Free Bachelors Degrees for Union Member

[Vle045]

Can pretty much anyone join Working America?

Yes but I don't think working America gets you any of the college benefits. I tried a few years ago when the union college benefits were first mentioned. I could be wrong or things could have changed, though.

They were in the drop down list, that’s what made me wonder about them.

[jsd]

They're in the dropdown list for general UnionPlus membership, but they are not eligible for many of the UnionPlus benefits, according to their website. Here is a page with the handful of memberships they are eligible for:

https://www.workingamerica.org/benefits

[k-k-k-katy]

Is it possible to just cherry-pick a course or two from, say, Franklin University, or one of the other colleges?  I'm reading as much as I can from the 5 listed colleges, there is A LOT of information to wade through, trying to match course descriptions, and understand if they offer self-paced courses, flexible start dates, etc.  I'd love to hear how this has worked for anyone else.  Thanks!

[ylmir]

Yeah, I tried looking into it through Working America last fall and, ironically, it didn't work.

[k-k-k-katy]

Yeah, I tried looking into it through Working America last fall and, ironically, it didn't work.

Thanks for replying!  In fact, I think it was your post that originally got me thinking about XAMK which turned out to be a good choice.  I have a family member who is part of the UBC union, which is on the list of accepted unions.  Of course, I can't say for sure this will work out yet, but I try to track down every opportunity for this crazy path I'm on.  I am hopeful today.  Even if I can find just 1 more course to match my AOS (and everything else falls into place) I'll be happy. 

[k-k-k-katy]

Yeah, I tried looking into it through Working America last fall and, ironically, it didn't work.

Thanks for replying!  In fact, I think it was your post that originally got me thinking about XAMK which turned out to be a good choice.  I have a family member who is part of the UBC union, which is on the list of accepted unions.  Of course, I can't say for sure this will work out yet, but I try to track down every opportunity for this crazy path I'm on.  I am hopeful today.  Even if I can find just 1 more course to match my AOS (and everything else falls into place) I'll be happy. 

Okay, I just reread your post and earlier I read it one way and now I see another way, haha.  So, did it not work to go through Working America, OR, it didn't work to take individual classes?  Thanks for clarifying for me!  I am still very interested in learning more details about this program.  I think I've been able to figure out that the courses are set lengths, but some are as short as 6 weeks, that's not bad (especially for RA credit).  Also, they say the classes are teacher-led courses, but they advertise that it is fine to work on courses on your own time (great for working adults, etc.).  If anyone knows anymore info, I'd love to hear it!

[ylmir]

Yeah, I tried looking into it through Working America last fall and, ironically, it didn't work.

Thanks for replying!  In fact, I think it was your post that originally got me thinking about XAMK which turned out to be a good choice.  I have a family member who is part of the UBC union, which is on the list of accepted unions.  Of course, I can't say for sure this will work out yet, but I try to track down every opportunity for this crazy path I'm on.  I am hopeful today.  Even if I can find just 1 more course to match my AOS (and everything else falls into place) I'll be happy. 

Okay, I just reread your post and earlier I read it one way and now I see another way, haha.  So, did it not work to go through Working America, OR, it didn't work to take individual classes?  Thanks for clarifying for me!  I am still very interested in learning more details about this program.  I think I've been able to figure out that the courses are set lengths, but some are as short as 6 weeks, that's not bad (especially for RA credit).  Also, they say the classes are teacher-led courses, but they advertise that it is fine to work on courses on your own time (great for working adults, etc.).  If anyone knows anymore info, I'd love to hear it!

Oh, haha, yeah, I was wondering. I am happy to help. I just meant that you can't qualify for the program through Working America. Hoewver, you would be fine, personally, because you are actually affiliated with a union. And yeah, I don't know about the new schools (which are exciting!) but from looking into it before, Central State has short terms specifically for people in the Union program. They are indeed set lengths, and I had not found anything before when looking into competency-based or other especially accelerated programs.

[wow]

Is it possible to just cherry-pick a course or two from, say, Franklin University, or one of the other colleges?  I'm reading as much as I can from the 5 listed colleges, there is A LOT of information to wade through, trying to match course descriptions, and understand if they offer self-paced courses, flexible start dates, etc.  I'd love to hear how this has worked for anyone else.  Thanks!

I think it would be pretty difficult to cherry-pick courses. I imagine you would need to declare a major/degree and follow that degree path. That's how it works at EGCC. Of course, if you can find a major that includes all of the courses you want to take, that might help. But there may be an expectation of taking courses in a certain order, etc. So if you don't have a traditional associate's degree, you might have to start out with introductory courses that you've already completed through Sophia etc.

That said, it doesn't hurt to look into it.

[ylmir]

Is it possible to just cherry-pick a course or two from, say, Franklin University, or one of the other colleges?  I'm reading as much as I can from the 5 listed colleges, there is A LOT of information to wade through, trying to match course descriptions, and understand if they offer self-paced courses, flexible start dates, etc.  I'd love to hear how this has worked for anyone else.  Thanks!

I think it would be pretty difficult to cherry-pick courses. I imagine you would need to declare a major/degree and follow that degree path. That's how it works at EGCC. Of course, if you can find a major that includes all of the courses you want to take, that might help. But there may be an expectation of taking courses in a certain order, etc. So if you don't have a traditional associate's degree, you might have to start out with introductory courses that you've already completed through Sophia etc.

That said, it doesn't hurt to look into it.

I recall at least for the associates degree in the union, there are a few very flexible options that could let you take just about whatever you wanted. Not sure about the upper level courses at the bachelor's degree.

[k-k-k-katy]

Just wanted to add information for anyone else looking into this path.  The Union Plus program/scholarship only covers Business, Criminal Justice, and Social Science degrees/courses.  They do allow individual courses to be taken, but there is a waiver process for non-degree seeking students.  Hope that's helpful info for anyone wondering about this possibility.