Ideas for Data Analytics / Data Science?

[impasta]

Hi!
First of all, I’ve been a member of this forum for years and it helped me earn my BS in Psychology from Excelsior. I ended up making a career change and getting an MS in Software Development without ever taking out student loans. I now work as a Software Engineer and I couldn’t be happier!! 

Now I’m looking to help my fiancé potentially get a Bachelors degree. We are in the US (Texas). He has been working as a Technical Support Manager for a big cloud company for 5 years but wants to make a career change to Data Analytics/Data Science. He got an Associate’s degree ~18yrs ago, I believe A.A.S. Information Technology - Computer Network Systems (he doesn’t have the transcript)…… but it’s from ITT Tech (yeah, I know).

He’ll be looking into how to get his transcript but I told him I doubt anyone would accept those ITT credits, maybe a few of them at best. I’m guessing he might end up being better off spending a month or two knocking out Gen Ed courses on Sophia. 

He started considering getting a BS when we realized that some of his Coursera certs are ACE-recommended for credit. He’s got the following (I included the ACE recommendations):

Google Data Analytics (12 credits):
Introduction to databases (3 LL)
Intro to SQL programming (3 LL)
Intro to Systems Analysis (3 LL)
Intro to R Programming (3 LL)

Google IT Support (15 credits):
Intro to computers (3 LL)
Systems Administration (3 LL)
Intro to Cybersecurity (3 LL)
Networking Fundamentals (3 LL)
Operating Systems (3 LL)

Google Project Management (9 credits):
Intro to Product Management (3 LL)
Project Management (3 UL)
Agile Project Management (3 UL)

His employer paid for his Coursera Pro membership, if that’s still an option he could maybe knock out Google UX Design, Google Digital Marketing, and AWIT Cloud Product Management for free (for a total of 22 recommended credits - 16 LL, 6 UL). He breezed through all the Coursera courses he’s taken so far so I know it wouldn’t take long.
I know there’s also several Data Analytics/Data Science IBM Certs with upper & lower level credit, as well as the Deep Learning Specialization, but I don’t think any of those are included in Coursera Pro (side note - do they charge you if you complete a whole cert during the free trial period?). 
I also saw that TEEX has more free accredited courses now, might be good for miscellaneous electives.

TESU’s BS in Data Science & Analytics looked very promising until I found out about those dang Statistics.com courses. Looks like neither Excelsior nor COSC have an undergrad option for Data Analytics. I thought about WGU but my fiancé is not too excited about the proctored exams (I don’t blame him lol I had to do plenty of those through study.com).

Right now I’m looking into Purdue’s BS in Analytics (ExcelTrack) - any thoughts on this one? 

Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions would be highly appreciated!! 

Thank you guys for all you do.

[tmikula]

Hi!
First of all, I’ve been a member of this forum for years and it helped me earn my BS in Psychology from Excelsior. I ended up making a career change and getting an MS in Software Development without ever taking out student loans. I now work as a Software Engineer and I couldn’t be happier!! 

Now I’m looking to help my fiancé potentially get a Bachelors degree. We are in the US (Texas). He has been working as a Technical Support Manager for a big cloud company for 5 years but wants to make a career change to Data Analytics/Data Science. He got an Associate’s degree ~18yrs ago, I believe A.A.S. Information Technology - Computer Network Systems (he doesn’t have the transcript)…… but it’s from ITT Tech (yeah, I know).

He’ll be looking into how to get his transcript but I told him I doubt anyone would accept those ITT credits, maybe a few of them at best. I’m guessing he might end up being better off spending a month or two knocking out Gen Ed courses on Sophia. 

