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+--- Thread: Thomas Edison or Charter Oak w/ ONLY Straighterline and FEMA Credits? Is it possible (/Thread-Thomas-Edison-or-Charter-Oak-w-ONLY-Straighterline-and-FEMA-Credits-Is-it-possible)
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Thomas Edison or Charter Oak w/ ONLY Straighterline and FEMA Credits? Is it possible - Doctor H - 01-21-2012
Hello,
I need some assistance. I'm in the process of taking credits through Straighterline and FEMA. So, far I have 33 combined Straighterline and FEMA credits.
When I reach 60 credits, which school would be more cost-efficient and easiest to apply and receive an Associates of (Liberal)Arts from? My intent is to save as much money as possible and get an Associates in the quickest fashion possible.
Also, can I register at either school with all of the required credits and graduate without taking any courses from the school? Meaning, can I apply with the 60 credits then pay the pertinent fees to graduate with an Associates in Arts?
Thank you in advance.
Thomas Edison or Charter Oak w/ ONLY Straighterline and FEMA Credits? Is it possible - dew125 - 01-21-2012
If you are looking for cheapest, Charter Oak will cost in the $1000 range, which includes the required 3cr cornerstone course. Thomas Edison will cost closer to $3000 because of a heafty enrollment fee, but the trade off is you wouldn't be required to take any courses. If you wanted to continue on to a bachelor degree the TESC enrollment fee is good for a year, so you'd be wise to maximize your cost and get both.
It really depends on your long term goals because there are definite pros and cons of both schools. I'd recommend looking through the course catalog in the associates degree area as well as searching the forum for specific questions. Good luck!
Thomas Edison or Charter Oak w/ ONLY Straighterline and FEMA Credits? Is it possible - sanantone - 01-22-2012
At TESC, you can get an Associate of Applied Science in Environmental, Safety, and Security Technologies with FEMA credits along with criminal justice, science, and computer-related credits. The AAS would be a little better than getting an associates in liberal arts or general studies. You might also be able to get an Associate of Science in Business Administration at TESC. Why do you want the associate's degree? At Charter Oak, you have to take the cornerstone course, but the degree would be cheaper than TESC's.
Thomas Edison or Charter Oak w/ ONLY Straighterline and FEMA Credits? Is it possible - ryoder - 01-22-2012
I always recommend the same thing so I am beginning to sound like a broken record, but please do the following.
Pay your 75 dollar fee to TESC, send in your transcripts, get an evaluation, and while you are waiting for it, get one on this forum for a BSBA, BA, BALS, or BSAST degree. Once you have access to the TESC site, you can see how far you are from completing a bachelors or associates in any category.
I recommend the bachelors over the associates because it will basically cost the same in fees but is worth much more on an interview. Many jobs require a bachelors degree and through testing out, it might be 4-6 months more work to complete.
We can help you get there quickly.
Thomas Edison or Charter Oak w/ ONLY Straighterline and FEMA Credits? Is it possible - Doctor H - 01-22-2012
Thanx for the speedy replies. My end goal is a Masters in Education. I found a program/university based out of the UK that doesnt require a Bachelors IF there's sufficient work experience in the educational field. I'm currently a TEFL teacher in Saudi Arabia and I have quite a few certifications for TEFL. An Associates of Arts along with my experience and certifications should be enough to get me into the program.
What does the Capstone at Charter Oak consist of?
Also, what are some of the pros and cons of both schools?
My overall goal is to maintain employment abroad as a TEFL instructor. As long as my degree is accredited and from a Western Country, ie America or England, I'll be able to secure the employment I desire abroad.
Thanx again for the help. :-)
Thomas Edison or Charter Oak w/ ONLY Straighterline and FEMA Credits? Is it possible - burbuja0512 - 01-22-2012
Doctor H Wrote:Thanx for the speedy replies. My end goal is a Masters in Education. I found a program/university based out of the UK that doesnt require a Bachelors IF there's sufficient work experience in the educational field. I'm currently a TEFL teacher in Saudi Arabia and I have quite a few certifications for TEFL. An Associates of Arts along with my experience and certifications should be enough to get me into the program.
What does the Capstone at Charter Oak consist of?
Also, what are some of the pros and cons of both schools?
My overall goal is to maintain employment abroad as a TEFL instructor. As long as my degree is accredited and from a Western Country, ie America or England, I'll be able to secure the employment I desire abroad.
