TESU help me understand things

[collegeishard]

Age:I am 20 and will be 21 in October
Live: I currently live in New Jersey and have to moving to pa next year for my job.
Want: I want whatever degree is going to be the easiest. Probably liberal arts, criminal justice would be nice but I want whatever’s easiest as I will be working full-time.
College attended: county college of Morris AS-CJS
Commitment a full-time job, but I have a girlfriend who can help with the work load.
budget is not a problem if its under $7,000 less is better but time matters

I currently hold an Associate of Science degree in Criminal Justice from a county college and have a strong desire to expediently and affordably obtain my Bachelor's degree. Given my imminent transition into a police officer role, I'm operating within a tight time frame of four months, during which I am fully committed to achieving my degree. While I'm eager to take this step, I find myself uncertain about the most effective paths to pursue. Initially, I contemplated enrolling at Thomas Edison State University (TESU) based on recommendations touting its potential to accelerate my progress

Additionally, my upcoming entry into the police academy this January marks the commencement of a six-month program. I intend to seamlessly pick up where I left off in my academic journey. Fortunately, I can allocate my weekends—Saturdays and Sundays—to concentrate on my coursework. Nevertheless, I must admit that I am somewhat bewildered by the intricacies of credit acquisition through CLEP and TECEP methods. Despite my background as a full-time student experienced in online courses, I'm finding the nuances of these credit-earning avenues to be overwhelming and elusive.

I am also willing to do any degree as it does not matter to me

ps: I made an account to post this today if this is not in the right spot I am sorry. also private message me if you can help

[bjcheung77]

@collegeishard, Welcome to the board, you've got a great initial post with a bit of information and a brief introduction... Please review the template/last post addendum and provide us a bigger overview of your scenario, the more detailed the better, we'll have a clearer picture of what you need/want and your budget, commitments, study habits, etc: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

[collegeishard]

@collegeishard, Welcome to the board, you've got a great initial post with a bit of information and a brief introduction... Please review the template/last post addendum and provide us a bigger overview of your scenario, the more detailed the better, we'll have a clearer picture of what you need/want and your budget, commitments, study habits, etc: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

[rachel83az]

If you've only got four months, I wouldn't suggest TESU. It takes 3 months just to finish the cornerstone/capstone courses. And you can't sign up for those until you're almost done with your degree. But you've probably got about 20 more classes that need to be finished to bring your Associate degree to a Bachelor's degree. On the other hand, you may be able to pick up a degree at UMPI within that timeframe. UMPI will also be cheaper than TESU, especially if completed in only 4 months.

Please list out exactly what classes you have already completed and their grades so we can give more personalized information.

[bjcheung77]

@collegeishard, If you're in NJ and want to continue with TESU - You can always do the Cornerstone/Capstone and 3 E-Packs for the flat-rate-tuition. I would get all the required lower level courses through Sophia.org and transfer the max 105 credits, do the 15 credit residency and it would be around $4K for a BALS with a concentration of your choice.

[collegeishard]

doesn’t need to be done in 4 months but that sounds about what I want how would I go about planning that out where would I find out what classes are Sophia and clep? I will do BALS!!

[rachel83az]

Start by reading the wiki.

If you really want TESU, which will probably take at least 6-8 months (possibly more), you can start here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap

If you want a faster/cheaper UMPI degree, start here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:UMPI

[bjcheung77]

Starting Steps: Apply to TESU (plus Excelsior/UMPI), get an evaluation and place it in your google or one drive (without your personal details at the top), post your evaluation link and make it viewable (not editable). Once we see what you have, we can then recommend what courses are required for the BALS or any other degree for that matter.

If you want a quick review, as per post #4,, follow through with the listing of your courses and/or screenshot of your transcripts, again, without your personal details. We can see what courses you have and then inform you what is remaining, Excelsior or UMPI is another option you can go for as they have 60 elective credits that can be anything.

[rachel83az]

I wouldn't suggest Excelsior.

They require 30 UL credits. UL classes can generally take longer to study for than others, meaning Excelsior can take even longer than TESU.

Excelsior charges $300 per transcript evaluation after the first.

Excelsior's capstone course has a group project that is pretty universally disliked/hated.

[allvia]

As rachel83az mentioned, UMPI is likely going to be your quickest and cheapest way to a bachelor. I'd recommend their BLS in Management; (one) it is known to be the quickest minor to work through and (two) as you move through the ranks you'll have have a bachelor degree that reflects formal education in management and leadership.   Also, if you're moving in 2024 out of NJ then you will no longer be eligible for in-state tuition rates at TESU. Even with the in-state rates at TESU, UMPI will likely be more cost effective for the bachelor degree you're looking at. I'd recommend you apply to UMPI now, see where you land and you possibly could be done by year end (2023). List all your current (completed) courses, as others have mentioned, and we can help you fill in what you're missing (all that can be completed through Sophia - quick and cheaply)