

[bjcheung77]

<gasp, I guess you didn't read my Beginners Guide, cries...> Hey, here you go.  Some extra information and a degree plan template to view...

Note: If you are not able to view the link while you're logged into DegreeForum, just copy the link, sign out and paste this link to your browser, then see if you can view it.

You want to read this link as it has two degree plans that show you how to use Sophia.org to the max: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid335188

[dfrecore]

At this point with this many credits, I wouldn't take a single course until you have a plan - otherwise, you're wasting money.  You have very specific requirements to meet, and not much space to put everything (and you're already way over in some areas).
________________________________________________________

For a BSLS at COSC, you're looking at the following:

1) Choose 2-3 concentrations that "fit" (I'd choose Psych and Business, since you already have a bunch of business courses, including 8cr of UL; and 2 psych courses; and Study.com has the UL psych and business you need)

2) finish your GE requirements
- ethics (I'd choose Study.com's BUS 318: Management Ethics since it will also do the UL and business that you need)
- US History/Gov (I'd choose Study.com's HIS 306: The American Civil War Era since it will give you both us history and UL)
- Global Understanding (I'd choose Study.com's MARK 303: Global Marketing since it's UL)
- Natural Sciences - anything except Chemistry

3) Finish your concentration and UL requirements - you now have 1 UL left to fill in your concentration, and 3 UL in general
- UL Psych course for concentration
- 2 UL liberal studies courses for 30cr UL req (I'd go with Psych)

For 8 courses at Study.com, you're looking at $800 if you do 2 per month.  Add the tuition and fees at COSC ($2849) and you're at $3649.
________________________________________________________

For a BALS at TESU, you're looking at the following:
1) GE requirements
- Ethics
- Civic engagement
- at least 2 GE courses (I'm not certain what they will do with Intro to Internet, Website Design, Personal Computing and Algebra w/Business Apps - so I might take a few extras

2) UL AOS courses - need 4

3) LL AOS courses - need 3

TESU will cost minimum $6654.
________________________________________________________

For UMPI, I'm going to look at the BLS w/Management minor.

I'm less familiar with them, but here's my guess at to what you need:

1) GEC
 - American Government (ICC)
 - hands-on Art (UMPI)
 - Biological Science (Sophia's Human Biology)
 - Info Lit (Sophia's Intro to Ethics)
 - History (Sophia's US History I or II)
 - Foreign Language (UMPI)

2) Free Electives - you have enough

3) Major/minor - Management Leadership will work there if you do the Management minor; take rest at UMPI
________________________________________________________

Between the 3 schools, I'd lean towards COSC - you have your costs set in stone there, and the $800 at Study.com could be done faster and for less, making that the cheapest and fastest I think.  You only have 10 courses to complete, and you know what will work.

[bjcheung77]

<gasp, I guess you didn't read my Beginners Guide, cries...> Hey, here you go.  Some extra information and a degree plan template to view...

Note: If you are not able to view the link while you're logged into DegreeForum, just copy the link, sign out and paste this link to your browser, then see if you can view it.

You want to read this link as it has two degree plans that show you how to use Sophia.org to the max: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid335188

There is an issue with the website, skip all the posts and links until you get to the degree template page on post #28 and #31. My final post should also have a link referencing those, unfortunately, no one can read my final post if they're logged into DegreeForum, but the post exists if you do not log into degree forum. The two links to my spreadsheets are available there...

[Something2Offer]

At this point with this many credits, I wouldn't take a single course until you have a plan - otherwise, you're wasting money.  You have very specific requirements to meet, and not much space to put everything (and you're already way over in some areas).
________________________________________________________

For a BSLS at COSC, you're looking at the following:

1) Choose 2-3 concentrations that "fit" (I'd choose Psych and Business, since you already have a bunch of business courses, including 8cr of UL; and 2 psych courses; and Study.com has the UL psych and business you need)

2) finish your GE requirements
- ethics (I'd choose Study.com's BUS 318: Management Ethics since it will also do the UL and business that you need)
- US History/Gov (I'd choose Study.com's HIS 306: The American Civil War Era since it will give you both us history and UL)
- Global Understanding (I'd choose Study.com's MARK 303: Global Marketing since it's UL)
- Natural Sciences - anything except Chemistry

3) Finish your concentration and UL requirements - you now have 1 UL left to fill in your concentration, and 3 UL in general
- UL Psych course for concentration
- 2 UL liberal studies courses for 30cr UL req (I'd go with Psych)

For 8 courses at Study.com, you're looking at $800 if you do 2 per month.  Add the tuition and fees at COSC ($2849) and you're at $3649.
________________________________________________________

For a BALS at TESU, you're looking at the following:
1) GE requirements
- Ethics
- Civic engagement
- at least 2 GE courses (I'm not certain what they will do with Intro to Internet, Website Design, Personal Computing and Algebra w/Business Apps - so I might take a few extras

2) UL AOS courses - need 4

3) LL AOS courses - need 3

TESU will cost minimum $6654.
________________________________________________________

For UMPI, I'm going to look at the BLS w/Management minor.

I'm less familiar with them, but here's my guess at to what you need:

1) GEC
 - American Government (ICC)
 - hands-on Art (UMPI)
 - Biological Science (Sophia's Human Biology)
 - Info Lit (Sophia's Intro to Ethics)
 - History (Sophia's US History I or II)
 - Foreign Language (UMPI)

2) Free Electives - you have enough

3) Major/minor - Management Leadership will work there if you do the Management minor; take rest at UMPI
________________________________________________________

Between the 3 schools, I'd lean towards COSC - you have your costs set in stone there, and the $800 at Study.com could be done faster and for less, making that the cheapest and fastest I think.  You only have 10 courses to complete, and you know what will work.

Do you know if this course works for ETHICS?
The Institutes- Ethics https://web.theinstitutes.org/ethical-guidelines-cpcus

[rachel83az]

The Institutes no longer works because they stopped granting badges to anyone who isn't a member of their organization. The cheapest option for Ethics is Sophia.