Thanx again for the help. :-)
I would not recommend trying to skip a bachelors degree, even if you find a program that doesn't require it. You'll end up doing a lot of hard work and spending a ton of time and always feel like you're "hiding" something because you don't have a bachelors. Trust me on this one... I spent much of my adult life being very professionally accomplished without a BS... this is not a good feeling. It's SO much better just to have it so you don't have to worry when the topic comes up! Since you found out about the Big 3, unless you're horrible at testing, there really isn't any reason not to get your undergrad if you're planning on spending time studying anyway.
The Capstone at Charter Oak is a great class that will vary depending on your area of concentration. Mine was Strategic Management 499 and it was excellent preparation for the MBA program that I'm working on right now. I would have gotten off to a really rough start in the masters had I not gone through the Capstone. Not because the Capstone is the best class ever, but because I personally had only taken one other online class through a traditional school and the rest of my B&M credits were from the early 90's. It had been a while since I'd been in the classroom I really needed the Capstone to work out the challenges of online coursework and get myself back in the swing of things. CLEP/DSST will get you in the habit of studying, but does nothing to help you figure out classroom dynamics, especially if your future masters is online.
Other than that, there are pros and cons to each of the Big 3 and it's really a personal decision. There are several reasons I chose Charter Oak. First of all, when I heard about CLEP/DSST, I was TERRIFIED. I did my homework and knew that it was a legit degree, but testing out of so many topics really scared me. My younger brother is a COSC alum and went on to get his masters and has begun a PhD program. The familiarity of COSC and the offer of help from my brother was a major factor. The other main concern was that business degrees generally require a higher level of math than I am comfortable with. Yes I have learned as an adult that I am not bad at math like I had previously thought. However, I stopped taking the subject sophomore year in high school, so I didn't want to have to spend months and months to get to a level where I could comfortably pass pre-calc. COSC's "majors" are actually areas of concentration so the requirements are a little less stringent than a major. COSC's business concentration only requires College Math, which I felt was more manageable considering my rush to finish the BS.
Generally people here have many reasons for choosing a Big 3 school, but here are the recurring themes:
*TESC: Little bit more expensive, can test out of certain degrees ENTIRELY with no minimum class requirement - state college
*COSC: Cheapest of the Big 3 and allows payment plans, which makes the price even more digestible - does require 2 classes. Known for customer service - state college
*EC: Cheaper than TESC, but only requires 1 class. Strong reputation among military, private school.
Keep in mind that the above statements are GENERALIZATIONS. As Ryoder mentioned, you should really work on getting your evaluation done. Heck, if you've got a few extra bucks, pick two of the Big 3 and get evals done at each. You never know - maybe there would be a difference in the way they view your credits. If you have any "questionable" credits, this may make more sense. For example, I had a D in chemistry and it was accepted. No, I didn't want the D on my transcript, but I figured that as long as I could keep my overall GPA up over 3.0, I would be fine.
If you're looking for speed, I would imagine that the suggestion that Sanantone made regarding the AAS at TESC is the way to go. You can get your entire area of study through free FEMA courses and most people here can get through those really quickly. Yes you would have to pay the 3k tuition price, but I believe that once you get the AAS, if you hurry to get a bachelor's, you can use the same 3k tuition for both the AAS and the BA or BS. Again, I want to stress that you should NOT skip the bachelors. Getting the AAS would be a stop on your journey to the BA/BS that could help you reach your career goals sooner.
Please also check the links in my signature if you've got some time to kill and want to read a bit more about COSC
Thomas Edison or Charter Oak w/ ONLY Straighterline and FEMA Credits? Is it possible - ryoder - 01-22-2012
Ditto what she said. The bachelors degree will help prepare you for the masters degree anyway. There was a guy on this forum who skipped his bachelors degree and got a doctorate in chiropractic care. He is now trying to finish up his bachelors at TESC. Things have a way of catching up with you.
Most of the adults on this board quit college for one reason or another and then came back here to finish up. I guarantee you will not be sorry if you put the extra time into finishing the entire bachelors degree. Its honestly fun to CLEP out of tests.
Thomas Edison or Charter Oak w/ ONLY Straighterline and FEMA Credits? Is it possible - dcan - 01-23-2012
AAS is fine, but a question: What BS degree could he get with all those FEMA credits other than a homeland security type degree?
Thomas Edison or Charter Oak w/ ONLY Straighterline and FEMA Credits? Is it possible - sanantone - 01-23-2012
Most of the TESC degree programs require around 27 free electives, which can be completely filled with FEMAs.
Thomas Edison or Charter Oak w/ ONLY Straighterline and FEMA Credits? Is it possible - rebel100 - 01-23-2012
sanantone Wrote:Most of the TESC degree programs require around 27 free electives, which can be completely filled with FEMAs.
Should be ditto for COSC, they accept them directly now.