Need help deciding between the big three.

[dfrecore]

Just as an FYI, for the Big 3, starting from scratch, COSC is the cheapest, then EC, then TESU. I based this on TODAY 5/7/19, with each exam/course costing $100, except the science lab requirement for COSC which will cost $140 (going through Study.com). It includes all fees, the cornerstone and/or capstone, and any discounts that are available. You could easily get the costs down by using CLEP/Modern States, Saylor, OnlineDegree, free credits, coupons, etc. It's for a BSBA or BALS/BSLS.

COSC $6,614
EC $7,675
TESU $8,657

COSC and EC require 30cr of UL, TESU 15-18 depending on the degree. BUT, if you're starting from scratch, this isn't an issue - the price for UL or LL courses is the same. Also, COSC brings in a bunch of LL Study.com courses as UL, so you aren't stuck taking all UL like you might think. You can also plan in UL courses to check off multiple requirements (like taking ENGL 305: Advanced Technical Writing as your 2nd Written English requirement - you'd have to write papers for English Comp II anyway if you took a course, so it's no different; you could take BUS 310: Advanced Business Ethics as your Ethics requirement; HIS 308: Causes & Effects of the Vietnam War as your US History requirement; etc.).

[indigoshuffle]

I originally was going with TESU as it seems most people are going with them also they offer a BSBS in General Managment  however, I've been told COSC is cheaper, and WGU is cheaper and quicker. A quick look at the degrees they offer that I would be interested in are: 

WGU https://www.wgu.edu/online-business-degr...ogram.html


and 

COSC https://www.charteroak.edu/business-administration/ with a concentration on project management

I'm looking for the degree that will benefit me the most. I would like to get a degree in business finance as well. I don't want to just specialize in finance I'd like a separate degree in finance. I see a few accounting concentrations however, I don't see a stand alone degree. 

Furthermore, I'm looking to earn the degree as quickly as possible. I'd like to take as little courses as possible and test out of most credits. 

My main questions are, how do courses differ between this schools? Do they have different credit transfer limits/policies? 

Furthermore, I have no credits as of now and will be starting from scratch. Also if anyone has an excel spreadsheet with the courses/tests you are taking/plan to take I will love you forever if you can share it.

TESU has the best reputation... not sure that matters tho.

[dfrecore]

TESU has the best reputation... not sure that matters tho.

None of the Big 3 has any reputation to speak of, so that's not true.

TESU is more popular on this forum because it's the easiest to plan due to a number of factors.  That does NOT make it a better school.  When it gained popularity here, it was kind of a self-perpetuating cycle.  We knew where a lot of courses came in, then more people applied and then reported back their course equivalencies and where they fit in their degree, leading to knowing about even more courses, and it just repeated and repeated until we have a very complete course equivalency listing from multiple providers.  It was also the cheapest of the schools several years ago.  That is not the case now.

I predict that WGU and COSC will take over in popularity here for the next few years, until something happens to make another school more popular: TESU changes their price structure, a new course provider comes in, EC's tuition goes down, COSC's tuition goes up, etc.

[ReyMysterioso]

Note: for lab option, you could also do a one of StraighterLine's lab options. I did the microbiology lab for my COSC lab requirement. You have to buy the course from SL but the actual lab kit from a third-party website. It was okay. Nothing to write home about. Put together some bead models. Make a gelatin model of a cell just like you did in 8th grade. Draw out some generational DNA transfers. Mix up some chemicals in some test tubes. Do some chemical paper strips to draw up chlorophyll, etc. The lab was more of a pain in the.... than it was particularly challenging. But the microbiology course paired the lab course was a real bear. I never want to think about recombinant DNA ever again!

[TheMaskedMutant]

TESU has the best reputation... not sure that matters tho.

None of the Big 3 has any reputation to speak of, so that's not true.

TESU is more popular on this forum because it's the easiest to plan due to a number of factors.  That does NOT make it a better school.  When it gained popularity here, it was kind of a self-perpetuating cycle.  We knew where a lot of courses came in, then more people applied and then reported back their course equivalencies and where they fit in their degree, leading to knowing about even more courses, and it just repeated and repeated until we have a very complete course equivalency listing from multiple providers.  It was also the cheapest of the schools several years ago.  That is not the case now.

I predict that WGU and COSC will take over in popularity here for the next few years, until something happens to make another school more popular: TESU changes their price structure, a new course provider comes in, EC's tuition goes down, COSC's tuition goes up, etc.

That is a very fair assessment.  It made me quite happy to read.

[boymom1031]

Great questions. Can anyone give an example of the way the “courses” work at wgu? I talked to an enrollment person and they explained the college sends- provides all materials online and then you test when ready - are the test similar to TESU exams ? Are they reasonable questions - essays or term papers due as well or just test when ready? And can retest occur for the same course or do you just loose that one and move on to next? Enrollment specialist are not very detailed


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[Merlin]

Great questions. Can anyone give an example of the way the “courses” work at wgu? I talked to an enrollment person and they explained the college sends- provides  all materials online and then you test when ready -  are the test similar to TESU exams ? Are they reasonable questions -  essays or term papers due as well or just test when ready? And can retest occur for the same course or do you just loose that one and move on to next? Enrollment specialist are not very detailed


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WGU is a competency-based school, so passing a course is about demonstrating your comprehension of the material and how to apply it. There are two ways that competency is measured at WGU: Exams or Performance Assessments (papers, projects, or presentations). Most degree plans require a mix of the two, but at the undergrad level, most courses appear to require exams rather than performance assessments.

All the course prep materials are provided when you activate the course. This includes books, videos, and instructor provided materials such as interactive lectures (they call them cohorts), powerpoint slides, and other materials the instructors think will be helpful. You also have access to Lynda videos which are helpful as a supplemental source of training.

For courses with exams, that means there is usually a single exam required to pass the course. From my experience, the exams are primarily multiple choice questions. Though I've heard that some exams also require fill in the blank answers. If you fail an exam you can retake it up to 3 times. If you don't pass after the 4th attempt, you are withdrawn from that course and cannot take it again. However, before you can retake an exam you need to work with the course instructor to make sure you're prepared, so its rare for someone to fail 4 times.

For courses with performance assessments, there can be anywhere from 1 to 4 tasks associated with the performance assessment. But most undergrad courses appear to require 1 or 2 papers to pass. If you fail a performance assessment it will come back with comments from the assessment team which you can use to improve your results and resubmit. As far as I know, you can resubmit as many times as you need.

Hopefully that addresses your questions.

[quigongene]

In addition to Lynda, they also provide Pluralsight. You will have access to both after graduation as well.

[Merlin]

In addition to Lynda, they also provide Pluralsight.  You will have access to both after graduation as well.

I think that only applies to the IT courses. I haven't seen any links to Pluralsight for the business classes. I know that if you're in the IT school you get access to uCertify as well.

Edit: It looks like Pluralsight may be available to anyone with an active WGU login, but it isn't advertised. Not in the business school anyway. I just checked it out and they appear to have some business-related videos on there too (at least stuff like project management). I'll need to add that to my list. Thanks for the tip!

[boymom1031]

Thanks so much!!


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