Help/Advice: Associates Degree

[Lt_criley]

I've been lurking on this board for a long time and recently decided to jump back into my education. I need an associates degree for work to further my career. I've applied for the BOG program through Pierpont and am waiting to be accepted. I currently have 15 hours through my local community college and another 48 from Sophia. I've followed the wiki guide that I found in here to make sure I took the right classes from there. My concern is that I've read that it can take Pierpont a while to process everything. Is there anywhere that this can be done quicker? I don't mind paying for the degree I just need to get it as soon as possible.

[bjcheung77]

You might want to provide more details, such as your age, commitments, volunteering, work, etc?  Please review this thread and use the template to provide us more details such as the state you're in, any other certificates, credits, courses, experience, that may help us determine which way to swing things.  Are you more into exams or writing assignments, or competency based assessments?  Link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

While you're waiting for Pierpont to get back to you, get more credits and try for a degree from UMPI, their BLS with a concentration will cost you $2800 if you can finish it in two terms, and $4200 if you finish it in three.  This is competency based, if you have commitments and need self-paced, then I would suggest either Excelsior or TESU.  My suggestion is to complete all the requirements for transfer by following this link: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...egree_Plan

[rachel83az]

There's not really anywhere else that will do it faster than Pierpont. At other schools, you must take at least one class that lasts 8-12 weeks. And then some of them only confer degrees once a year. Pierpont is slow, but not THAT slow. If you've already sent in everything, you should be in good shape to have your degree conferred in May. Almost everywhere else, you probably wouldn't get a degree conferred until fall.

That said, UMPI is a great option for getting a quick Bachelor's degree, if you want to do that.

[dfrecore]

Even paying won't rush Pierpont. Luckily, it doesn't matter - you'll get it when they confer it. I'm guessing you missed December, so it will probably be in the next couple of months.

[Lt_criley]

Thanks for the replies. So here's what I've got so far:

Gateway Technical College 7 hours
EMT-A (This one is really old so i doubt it gets counted)

Arkansas State University-Newport 15hours
Intro to Criminal Justice
Administration of Justice
American History I
World History I
Theater Arts

Sophia Pathways 48 hours
Principles of Finance
Project Management
Art History I
Art History II
Communication at Work
Conflict Resolution
Environmental Science
Human Biology
Intro to Business
Intro to Ethics
Intro to IT
Intro to Psychology 
Macroeconomics 
Microeconomics
US History II
Visual Communications

I also have several certifications from work related to criminal justice such as:
correctional officer training academy
management training
crime scene investigations
security audit certification
correctional behavioral health certification

[rachel83az]

That's definitely good enough for Pierpont! The Gateway Technical College credits might even count, even if they are old.

Are you interested in a Criminal Justice Bachelor's degree from UMPI or something else? UMPI requires a lot of papers/projects. Excelsior and TESU have more exams available, but aren't recommended for a CJ degree.

[Lt_criley]

That's definitely good enough for Pierpont! The Gateway Technical College credits might even count, even if they are old.

Are you interested in a Criminal Justice Bachelor's degree from UMPI or something else? UMPI requires a lot of papers/projects. Excelsior and TESU have more exams available, but aren't recommended for a CJ degree.

I'm not sure exactly which way I want to go towards the Bachelor's Degree yet. I need an Associates at the moment in order to test for my CADC counseling certification.

[rachel83az]

In that case, the hardest part right now is waiting! From application, it should take around 4-5 business days for your paper letter to arrive. It can be slightly longer or shorter, though, depending on exactly where you are in the country.

Assuming you've already sent in the credits to Pierpont, the school credits will probably take about 1-2 weeks from application to show up in the Pierpont system. For whatever reason, the Sophia credits can take 4-6 weeks. You should be able to apply for graduation in mid-March or early April and have your degree conferred in May.

If your Sophia credits still aren't in the system after 6 weeks, you can email Nancy Parks and she should be able to give the admissions people a slight push. Nancy Parks is VERY responsive and helpful. The other departments are slow for various reasons.

[Lt_criley]

I haven't sent the credits in yet to Pierpont because I assumed I would have to wait on my letter to come in. So is it okay to go ahead and send them in even if I don't have an admission letter yet?

[rachel83az]

Yes, send in everything ASAP. The sooner you send it in, the sooner they'll process everything.