I know a lot of you have not had good success getting into the program, but I want to thank those of you that mentioned it when it opened the first time. Last week I completed everything and yesterday received the conferral letter and official transcript showing completion. I am in Texas which may be why I was able to get into the first group.
This has opened new doors for me at work allowed me to enter new programs along with receiving an extra stipend.
Thanks to some help here on the forums and the facebook group, it was discovered that the second CBE Masters degree at East Texas A&M was announced today.
Similar to the Master of Education, the MS in Public Safety has 2 concentrations: Disaster Preparedness Emphasis and Corporate Training and Development Emphasis. https://www.etamu.edu/programs/public-sa...xFX6TrqcFQ
Hopefully the MS in Organizational Leadership is announced soon.
Looks like we are getting close to being able to add ETAMU to the one stop shop list and even have its own forum.
Quote:The Game Design Certificate program prepares students to create engaging, inclusive, and original games by applying principles of storytelling, mechanics, and aesthetics. Students gain hands-on experience in prototyping, collaborative development, and professional presentation while building a strong portfolio for careers in the game industry.
The certificate consists of the six UoP courses
GS 1001 Game Design
GS 1101 Games and Society
GS 2001 Narrative and Storytelling in Games
GS 3000 Game Prototyping
GS 3100 Game Engines
GS 4000 Game Design Capstone (Portfolio)
The fees page of the catalog indicates a $60 certificate program application fee and a $320 per-course assessment fee, double the assessment fee of other UoP undergraduate courses. The total cost of application plus assessments is $1980.
The program is not yet listed on the university’s main website.
"The new accelerated degree type is a 90-hour academic program that combines a comprehensive general education core with a specialized curriculum developed by faculty and industry partners focused on high-demand career fields. .. The state’s first two AccB degree programs will be in Bioinformatics and Information Technology. The Bioinformatics program was developed in response to the growing demand for professionals who can analyze, manage, and interpret large-scale biological datasets. The Information Technology degree program will provide a streamlined, workforce-oriented pathway to an IT degree."
Long-time lurker, first post — hoping to tap into the collective wisdom here before I pull the trigger on this.
**My background**
I'm based in the UK, working full-time in IT with 25+ years of experience across cloud architecture, infrastructure, and security. I hold the Google Professional Cloud Architect, Google Professional DevOps Engineer, and Certified Kubernetes Administrator certifications. No formal bachelor's degree, which is starting to matter as I look at senior and leadership roles — and potentially a master's down the line.
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**What I'm targeting**
After a lot of research (including deep dives on this forum — thank you all), I've landed on the **TESU BS Cybersecurity** as my top candidate. My reasons:
- It's 100% online and accessible to international students
- TESU explicitly states that professional cybersecurity certifications can be evaluated for PLA credit — my GCP certs feel directly relevant to CYB-4500 and CYB-4510 - needs validation
- The maths requirement stops at College Algebra + Statistics (no calculus, no physics)
- The programming requirement is minimal — Computer Programming I and Database Programming, not algorithms or data structures
- The content (networking, firewalls, Linux, risk management, compliance, ethical hacking) maps well to my actual day-to-day experience
- Only a 15-credit residency requirement at TESU
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**My transfer credit plan (as I currently understand it)**
I'm planning to front-load as much as possible via Sophia and Study.com before enrolling:
*Sophia Learning (~30 credits):*
- English Composition I & II
- College Algebra
- Introduction to Statistics
- Introduction to Sociology, Introduction to Ethics, U.S. Government
- Microeconomics, U.S. History I & II, Criminology
- Introduction to Networking
- Introduction to Relational Databases
- Introduction to Python Programming (for Computer Programming I)
- Computer Applications
*Study.com (~18 credits):*
- Operating Systems
- Routing & Switching Fundamentals
- Linux Fundamentals
- Windows Server Configuration
- Wireless Networking
- Database Programming / SQL
*GCP Cert (PLA):*
- Hoping to get CYB-4500 (Cloud Computing) and/or CYB-4510 (Cloud Security and Privacy) evaluated for credit. Will contact TESU admissions before enrolling to understand the process.
That leaves me with roughly the 9 core CYB-prefix courses + capstone to complete at TESU — which I'm happy to do properly.
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**My questions for the community:**
1. **Has anyone done the TESU BS Cybersecurity from outside the US?** Any friction or specific gotchas for international students I should know about?
2. **Sophia to TESU transcript process** — I've read that Sophia must go via Credly (NOT Parchment) to TESU. Is this still accurate as of 2025/2026? Any recent experiences?
3. **Study.com to TESU** — I understand Study.com sends directly to TESU and the ACE transcript is NOT accepted. Can anyone confirm this is still the case?
