Degree plan for 120 RA credits, TESU Biology BA & WGU BSN

[FloridaMan]

Location: Florida, USA
Age: 33
Academic goals: Biology BA from TESU, BSN from WGU, masters program at local university after that

All of my credits are RA.
I have an AA degree.
No military experience or additional certifications

Budget: I may be able to get ACE credits paid for through my spouse’s job’s educational stipend. I’m prepared to pay Full-Time Flat-Rate Tuition for one term.

Tuition assistance: None

Daily time commitments: unemployed, SAHP to a recently school-aged child

Timeline: < 3.5 years, the BSN from WGU is 2.5 years, so I want to finish TESU within a year

Previous schooling & Credits: 2 colleges & 2 universities across two states over 11 years. I don't currently have access to digital or physical versions of my transcripts. I've listed everything I remember in terms of the Biology BA requirements. I have only listed classes that I know I got an A or B in.

Eng comp 1 (3 cr hr)
Eng comp 2 (3)
Comm/Public Speaking (3)

Soc class (3)
Anthro class (3)
Phil class (3)
Phil (Ethics) class (3)

US History (3)
Music history (3)
Art history (3)
other social studies/humanities course (3)

Earth science (3)
Geology 1 w/lab (4
Nutrition (3)
Kinesiology jazzercise class (2-3?)

Stats (3)
Math (3)
Math  (3)
Calculus 1 (4)

Physics 1 w/lab (4)
Physics 2 w/lab (4)
Chemistry 1 w/lab (4)
Chemistry 2 w/lab (4)

Psychology (3)
Developmental Psychology (3)
Spanish 3 (3)
Spanish 4 (3)

BOT 200 (botany) w/lab (4)
ZOO 200 (zoology) w/lab (4
Anatomy & Physiology 1 w/lab (4)
Anatomy & Physiology 2 w/lab (4)
Medical Terminology (3)
Microbiology w/lab (4)

Total credit hours listed here: 109

There's more, but this is everything that I remember with 100% accuracy.

Classes needed for TESU: Cell Biology, Genetics, O Chem 1 w/lab, O Chem 2 w/lab, Capstone

Classes needed for WGU BSN: A & P 1 w/lab, A & P 2 w/lab, Micro w/lab, pathophysiology

Questions about TESU:

How do classes from Straighterline appear on the transcript? Do they show up as a TESU credit or something else? Is it a letter grade or something else?

I need to take Calc 2. TESU offers this class, but I want to do a practice run on another platform before attempting the actual class. Can I take the class on Straighterline and NOT take credit for it? I want to take it through TESU to hit the 15 credit hours.

Is it possible to take 12 other credits and the capstone within the same term, so I can hit the 15 credit hour threshold and then be done academically and financially? I want to take Calc 2 and pathophysiology through TESU anyway, so is this the most cost effective way to finish the degree?

Are all the "classes needed" (listed above) available through Straighterline? I would like to get as many ACE credits as possible from a single source because I’m not sure how the stipend will reimburse multiple payments.

Questions about WGU:
I plan to retake A&P 1 and 2 and Micro through Sophia because I used to tutor for these subjects and I know I can finish them fast. I don’t want the Sophia credits to affect the old RA credits for the same classes and I can't afford to pay for Sophia  & Straighterline at the same time. Can I keep my Sophia credits unlinked from TESU? If not, should I wait until I finish at TESU to do this? If I pay for one month of Sophia, do I need to pay again to obtain the credits to send to WGU if it’s a few months later?

Final thoughts:
I’ve been trying to get a bachelor degree for over 15 years through various life hardships. I just want to be finished and I’m so close. I was almost done with my degree before covid hit. By the time it was over my tutoring job was gone and I couldn’t afford university classes anymore (kid expenses take priority). If I only went to WGU for a BSN, I wouldn’t meet all the requirements for the masters program. If I only went to TESU for a bachelors, I wouldn’t be able to afford the masters program. I want to finish my bachelors to increase my earning potential to be enough to pay for the BSN from WGU. After I have the BSN, I can increase my earning potential even more and be able to afford the masters program.

This final blurb is only here as an explanation for why this entire post is so convoluted.

[Jonathan Whatley]

How do classes from Straighterline appear on the transcript? Do they show up as a TESU credit or something else? Is it a letter grade or something else?

They do not appear as TESU credit. They appear something like this:

ASSESSMENT CREDIT
TESU-ACE
CHE 241      ORGANIC CHEMISTRY I          CR     3.0

CR is in the column for a grade, meaning it’s treated here as “Credit,” meaning an ungraded pass in a pass-fail system.

I need to take Calc 2. TESU offers this class, but I want to do a practice run on another platform before attempting the actual class. Can I take the class on Straighterline and NOT take credit for it? I want to take it through TESU to hit the 15 credit hours.

ALEKS is a low-cost platform to practice calculus. ALEKS does not offer alt-credit itself in calculus, though it does offer ACE credit in algebra, pre-calculus, trig, and statistics.

Is it possible to take 12 other credits and the capstone within the same term, so I can hit the 15 credit hour threshold and then be done academically and financially? I want to take Calc 2 and pathophysiology through TESU anyway, so is this the most cost effective way to finish the degree?

Yes. This “15-hour term” is common, although most people doing it have a less rigorous total set of courses than yours.

Are all the "classes needed" (listed above) available through Straighterline? I would like to get as many ACE credits as possible from a single source because I’m not sure how the stipend will reimburse multiple payments.

Cell Biology and Pathophysiology are not available on StraighterLine or Sophia. Pathophysiology is available on Study.com. 

For Cell Biology online, American Public University System is an option at $350 per semester hour.

I plan to retake A&P 1 and 2 and Micro through Sophia because I used to tutor for these subjects and I know I can finish them fast. I don’t want the Sophia credits to affect the old RA credits for the same classes and I can't afford to pay for Sophia  & Straighterline at the same time. Can I keep my Sophia credits unlinked from TESU? If not, should I wait until I finish at TESU to do this? If I pay for one month of Sophia, do I need to pay again to obtain the credits to send to WGU if it’s a few months later?

There is no advantage in keeping them “unlinked” or hidden from TESU. They won’t remove the old RA credits. And with Sophia, StraighterLine, and SDC alike, after you’re no longer subscribing, sending transcripts is as free and easy as when you were subscribing.

I’ve been trying to get a bachelor degree for over 15 years through various life hardships. I just want to be finished and I’m so close. I was almost done with my degree before covid hit. By the time it was over my tutoring job was gone and I couldn’t afford university classes anymore (kid expenses take priority). If I only went to WGU for a BSN, I wouldn’t meet all the requirements for the masters program. If I only went to TESU for a bachelors, I wouldn’t be able to afford the masters program. I want to finish my bachelors to increase my earning potential to be enough to pay for the BSN from WGU. After I have the BSN, I can increase my earning potential even more and be able to afford the masters program.

This final blurb is only here as an explanation for why this entire post is so convoluted.

Not convoluted at all. Good luck!