He started considering getting a BS when we realized that some of his Coursera certs are ACE-recommended for credit. He’s got the following (I included the ACE recommendations):

Google Data Analytics (12 credits):
Introduction to databases (3 LL)
Intro to SQL programming (3 LL)
Intro to Systems Analysis (3 LL)
Intro to R Programming (3 LL)

Google IT Support (15 credits):
Intro to computers (3 LL)
Systems Administration (3 LL)
Intro to Cybersecurity (3 LL)
Networking Fundamentals (3 LL)
Operating Systems (3 LL)

Google Project Management (9 credits):
Intro to Product Management (3 LL)
Project Management (3 UL)
Agile Project Management (3 UL)

His employer paid for his Coursera Pro membership, if that’s still an option he could maybe knock out Google UX Design, Google Digital Marketing, and AWIT Cloud Product Management for free (for a total of 22 recommended credits - 16 LL, 6 UL). He breezed through all the Coursera courses he’s taken so far so I know it wouldn’t take long.
I know there’s also several Data Analytics/Data Science IBM Certs with upper & lower level credit, as well as the Deep Learning Specialization, but I don’t think any of those are included in Coursera Pro (side note - do they charge you if you complete a whole cert during the free trial period?). 
I also saw that TEEX has more free accredited courses now, might be good for miscellaneous electives.

TESU’s BS in Data Science & Analytics looked very promising until I found out about those dang Statistics.com courses. Looks like neither Excelsior nor COSC have an undergrad option for Data Analytics. I thought about WGU but my fiancé is not too excited about the proctored exams (I don’t blame him lol I had to do plenty of those through study.com).

Right now I’m looking into Purdue’s BS in Analytics (ExcelTrack) - any thoughts on this one? 

Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions would be highly appreciated!! 

Thank you guys for all you do.

I just applied to Analytics at PUG and I was disappointed, they didn't award me any credit for Google IT support or Google Data Analytics 
They did give me credit for almost every Sophia course I took though, which they gave me 96 credits for.

[spohara]

Hi!
First of all, I’ve been a member of this forum for years and it helped me earn my BS in Psychology from Excelsior. I ended up making a career change and getting an MS in Software Development without ever taking out student loans. I now work as a Software Engineer and I couldn’t be happier!! 

Now I’m looking to help my fiancé potentially get a Bachelors degree. We are in the US (Texas). He has been working as a Technical Support Manager for a big cloud company for 5 years but wants to make a career change to Data Analytics/Data Science. He got an Associate’s degree ~18yrs ago, I believe A.A.S. Information Technology - Computer Network Systems (he doesn’t have the transcript)…… but it’s from ITT Tech (yeah, I know).

He’ll be looking into how to get his transcript but I told him I doubt anyone would accept those ITT credits, maybe a few of them at best. I’m guessing he might end up being better off spending a month or two knocking out Gen Ed courses on Sophia. 

He started considering getting a BS when we realized that some of his Coursera certs are ACE-recommended for credit. He’s got the following (I included the ACE recommendations):

Google Data Analytics (12 credits):
Introduction to databases (3 LL)
Intro to SQL programming (3 LL)
Intro to Systems Analysis (3 LL)
Intro to R Programming (3 LL)

Google IT Support (15 credits):
Intro to computers (3 LL)
Systems Administration (3 LL)
Intro to Cybersecurity (3 LL)
Networking Fundamentals (3 LL)
Operating Systems (3 LL)

Google Project Management (9 credits):
Intro to Product Management (3 LL)
Project Management (3 UL)
Agile Project Management (3 UL)

His employer paid for his Coursera Pro membership, if that’s still an option he could maybe knock out Google UX Design, Google Digital Marketing, and AWIT Cloud Product Management for free (for a total of 22 recommended credits - 16 LL, 6 UL). He breezed through all the Coursera courses he’s taken so far so I know it wouldn’t take long.
I know there’s also several Data Analytics/Data Science IBM Certs with upper & lower level credit, as well as the Deep Learning Specialization, but I don’t think any of those are included in Coursera Pro (side note - do they charge you if you complete a whole cert during the free trial period?). 
I also saw that TEEX has more free accredited courses now, might be good for miscellaneous electives.

TESU’s BS in Data Science & Analytics looked very promising until I found out about those dang Statistics.com courses. Looks like neither Excelsior nor COSC have an undergrad option for Data Analytics. I thought about WGU but my fiancé is not too excited about the proctored exams (I don’t blame him lol I had to do plenty of those through study.com).

Right now I’m looking into Purdue’s BS in Analytics (ExcelTrack) - any thoughts on this one? 

Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions would be highly appreciated!! 

Thank you guys for all you do.

