Excelsior BSIT Degree plan?

[Thatch]

I've found a lot of CLEP/DTTS FEMA heavy degree plans for the various degrees available from TESC but they are much fewer and further between for Excelsior programs. Is there anyone here that can point me to a all (or nearly all) test/FEMA/SL type of degree plan for the BS in Informational Technology? Some thoughts or direction on trying to peice these things together for myself would be appreciated as well. I start looking at the classes and the possible options and in short order I'm confused, with more questions than answers. I was trying to put together a comparison between the known TESC degree plans I've seen and match that against Excelsior's program, thinking this would be a simpler approach only to be left with a spreadsheet in tatters and more confusion than I started with.

Just trying to map things out before I start so I can keep track of my progress and lead my decisions. (sounds so much easier saying that than it is doing it) Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[UptonSinclair]

You should look through the requirements in the Excelsior Catalog. The BSIT will require quite a few actual courses. Many of Excelsior's degrees have specific requirements.

[Thatch]

Oh I don't mind actual courses, I'd just like to get them from other sources if possible (cheaper and or better online offerings ) than directly through Excelsior. There are so many resources that offer alternative classes it would be nice to just map out my plan, work through it, then apply and do only the final requirements (hopefully as little as just the capstone) and be done with it. The problem I'm having is matching up the listed requirements on Excelsiors site and finding what will actuall equate to a particular requirement.

[UptonSinclair]

First things first. If you don't have a copy yet, download the Business and Technology Catalog. It does a far better job of explaining the requirements than the garbage they have listed on the webpage. Under BSIT you will see Excelsior Courses that meet the requirements. Compare the description of those courses to the descriptions of courses from alternative sources. You may be able to find some self-paced courses to meet elective requirements at KCTCS Learn on Demand. Although, getting started with them is an exercise in frustration. The most affordable source for degree specific courses is going to be your local community college.

In this document, you will find some information on where CLEP, DSST, and ECE exams fit into their general education requirements. The CLEP and DSST information is toward the last part of the document.

[Thatch]

Thanks for that. That should help a lot. I had previously only looked at the posted requirements which don't tell you much. The reason I have to do this all or mostly online is that I am located in Germany so I have no 'local community college' to lean on. We do have universities represented on base but the class options are VERY small.

Is KCTCS just slow in responding? Have you done courses with them and if so did you find them to be quality classes?

Thank again.

[UptonSinclair]

KCTCS makes you jump through a bunch of hurdles to get enrolled. Their system never recognized my prerequisites, so every time I signed up for a class someone had to give me an approval code. The classes are little more than textbook proctoring. You read a few chapters, do a couple of labs, and take an exam on the chapter which is drawn from the publisher's test bank. In all fairness, I have seen a similar approach at the local Community College.

KCTCS is very liberal with transfer credits for a community college and they have several degrees available that are completely online which makes them exceptional in the online cc setting.

There are options for an online BSIT other than Excelsior that you may want to consider depending on transfer credits, and testing intentions.
- Western Governors University (self-paced, decent price)
- UMass Lowell Distance Learning (Fair price, excellent course offerings, Cheaper than Excelsior)
- American Public University (For-profit, Good price, I have no idea about their quality)
- Fort Hays State University (Some of the best prices, Lots of networking classes)

There is one other option that I should mention. TESC has a BA in Computer Science that wouldn't require much more work than Excelsior's BSIT. The Calculus would be my big worry, but I am no fan of math.

[Thatch]

Great information to have. Thanks. My leaning towards Excelsior had to do with gaining a GPA while still completing the majority of my requirements by testing. I don't know if that is a solid requirement, but one based on the idea of going on after graduation. I have a nearly 20 career in IT but no degree and no current certs. My goal is to get a Bachelors as quickly as possible starting essentially from scratch so that I can persue a graduate degree (still waffling a bit on which one, but current preference is Big Data / Predictive Analytics ). That's why I've leaned away from WGU, though their program looks to be one of the better onese since it leans so heavily on industry certs. I'm kind of in an odd situation though with lots of experience and an active career but no real way to satisfy any career portfolio style credits.

[UptonSinclair]

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Thatch]

Well here is a thought (always a dangerous thing) .... What if (especially if followed by 'what if') I knock out effectively my first 2 years of requirements by way of StraighterLine instead of testing. Since the higher level courses are often times not CBE worthy and I have to take some sort of class anyway, if coupled with a competency based program like WGU I might well be looking at just as quick and nearly as inexpensive of a solution as hunting around through all the various options.

IF I was able to do 20 classes in one year I'd have spent $1200 in subscriptions and $800 in course fees for a total of $2000 and that should be the entire undergraduate load.(cant tell if SL still has a Proctor fee and if so what it is... the website doesn't seem to mention it) Granted that's not taking into account books and fees, but that gets involved to figure out. In the same amount of time if I was to study for (and pass first time around) CLEPs and DSSTs at about $80 a pop that's $1600 again without books or study guides. Add in something like IC at $20 a month and we're getting fairly close to a wash. Then once in the competency program I 'should' be able to accerate things a bit and get through that is somewhat short order.... but that's the rub there. If you don't your degree can quickly start growing in cost, but I suppose that's the way it is, online or not.

I swear, every question seems to bring 10 more questions with it. In answer to the other thread about why people choose the big for profit schools... I think this is why. The path is laid out, the answers are all there and all you have to do is sign on the bottom line; an attractive choice for a lot of folks. I appreciate the assistance of all those here that help those like myself that are trying to take more sensible albeit more confusing path.

[sanantone]

I wonder how Excelsior would transcribe the TEEX courses. Those are free. Javaonline.org offers self-paced, NCCRS-approved courses. TESC offers the BSBA in CIS, but it only includes 18 CIS credits.