Overwhelmed - Need a Associates or Bachelors in Business - Quicker the better

[scrappycoco]

Your Location:  Nebraska
Your Age:  44
What kind of degree do you want?:  Associates OR Bachelors (quicker the better)
Current Regional Accredited Credits:  0
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits:  0
Any certifications or military experience?:  0
Budget:  limited and may be able to receive scholarships/financial aid
Commitments:  I have kids, so about 20-30 hours with the kids. 
Dedicated time to study:  Most of the day for the entire week (6-8 hours)
Timeline:  Less than a year for the Associates, I'm willing to obtain a Bachelors in less than a year if the timeline would fit with my schedule.
Tuition assistance/reimbursement:  None

Hey everyone, 

I've been deep diving into getting a degree in business. Whether it's an Associates or a Bachelors. I was recently laid off in December, and haven't been able to find anything. I should've done this sooner, but now is better than later. 

I've overwhelmed by all the options and plans. I'm trying to get it quickly, with as cheap as possible. I understand there are fee waivers for transferring credits, promo for Sopia/Study, FAFSA, and scholarships. 

Looking more and more into this, I feel like if I get an Associates, I need to be able to push that into a Bachelors in the near future (preferably after I am employed and can use tuition assistance).

[bjcheung77]

Welcome to the board, great intro post with the addendum and template.  I suggest the following Associates/Bachelors combo and alternative option.

1) UMPI AALS (General Business) and ladder to UMPI BLS with a minor or two, along with 3-4 classes that go towards the MAOL.
2) UMPI AALS (General Business) and ladder to UMPI BABA with a concentration of your choice, plus classes that go towards MAOL.
3) U of People AS Business and ladder up to their BS Business, they recently got RA through WASC and also have NA through DEAC.

Basically, I would use Fin Aid/Pell Grant towards the UMPI option.  When you have tuition assistance or reimbursement, finish off the MAOL.  To start off, get 90+ credits using Sophia.org towards the Bachelors, you're adding the AALS and forgetting it altogether as classes from the Bachelors already complete the entire AALS requirements.  You may just need a couple of months on Sophia.org to get all 90+ credits.  

Go through one provider at a time, use a spreadsheet to reference and track your progress.  You can then work on Study.com classes towards the remaining transfer credits depending on the degree, you can use my Study.com link for a 30% discount when the time comes... Below is the WIKI for UMPI showing the classes that can go towards the MAOL and a link for UMPI degree plans.

WIKI: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Un...esque_Isle
Plans: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:UMPI

[origamishuttle]

You should be able to skip the associate's degree, or just add it as an "extra," as suggested. I also recommend starting with Sophia, working through all the courses you need as quickly as possible. Many people have been able to complete all the courses they need within a few months, so the 4-month $299 subscription may be your best option. If you can do that, then you have a better chance than most at completing your 10 UMPI courses for a bachelor's degree in a single 8-week term.

[scrappycoco]

You should be able to skip the associate's degree, or just add it as an "extra," as suggested. I also recommend starting with Sophia, working through all the courses you need as quickly as possible. Many people have been able to complete all the courses they need within a few months, so the 4-month $299 subscription may be your best option. If you can do that, then you have a better chance than most at completing your 10 UMPI courses for a bachelor's degree in a single 8-week term.

Thank you to you both!

[ProReader]

What would the cost of this be in total?

[origamishuttle]

What would the cost of this be in total?

For the UMPI path, it would be roughly $2,000: $300 for Sophia and $1,700 for UMPI YP tuition (assuming courses are completed in a single session). For UoPeople, it would vary depending on number of courses transferred and how many of the transfer evaluations are free, but it could work out to be slightly less. Bryan did a nice breakdown of the potential costs in this thread:

UoPeople vs UMPI - Cost, Degrees, Time, etc

[bjcheung77]

Exactly, it's the cheapest bundle for an Associates and Bachelors combo...