Computer Degree Suggestions at any of the Big 3?

[JWells247]

Hi all, 
I am trying to help a co-worker of mine who is interested in computer engineering and/or computer science. She currently only has 7 credits. Are there any cheaper ways to pursue this course of degree? Any suggestions of Major's at any of the Big 3 schools? Any tests where she can test out? For those of you who have taken this track what was it like? 
Thanks 

[jsd]

Interested in, or has an actual background in. If she had the background, I would point towards WGU. If she's learning from scratch, the slower pace of TESU might be better. TESU is no longer the cheaper of the Big 3, and they've made a lot changes that make them a headache, but Excelsior and COSC don't have CS degrees (if I'm not mistaken).

[davewill]

Here's a link to my latest BACS plan for TESU. It uses mostly Study.com and doesn't include the GenEd portion. You can use the GenEd part from any of the TESU degree plans.

BACS plan

[bjcheung77]

Since she has only a handful of credits, I recommend her get the general education components done for a TESU/WGU degree with CLEP and ModernStates. For some courses that aren't offered, they would need to get them through Saylor, Sophia, StraighterLine and Study.com... I would highly recommend doing at least 90 credits through ACE before transferring to WGU.

In the case of TESU, get the free electives completed as well by getting them from doing the following ACE courses, FREE Ethics course, Sophia/TEEX and cheap NCCRS courses from Coopersmith, Davar, Onlinedegree.com - if they are swaying in the WGU end of things, then do more ACE courses and don't do any NCCRS courses as WGU only accepts ACE for transfer.

[JWells247]

Thank you all. I really appreciate it have sent her all this info. Happy Thanksgiving.

[natshar]

For WGU: it is cheaper, it could be faster, and depending on the degree you get certs. But keep in mind this would only be cheaper and faster if the person has the time/dedication/experience. Also they don't NCCRS credits. If you get financial aid and/or reimbursement WGU would be even cheaper. Good for cheaper, quicker degree dedicated student.

For TESU: There is a lot more room for free electives. Not as many computer classes as WGU. More money than WGU and even if you worked quickly still likley slower as well. However, the benefit is the person can go at slower pace if they desire. This is a good choice for someone who doesnt know a lot about computers or dosen't want to be pressured to finish their degree super quickly. A headache to work with things could change and also not as good for financial aid.

[bluebooger]

Here's a link to my latest BACS plan for TESU. It uses mostly Study.com and doesn't include the GenEd portion. You can use the GenEd part from any of the TESU degree plans.

BACS plan

your plan shows a cost of $9,297 
3 terms (18 months) at WGU would be $10,560 ----- $1,263 more
2 terms (12 months) at WGU would be $7,040 ----- $2,257 less

this is not including WGU application fee because they seem to have a sale at least once a month where they waive the application fee 

also does not include graduation fee because I don't know if they have one 

also doesn't include the cost of doing outside credits -- so if you do a bunch of study.com courses and then transfer them in to WGU I'm not sure if that saves any money since WGU still charges $3520 per 6 month term regardless of the number of courses you do there
(I think if you're positive you could complete your degree at WGU in 2 terms then you could transfer in 22 courses at study.com at a cost of $2,200 and then add 2 terms of tuition at WGU at a cost of $7,040 for a total of $9,240 and still come out slightly cheaper than TESU)

not saying anyone choice is better than the other -- just wondering if my math and assumptions are correct

[dfrecore]

Here's a link to my latest BACS plan for TESU. It uses mostly Study.com and doesn't include the GenEd portion. You can use the GenEd part from any of the TESU degree plans.

BACS plan

your plan shows a cost of $9,297 
3 terms (18 months) at WGU would be $10,560 ----- $1,263 more
2 terms (12 months) at WGU would be $7,040 ----- $2,257 less

this is not including WGU application fee because they seem to have a sale at least once a month where they waive the application fee 

also does not include graduation fee because I don't know if they have one 

also doesn't include the cost of doing outside credits -- so if you do a bunch of study.com courses and then transfer them in to WGU I'm not sure if that saves any money since WGU still charges $3520 per 6 month term regardless of the number of courses you do there
(I think if you're positive you could complete your degree at WGU in 2 terms then you could transfer in 22 courses at study.com at a cost of $2,200 and then add 2 terms of tuition at WGU at a cost of $7,040 for a total of $9,240 and still come out slightly cheaper than TESU)

not saying anyone choice is better than the other -- just wondering if my math and assumptions are correct

I would never tell someone to spend 3 terms at WGU, that's way too expensive.  I say if you can bring in credits and go quickly, then 1 term - 2 terms MAX, and even then, I'd probably suggest that you're not quite ready to do WGU, and you're going at a slower pace than WGU requires (if you want to go fast).  The best thing to do is spend 6 months trying to load up on credits.  If you can do at least 30cr-60cr in those 6 months (and hopefully more), then you're probably ok to switch to WGU at 60-90cr.  If you can't get 30cr done in that time period, then you probably can't get your WGU credits done in 1 term, so you're better off doing something else, or waiting.

[bluebooger]

> I would never tell someone to spend 3 terms at WGU, that's way too expensive.

isn't it just $1,263 more than the TESU plan --- I don't think its that much more expensive

> The best thing to do is spend 6 months trying to load up on credits. If you can do at least 30cr-60cr in those 6 months

if you did the "normal" study.com pace of 2 course per month that would be 12 course in 6 months (36 credits) at a total cost of $1,200

that would leave 84 "credits" left to do at WGU

and spread out over 2 terms that's just about 2 1/3 courses per month
which doesn't sound too difficult

if you did 2 terms at WGU that would be $7,040
so study.com + WGU = $8,240
still cheaper than TESU

> If you can't get 30cr done in that time period, then you probably can't get your WGU credits done in 1 term, so you're better off doing something else, or waiting.

what's the rush to do it in one term ?

[bjcheung77]

It's a coin toss depending on how easy and fast comp sci courses is for you to finish, having said that, as I mentioned above, I would just get all the courses that are transferable completed to both schools (most courses from ACE sources are transferable to both, if not all the courses), when you have about or close to the threshold of 90 credits transferable, decide on which would be cheaper/easier/faster to finish - flip the coin if it's that hard to decide from TESU to WGU.

My recommendation though is to finish the degree from TESU as it's a B&M State university vs WGU which is exclusively online even though they have several campuses in a few states... the only time I suggest just WGU is if it's a "one and done school" for you (ie, BSIT/MSIT or BSBA/MBA, etc). In fact, I usually recommend doing the Big 3 for undergrad and WGU or similar competency based degree providers for grad school, as each of these competency degrees are by terms - it all boils down to - the faster you finish, the cheaper...