Easiest route instead of figuring it all out myself?

[ss20ts]

One thing to keep in mind is that you have to complete 30 credits at SNHU. So you'll be paying for 30 credits in addition to everything you've already paid. That's much more than TESU.

Not sure why you're against TESU. TESU is a brick & mortar university in New Jersey. I haven't attended there and have no plans to, but it's a legit university. I don't know why SNHU would be better?

[collegechick]

I understand what you are saying. I've been to a few community colleges myself trying to finish a degree. I'm finally close to the finish line and I'm even considering getting an Associate's and two bachelors at TESU plus an associate's at my local community college. In my experience having your hand held really depends on the professor as well as the school. My main goal is to complete one bachelors though to keep me focused.
I had a professor in my last community college that was all over the place. I was not even sure what chapter were going to be on the test. He skipped chapters started from one to five then to 14 then 21.
I really like Sophia learning since all the material is there and you can even reference it when taking a test. Also you don't necessarily have to take CLEPS for TESU. I have yet to take a CLEP, most of my credits are coming from community college and the military. I'm at the 80 unit mark with TESU and I'm going to be adding more classes pretty quickly. I think that one of the benefits of CLEPS is that they are a cheap and easy way to earn college credit.
One of the best online learning experiences that I've had so far have been with ASU. Your hand is held, they give you deadlines with a clock telling you exactly how much time you have left to complete your tasks. Most classes that I have taken have all the reading material, and videos organized per week, they give you a study guide, glossary, cerego goes over the material that you need to learn. The exams are mostly based on the quizzes and Cerego. I like that you can leave off a class on one computer or your cellphone and pick up at the same spot where you left off on another computer.
Also once you have enough credits on a desired concentration a lot of the concepts tend to appear again in different classes. For example I'm seeing ideas that I studied in ASU's sociology class ideas crop up in my management class from TESU as well as CIS 105 and the COM class from ASU. In my economics and management class I'm expanding on ideas that I saw when I first took my first business class which was was Intro to Business.

Thank you for your sharing.  Why didn't you fully complete your degree at ASU?  I love that school and would love to list it on my resume, but too pricey for me.

I think your best bet would be TESU or COSC.  I would recommend you apply to COSC for a communications concentration
- https://www.charteroak.edu/catalog/curre...cation.php

You already have plenty of RA credits to meet their new requirement, and you already have the science with lab (another one of their requirements). If your objective is to be done and get that degree so you can check the box - TESU or COSC would likely be your quickest path.  'm not sure what your adversity of having TESU on your resume is (it's a NJ state school, as COSC is a CT state school); where SNHU is not (it's a private school) - and best known as one of those school's you've seen on the TV ads (not saying it's a bad school - but it wouldn't be considered better or higher level than any state school).  COSC would likely be your lowest cost vs TESU.

Once you apply - to a school (or two)  - you'll know where your existing credits fall and it will be easier for us to help you fill in what you're missing. There are definitely more options now than the 'one and done' the CLEPs offer - much better, affordable and friendly to use (imo). Between Sophia and Study.com you could get everything you'd need beside the two school requested courses. You could be done quickly this way and move onto applying for those 'degree required' positions that interest you.

Thanks for your thoughts.  That's good to read that Sophia and Study.com are clear with what one needs to know to pass. That's definitely not been my experience with c rap CLEP.  I know I need American Government, Intro to World Religions, 5 UL classes and possibly one more to graduate.   

The actual name: Thomas Edison State University sounds like a diploma mill school.  The stigma of having a useless Liberal Arts degree bothers me too.  

One thing to keep in mind is that you have to complete 30 credits at SNHU. So you'll be paying for 30 credits in addition to everything you've already paid. That's much more than TESU.

Not sure why you're against TESU. TESU is a brick & mortar university in New Jersey. I haven't attended there and have no plans to, but it's a legit university. I don't know why SNHU would be better?

Why don't you want to study at TESU? I wondered if it would be easier just taking the entire rest of my course load at SNHU instead of suffering through the CLEP's, DSST's, Study's, Sophia's, ect. Getting credit from everywhere and not exactly knowing what will be on the test.

To answer your question, Thomas Edison State University sounds like a scammer school.  I know it's not and know it's a legit regionally accredited school.  I am embarrassed to list it on my resume as well as a Liberal Arts degree after reading many bad reviews about TESU online.  Unfortunately, it seems to be the cheaper way to go.  I think South New Hampshire Uni sounds better than a dead inventor.

[allvia]

Apply to SNHU, send in all your transcripts and see where you stand. That would be the best thing, just know you will need to complete 30 credits (10 courses) there. Report back here once you get the final evaluation from SNHU of existing credits, we may be able to help you gain what you're missing with ACE credits (outside the 30 required there) and help you expedite your degree at SNHU.  Once you know where you stand with them it will be easier for you to decide if one of the Big 3 is a better fit or not for your goals.

[Lacedonia4]

I just do not see how TESU can sound like that as it is an actual B&M school and it has a great customer service. While all the other ones including SNHU keep bombarding inbox with "enroll now" ads as it is typical with schools that are only after $$$. And TESU offers a wide range of professional/technical majors that are perfectly suited to people who have years of experience in highly specialized fields and/or military and want to translate all that experience into usable credits. And named after a great prolific inventor that hasn't had any equals yet, not even in this day and age.

