Degree planning advice

[johnlesters]

Your Location: California, United States. Currently on deployment, but I should be back by the end of this month.
Your Age: 29
What kind of degree do you want?: Any. I am open to suggestions. Looking for a degree that I can knock out fast. I am open to liberal studies, health sciences, business administration, marketing, and organizational leadership to name a few. 

Current Regional Accredited Credits: 

Kapiolani Community College Total Credits: 26
CHEM 100 Chemistry and Man, B, 3
ENG 22 Beginning Composition, A, 3
ENG 100 Composition I, A, 3
MATH 103 Fundamentals of College Algebra, D, 3
FAMR 230 Human Development, C, 3
REL 150 Intro to World's Major religion, B, 3
SPAN 101 Elementary Spanish I, A, 4
SPAN 102 Elementary Spanish II, A, 4

American Public University Total Credits: 3
World Civilization before 1650, 3


Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: 

Sophia Credits: 21
Visual Communications, 3, 82%
College Readiness, 3, 95%
Approaches to Studying Religion, 3, 86% 
Art History I, 3, 85%
College Algebra, 3, 93% 
Human Biology, 3, 89%
Introduction to Business, 3, 88%
Personal Finance *Pending grade on last Touchstone*
Human Biology Lab *In progress*

CLEP: 15
History of the United States I: Early Colonization to 1877
History of the United States II: 1865 to the Present 
American Government 
Principles of Marketing 
Introductory Sociology

TEEX: 8
Cyber Ethics AWR174, 2
Cyber Law and White-Collar Crime AWR168, 2
Information Security for Everyone AWR175, 1
Death Investigation Online FSA114, 3

Any certifications or military experience? 
Currently in the Navy as an E-4. I've attached my military transcript with recommended 75 ACE credits, 12 are UL.
Basic Seamanship 2LL
Marine Safety 2LL
Personal Development 3LL
Physical Fitness 2LL
Basic Human Anatomy 3LL
Emergency Medical Technician (Emt) 5LL
Emergency Medical Technician Clinical Experience 1LL
Medication Administration 1LL
Medication Calculations 1LL
Tactical Combat Casualty Care 1LL
Advanced Emergency Medical Techniques 2UL
Health Management Logistics 2UL
Operational Medicine Clinical Practicum 6UL
Trauma Management 2UL
Computer Applications 3LL
Electronic Health Records 3LL
Introduction To Communication 3LL
Introduction To Pharmacology 3LL
Introduction To Supervision 3LL
Medical Terminology 3LL
Patient Assessment 3LL
EMT Basic 3LL
EMT Clinical Experience 3LL
EMT Field Experience 3LL
Inventory Management 3LL
Medical Coding 3LL
Medical Documentation 3LL
Supervision 3LL

Budget: I have a max of $3k saved up.  I'd like to go the cheapest route possible, but will consider spending more for easy and fast.  
Commitments: Military. Day start from 0600-1600 on a work day. The upcoming 3 months should be chill as we are coming back from deployment. 
Dedicated time to study: I can study as much as is needed during the night or weekends as long as my schedule is free. I estimate at least 4 hours every week night and on the weekends, maybe 10 hours, total would be roughly 20+20=40 hours or slightly more.
Timeline: I would like to finish within 6 months or less.
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: Yes, I get free tuition from the military. 

Thanks in advance!

[dfrecore]

So right off the bat, I can tell you a couple of things:

1) a lot of your credit (esp from your JST) is going to be considered free electives at almost any school you choose
2) you'll need an ethics course almost anywhere you choose, so take one of those for sure

Excelsior BSL (Liberal Studies)
You need English Comp 2, Ethics, Capstone, 6 courses (18cr) of UL Arts & Sciences (GE), Cornerstone, and Info Lit courses; cost would be about $4300
You don't have much in the way of Business, so that would be a much longer road that didn't take advantage of your current credits

TESU BALS
You need English Comp 2, Oral Comm (unless your intro to Comm course on the JST shows that there's an oral component), Ethics, 5 UL AoS courses, 5 LL AoS courses that are 200-level or higher, Cornerstone & Capstone. If you take 6 TECEP exams for residency purposes, then the total cost would be about $2600.
You'd have a lot to take for a BSBA, but you could get the BALS w/a Certificate in Organizational Leadership easily (via alt-credit).

UMPI BLS w/minor in Management
You need Ethics (take at Sophia if you still have membership), and then you're done with the GEC that you'd take outside; after that, you'd need English Comp 2 (take at UMPI), Creative Decision Making (take at UMPI), and then the minor. If you finish in 1 term, it would be $1400, 2 terms would be $1800 - most people finish in 2 terms.

