Academic fresh start or no?

[rachel83az]

Assuming you don't already have an Associate degree, you could get the FREE one from Pierpont: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pierpont_C%26TC

What Sophia classes have you done so far? If you do the Google IT Professional Certificate + Intro to Web Development from Sophia, that's your 15 credits for the Information Systems Area of Emphasis. Then, to meet the Gen Ed requirements, you'd take: Visual Communication OR Communication at Work. You have science covered. You may have Social Science covered with Government & Philosophy. Take Intro to IT to meet Computer Literacy requirement. And that's it. You otherwise have the 60 credits needed to get the degree.

That way, if something happens tomorrow where you have to go back to work, at least you have an Associate degree!

Do not take English Comp II at Sophia. There are much better options (that depend on which school/degree you choose). Spend a day or two looking at the given options: WGU, TESU, Purdue Global, Peirce, Excelsior, NAU and see which one feels like the best fit for you. Once you've chosen a school and a degree, we can help you with a plan!

• Based on what you've already said, I would discard Purdue as an option. They are very writing heavy. 
  
• NAU probably won't accept most of your credits. You wouldn't be starting entirely from scratch, but it'd be close.
  
• WGU has few gen eds and NO electives, so you'd basically be starting over from scratch with the credits you have. But they are true competency-based, with most classes being passed with an exam of some kind or sometimes a project (I think). Not a lot of writing, so people are able to speed through the degree when they have enough time set aside to do so.
  
• We don't know a lot about Peirce, but they're kind of expensive (unless you get a full Pell Grant and/or qualify for one of their scholarships, then they're much less expensive). For Technology Management, it looks like they'd accept most of your credits as either gen eds or electives. They also seem much more open than the others to helping you plan your degree with alternate credits from places like SDC and Sophia.
  
• TESU will accept some of your credits, but Comp Sci has 30 credits of electives and a BSBA CIS only has 15 credits of electives. They can also cost about as much as Peirce, but it would be split into multiple payments and would be even less if you've got the Pell Grant. They're making changes on January 1st that will make their Comp Sci degrees more difficult to obtain with alternate credit. But it will still be possible to do so, if you plan ahead.
  
• EC should accept many of your credits, but not all of them. You can see the estimated cost breakdown I did earlier in this thread. If you choose EC, dfrecore should be able to help you make a plan for them.
  

There is also UMPI. Unfortunately, right now, they only have a Management Information Systems Business degree and not a true Comp Sci or IT degree as such. But they would probably be the cheapest option, even if most of your EMT/technical credits aren't accepted. They're also true competency-based, with classes being completed either with one project/paper or an exam.

Let us know what you decide, or if you have more questions to help you narrow things down even further.