Seeking guidance on selecting between the big 3

[rbellak@gmail.com]

I am looking for some guidance on which of the big 3 would be the best fit for me. I am returning to school with the sole intent of getting an accredited piece of paper for my resume. I have 20+ years of experience in IT and business management but have reached a point in my career where the roles I'm applying for are out of my reach because companies I'm applying to requiring a degree. I have a few college credits (3-4 courses) from right after I graduated high school and have my PMP certification as well as some out of date IT certifications (Microsoft MCSE and CISSP) although I'm guessing these won't count for much now.

With my background and goals, is anyone able to provide some guidance on which of the big 3 would be a good fit?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

[Tlm]

I am not in IT but highly suggest you create an ACE transcript to gain credits for any certifications that you can and then apply to all three. I had applied to COSC because with the double dipping of Gen Ed classes that I would need the least classes. I later applied to TESU and in my case, it was the better choice. The way they treat credits is NOT the same. I would start by applying and then see who has the best option.

[bjcheung77]

Ross, I would recommend the almost the same thing - apply to all 3 after you have more credits under your belt. As TESU just made some changes to their catalog and you're already in the 2020-2021 year, I would apply to the 3 after doing some Sophia.org courses that doesn't duplicate your current credits. Please list all of those credits, all of the certs, whatever else you have, here as you've just copy/pasted your own post from the sister forum. The more info we have, the better to help you with.

[rachel83az]

With that much experience, WGU might be a good fit for you to be able to finish a degree quickly and with minimal effort. However, as bjcheung77 says, please let us know what credits & certifications you already have and what year you got them.

[rbellak@gmail.com]

First, thank you all for the quick replies, I really appreciate it. Here is a list of classes and certifications I have accumulated.

Class Grade Hours
Comp I (EGL 101) B 3
Intro to Philosphy (HUM 127) B 3
Fundementals of Banking BNK 101) B 2
Prin of Economics (ECO 201) B 3
CMTR APL Macro (ECO 211) A 1

Total - 15 Hours 3.07 GPA


Certifications
PMI Project Management Professional (PMP) - Current
ISC2 CISSP - Expired
Microsoft MCSE 2003 - These don't expire but it is well out of date
Comptia A+ - Expired
Comptia Security+ - Expired
Comptia Network+ - Expired


Coursera Certificates
Customer Analytics (U of Pennsylvania)
Initiating and Planning Projects (UC Irvine)

[LevelUP]

TESU has BSBA concentration in CIS.  You could also get your associates in computer science without much extra effort.

https://www.tesu.edu/academics/online-degrees
https://www.tesu.edu/business/bsba/compu...on-systems
https://www.tesu.edu/heavin/asnsm/computer-science

WGU is an option as well though they are picky about taking old credits, unlike TESU.

[Merlin]

WGU is an option as well though they are picky about taking old credits, unlike TESU.

It is basically the same issue at both. It comes down to the recency of courses in the major. Neither TESU nor WGU will allow older courses in the major (AoS). The big difference is that the major is 30+ credits at WGU while only like 15-18 credits at TESU. I'm pretty sure that is a standard rule at most (if not all) colleges.

Either way, for most GenEd and non-major courses it doesn't matter how old they are... TESU & WGU will still take old courses to meet those requirements. But for courses in the major, transferred courses can be no older than 5 years or something like that. One exception is that both schools also may also ignore IT courses that are older than 5 or 8 years as well, since recency has a big impact on those types of courses. TESU may still take those old IT courses, but only as GenEd or elective courses, not to meet degree requirements. WGU doesn't have elective courses, so any transfer courses that don't fit into a degree plan are dropped.

[allvia]

TESU has BSBA concentration in CIS.  You could also get your associates in computer science without much extra effort.

https://www.tesu.edu/academics/online-degrees
https://www.tesu.edu/business/bsba/compu...on-systems
https://www.tesu.edu/heavin/asnsm/computer-science

WGU is an option as well though they are picky about taking old credits, unlike TESU.

The two above are ideal options considering your background.  If you have tuition assistance from your employer then WGU is the most cost friendly.

[rbellak@gmail.com]

Thanks everyone.  Based on what I'm reading here I think I'll be reaching out to TESU today and starting the process. I appreciate the help.

[allvia]

Thanks everyone.  Based on what I'm reading here I think I'll be reaching out to TESU today and starting the process. I appreciate the help.

We're more help than TESU (or any of the BIG3/WGU schools) to plan what to do next - they will only help you with taking course with them, not alt credit or other transfers in. If you have decided on TESU (good choice) for the BSBA-CIS there is no reason to apply until you get some more credits. I would suggest you start new thread called "Help with TESU BSBA-CIS required" be sure to list your existing credits there as well. People here will help you plan it out and where you can get the credits quickly/cheaply; you'll likely be impressed how good/efficient we are at this . Sophia is likely the best place to start, for price and speed right now since you still need many of the most general eds. You could get everything you need between Sophia and Study.com (SDC); excluding the two required TESU courses.  You'll need SDC anyway for the UL course requirements. Start now, commit and you could be able to attended the official graduation in Sept 2021 (if you wished); a year is doable - but it is OK to take longer.