Please help me map out a good degree path and navigate fin aid.

[davewill]

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If you do want to go this route, I would apply for TESU ASAP ($50 application fee) so that you aren't hit by any unfortunate changes if they decide to change the catalog on July 1st.
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I'll say that even if you THINK you might want to do TESU, go ahead and apply. It's worth the $50 to lock everything down. As far as choosing IT vs CS, I'd say that depends on your own strengths. If you feel that the CS curriculum will be easy for you, then it's a good path. One nice thing is that it leaves the door open to be a developer, or an IT guy who is able to develop scripts or other tools as part of the job.

The TESU IT degree isn't alt-credit friendly, you'll have to take more courses at TESU, which usually means that it simply costs too much. If that NJ resident program can pay for those courses, that might make it affordable, but it will still take longer than alt-credits.