I was also looking into going the data science/analytics route.  Since he is already in a tech company, he might have the opportunity to get his hands on a database somewhere, maybe working on tech support metrics and producing reports and visualizations relevant to that.  The route I went was to just get a computer science degree.  I think CS is sufficiently broad to give him a wide degree of latitude and hands on experience is going to count for much more than a very specialized degree in DS/analytics.  Not to mention, there are a lot of graduate options later on (which would probably be needed if trying to qualify for a job on education alone).  As for the free trial: you can complete a certificate in the trial window without being charged.  I did that for two Coursera courses.

[LevelUP]

We do a degree plan for PUG Analytics
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/PU...egree_Plan

[impasta]

Hi!
First of all, I’ve been a member of this forum for years and it helped me earn my BS in Psychology from Excelsior. I ended up making a career change and getting an MS in Software Development without ever taking out student loans. I now work as a Software Engineer and I couldn’t be happier!! 

Now I’m looking to help my fiancé potentially get a Bachelors degree. We are in the US (Texas). He has been working as a Technical Support Manager for a big cloud company for 5 years but wants to make a career change to Data Analytics/Data Science. He got an Associate’s degree ~18yrs ago, I believe A.A.S. Information Technology - Computer Network Systems (he doesn’t have the transcript)…… but it’s from ITT Tech (yeah, I know).

He’ll be looking into how to get his transcript but I told him I doubt anyone would accept those ITT credits, maybe a few of them at best. I’m guessing he might end up being better off spending a month or two knocking out Gen Ed courses on Sophia. 

He started considering getting a BS when we realized that some of his Coursera certs are ACE-recommended for credit. He’s got the following (I included the ACE recommendations):

Google Data Analytics (12 credits):
Introduction to databases (3 LL)
Intro to SQL programming (3 LL)
Intro to Systems Analysis (3 LL)
Intro to R Programming (3 LL)

Google IT Support (15 credits):
Intro to computers (3 LL)
Systems Administration (3 LL)
Intro to Cybersecurity (3 LL)
Networking Fundamentals (3 LL)
Operating Systems (3 LL)

Google Project Management (9 credits):
Intro to Product Management (3 LL)
Project Management (3 UL)
Agile Project Management (3 UL)

His employer paid for his Coursera Pro membership, if that’s still an option he could maybe knock out Google UX Design, Google Digital Marketing, and AWIT Cloud Product Management for free (for a total of 22 recommended credits - 16 LL, 6 UL). He breezed through all the Coursera courses he’s taken so far so I know it wouldn’t take long.
I know there’s also several Data Analytics/Data Science IBM Certs with upper & lower level credit, as well as the Deep Learning Specialization, but I don’t think any of those are included in Coursera Pro (side note - do they charge you if you complete a whole cert during the free trial period?). 
I also saw that TEEX has more free accredited courses now, might be good for miscellaneous electives.

TESU’s BS in Data Science & Analytics looked very promising until I found out about those dang Statistics.com courses. Looks like neither Excelsior nor COSC have an undergrad option for Data Analytics. I thought about WGU but my fiancé is not too excited about the proctored exams (I don’t blame him lol I had to do plenty of those through study.com).

Right now I’m looking into Purdue’s BS in Analytics (ExcelTrack) - any thoughts on this one? 

Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions would be highly appreciated!! 

Thank you guys for all you do.

I just applied to Analytics at PUG and I was disappointed, they didn't award me any credit for Google IT support or Google Data Analytics 
They did give me credit for almost every Sophia course I took though, which they gave me 96 credits for.

Ugh, I'm sorry to hear they didn't award you any credit for those Coursera certs   would you mind if I PM you? I'd love to learn more about that program.

---

Hi!
First of all, I’ve been a member of this forum for years and it helped me earn my BS in Psychology from Excelsior. I ended up making a career change and getting an MS in Software Development without ever taking out student loans. I now work as a Software Engineer and I couldn’t be happier!! 

Now I’m looking to help my fiancé potentially get a Bachelors degree. We are in the US (Texas). He has been working as a Technical Support Manager for a big cloud company for 5 years but wants to make a career change to Data Analytics/Data Science. He got an Associate’s degree ~18yrs ago, I believe A.A.S. Information Technology - Computer Network Systems (he doesn’t have the transcript)…… but it’s from ITT Tech (yeah, I know).

