Starting from scratch. Fastest path to Associates on the way to BS?

[nyjosh]

Your Location: Florida, United States
Your Age: 40's
What kind of degree do you want?: Open
Current Regional Accredited Credits: Zero

Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: Zero

Any certifications or military experience? I have about a dozen IT certifications ranging from Microsoft MCSE, to VMware to Citrix, to SAFe Agile. I also have some law enforcement certifications like Peace Officer training from a police academy.
Budget: Ideally under $10k but will consider spending more for easy and fast.  
Commitments: Spouse / two grade school kids and full time job. Study would be nights and weekends.
Dedicated time to study: I can study as much as is needed during the night or weekends as long as my schedule is free. I estimate at least 3 hours every week night and on the weekends, maybe 6 hours, total would be roughly 15+12=27 hours or slightly more.
Timeline: Finishing the courses required for the degree as fast as possible would be ideal

Hi all, I'm starting from scratch. I left high school with a GED in the mid 90's so I could focus on working full time. I have zero college credits from any source. I've been in IT for the last 20+ years and have gotten promoted up to senior leadership. I've honestly gotten farther up the ladder than I thought I could with just a GED.

Every time I start considering looking for a new job I get a huge pit in my stomach when I get to the education section of the application, fearing "Highest level achieved" being GED will instantly knock me out of consideration.

I've been blessed with making good money and smart about savings, so budget isn't much of an issue for me (but I don't throw money away either).

What I'd ideally like to do is fast track an Associates for the sole purpose of changing the "Highest Education Level Achieved" to Associates Degree instead of GED. I'd then like to continue on with a Bachelor's. This is all based on the assumption that I could get an Associates faster than a Bachelor's and then apply the credits earned to the Bachelor's.

I've gotten far enough along in my career that I truly don't think the AOS matters. If Liberal Arts / Studies is the fastest and easiest path, I'm fine with that. I do have an interest in something like Business Management, but it's not a hard requirement.

I'm good at memorizing / studying for and taking tests, so CLEP and related test out options would be ideal. I've also never done well with advanced math, so I'd like to minimize that or pursue options that can baby step me through it.

My primary driver is time, so I'm fine going with a more expensive but significantly faster route.

Lastly, I've been reading up and have mentally decided on TESU. I like their liberal credit transfer policies and I cosmetically like the name and location of the school. I used to live in the NY Metro area, so anyone that sees a New Jersey state school on my resume will just assume I went to a fairly local school.

So all that said, what would the fastest path to success be considering I want to test out and use alternatives to 12 week formal courses as much as possible (again - to save time)?

Are there any precanned roadmaps for speedy degrees starting from scratch?

Last question for now: are there any pros or cons to when I should apply and enroll? I'm assuming I should gather as many test out credits as possible before enrolling but that's just a guess.

Thanks so much in advance for any help you can offer!