Uber and ASU

[raycathode]

I reached the conditions necessary to get ASU online for free. So I applied. Not sure if I will actually bother with yet another degree but just wanted to test the process and see how credits transfer. The fee is waived for applications through their partners (such as Starbucks and Uber). I applied for the organizational leadership and Project Management major because I wanted to see how much of the major requirements would be met by my ORGL classes from ETAMU. 

What I found so far is all the gen eds are automatically marked complete if you already have a bachelors. I’ll update when they finish evaluating all my credits. 

[LevelUP]

I reached the conditions necessary to get ASU online for free. So I applied. Not sure if I will actually bother with yet another degree but just wanted to test the process and see how credits transfer. The fee is waived for applications through their partners (such as Starbucks and Uber). I applied for the organizational leadership and Project Management major because I wanted to see how much of the major requirements would be met by my ORGL classes from ETAMU. 

What I found so far is all the gen eds are automatically marked complete if you already have a bachelors. I’ll update when they finish evaluating all my credits. 

It will be interesting to see how this works out.

[dtoor14]

Did you end up getting accepted?

[natshar]

I am suprised you are able to do it. I know with Starbucks you can only particpate if you don't have a bachelors already. It's not good for a second one.

[bjcheung77]

Cool, keep us updated... tell us how you're doing, we would love to see what the outcome is...

[glancing7924]

I also met the requirements for this. The application fee was waived. I  just sent in my transcripts. I also sent in 100’s of Credly credits that I don’t expect for them to allow, but it doesn’t hurt to try. ?‍♂️

[raycathode]

ASU has something vaguely similar to Degreeworks called a DARS report. Most of their degrees require 45 upper level credits. A couple require fewer. My TAMUC ORGL classes show as upper level, but they don't check off ORGL class requirements in the report for an Organizational Leadership and Project Management program. 
They apparently do not transfer grad credits into undergrad programs. 
I met with an advisor who suggested that since I already have a degree and am not dead set on earning another, I could change to Liberal Studies and take a wide variety of fun classes. He listed off a number of them that sounded interesting. I may do that.

[bjcheung77]

Do they have an Applied Science degree instead of General or Liberal Studies? Hmm... Anyway, it's great to throw in all your general education and electives that haven't been applied into a previous degree or major. It'll be interesting to see what they have as concentration options or something like a minor.

[ReyMysterioso]

Do they have an Applied Science degree instead of General or Liberal Studies? Hmm... Anyway, it's great to throw in all your general education and electives that haven't been applied into a previous degree or major.  It'll be interesting to see what they have as concentration options or something like a minor.

They do have quite a number of concentrations under their Bachelor of Applied Science degrees. I tried running a report for BAS in Project Managment, Leadership, and Operations Management respectively, but it doesn't show my credits as being any closer to a degree in any of those than in the BS in Org. Leadership/Project Management major.
 
It's about the same requirements either way, just a very slightly different mix of classes.

I'll add that in general, pretty much all their bachelor's programs have more requirements for completion than most of the programs we're used to working with here on degreeforum. (i.e. higher upper level requirents - 45 vs. the more common 30. More than one math in some cases. Foreign language requirements in others. More overall credits within the major in most majors - 40+ vs the more common 30.) I think ASU is high quality, and cost-effective for those with relevant free tuition partner programs. But it is not fast, not easy, not flexible and likely not a good fit for those mid-career adults seeking a box-check degree for advancement. YMMV.

Any "free tuition" equivalent to a dolalr amount beyond $3000 in a year likely will be regarded by the IRS as a form of income upon which you may be likely to owe tax on. (Again, YMMV.) So that's something to be wary of before jumping in and taking 20 credits a semester and getting surprised with a big tax bill later.

I still think a third bachelor is not likely something I will complete. For now, I'll take two classes that could count toward the Project Management Essentials certificate in case I want to complete that next year and have something to hang on the wall throw in the fine print of my resume. As the semester goes on, I will see how I feel about it and re-evaluate.

[ReyMysterioso]

 (Disclaimer: I'm currently enrolled under Uber's free tuition program and am currently doing this at no cost so far.)

Interesting development. Previously ASU accepted TAMUC ORGL classes submitted via transcript only for generic elective upper level class transfer.

I was able to use the ASU Transferguide "app" (a webpage tool on their site) to upload syllabi from my TAMUC classes to petition for transfer. They accepted 6 of the 8 I submitted (with two still being evaluated) for 1:1 transfer credit for specific ASU Organizational Leadership classes that check off requirements in the ORGL major. (As opposed to generic elective credit that did not check off major requirements.)

This would make a transfer student much further along toward completing ASU's BA in Organizational Leadership (Project Management). 

Now you may ask "Rey, why would someone go through the trouble of doing all this transferring ETAMU credits toward a BA from ASU if they can complete the BAAS in Org. Leadership from TAMUC/ETAMU much faster and with less hassle?"

You know they most likely wouldn't do it as a second bachelor's. But a couple reasons someone might be interested in using an ETAMU CBE program as a credit-banking school to a big head start eventually transfer into ASU include:

1. Residing in the Tempe area where one could take part in on-campus activities and build their network.
2. Residing in a state where ASU has more regional brand value than Texas schools.
3. Preferring a BA degree over a BAAS. (Does it really make any job market difference? I doubt it, but the difference might be important to some.)
4. Having a degree in Org. Leadership AND Project Management making it possibly easier to get project managment jobs. (As an alternative, one could get the ETAMU BAAS and then get the PMP to potentially achieve the same career path.)
5. Family connections to ASU.
6. ASU being very military/veteran dedicated with far more resources dedicated to them than ETAMU. And I've noticed a lot of military/vets in my classes discussion boards, so if having that community that can relate to your experiences is important to you and can help you on your educational journey, it's certainly a factor that could be important to some.
7. Wanting to find a way to accelerate toward degree attainment - but do not want to use ACE/CLEP/etc.
8. Someone's real goal is a master's and they're interested in the accelerated bachelor's plus master's degrees at ASU in:
Liberal Studies, MLSt
Organizational Leadership, MS
Project Management, MPM
Public Administration, MPA
...and they just want to accelerate it even more.


Ultimately, I'm not campaigning for one school/program over another or recommending anyone else do what I'm doing. I'm just experimenting to see what's possible, exploring new pathways toward degree attainment and sharing with the forum in case there's someone whose situation, needs and desires are a perfect match for doing something like this. It's just one of many paths, and only you can decide what's best for your goals.