Starting over. Degree planning help requested

[CaughtInTheRye12]

Your Location: Nevada
Your Age: 44
What kind of degree do you want?: Any BS or BA 4 year degree from an accredited school. 

Current Regional Accredited Credits: 21

Span211, Second Year Spanish II, 3
CRJ101, Intro Criminal Justice, 3
MUS125, History of Rock Music, 3
GEOG117 Meteorology & Climatology, 3
ANTH101, Intro to Cultural Anthropology, 3
GEOG106, World Geography, 3
GEOG103, Physical Geography, 3


Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: 

ACE
ALEKS0001 Beginning Algebra, 3 
ALEKS0002 Intermediate Algebra, 3
ALEKS0003 College Algebra, 3
ALEKS0004 College Algebra w/ Trig, 3
ALEKS0005 PreCalculus, 3
ALEKS0006 Trigonometry, 3
ALEKS0007 Intro To Statistics, 3
ALEKS0008 Business Statistics, 3
ALEKS0009 Stats For Behavioral Sciences, 3

I understand some of these ALEKS courses were repeated. 


CLEP
College Spanish I and II, 12, 80
Analyzing & Int Literature, 6, 68
English Comp w/ Essay, 6, 61


DSST
Personal Finance, 3, 455
Env & Humanity, 3, 61
Technical Writing, 3, 59
Here’s To Your Health, 3, 430
Substance Abuse, 3, 456
Human Cultural Geog, 3, 64

Any certifications or military experience? None.

Budget: About $8000. I’d like to go the fastest and cheapest route possible. Emphasis more on fastest route. 
  
Commitments: I’m a business owner and can study during work hours, after work and weekends. 

Dedicated time to study: I estimate at least 10-12 hours every week so as to avoid burnout.

Timeline: As quickly as possible.

Tuition assistance/reimbursement: No, I’ll be paying out of pocket with no access to federal or private student loans. 

Notes: I’d like to try to avoid as much writing and capstone/cornerstone courses as possible. I understand there may not be a work-around for this. 

[CaughtInTheRye12]

Any help or advice would be appreciated. Really want to focus on competency based courses without a lot of writing.

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Here’s a copy of my transcript from TESU showing 78 credits. I applied to UMPI two years ago and they didn’t put any of my CLEP credits on my transcript. No idea why.

[ss20ts]

Any help or advice would be appreciated. Really want to focus on competency based courses without a lot of writing.

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Here’s a copy of my transcript from TESU showing 78 credits. I applied to UMPI two years ago and they didn’t put any of my CLEP credits on my transcript. No idea why.

CBE programs typically have a great deal of writing. Few - if any - exams. 

Were the CLEP transcripts sent to UMPI? Did you inquire as to why they were missing?

[WDue]

Any help or advice would be appreciated. Really want to focus on competency based courses without a lot of writing.

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Here’s a copy of my transcript from TESU showing 78 credits. I applied to UMPI two years ago and they didn’t put any of my CLEP credits on my transcript. No idea why.

If you'd like to avoid writing as much as possible, then testing out with WGU is probably the best option. I'm not too familiar with their business degrees, but they're all listed here. The BS in Business Management for example has external transfers and certs, leaving 12 courses to be done, 10 need to be taken at WGU anyway for residency purposes. Most courses at WGU are test based, with maybe one or two courses being a written assignment for the final (this was for their BS in Information Technology when I was researching it). Credit to Gneza for creating this degree planning tool.

If you'd like to stick with TESU, they have the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, General Management. 

WGU has 6 month terms, so once you have those 84 credits, it should be possible to finish in one term. I should add though, that out of these options TESU is the most flexible in terms of transferring credits.

TESU has 3 month terms, and you're required to take the Information Literacy course and capstone at TESU, the capstone would be a lot of writing and cannot be accelerated. (As opposed to WGU where if you finish before 6 months you're done.) You also have 21 RA credits, you'd need to take one more RA credit course (can be found in the degree plan linked above) to have 24, then the Info literacy course and capstone would complete the 30 credit RA requirement.

