Testing out of Tech classes?

[jack ack]

Hi all--I've been searching to try and find answers within the forum to no avail. Looking through 7 years of posts, I'm getting a bit overwhelmed.

Backstory: Our son just finished his Soph year in high school. We took him out for half of his third quarter to travel internationally and homeschooled him. However, his grades suffered tremendously as the teachers gave him 0s for missed assignments done during that time frame. It really backfired. He wound up really giving up and we've made enemies out of half the teachers. I feel he won't get a fair shake finishing up his last two years there. In NY, one way he can get his high school degree is by taking 24 college credits. So here I am.

A few things he is interested in leads us to a couple possible paths through Excelsior and TESC. To get an AAS or AS in Technology, only the first 20-30 credits are General Education requirements. The When looking at the balance, there are a lot of degree-specific requirements and electives. Does that mean that to get beyond the first half, it would require applying to and taking classes through the college? Is that basically how it is? Testing out of beyond the first 30 or so credits is only possible if you choose a less technical career?

Or, would a better idea be to aim toward a Bachelors, in which case there are about 50-75 General Ed requirements/electives.

Any thoughts, course plans, or ideas would be greatly appreciated!!

[sanantone]

Is he interested in anything more specific than technology e.g. information technology?

[jack ack]

Hi Sanantone--

Looking at AAS in Technical Studies (Air Traffic Control), AAS (Power Plant Technologies), AS in Tech (Power Plant Technologies), BPS inTech Mgt, BS Technology (Power Plant Technologies), BS Electrical Engineering Technology.

I'm trying to create a course list with corresponding tests. I'm very visual, so I have to write it all out and there are so many brilliant sources on this forum!

[sanantone]

Some of the technical degrees will allow for credits awarded for licenses/certifications, but those majors/areas of study do not have many, if any, equivalent tests. You can test out of general education and free electives, and that's about it. Penn Foster offers some engineering and electrical courses that are ACE-approved. They'll be cheaper than taking courses at EC or TESC.

[jack ack]

That's what I kinda thought. Since we have 2 years before he "technically" would be going to college anyway, maybe we'll shoot for a Bachelors which has more General and Business electives. This way he can take his time to decide what he'd like to major in. Thanks for your help!

What do you think of this? https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...edit#gid=0

[bluebooger]

Looking at AAS in Technical Studies (Air Traffic Control), AAS (Power Plant Technologies), AS in Tech (Power Plant Technologies), BPS inTech Mgt, BS Technology (Power Plant Technologies), BS Electrical Engineering Technology.

those AS degrees are designed for people who did those jobs in the military
it gives them credit for their military technical training

you are not going to test out of technical training

Excelsior, COSC and TESC are very liberal in accepting courses from many different places

they do offer their own online courses, but they also accept CLEP exams, AP exams, DSST exams NYU foreign language exams, some Microsoft and Oracle exams, online classes from other schools, in person classes from other universities and other sources

then they put all the credits from all the sources together to complete the degree requirements

but complete testing out is really only possible for liberal arts degrees: history, business, psychology

you might be able to test out of an AS math degree, but certainly not a BS in math

you can take tests for many of the general ed requirements (and if you're doing psychology or history you can test out of almost the entire BS degree), but for anything else you're going to have to take online courses through those universities or other sources

if all you want is a HS diploma, why don't you just let him take the GED test ?

if you really want to go the college credit route for a HS diploma you can sign up for excelsior's transcript service
Excelsior College | OneTranscript for credit consolidation

so when you take your exams you have the grades sent to excelsior and they will be keep the records

(this is completely different from their degree service)

[sanantone]

Math is a liberal arts degree, business is not. Sorry, it's a pet peeve of mine.

Too bad your son isn't more into the computer side of technology. The information technology and computer science degrees are a little more test friendly and have a lot more online course options. The BSBA in MIS from Excelsior and the BSBA in CIS from TESC are test friendly, with TESC probably being even more so.

By the way, UptonSinclair has made documents for TESC equivalencies for tests. The links are in his signature.

Just in case your son changes his mind, I'll link you to TESC's BSBA in CIS page so that you can match the general education options I listed with the requirements. I'll also link you to my BSBA in CIS test out plan.

BSBA in Computer Information Systems Degree Program
Sanantone's BSBA in Computer Information Systems - Degree Forum Wiki

None of the Big 3 offer a mechanical engineering program, but they do offer general technical studies programs, and I think COSC offers a general engineering studies program. These particular programs (Excelsior and TESC do have others that are ABET accredited) aren't ABET accredited, which could matter if he wants to become a licensed engineer. It could be a PIA, but Saylor offers many open courses for mechanical engineering. You could use those to create portfolios for prior learning assessments (PLA). Excelsior and TESC are partners with LearningCounts, but TESC also has its own in-house PLA system. COSC has an in-house PLA system, but it's expensive. Otherwise, he could just take his time and finish all of the courses needed for an engineering technology or engineering degree.
ABET - Online Programs