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Help needed for an IT/CS degree
#1
Question 
Hi all, I've browsed this forum for the last few days (lots of great and useful info!) and was wondering if you guys can help me select a school for IT/CS. I've filled out the template below:

Your Location: Ontario, Canada
Your Age: 29
What kind of degree do you want?: A bachelor's degree in IT or CS 
Current Regional Accredited Credits: None
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits:  I did a few business/science courses at a Canadian college a few years ago

Marketing - 3 credits
Intro to Management- 3 credits
Chemistry I & II - 3 credits each
Ecology - 3 credits

Any certifications or military experience?: No military experience, certs: Google IT Support, Cisco CCNA, CompTIA A+, Network+ and currently working on the Security+
Budget: $10,000 - $15,000 USD
Commitments: None, I've been applying but the current job market is really bad and I feel the lack of a degree is holding me back.
Dedicated time to study: As much as needed
Timeline: ASAP/<1 year, however if I find a job while I'm working on my degree then the timeline is more flexible
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: N/A

A little background, I was researching CBE which led me to WGU initially. I have test anxiety and the amount of proctored tests there led to looking at alternative institutions, they also do not provide a GPA. Initially, I was looking between Purdue Global and UMass Global as these two are the only other CBE programs (apart from WGU, to my knowledge) that accept IT certifications for credit. However there's very little information on UM Global, which leaned me more towards PG.

After browsing this forum, I became aware of TESU's BA CS program, which is what led me to make this post. I like the idea of a theoretical comp sci degree and even for IT roles, I've read that having a CS degree would be a big plus, it also helps with the technical aspect. However, I have no prior programming experience and absolutely despise math lol, which is why I never researched CS degrees in depth to begin with (looking at the math heavy CS programs made me anxious, lol)  

Is it worth trying to pursue the TESU BA CS? How difficult is the program for a person with no prior programming experience? I'm aware that if I choose the CS program then most of my certifications wouldn't be able to be transferred in. But if the timeline to completing a degree would be similar to the PG IT Excel Track program then I don't mind putting in the work to learning programming. I'm also unsure about the average time it takes for students to complete their programs at either institution. Bonus mention for UMPI's PM and IS degree, but from what I've read on here it's not a technical degree at all and I can always puruse an MBA in the future for the management/leadership coverage. My priority is speed and ease of getting a degree. If possilble, minimal proctoring. GPA is of medium importance.

Thank you in advance for the help and getting through my wall of text!  Big Grin
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#2
The TESU BA CS is pretty solid. You can do the bulk of it via Sophia, Study and Coursera. If you want your existing certifications to potentially give you credit, you can also consider the BS in IT from TESU.

TESU Overview: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Th...University
General Education: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap
BA CS Degree Plan: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ience_Plan
BS IT Degree Plan: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...egree_Plan
Coursera: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Coursera
Completed: HAU MBA | BA Economics
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#3
(10-14-2025, 10:02 AM)jg_nuy Wrote: The TESU BA CS is pretty solid. You can do the bulk of it via Sophia, Study and Coursera. If you want your existing certifications to potentially give you credit, you can also consider the BS in IT from TESU.

TESU Overview: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Th...University
General Education: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap
BA CS Degree Plan: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ience_Plan
BS IT Degree Plan: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...egree_Plan
Coursera: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Coursera

Thank you for the info! I'm surprised I managed to miss TESU's BS IT program, I took a look and it appears that my Google IT Support cert would knock out 5 classes, if I do the Cloud Data Analytics then it's another 3. I would still need to do calculus and a discrete math course for either program though. Hmm, I'll start mapping both out. I'm curious how long it takes on average to complete either program. Another thing that's confusing is the RA credits. It says 30 but in reality it's 24 excluding the cornerstone and capstone. I hope my ecology course or the business ones would count towards that requirement. Which would leave me with 5 courses to do. I wonder if it's possible to make a plan with as minimal proctoring as possible for either program.
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#4
Welcome to the board, my recommendation is the double trifecta of certs, degree, experience, for the cost, ease, speed to finish. You should complete the max transfer of ACE credits with Coursera, Sophia.org, Study.com and also use your Canadian credits for RA requirements. If you're missing RA credits, you can do a second degree, the BS CIS and complete the ENEB for transfer credit (as a controversial example).
Study.com Offer https://bit.ly/3RTJ3I9

Pre-Med Online, MSc Biomedical Sciences (Starting Jan 2026)
In Progress: UoPeople BS Health Science

Completed: UMPI BAS & MAOL (2025)
TESU ASNSM Biology, BSBA (ACBSP Accredited 2017)

[Image: e7P9EJ4.jpeg]
[-] The following 1 user Likes bjcheung77's post:
  • WDue
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#5
(10-14-2025, 09:33 AM)WDue Wrote: After browsing this forum, I became aware of TESU's BA CS program, which is what led me to make this post. I like the idea of a theoretical comp sci degree and even for IT roles, I've read that having a CS degree would be a big plus, it also helps with the technical aspect. However, I have no prior programming experience and absolutely despise math lol, which is why I never researched CS degrees in depth to begin with (looking at the math heavy CS programs made me anxious, lol)  

Is it worth trying to pursue the TESU BA CS? How difficult is the program for a person with no prior programming experience? I'm aware that if I choose the CS program then most of my certifications wouldn't be able to be transferred in. But if the timeline to completing a degree would be similar to the PG IT Excel Track program then I don't mind putting in the work to learning programming. I'm also unsure about the average time it takes for students to complete their programs at either institution. Bonus mention for UMPI's PM and IS degree, but from what I've read on here it's not a technical degree at all and I can always puruse an MBA in the future for the management/leadership coverage. My priority is speed and ease of getting a degree. If possilble, minimal proctoring. GPA is of medium importance.

Thank you in advance for the help and getting through my wall of text!  Big Grin


You don’t need any programming experience to complete the TESU Computer Science degree. You can transfer all of the required courses except the capstone, which takes about three months to finish.

For the PUG IT programs, once you’ve transferred in all your credits, you can complete the degree in as little as two terms.
Study.com – Get 10% Off: https://altcredit.click/study10

Degrees: BA Comp Sci; BS Business Admin (CIS); AS Nat Sci & Math — TESU (4.0 GPA)
Certs: Google (IT Support, Digital Marketing, Proj Mgmt); W3Schools PHP
[-] The following 2 users Like LevelUP's post:
  • Jonathan Whatley, WDue
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