UMPI doesn't have exams, but rather projects and written assignments which would be a lot of writing but their terms are 2 months long. They're currently implementing changes to their business degrees (shouldn't be possible to complete in one term), but I believe those will go into effect permanently by the end of summer. They also have a residency requirement of 10 courses (30 credits to be taken at UMPI).

After reviewing your courses, they're spread out over numerous subjects. You do have a few business and math courses which is why I recommended the business degrees above. Alternatively, maybe you'd benefit from a Bachelor in Liberal Studies at UMPI, it is the fastest degree option out there and recommended for speed, the next fastest would be TESU because for some degrees you can transfer in everything but the cornerstone and capstone (114 credits, 24 of them have to be RA credits) then just complete both the Info literacy course and capstone at TESU in a 3 month term. Possibly TESU's BA in Liberal Studies? WGU's terms are longer but people report accelerating and completing them in one term.

[bjcheung77]

Basically, at this point in time, you need to decide which one would bring you to that finish line cheap, easy, fast. I would recommend the CBE options such as ETAMU, UMPI, WGU over TESU. For the most part, you want to transfer in the max credits into the degree, up to 90 credits with the CBE options, and 114 with TESU (If you decide on TESU, I also suggest BALS or BSBA). Once you know which degree/institution you're going with, you'll know what you have remaining after all you have transferred in, you just then complete the residency credits as the final step.

[CaughtInTheRye12]

Basically, at this point in time, you need to decide which one would bring you to that finish line cheap, easy, fast.  I would recommend the CBE options such as ETAMU, UMPI, WGU over TESU.  For the most part, you want to transfer in the max credits into the degree, up to 90 credits with the CBE options, and 114 with TESU (If you decide on TESU, I also suggest BALS or BSBA).  Once you know which degree/institution you're going with, you'll know what you have remaining after all you have transferred in, you just then complete the residency credits as the final step.

Ok, thank you

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Any help or advice would be appreciated. Really want to focus on competency based courses without a lot of writing.

---

Here’s a copy of my transcript from TESU showing 78 credits. I applied to UMPI two years ago and they didn’t put any of my CLEP credits on my transcript. No idea why.

If you'd like to avoid writing as much as possible, then testing out with WGU is probably the best option. I'm not too familiar with their business degrees, but they're all listed here. The BS in Business Management for example has external transfers and certs, leaving 12 courses to be done, 10 need to be taken at WGU anyway for residency purposes. Most courses at WGU are test based, with maybe one or two courses being a written assignment for the final (this was for their BS in Information Technology when I was researching it). Credit to Gneza for creating this degree planning tool.

If you'd like to stick with TESU, they have the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, General Management. 

WGU has 6 month terms, so once you have those 84 credits, it should be possible to finish in one term. I should add though, that out of these options TESU is the most flexible in terms of transferring credits.

TESU has 3 month terms, and you're required to take the Information Literacy course and capstone at TESU, the capstone would be a lot of writing and cannot be accelerated. (As opposed to WGU where if you finish before 6 months you're done.) You also have 21 RA credits, you'd need to take one more RA credit course (can be found in the degree plan linked above) to have 24, then the Info literacy course and capstone would complete the 30 credit RA requirement.

UMPI doesn't have exams, but rather projects and written assignments which would be a lot of writing but their terms are 2 months long. They're currently implementing changes to their business degrees (shouldn't be possible to complete in one term), but I believe those will go into effect permanently by the end of summer. They also have a residency requirement of 10 courses (30 credits to be taken at UMPI).

After reviewing your courses, they're spread out over numerous subjects. You do have a few business and math courses which is why I recommended the business degrees above. Alternatively, maybe you'd benefit from a Bachelor in Liberal Studies at UMPI, it is the fastest degree option out there and recommended for speed, the next fastest would be TESU because for some degrees you can transfer in everything but the cornerstone and capstone (114 credits, 24 of them have to be RA credits) then just complete both the Info literacy course and capstone at TESU in a 3 month term. Possibly TESU's BA in Liberal Studies? WGU's terms are longer but people report accelerating and completing them in one term.