He’ll be looking into how to get his transcript but I told him I doubt anyone would accept those ITT credits, maybe a few of them at best. I’m guessing he might end up being better off spending a month or two knocking out Gen Ed courses on Sophia. 

He started considering getting a BS when we realized that some of his Coursera certs are ACE-recommended for credit. He’s got the following (I included the ACE recommendations):

Google Data Analytics (12 credits):
Introduction to databases (3 LL)
Intro to SQL programming (3 LL)
Intro to Systems Analysis (3 LL)
Intro to R Programming (3 LL)

Google IT Support (15 credits):
Intro to computers (3 LL)
Systems Administration (3 LL)
Intro to Cybersecurity (3 LL)
Networking Fundamentals (3 LL)
Operating Systems (3 LL)

Google Project Management (9 credits):
Intro to Product Management (3 LL)
Project Management (3 UL)
Agile Project Management (3 UL)

His employer paid for his Coursera Pro membership, if that’s still an option he could maybe knock out Google UX Design, Google Digital Marketing, and AWIT Cloud Product Management for free (for a total of 22 recommended credits - 16 LL, 6 UL). He breezed through all the Coursera courses he’s taken so far so I know it wouldn’t take long.
I know there’s also several Data Analytics/Data Science IBM Certs with upper & lower level credit, as well as the Deep Learning Specialization, but I don’t think any of those are included in Coursera Pro (side note - do they charge you if you complete a whole cert during the free trial period?). 
I also saw that TEEX has more free accredited courses now, might be good for miscellaneous electives.

TESU’s BS in Data Science & Analytics looked very promising until I found out about those dang Statistics.com courses. Looks like neither Excelsior nor COSC have an undergrad option for Data Analytics. I thought about WGU but my fiancé is not too excited about the proctored exams (I don’t blame him lol I had to do plenty of those through study.com).

Right now I’m looking into Purdue’s BS in Analytics (ExcelTrack) - any thoughts on this one? 

Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions would be highly appreciated!! 

Thank you guys for all you do.

I was also looking into going the data science/analytics route.  Since he is already in a tech company, he might have the opportunity to get his hands on a database somewhere, maybe working on tech support metrics and producing reports and visualizations relevant to that.  The route I went was to just get a computer science degree.  I think CS is sufficiently broad to give him a wide degree of latitude and hands on experience is going to count for much more than a very specialized degree in DS/analytics.  Not to mention, there are a lot of graduate options later on (which would probably be needed if trying to qualify for a job on education alone).  As for the free trial: you can complete a certificate in the trial window without being charged.  I did that for two Coursera courses.

Thank you so much for your reply. Working with metrics and producing reports/visualizations is actually a big part of his job, and that inspired him to dig deeper into Data Analytics/Data Science (he loves it way more than managing people, haha). Getting a computer science degree sounds like a smart option, I need to look into the options there. How was your experience?

---

Also, another concern about TESU is that (afaik) they require those 30 RA credits. That darn ITT Tech scam school was of course only nationally accredited, so none of those credits are going to count for anything here. And I don't think TAMUC offers anything related to Data Analytics or CompSci (we're Texas residents).

So I guess I'm looking for the cheapest, fastest (preferably) Bachelors in Data Analytics/Data Science or CompSci degree for someone with no RA credits....

I'm already eyeing that MS in Data Science at Eastern as a potential follow-up hahaha.

