TESU and CCAF??

[Gunny NR]

Being the new kid on the block I am looking for guidance. Having surfed this website for a few hours now I am fairly certain that you all know that TESU has a residency requirement of 12 credits for an AA and 24 for a BA. I currently have 10 residents credits and need at a minimum 14 more to earn my two degrees. Keeping the cost down and earning my degrees within 1 to 2 years time what would you suggest? Being active duty I cannot use TESU's PLA-200 as TA will not pay for it, or else I would rack up everything I could with that.
*I typically take one course at a time to keep my focus on the course work and ultimately my GPA high.

English Comp II will earn me an AAS in Environmental, Safety & Security Technologies (AAS.ENVSAFT)

...AND...

for my BA in Natural Sciences/Mathematics (BA.NAS) I need the following...

4 credits in Humanities
5 credits in Social Sciences
6 semester hours of Natural Sciences coursework at any college level.

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Second question; being an active duty Marine and recently earning my CCAF AAS's in "Instructional Technology and Military Sciences" and "Meteorology" how do other colleges look at this? I have been told everything from, "It's a real community college degree" to "It's a B.S. degree and I could basically toss it in the garbage because it's worthless." Or maybe, to rephrase, how have other people you told responded?

Thank you and I look forward to learning more from you all.


Very Respectfully,
Gunny NR

[davewill]

For your resident credits, I'd pick out the UL credits that might either be hard to find elsewhere or would be nice to have grades for. As far as the AAS, I think both of those answers are correct. It's a regular associate's, and it doesn't​ do much for you either in the job market or at most schools. Unless there's a articulation agreement that gives a block of credits, a school just looks at the individual credits you're bringing in, not the associate's degree.

[Ideas]

TESU is so expensive for resident credits. It seems better to switch after your AA from TESU. Or, pay their residency waiver fee ($1800 for a year, and you can pay close to graduation) and stop taking credits directly from them.

[SolarKat]

Welcome, Gunny, and thanks for your service!

What Davewill said: +1.

Have you given any thought to education beyond the bachelors? That might give you inspiration for the remaining TESU classes. How are you planning to use the degree - that might give you further/other inspiration. Since you're using TA, definitely choose something that would be expensive elsewhere, or that is hard to find elsewhere. Upper level credits especially.

[dfrecore]

The residency requirement for non-military is only 16cr. So, might it not be a better option for you to take 2 more courses (assuming that the military is paying for the classes), and then switch to the regular per-credit tuition plan to finish your degree?

And, if the military is not paying for your courses, then you may be better off switching to it now, and skipping the TESU online courses entirely, and just pay the residency waiver of $1800. You can then just do the remaining courses via the options we have on here, paying for it yourself for far less than you'd spend at TESU.

[sanantone]

I thought TECEPs and portfolio assessments still counted toward the residency requirement for military students.

[Gunny NR]

I thought TECEPs and portfolio assessments still counted toward the residency requirement for military students.

They would but since TA only covers classes with "letter grades" (A, B, C, D, F) it cannot be used for PLA.

[sanantone]

They would but since TA only covers classes with "letter grades" (A, B, C, D, F) it cannot be used for PLA.

It'll be cheaper for you to just pay for the TECEPs out of pocket. Take the ones that will count toward your degree. Five more TECEPs will be $585; that's a lot less than the the residency waiver. Plus, the residency waiver doesn't result in any credits.

[dfrecore]

I thought TECEPs and portfolio assessments still counted toward the residency requirement for military students.

I knew they had some different rules for military folks, but TESU certainly doesn't make it easy to find out what they are if you're just clicking around their website.

So if the military is paying for classes, isn't switching to become a regular for-credit student after getting 16cr cheaper than paying for TECEP's out of pocket?

[SolarKat]

Gunny, correct me if I'm wrong, but TA is limited to $4500/fiscal yr, and you're paying $250/credit hour? Well...how quickly are you wanting to be done?

If you're only taking one at a time, though, and stick with the TESU 12-week classes, the most you could take in a year would be 4 courses...and even with lab kits & such, that would stay below your TA for the fiscal year. If you want to pack in more credit hours, you could take something from AMU or Excelsior, who offer some 8 week classes @ $250/credit hour, and that would get you done sooner. $4500 will get you six 3-credit classes per fiscal year (without lab fees - do kits come out of the $4500 allocation?).