Looking for some advice before applying to TESC/TESU

[Archer]

I'd add that after your first job or so post-degree in your field the prestige almost never matters. The exceptions are on the extreme ends of the spectrum. An Ivy League education or well known top 10 program will always have weight. On the other end of the spectrum are the for-profit degree programs, especially if they only hold national accreditation. Even though their reputation is better and they hold regional accreditation now, there will always be people who look down on University of Phoenix, even if your degree is ten years old.

If you have the option, I'd always avoid a for-profit school. Your degree sticks with you forever, and an anonymous state college is much less likely to end up with any widely accepted change in reputation.

The anonymous factor is actually one of the reasons I went with Charter Oak State College over Thomas Edison and Excelsior. Even talking to co-workers, there were no opinions on Charter Oak, but there were opinions on Thomas Edison and Excelsior. One person went to Thomas Edison during their military service and had a positive view. The other finished her degree through Excelsior (when it was Regents College) and thought of it as "the place she finished her degree when she dropped out of UCLA". While unintentional, she will always have a bias linking Excelsior to her failure at UCLA.

I agree and given I'm out here in Oregon, nobody around here has even really heard of these east coast schools. Interesting about the "failure" at UCLA, not much reason for her to consider it a failure. I think most folks are switching to these for the flexibility, not the ease.

I cannot imagine calculus courses without professor office hours. I needed those.