Formulating my plan

[JobaJoba]

I live on the west coast as well, and I've never heard good or bad things about either WGU or TESU. I don't think people care. Most hiring managers will know the more local colleges nearby, and any "famous" schools (Stanford, Princeton, USC), plus the state school system (UC schools, CSU schools here in CA) and then after that, they know nothing. TESU is a public, state university - just like Jackson State University (Miss) or Athens State University (Alabama) or Montclair State University (NJ). Hiring managers in these states will be completely familiar with these schools, but no one else has ever heard of them. If anyone ever asked, someone who graduated from one of these schools would just say "it's a public university." There are almost 2,500 4-year colleges in the US, no one will have heard of most of them.

WGU may sound less gimmicky to you, but I think if you actually said the words, it sounds MORE gimmicky. Western Governors University or Thomas Edison State University? I think the word "state" in a school name makes it sound more credible.

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WGU does accept some alternative credit if you want to bring that in, but they don't accept everything that TESU will, so you want to make sure first. They for sure take CLEP, DSST, and are a partner school of Straighterline. They do have a list on their website, but it's not easy to find.

Also, WGU will only accept credit BEFORE you enroll. Once you enroll, you can no longer bring in any additional credits. So you want to apply, verify what they will bring in, take those courses that you want, transfer them in, and THEN enroll.

Fair enough. I brought TESU up to be parents and they were a little skeptical (my stepmom also went to WGU for her masters so that bias should be noted) of the name and such. I'm on hold with WGU at the moment asking if they take Study.com or Shmoop credits.