Thanks. I really appreciate the detailed explanation! I’ve never researched WGU at all so I think I’ll start with that. As I feared before, it looks like I may have to just bite the bullet and do some writing (haven’t done any college writing in 20 years). 

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Is there any discussion about the specifics of the TESU capstone course? How can I find it?

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Never mind, I found the WGU discussion board. Sorry

[ss20ts]

Writing doesn't have to be scary. One way to get back into the college rhythm is take some classes from Sophia or Study. Those platforms can help you get into the mindset of academia. Getting comfortable with writing 3-5 page papers is much easier than jumping into writing a 20 page capstone paper. Much less stressful!

[WDue]

Thanks. I really appreciate the detailed explanation! I’ve never researched WGU at all so I think I’ll start with that. As I feared before, it looks like I may have to just bite the bullet and do some writing (haven’t done any college writing in 20 years). 

---

Is there any discussion about the specifics of the TESU capstone course? How can I find it?

---

Never mind, I found the WGU discussion board. Sorry

You're welcome! I started with researching WGU as well, then googled other CB programs leading me to other options and this forum. That degree planning tool is a lifesaver as you can input each degree and find the fastest business degree with maximum transfers. I ended up applying to TESU because I prefer writing over constant testing and wanted to maximize my transfer credits. At the end of the day it depends on your preference, as ss20ts said, Sophia and Study can help you prepare for writing academically. Good luck!

[PearsonOTHMQualifi7654]

I’ll be honest - I find a lot of these degree planning discussions a bit frustrating.

If someone has been working professionally for several years, that alone demonstrates the ability to apply knowledge, communicate, and operate in real-world environments. In many cases, that says far more than completing general education requirements or a handful of introductory U.S. college courses. On top of that, you have a ton of credits already.

From my perspective, a traditional U.S. Bachelor’s degree often feels overly bureaucratic. A significant portion of the curriculum repeats material from earlier education, and it’s not until later years that more focused, higher-level study begins.

That’s why I tend to favor alternative pathways, particularly the UK model. It’s more streamlined, more specialized, and often more efficient in terms of time and cost, while still carrying strong international recognition. It's open to all, online, in English, affordable, accelerated, and recognized worldwide.

For UK Bachelor degree completion pathways, one has to be strong at writing and create solid presentations, and sometimes record their capstone presentations.

That said, I respect the effort people put into routes like TESU, UMPI, WGU, UoP, etc. - it’s just not the direction I personally choose.

[WDue]

I’ll be honest - I find a lot of these degree planning discussions a bit frustrating.

If someone has been working professionally for several years, that alone demonstrates the ability to apply knowledge, communicate, and operate in real-world environments. In many cases, that says far more than completing general education requirements or a handful of introductory U.S. college courses. On top of that, you have a ton of credits already.

From my perspective, a traditional U.S. Bachelor’s degree often feels overly bureaucratic. A significant portion of the curriculum repeats material from earlier education, and it’s not until later years that more focused, higher-level study begins.

That’s why I tend to favor alternative pathways, particularly the UK model. It’s more streamlined, more specialized, and often more efficient in terms of time and cost, while still carrying strong international recognition. It's open to all, online, in English, affordable, accelerated, and recognized worldwide.

For UK Bachelor degree completion pathways, one has to be strong at writing and create solid presentations, and sometimes record their capstone presentations.

That said, I respect the effort people put into routes like TESU, UMPI, WGU, UoP, etc. - it’s just not the direction I personally choose.

Definitely. It used to be that way too, where relevant work experience trumps education. Still exists in some places but that's slowly changing. This in turn has led to a huge demand for degrees that can be completed quickly. 

It's just how the system is, not only in the U.S. but a lot of places in the world. Increased competition for a single job posting has raised the requirements, and in an employers market, all we can do is try to meet the criteria as best as possible.

I haven't looked into the UK model, but are there CBE programs like TESU, WGU and the like? Here in Canada, there are two online universities, Athabasca and Thompson Rivers, I would have gone with them as it would've been a better option financially. But they require you to do 2 years (60 credits) with them on top of the fact that you can't accelerate through terms. For me personally, it's a requirement I'm seeing on almost every job listing.