[allvia]

He may want to look into getting the BA in Computer Science degree from TESU and then opt for the MSDS from Eastern. (Good, but most expensive)

With that said, if his end goal is the MSDS from Eastern he could probably just bang our a BLS-MIS (or even other degree, such as a BABA) from UMPI and move forward with the Eastern master prgram. Any UMPI bachelor to Eastern's MSDS would be the quickest and lowest overall cost to get both a bachelor and and end up with a master in data science. Eastern's program is very affordable and does not require a bachelor in computer science or other technical background degree. He could get and with a good GPA from UMPI (in any degree) and he already has some proof of ability with the completed Google data analytics could be a great fit.  (Better, quick and reasonable low cost)

Although now that I say that, even better -  being in TX he may want to look at TAMUC for a bachelor and then Eastern. The TAMUC price is hard to beat for anyone in TX - https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ogram-List (imo the Best, quick and low cost - with local school recognition on the resume)

[impasta]

He may want to look into getting the BA in Computer Science degree from TESU and then opt for the MSDS from Eastern. (Good, but most expensive)

With that said, if his end goal is the MSDS from Eastern he could probably just bang our a BLS-MIS (or even other degree, such as a BABA) from UMPI and move forward with the Eastern master prgram. Any UMPI bachelor to Eastern's MSDS would be the quickest and lowest overall cost to get both a bachelor and and end up with a master in data science. Eastern's program is very affordable and does not require a bachelor in computer science or other technical background degree. He could get and with a good GPA from UMPI (in any degree) and he already has some proof of ability with the completed Google data analytics could be a great fit.  (Better, quick and reasonable low cost)

Although now that I say that, even better -  being in TX he may want to look at TAMUC for a bachelor and then Eastern. The TAMUC price is hard to beat for anyone in TX - https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ogram-List (imo the Best, quick and low cost - with local school recognition on the resume)

Thank you so much for your reply. Do you think having a BA in CompSci as opposed to BS matters for grad school? If he can't reasonably get a BS specifically in Data Science/Analytics he's probably going to want to go for a Masters (not necessarily Eastern either). 

You made a great point about TAMUC, even though it looks like they don't have any tech-related competency-based degree. I guess Organizational Leadership might be worth considering just as a stepping stone towards a Masters in DS/DA? He's just not super excited about a business degree.
Otherwise, doing a $750 semester at TAMUC could help him get RA-credits if they are required by another school.

I actually just emailed Nancy Parks at Pierpont to see if they would let him get that BOG AAS even though he technically already has an AAS but it's practically worthless, and she promptly replied that she is looking into it if they can make an exception in his case.
He's going to knock out a bunch of Sophia classes anyway so I think it's worth a shot. 
Would that BOG AAS count as RA-credit, even though he would be using almost exclusively ACE credit (+1 RA-credit) to obtain it?

[allvia]

.... Do you think having a BA in CompSci as opposed to BS matters for grad school? If he can't reasonably get a BS specifically in Data Science/Analytics he's probably going to want to go for a Masters (not necessarily Eastern either)...

BA CompSci or BS CompSci, makes no difference.

[Tswede]

The Org Leadership has some analytics in it but is not primarily an analytics degree. It would be the cheapest way in Texas to complete a Bachelors through CBE methods. If the end goals is Masters and a BAAS in Org Leadership (or even General Studies, which is a self-defined program at TAMUC in the same department -- pick your own courses as long as they meet the required number of UL and geneds) might check the box to get to the Masters quicker, it could be an option worth considering.

UMPI's BLS in MIS would also check a box and they would be more likely to accept the Coursera work than TAMUC. I am a Texas resident, but UMPI accepted more of my IBM certs for credit that counted in my degree, so I am doing that. TAMUC wasn't that friendly towards Coursera, they took a few but didn't really want to.

[impasta]

The Org Leadership has some analytics in it but is not primarily an analytics degree.  It would be the cheapest way in Texas to complete a Bachelors through CBE methods.  If the end goals is Masters and a BAAS in Org Leadership (or even General Studies, which is a self-defined program at TAMUC in the same department -- pick your own courses as long as they meet the required number of UL and geneds) might check the box to get to the Masters quicker, it could be an option worth considering.

UMPI's BLS in MIS would also check a box and they would be more likely to accept the Coursera work than TAMUC.  I am a Texas resident, but UMPI accepted more of my IBM certs for credit that counted in my degree, so I am doing that.  TAMUC wasn't that friendly towards Coursera, they took a few but didn't really want to.

Ohhh, that UMPI BLS in MIS sounds way more in line with what he wants to do. Great suggestion! Could you tell me a bit more about your experience? How many total credits were you able to transfer? How many 'sessions' do you think it'll take you to get done? 

Thank you for being so helpful.