Honestly, if I were you, I would do the UMPI BLS and get'er done. They are so flexible in what you can bring in for Free Electives, that you're SO close to finishing there for the least cost. I'm guessing you'd be done in 2 terms at most, but possibly even 1 term. Apply now, get that Ethics course done, and start on May 8.

[allvia]

I recommend that you apply to UMPI, and any existing transcripts, sooner rather than later (even if you decide to go another route). Being in their system and knowing where you stand early will allow you to coordinate a start date that best fits with your return from deployment. If you don't opt for UMPI little wasted - but I agree with dfrecore on UMPI if your goal is to 'get it done'

[bjcheung77]

@johnlesters, great job in completing that Pierpont BOG AAS, laddering up to the UMPI BLS is a good option, having said that...you're still in the military and getting deployed.  Your time is not really set, and you don't have a schedule to stick to for studies... It really depends on your current commitments, study habits, I would go the TESU for both cost, ease, speed to finish.  You can apply to both and create a spreadsheet for them by following the BOG-UMPI template... Degree

TESU, you can complete TECEPs to hit the RA and residency requirements, you just need to get 6 exams completed and do the cornerstone/capstone at $750 a piece.  You should be able to complete the degree for under the 3K max you've placed in your budget.  I would recommend you to create a spreadsheet and link us to your onedrive or googledrive, so we can see your progress.  Link: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap

[johnlesters]

So right off the bat, I can tell you a couple of things:

1) a lot of your credit (esp from your JST) is going to be considered free electives at almost any school you choose
2) you'll need an ethics course almost anywhere you choose, so take one of those for sure

Excelsior BSL (Liberal Studies)
You need English Comp 2, Ethics, Capstone, 6 courses (18cr) of UL Arts & Sciences (GE), Cornerstone, and Info Lit courses; cost would be about $4300
You don't have much in the way of Business, so that would be a much longer road that didn't take advantage of your current credits

TESU BALS
You need English Comp 2, Oral Comm (unless your intro to Comm course on the JST shows that there's an oral component), Ethics, 5 UL AoS courses, 5 LL AoS courses that are 200-level or higher, Cornerstone & Capstone.  If you take 6 TECEP exams for residency purposes, then the total cost would be about $2600.
You'd have a lot to take for a BSBA, but you could get the BALS w/a Certificate in Organizational Leadership easily (via alt-credit).

UMPI BLS w/minor in Management
You need Ethics (take at Sophia if you still have membership), and then you're done with the GEC that you'd take outside; after that, you'd need  English Comp 2 (take at UMPI), Creative Decision Making (take at UMPI), and then the minor.  If you finish in 1 term, it would be $1400, 2 terms would be $1800 - most people finish in 2 terms.

Honestly, if I were you, I would do the UMPI BLS and get'er done.  They are so flexible in what you can bring in for Free Electives, that you're SO close to finishing there for the least cost.  I'm guessing you'd be done in 2 terms at most, but possibly even 1 term.  Apply now, get that Ethics course done, and start on May 8.

I'll work on the Ethics course on Sophia once I'm done with the Psychology and Biology Lab. I am hoping UMPI accepts the Intro to Communication on my JST as Pierpont did. Solid advice thank you!

I recommend that you apply to UMPI, and any existing transcripts, sooner rather than later (even if you decide to go another route). Being in their system and knowing where you stand early will allow you to coordinate a start date that best fits with your return from deployment. If you don't opt for UMPI little wasted - but I agree with dfrecore on UMPI if your goal is to 'get it done'

I'm leaning towards UMPI at the moment. Thank you!

@johnlesters, great job in completing that Pierpont BOG AAS, laddering up to the UMPI BLS is a good option, having said that...you're still in the military and getting deployed.  Your time is not really set, and you don't have a schedule to stick to for studies... It really depends on your current commitments, study habits, I would go the TESU for both cost, ease, speed to finish.  You can apply to both and create a spreadsheet for them by following the BOG-UMPI template... Degree

TESU, you can complete TECEPs to hit the RA and residency requirements, you just need to get 6 exams completed and do the cornerstone/capstone at $750 a piece.  You should be able to complete the degree for under the 3K max you've placed in your budget.  I would recommend you to create a spreadsheet and link us to your onedrive or googledrive, so we can see your progress.  Link: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap

Solid advice. I'll take them into consideration. Thank you!

