Regionally accredited college accepting online credit transfer

[Merlin]

Either way, it still sounds like credit banking is the way the OP needs to go unless they intend to pursue a degree.

The way I see it, they've got two ways to go. One way is credit banking, paying the credit banking fee, then taking the TECEP as a non-matriculated student. The second is to apply as a degree-seeking student, paying the $75 application fee and for the cornerstone and taking the TECEP as a degree-seeking student (assuming they don't already have two bachelor's degrees). There is no need to actually finish a degree. I suspect the fees are going to come out very similar: https://www.tesu.edu/tuition/fees

One thing to note is that the Individual Learning Account seems to only entitle you to transcript services for a year. As a degree-seeking student, I would think you'd be able to get them indefinitely.

https://www.tesu.edu/academics/catalog/a...it-banking

I did some research and it appears that TESU keeps old transcripts in your permanent record indefinitely, which suggests that an official transcript requested at any point in the future SHOULD still show all transfer credits applied towards your last degree attempt, even if you don't graduate. I didn't confirm that with anyone at TESU, but it appears to be the case. If so, that's actually great news since some other schools expire incoming transfer credits after a long enough hiatus (usually a year of being inactive) and make you re-send all the transcripts again if you later re-apply for admission.

So in this case, it seems that either approach can work.

Given the above, applying as a degree-seeking student does seem like a good plan if the OP plans to take a TECEP anyway. If they don't intend to graduate, there is no reason to register for the cornerstone though, just register for the TECEP. As far as I know, TESU doesn't actually force you to register for the cornerstone, they just auto-add it to the course list when you register for a class. You can always drop it before you submit your classes and move on to payment.

At least that is how it worked for me when I first registered for a TECEP... OSS automatically added it but I just removed it and moved ahead. This was last spring though so things may have changed. I wasn't about to pay for the cornerstone since I was supposed to be under the SDC waiver. That is when I realized they hadn't added the flag to my account.