TESU "Residency Waiver Fee" now "Edison Accelerate Fee" that saves you money!

[Ares]

Excelsior used to be their main competition since they would take NA credit and used to take 113 transfer credits, but UMPI needs to increase their degree offerings before they become serious competition and the 104 transfer credits vs 90 with UMPI is still a significant advantage. UoPeople is not a threat to any school as once people learn that it is a ChatGPT mill no one is going to take their degrees seriously.

[P226mem]

I noticed TESU mentioned that only 6 RA credits are required instead of 15 RA credits. Were those guidelines the same for the residency waiver fee as well?

adding to bjcheung77's info:

RA credits are not the same thing as "how many courses you have to take at TESU"
RA = Regionally accredited courses.

TESU requires you take 15 credits (used to be 16) from TESU unless you pay the "waiver fee" (new name = accelerate fee).
6 of those 15 required credits comes from SOS1100 and capstone.  if you want, you can pay a fee instead of doing the other 9 credits at TESU. 

Last time I looked, TESU requires 30 credits of the bachelors degree requirements to be from RA (Regionally Accredited) sources (6 will come from TESU with SOS 1100 and capstone). That happened around the time my degree was conferred. It could be different now.  Example, I had 24 RA credits from community college to transfer.  rest from ACE/NCCRS/clep kind of sources. 


Note: “residency waiver” is not about “in state vs out of state tuition”. I wonder if that confusion could have played a small part in the name change. ?

[Mlevone12]

TESU previously instituted a 16 credit residency requirement, it was recently dropped to 15 credits.  For those who don't want to take more than the 6 credits, you need the residency waiver fee.  This fee was for those who didn't want to complete the 16 credits at TESU, it's been at least 5 years now, as I've had threads created to maximize the transfer credits and also find creative ways to get more for the same price.

You may want to visit the TESU WIKI here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Th...University
Courses vs Residency Waiver #1: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ng-Courses
16 Credits vs Residency Waiver #2: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Waiver-Fee
ACTFL/Foreign Credits: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...r-to-Big-3
Transfer Policy: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...-Explained

Perfect! Thank you so much! 

[Vle045]

Excelsior used to be their main competition since they would take NA credit and used to take 113 transfer credits, but UMPI needs to increase their degree offerings before they become serious competition and the 104 transfer credits vs 90 with UMPI is still a significant advantage. UoPeople is not a threat to any school as once people learn that it is a ChatGPT mill no one is going to take their degrees seriously.

I am cracking up at the ChatGPT mill comment.   If uopeople were truly free, I’d give it a go, just to see how much I see ChatGPT in the course materials.  I can spot a ChatGPT answer a mile away.  I see it in my courses’ DQ every single week. I can usually tell even when people clean it up a little.  Don’t they have proctored courses as well though?

---

I noticed TESU mentioned that only 6 RA credits are required instead of 15 RA credits. Were those guidelines the same for the residency waiver fee as well?

adding to bjcheung77's info:

RA credits are not the same thing as "how many courses you have to take at TESU"
RA = Regionally accredited courses.

TESU requires you take 15 credits (used to be 16) from TESU unless you pay the "waiver fee" (new name = accelerate fee).
6 of those 15 required credits comes from SOS1100 and capstone.  if you want, you can pay a fee instead of doing the other 9 credits at TESU. 

Last time I looked, TESU requires 30 credits of the bachelors degree requirements to be from RA (Regionally Accredited) sources (6 will come from TESU with SOS 1100 and capstone). That happened around the time my degree was conferred. It could be different now.  Example, I had 24 RA credits from community college to transfer.  rest from ACE/NCCRS/clep kind of sources. 


Note: “residency waiver” is not about “in state vs out of state tuition”. I wonder if that confusion could have played a small part in the name change. ?

You have a good point about how a “residency waiver“ might be perceived.  I have seen it discussed here many times.

[Ares]

Excelsior used to be their main competition since they would take NA credit and used to take 113 transfer credits, but UMPI needs to increase their degree offerings before they become serious competition and the 114 transfer credits vs 90 with UMPI is still a significant advantage. UoPeople is not a threat to any school as once people learn that it is a ChatGPT mill no one is going to take their degrees seriously.

I am cracking up at the ChatGPT mill comment.  If uopeople were truly free, I’d give it a go, just to see how much I see ChatGPT in the course materials.  I can spot a ChatGPT answer a mile away.  I see it in my courses’ DQ every single week. I can usually tell even when people clean it up a little.  Don’t they have proctored courses as well though?