[dfrecore]

So right off the bat, I can tell you a couple of things:

1) a lot of your credit (esp from your JST) is going to be considered free electives at almost any school you choose
2) you'll need an ethics course almost anywhere you choose, so take one of those for sure

Excelsior BSL (Liberal Studies)
You need English Comp 2, Ethics, Capstone, 6 courses (18cr) of UL Arts & Sciences (GE), Cornerstone, and Info Lit courses; cost would be about $4300
You don't have much in the way of Business, so that would be a much longer road that didn't take advantage of your current credits

TESU BALS
You need English Comp 2, Oral Comm (unless your intro to Comm course on the JST shows that there's an oral component), Ethics, 5 UL AoS courses, 5 LL AoS courses that are 200-level or higher, Cornerstone & Capstone.  If you take 6 TECEP exams for residency purposes, then the total cost would be about $2600.
You'd have a lot to take for a BSBA, but you could get the BALS w/a Certificate in Organizational Leadership easily (via alt-credit).

UMPI BLS w/minor in Management
You need Ethics (take at Sophia if you still have membership), and then you're done with the GEC that you'd take outside; after that, you'd need  English Comp 2 (take at UMPI), Creative Decision Making (take at UMPI), and then the minor.  If you finish in 1 term, it would be $1400, 2 terms would be $1800 - most people finish in 2 terms.

Honestly, if I were you, I would do the UMPI BLS and get'er done.  They are so flexible in what you can bring in for Free Electives, that you're SO close to finishing there for the least cost.  I'm guessing you'd be done in 2 terms at most, but possibly even 1 term.  Apply now, get that Ethics course done, and start on May 8.

I'll work on the Ethics course on Sophia once I'm done with the Psychology and Biology Lab. I am hoping UMPI accepts the Intro to Communication on my JST as Pierpont did. Solid advice thank you!

You don't have an Oral Comm requirement at UMPI, so they'll just take the course as a Free Elective, but you have plenty of credit so no need to worry about it.

I highly recommend UMPI if you're leaning towards it - I think it will be the fastest/easiest/cheapest, and you'll be home from deployment and in a slower mode, so it will be perfect timing to start your first term there.

[johnlesters]

@johnlesters, great job in completing that Pierpont BOG AAS, laddering up to the UMPI BLS is a good option, having said that...you're still in the military and getting deployed.  Your time is not really set, and you don't have a schedule to stick to for studies... It really depends on your current commitments, study habits, I would go the TESU for both cost, ease, speed to finish.  You can apply to both and create a spreadsheet for them by following the BOG-UMPI template... Degree

TESU, you can complete TECEPs to hit the RA and residency requirements, you just need to get 6 exams completed and do the cornerstone/capstone at $750 a piece.  You should be able to complete the degree for under the 3K max you've placed in your budget.  I would recommend you to create a spreadsheet and link us to your onedrive or googledrive, so we can see your progress.  Link: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap

So right off the bat, I can tell you a couple of things:

1) a lot of your credit (esp from your JST) is going to be considered free electives at almost any school you choose
2) you'll need an ethics course almost anywhere you choose, so take one of those for sure

Excelsior BSL (Liberal Studies)
You need English Comp 2, Ethics, Capstone, 6 courses (18cr) of UL Arts & Sciences (GE), Cornerstone, and Info Lit courses; cost would be about $4300
You don't have much in the way of Business, so that would be a much longer road that didn't take advantage of your current credits

TESU BALS
You need English Comp 2, Oral Comm (unless your intro to Comm course on the JST shows that there's an oral component), Ethics, 5 UL AoS courses, 5 LL AoS courses that are 200-level or higher, Cornerstone & Capstone.  If you take 6 TECEP exams for residency purposes, then the total cost would be about $2600.
You'd have a lot to take for a BSBA, but you could get the BALS w/a Certificate in Organizational Leadership easily (via alt-credit).

UMPI BLS w/minor in Management
You need Ethics (take at Sophia if you still have membership), and then you're done with the GEC that you'd take outside; after that, you'd need  English Comp 2 (take at UMPI), Creative Decision Making (take at UMPI), and then the minor.  If you finish in 1 term, it would be $1400, 2 terms would be $1800 - most people finish in 2 terms.

Honestly, if I were you, I would do the UMPI BLS and get'er done.  They are so flexible in what you can bring in for Free Electives, that you're SO close to finishing there for the least cost.  I'm guessing you'd be done in 2 terms at most, but possibly even 1 term.  Apply now, get that Ethics course done, and start on May 8.

I'll work on the Ethics course on Sophia once I'm done with the Psychology and Biology Lab. I am hoping UMPI accepts the Intro to Communication on my JST as Pierpont did. Solid advice thank you!

You don't have an Oral Comm requirement at UMPI, so they'll just take the course as a Free Elective, but you have plenty of credit so no need to worry about it.

I highly recommend UMPI if you're leaning towards it - I think it will be the fastest/easiest/cheapest, and you'll be home from deployment and in a slower mode, so it will be perfect timing to start your first term there.

I applied yesterday. I'm about to send my transcripts. Just finishing up on more Sophia classes. Thank you!