Diplomacy/International Relations degree for a diplomat

[trying2grad]

This is for my mom:

Your Location: South Africa
Your Age: 52
What kind of degree do you want?: Diplomacy and/or International Relations. If there is no fast as possible solution for those subjects, she likes Psychology and English, but the former would be really helpful in her career and has the most knowledge on.
Budget: Not an issue but cost-effective is preferred.
Commitments: Can do a study leave, still not sure about the amount of time but it's not an issue.
Timeline: Finish within 6 months or as soon as possible.
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: Probably not as it is Africa at the end of the day.
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 

American Public University: 21 for International Relations.


Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: None

Provider Total Credits: #

Any certifications or military experience?: Has over 25+ years of work experience as a global diplomat and has attended multiple short courses, and training, provided by the ministry, universities (eg: UCT collabed with LSE for a short course on international relations), etc.. and has many certificates/diplomas for them. Please recommend an international credit evaluation.

Why?: She has no bachelor/master's degree which limits her in promoting further as a diplomat. She just needs to finish a bachelors as soon as possible and then a masters as soon as possible as well.

We are looking at UMPI's Psychology with English BA degree as its what she likes and is fast(if there are faster options outside of UMPI please let us know) but like I said before, International Relations/Diplomacy is preferred as that's the thing shes experienced in extensively. We did a lot of research but saw the only thing in relation to what she needs to study is quite dated and there's no sample plan. 

Don't worry about things like passion. She is very smart (she promoted from a secretary to a foreign relations officer many years ago) and has done multiple short courses and earned multiple certificates from them and has worked a job she wasn't that passionate about for multiple years. The only reason she didn't finish APUS was her work commitments at the time.  This is just about advancing her position at her job. Thank you in advance!

[rachel83az]

Six months for an International Relations degree is probably not possible. As you've found, TESU technically has an International Studies degree, but it's not going to be a quick option unless she already happens to have a lot of upper level credit from her courses. It'd probably take 1-2 years to assemble sufficient credit otherwise: https://tesu.smartcatalogiq.com/current/...l-studies/

UMPI is definitely going to be the fastest. We don't know how quick the Psychology degree is going to be. It's very new. It might take 6-8 months from enrollment due to the potential length of papers and the required practicum. But at least we know what Sophia courses to take to speed up the process at UMPI. Their BA English is a good alternative, if it turns out that the Psych degree is too long.

I think that, for UMPI, you're supposed to use WES as an evaluation service. Get the current credits evaluated and then we can see what's left.

[Jonathan Whatley]

Is UMPI's History & Political Science major an option for her? Diplomacy and international relations are typically subfields of political science in academe in the US.

There's also the possibility of adding an International Studies minor to any major at UMPI.

[Kab]

For a diplomatic end I will go with political science, international studies or law degree as an adult. Preferably all of it, since everything keeps a relationship with the task at hand. Since there are many constrains and she already has some credits maybe the best option is to be practical get a quick bachelor and focus more on the master degree since then she would have more time once she has graduated from the first degree.

For undergrad I would go with UMPI political science and history since for me is the best option if we take in account time, cost and easiness of working with the university, always keeping in mind your goal of speed and recognition (RA).
She should be able to apply the credits she already has and will get a nice transcript with the international relations part, the history and political science. With that a master degree in political science, international relations, protocol and communication or similar should not be a problem.

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Sorry I did not read @Jonathan Whatley , he said it even better, go with a Pol Sci & hist with a minor in international studies.

[trying2grad]

For a diplomatic end I will go with political science, international studies or law degree as an adult. Preferably all of it, since everything keeps a relationship with the task at hand. Since there are many constrains and she already has some credits maybe the best option is to be practical get a quick bachelor and focus more on the master degree since then she would have more time once she has graduated from the first degree.

For undergrad I would go with UMPI political science and history since for me is the best option if we take in account time, cost and easiness of working with the university, always keeping in mind your goal of speed and recognition (RA).
She should be able to apply the credits she already has and will get a nice transcript with the international relations part, the history and political science. With that a master degree in political science, international relations, protocol and communication or similar should not be a problem.

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Sorry I did not read @Jonathan Whatley  , he said it even better, go with a Pol Sci & hist with a minor in international studies.

Thank you guys so much for your replies. Thanks to your direction we are looking to do UMPI's Political Science and History and minor in international relations. We will get her credits evaluated at WES and let you guys know what she has in total, though that may take a while since we are moving soon.

We will email APU her transcript to see what courses/classes she completed and I will post them here.

I can't really find a degree sample plan for the Poli Sci & Hist with a minor in international studies though, would looking at the history degree plan suffice with a few changes? 

Would also like a recommendation on where to do her masters in the same related subjects as said before, with any possibility to finish it ASAP. Thank you.

[ss20ts]

Thank you guys so much for your replies. Thanks to your direction we are looking to do UMPI's Political Science and History and minor in international relations. We will get her credits evaluated at WES and let you guys know what she has in total, though that may take a while since we are moving soon.

We will email APU her transcript to see what courses/classes she completed and I will post them here.

I can't really find a degree sample plan for the Poli Sci & Hist with a minor in international studies though, would looking at the history degree plan suffice with a few changes? 

Would also like a recommendation on where to do her masters in the same related subjects as said before, with any possibility to finish it ASAP. Thank you.

You wouldn't be able to complete the International Studies Minor and the BA in History/Poli Sci because there's not a difference of at least 9 credits between the programs. Technically, the International Studies Minor is not available on YourPace, but it still may be completed by working with their academic advisor. Technically, there are only 5 minors available on YourPace. These are the minors that all courses are available on YourPace. On campus programs aren't typically available on YourPace. So when you look at the main UMPI website, most of that will not apply to YourPace students. You have to look on the YourPace website. Below I linked the BA in History/Poli Sci. You can view every degree and minor easily available on YourPace from there. 

https://online.umpi.edu/degrees/undergra...l-science/

[Jonathan Whatley]

You wouldn't be able to complete the International Studies Minor and the BA in History/Poli Sci because there's not a difference of at least 9 credits between the programs.

Forum member PrettyFlyforaChiGuy completed this combination.

[bjcheung77]

Another option is a triple minor, if you ever wanted to minor in the three areas you mentioned, the BLS History, International Studies, Psychology, just make sure to take 30 credits residency at UMPI (for courses that you can't find equivalent transfers for, or are upper level) and transfer in the rest through Sophia.org and Study.com or another approved provider...

[rachel83az]

I do NOT recommend a BLS for an international student. A lot of countries have no idea what the heck a Liberal Studies/Liberal Arts degree is and may REJECT it. Go with the BA Political Science and avoid the hassle.

[bjcheung77]

Hmm, I was thinking of going the BLS triple minor and then ladder to the UMPI MAOL and finish them both within the year... but whatever floats your boat, do the BA History/Political Science and add the minor... you decide what may be your best bet with a combo of the energy, money, time you want to balance...