[collegechick]

I just do not see how TESU can sound like that as it is an actual B&M school and it has a great customer service. While all the other ones including SNHU keep bombarding inbox with "enroll now" ads as it is typical with schools that are only after $$$. And TESU offers a wide range of professional/technical majors that are perfectly suited to people who have years of experience in highly specialized fields and/or military and want to translate all that experience into usable credits. And named after a great prolific inventor that hasn't had any equals yet, not even in this day and age.

TESU gets bad reviews on Yelp, YT and on college review websites.  It made me stop and question my direction.  It's just personal preference.  Best of luck to you in your studies. 

[OldManOfTheSea]

It appears that one of the main sticking points here is how the University name will appear on your resume. That being the case, no one here will be able to help you. Only you know what you think will look good. Sooo.. pick a school that has a name you like, apply, enroll, take classes, graduate, and get that cool name on your resume.



OldManOfTheSea

[collegechick]

It appears that one of the main sticking points here is how the University name will appear on your resume. That being the case, no one here will be able to help you. Only you know what you think will look good. Sooo.. pick a school that has a name you like, apply, enroll, take classes, graduate, and get that cool name on your resume.



OldManOfTheSea

That and if I'll actually increase my salary and job opportunities.  I've read from a few HR people that a degree from TESU and SNHU gets thrown at the bottom of the pile, if not completely thrown out.  Best of luck to you and your studies.

[ss20ts]

I just do not see how TESU can sound like that as it is an actual B&M school and it has a great customer service. While all the other ones including SNHU keep bombarding inbox with "enroll now" ads as it is typical with schools that are only after $$$. And TESU offers a wide range of professional/technical majors that are perfectly suited to people who have years of experience in highly specialized fields and/or military and want to translate all that experience into usable credits. And named after a great prolific inventor that hasn't had any equals yet, not even in this day and age.

TESU gets bad reviews on Yelp, YT and on college review websites.  It made me stop and question my direction.  It's just personal preference.  Best of luck to you in your studies. 

EVERYTHING gets bad reviews on Yelp. That's the purpose of Yelp - to bitch and moan. Many reviews are fake as well. Yelp is NOT a reliable source for any information. Some of my favorite restaurants have a 1 star rating on Yelp. I used to own a retail store and had a 3 star rating because people who posted on there complained and that's it. One lady complained that she couldn't use an expired gift certificate - the paper kind - that got wet and no one could read all of the information off it anymore. It expired 2 years before! People complained about parking. My store was in a downtown so it was street parking. Sorry I had no control over parking on the street. Yelp reviews are for entertainment purposes only.

[cerich67]

I just do not see how TESU can sound like that as it is an actual B&M school and it has a great customer service. While all the other ones including SNHU keep bombarding inbox with "enroll now" ads as it is typical with schools that are only after $$$. And TESU offers a wide range of professional/technical majors that are perfectly suited to people who have years of experience in highly specialized fields and/or military and want to translate all that experience into usable credits. And named after a great prolific inventor that hasn't had any equals yet, not even in this day and age.

TESU gets bad reviews on Yelp, YT and on college review websites.  It made me stop and question my direction.  It's just personal preference.  Best of luck to you in your studies. 

When you read those reviews.. did you happen to notice the pattern of those complaining? I did, they are upset that the university makes them do  the capstone and cornerstone, that the TESU courses are too hard and some complaints that are just.. out there.

I choose TESU because at the end of the day , it is a RA, Non profit State University, with University in the name, that like hundreds of other Universities most people outside of the area will not have heard of, but STATE and UNIVERSITY at least establish something.. which while not  high is IMHO better than a community college or one of the online national advertising like crazy for profit schools. I avoid Excelsior because of the name and College, and COSC because of college and the recent change to taking only 90  non RA. Yes, TESU is slightly more but tens of thousands less than most others and will come in at ~7 grand .. bringing no RA college credits with me.

The reality is most people have heard of the IVY leagues and top state schools with big football teams and maybe another half dozen schools with great reps like MIT, Stanford, Duke, and a few others. Once outside those schools, folks respect local known universities, then everything else falls behind with community colleges and places like Phoenix bringing up the rear.

But regardless of where they fall, for an adult learner distance learning who has been in the workplace, the degree is either a checkbox for a new job or promotion or personal enrichment. We aren't going to get the benefits of the big names unless it's a grad degree with some residency because the networking and culture is really the biggest value for most of the top ones. Thus why wealthy parents will spend a fortune in bribes to get their kids in, because the networking, they don't suddenly expect their kid to be smart when they couldn't actually earn admission.

Real life, some will look down at a TESU degree, most when seeing a busy adult who took the bull to get a degree later in life will respect the individuals and with a solid CV it's all good. If you have a crap CV with endless short term churn not showing progression and success, you can get a Wharton MBA and you are still not getting anywhere (maybe gov).

[allvia]

Just remember COSC is an option for you too (because you have the 24 RA credits required by them). Based on your concerns stated, it's a CT state school that you're not finding bad reviews - maybe even no news/reviews - this is good news.

Honestly, you said you have 25+ years work experience - as long as you have a legitimate degree to check the box, your work experience and your commitment to future career goals will hold more weight than anything (from someone old enough to know). There is nothing more empowering than the degree you've completed - no matter what the major.