LOL, yes they have self-proctoring.

[origamishuttle]

I paid the waiver fee to complete only 3 credits at TESU, the capstone, but it was a second degree for me. I wonder if this new wording will affect second degrees - will they now require the cornerstone too?

[bjcheung77]

TESU previously instituted a 16 credit residency requirement, it was recently dropped to 15 credits.  For those who don't want to take more than the 6 credits, you need the residency waiver fee.  This fee was for those who didn't want to complete the 16 credits at TESU, it's been at least 5 years now, as I've had threads created to maximize the transfer credits and also find creative ways to get more for the same price.

You may want to visit the TESU WIKI here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Th...University
Courses vs Residency Waiver #1: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ng-Courses
16 Credits vs Residency Waiver #2: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Waiver-Fee
ACTFL/Foreign Credits: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...r-to-Big-3
Transfer Policy: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...-Explained

Perfect! Thank you so much! 

In addition to what was provided above... For those looking at 15 credits residency or more and have tuition assistance or reimbursement, you may want to investigate an Associates that requires an Associates capstone as part of the 15 credits. In fact, I would also look at another Bachelors as well, to max the transfer credit and ROI/Value, you can get a second Associates or Bachelors if you resourcefully plan those 15 credits.

Last but not least, again, for those with assistance or reimbursement, even those on the Pell Grant, you have up to 6 years to use up the grant for undergrad studies. There is the options for Bachelors to Masters and taking the Masters courses for the pricing of undergrad studies, you can do that with TESU as an example, take 4 grad classes each year, once you've max that out, then graduate with the Bachelors with your alternative credit.

What you do is, take the classes required for the Bachelors, use alternative & RA credits towards the degree and finish off the residency requirements at TESU. The graduate classes you take will go under the other classes field and not part of the Bachelors. You can then reuse these credits for another Masters degree elsewhere as transfer credit, the reason is - some schools won't let you use these grad credits that have been applied to a previous degree.

[abull08]

I paid the waiver fee to complete only 3 credits at TESU, the capstone, but it was a second degree for me. I wonder if this new wording will affect second degrees - will they now require the cornerstone too?

I'm in your exact position working on a BA of CS at TESU. And I had that exact question! I was told over the phone back in November 2024 by an academic advisor a few months ago that I could transfer in 117 credits and just do the capstone at TESU. And then pay the residency waiver fee... This is my second degree and all of the gen eds and free electives were covered by my past business degree. I just have to do the area of study classes/electives. 

Of course, just recently(yesterday) while emailing another academic advisor she was saying I would have to do the cornerstone and capstone so a total of 6 credits. It's so annoying. I have a feeling she wasn't looking at my exact profile and was talking in generalitites.

Was it a smooth process for you just doing the capstone or 3 credits at TESU? Or did they give you a hard time?

[origamishuttle]

Was it a smooth process for you just doing the capstone or 3 credits at TESU? Or did they give you a hard time?

It wasn't too bad, but there were some bumps in the road. I added the ASNSMM degree, but they only waived the cornerstone for that degree due to it being my second associate's degree. It also seems to depend on which academic advisor interprets the rules. And if I remember correctly, they need to sign off on your degree progress, so you may be stuck with what they tell you is a requirement. With the BACS it would be a really strange situation if they require the cornerstone because that seems to be the only degree where you can transfer it from edX, so maybe that would be an alternative? However, TESU has a strong history of "locking in the catalog" from when you enrolled, so if they didn't require the cornerstone at that time, then they shouldn't require it now. If they do say it's a requirement, then definitely remain kind, patient, and persistent to push it up the chain of command and see if you can get a more favorable outcome. Best of luck!

[abull08]

Was it a smooth process for you just doing the capstone or 3 credits at TESU? Or did they give you a hard time?

However, TESU has a strong history of "locking in the catalog" from when you enrolled, so if they didn't require the cornerstone at that time, then they shouldn't require it now. If they do say it's a requirement, then definitely remain kind, patient, and persistent to push it up the chain of command and see if you can get a more favorable outcome. Best of luck!

Yes the "My Progress" page on the student portal website that shows my degree plan and the requirements I've met/not met yet, shows nothing of the cornerstone. So I'm hoping that catalog is locked in. Thanks for your response and I'll definitely look into the edX thing as well!