4. **PLA for GCP certs at TESU** — Has anyone successfully had a vendor cloud certification evaluated for PLA credit at TESU (or another institution)? What did the submission look like? How long did the eval take?
5. **Sophia course order / sequencing** — Is there an optimal order to tackle the Sophia courses? I've heard some have Touchstones (written assignments) that introduce delays — should I pair a Touchstone course with a non-Touchstone one to keep moving?
6. **TECEP exams** — Are there any TECEP options for the ITS-level courses (operating systems, Linux, networking) that might be faster/cheaper than Study.com?
7. **Anything I've missed or gotten wrong in my plan?** Would really appreciate a sanity check from anyone who has done this degree or a similar TESU tech degree.
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**My constraints in a nutshell:**
- UK-based, working full-time
- Want to minimise cost and time
- Comfortable with cloud/security/networking content, not looking for a heavy maths or programming-intensive degree
- Experienced professional — need the credential, not an education in things I already know
- Happy to put in the effort on gen ed to save tuition money
Any advice, war stories, or tips from people who've been through this (especially internationally) would be hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance!
I'm borrowing the login my daughter was using when she was working on her degree plan. Here's my info:
Your Location: California
Your Age: 48
What kind of degree do you want?: Bachelor - not picky on the major
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 63
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: 34 (WGU - not sure if this fits in this category or not?)
Any certifications or military experience?: No
Budget: I don't want to throw money away, but this isn't a concern
Commitments: I work FT from home, homeschool my kids, and am pretty busy, in general
Dedicated time to study: not a ton
Timeline: 1 year - to graduate with my daughter
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: n/a
My daughter (senior) has been working through her degree plan and should be graduating next year. I'd love to join her and I think I only have a few classes left. Here's my plan, but I'm open to any advice because I'm not sure what level the WGU classes will transfer as? Any thoughts?
Guys, this is deciding whether I can continue with this BBA program this year.
I have my first bachelor's and master's degrees, and I've already transferred most of my courses through them. I'm currently studying the remaining professional courses and preparing to transfer. I was planning to pay for expedited courses, but I found out I also have to take SOS-1100 and Capstone. However, it seems my SOS-1100 is exempt. I don't know if this is true? If so, I only need to pay the Capstone credit fee, totaling $1800.
If not, I feel I need to pause this program because I can't currently afford this huge expense, and it doesn't seem worth it.
Could you check what "Waived" is shown on my program plan?
See the attachment showed:
Information Literacy (INSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENT) 3SH To meet this requirement, students MUST take SOS-1100 Fact, Fiction, or Fake? Information Literacy Today (formerly Critical Information Literacy) at Thomas Edison State University.Waived.
Just finished up my bachelors in December and planning on applying for OTS. Anyone got recommendations for studying the Airforce Officers Qualifying Test? Study.com has one, but thought I'd ask here before signing up.
Just recently quit my casino job, looking to go Active Duty officer route over AFR + Casino Job lol.
My spouse needs to decide on his degree path soon. I suggested he apply for the UMPI BABA based on the recommendations here and what he currently has. He wants to finish quickly, but would also like a more technical degree that is better aligned with his IT project management background (10+ years of experience). He's open to all platforms/methods for credits before transferring over.
Your Location: Texas Your Age: 45 What kind of degree do you want?: He wants a BS with an IT or PM focus, but he needs to finish quickly. Hoping for a balance of speed and relevance.
Current Regional Accredited Credits: Houston Community College GRADECOURSE A ENG 1301 (COMP I) C RELE 1301 (Principles of Real Estate) ARELE 1211 (Law of Contracts) ARELE 1307 (Real Estate Investments)
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: CLEP PASS Western Civilization II
Sophia.org GRADE COURSE A Art History I A Art History II A Developing Effective Teams A Environmental Science A Financial Accounting BIntroduction to Business B Introduction to Ethics A Introduction to Information Technology A Introduction to Nutrition A Introduction to Web Development B Macroeconomics B Microeconomics A US History I A Visual Communications BProject Management B Algebra I A Introduction to Sociology TBD Workplace Writing II (in process)
Any certifications or military experience?: PMP - Project Management Professional CSM - Certified Scrum Master CSPO - Certified Scrum Product Owner PCEP - Certified Entry-Level Python Programmer Introduction to FOCUS - FinOPS Foundation PRINCE2 Foundation ITIL Foundation
Budget: Trying to keep it under $6K to finish. Commitments: School is the primary commitment right now. Dedicated time to study: 50+ hours per week. Timeline: 6 months or less. Tuition assistance/reimbursement: None
