Help-Advice regarding COSC AS & BS General Studies vs. BA

[Kriccio]

I've been researching the different MOOC friendly colleges, and so far it seems that COSC will closest fit my needs.  I'll give you my quick background first, or skip to the next paragraph for the questions.  In a nutshell - after 25 years as an office/accounting/HR manager (and now CFO - more title than actual job, though) I want to fullfill my dream of teaching. The corporate world - especially accounting - is just sucking the life out of me.  I HATE it. And I have NO degree, so every time I have to find a new job in the same field I hit walls with how far I can go.  Soooo, despite starting our 5 years ago trying to get a degree in accounting through standard online colleges (my health, family and work obligations made that a disaster), then starting to take elementary education classes at WGU, I decided that the ONE part of the last 25 years that I loved was teaching new employees. Especially young office assistants just starting out, or older ones stuck in their positions how to progress. So that started a new direction - Teaching 7th-12 grade business classes.  Which I can do with just an associates degree (related to what you want to teach) and 2 years of experience.  SO the push on to get an associates. I have 32 credits that should transfer to any of the 3 colleges, but the disaster of failed courses (strictly due to missed deadlines) means I can't get Financial Aid now. Out of pocket means as cheap as possible - seems like COSC is going to be the way to go.  HOWEVER, they only have one associates in General Studies. Hoping that if the majority of the classes are business that will suffice. And I did look, seems there are enough business related options that are still Liberal Arts to qualify, although guessing that only about half of my current credits would qualify for the AS.  From there the remaining credits should work for the BS in General Studies, so I would continue with that and either the focus on HR or Organizational Leadership. Several questions though about all of this: 

1) Is the degree in General Studies really a good idea?  Has anyone done it, had good results with employers?
2) Am I correct in thinking COSC offers the least expensive route of the 3 schools?
3) What is the order to do this?  Take all the MOOCS/Tests, then register - or register first then take and transfer credits? 
4) If I register first, do I have to take COSC courses every term as well?  Or can I be registered, but not take their courses for several terms while I work on the MOOCS/Tests - only take their required credits at the end? 

And last.....
5) I saw that InstantCert now has it's own courses/testing, but I haven't seen them mentioned much on here.  Any experiences? How do they compare to Saylor, StraighterLine, etc...?


Although I would prefer to have the BS, I want to start with the AS as soon as possible.  There is a big push to hire CTE (business teachers) over the next year or two, want to get in early. The AS will get me in that door.  Any advise on any of the questions above is greatly appreciated!  Thank you!

Courses I have already taken and achieved C or higher: 

SUNY (4 credits each)
BME-212054-03 Introductory Accounting 1 (Financial)
BME-214754-05 Business Ethics
SMT-272354-05 Human Nutrition
HDV-282164-02 Intro to Psychology
EDU-233082-88 Educational Planning (2 credits)
EDU-233092-88 Planning and Finalizing the Degree (2 Credits)

CUNY (3 credits each)
ECO-201 Microeconomics
ENG-120 College Composition 1

SNHU (3 credits each)
OL-125 Human Relations in Admin
MKT-113 Introduction to Marketing

WGU (3 credits each)
EDUC-C272 Foundational Perspectives of Edu
ENG-C455 English Comp 1 (had to retake since prior English was for business, not Education)
HUMN-C100 Intro to Humanities
Math-C457 Foundations of College Mathematics (equivalent to College Algebra)
ENG-C456 English Comp 2
Math-C460 Math for Elementary Edu 1