Looking into AA (but with an eventual BA in mind)

[degreedude80]

Your Location: Midwest US
Your Age: Late 30s
What kind of degree do you want?: Currently need 60 hours for licensure as a paraprofessional. Eventually want to get an AA/AAS and BA (long shot, but it's the plan)

Current Regional Accredited Credits: 52

Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits:  Have modern states voucher for one exam, need to take the exam in a few weeks. 

Any certifications or military experience?: Short term paraprofessional license in Illinois. 

Budget: Cheaper the better.

Commitments: Occupied full time (work and parenting)

Dedicated time to study: 2 hours a day

Timeline: Summer 2026

*I am native Hindi speaker and was looking into getting credit via ATCFL or equivalent. Suggestions welcome.

I am currently first trying to obtain 60 hours for full paraprofessional licensure.  I would like to eventually obtain an associates degree as I am just a few classes away from such (I need to take a science class, and an English class).  While a BA is a long shot, I am not opposed to pursuing an AA/AAS that meshes easily with an eventual BA.

Looking into - UWisconsin system (some colleges offer the AA degree with eventual path to a BA), Upper Iowa University, UMPI, TESU, WV Community College System (the few options that remain)

[Mint Berry Crunch]

Your Location: Midwest US
Your Age: Late 30s
What kind of degree do you want?: Currently need 60 hours for licensure as a paraprofessional. Eventually want to get an AA/AAS and BA (long shot, but it's the plan)

Current Regional Accredited Credits: 52

Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits:  Have modern states voucher for one exam, need to take the exam in a few weeks. 

Any certifications or military experience?: Short term paraprofessional license in Illinois. 

Budget: Cheaper the better.

Commitments: Occupied full time (work and parenting)

Dedicated time to study: 2 hours a day

Timeline: Summer 2026

*I am native Hindi speaker and was looking into getting credit via ATCFL or equivalent. Suggestions welcome.

I am currently first trying to obtain 60 hours for full paraprofessional licensure.  I would like to eventually obtain an associates degree as I am just a few classes away from such (I need to take a science class, and an English class).  While a BA is a long shot, I am not opposed to pursuing an AA/AAS that meshes easily with an eventual BA.

Looking into - UWisconsin system (some colleges offer the AA degree with eventual path to a BA), Upper Iowa University, UMPI, TESU, WV Community College System (the few options that remain)

Tohono O’odham Community College may be a good starting point since it's $34.25 per credit, and some users here have graduated from their with an Associates in Business.

UMPI or TESU would be my next recommendations

[degreedude80]

I did some searching. I didn't see much regarding people going to that college.

[Mint Berry Crunch]

I did some searching. I didn't see much regarding people going to that college.

There are some who have. I saw your comment on Ares' post regarding the school; I went there as well. IIRC you can transfer in 45 credits towards TOCC, to include ACE credits. If you don't want to go there (which it's super cheap to go there), just do TESU or UMPI

[bjcheung77]

And that's why you want to provide a little more details on which college you attended and when. The reason is because, if you can complete just 8-9 credits from that college, you'll bump your 52 credits to 60+ credits, which may be enough for your AA, AS, AAS. The more we know of those minor details that you didn't provide, the better it is to help you further.

If, for some reason, you'll need to take more classes at the institution to graduate, then I suggest transferring all those RA classes to TESU or UMPI, even Excelsior for an associates/bachelors combo (if you're going to take residency credits at these institutions anyways, might as well get extra credentials on route to the bachelors without doing any extra class work).

[degreedude80]

It is a local community college in Illinois.

They don't give credit for ACTFL exams unless a higher language course is taken, but they don't offer that language so moot point in that situation.

[bjcheung77]

That's not what I am getting at here, we're on the same page but looking at a different area... My post is that you have 52 credits out of 60 for the associates. It's not in regards to ACTFL completing those final requirements.

We don't know what is remaining on the final credits, if these are language credits, then simple, take the classes at another college or take the CLEP for French, German, Spanish. If they don't take ACTFL, ask if they take the NYUFLT or alternatives.

Your first step is to find out what remaining credits are. Post what you have and what you need, including the institution name. I love searching school catalogs and looking for alternatives. You're already there at the finish line...

You can take the ACTFL for Hindi when you're looking for LL/UL credits towards another institution, it's that simple. Don't dwell on looking for ACTFL to get the AA, use it for the BA instead. Easy peasy, really, it's pretty straightforward...