Your Location: NYC
Your Age: 28
What kind of degree do you want?: CS or Software Engineering
Current Regional Accredited Credits: Unsure. I had about 130 credits when I completed my BA.
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: 0
Any certifications or military experience?: CompTIA A+ and Net+
Budget: $150,000 (for BS + MS)
Commitments: Work > 45 hrs/week
Dedicated time to study: 15-20 hrs/week
Timeline: 5 years
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: 90%

Update: In addition to the basic template above... It may be a good idea to expand the information you provide us to include the following, this will provide some insight into your particular situation.  We can either recommend the alternative test-out options COSC, EC (soon to be EU), TESU or competency based education providers such as PUG, UMG (UMASS Global - formerly Brandman), UMPI, WGU or another institution.

Budget: I don't want to spend more than $15k of my own money, but I can be flexible. Work will pay 90% so my total budget for program costs is $150k
Commitments: I work full time, that's it. I spend time studying/learning regularly already. Not planning on getting into any other serious long term time commitments any time soon.
Dedicated time to study: I'm estimating 2 hours per week day and at least 4-6 on Sat/Sun.
Timeline: Not the most important factor to me. I just want to learn the material well. If I have a BS and MS within 5 years I'd be happy. Less would be nice but not necessary.
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: 90%.

ADDENDUM:

I have a non-CS/technical BA from Rutgers. However, my GPA sucked (2.5 I think)--I was having a very hard time in my life. Things are different now (I think I can succeed in an academic program), and I want to get at least a BS in CompSci. If possible and I find one that fits, I'd also like to progress to an MS program. Willing to start with an Associate Degree if it would be better. My bachelor's GPA is low enough that I pretty much feel like starting over with an AS is my best option.

My main struggle with this online degree idea is that a lot of people blast through Study.com courses and say the material isn't that great. While I program at work, I'm not a software engineer, so I can't claim experience has taught me things that some online courses may not. I'm willing to sacrifice speed and money for better courses. Any recommendations with that in mind? Or should I just accept the courses as they are and look to supplement with (even more) outside sources (e.g., teachyourselfcs.com)?

Thanks for any help, lmk if any more info would be good to include.

I made a rather unfortunate mistake of not withdrawing from a class on time.

It was a 1 credit physics lab for which i did not have the physics class done.  I had too many issues at home and work, and missed the date.  I had intended to do physics through study.com and did not start either the class or the lab.  This screws an otherwise 4.0 gpa.  

Has anyone had any luck asking for forgiveness on a late withdrawal and getting it removed.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Bradley University is launching an online BS in Civil Engineering and an online BS in Electrical Engineering in Fall 2025, both accredited by the ABET EAC. Tuition is 650 per semester hour plus 50 per semester hour for courses taught under the direction of the College of Engineering and Technology, with a 250 per semester technology fee. They do state "Bradley University's engineering programs enthusiastically welcome transfer students."

Your Location: CONUS
Your Age: 57 
What kind of degree do you want?:  Biostatistic Master
Current Regional Accredited Credits: N/A
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: N/A
Any certifications or military experience?: PhD Leadership, MS, DNP, MBA, MSIO 
Budget: ~$13000
Commitments:
Dedicated time to study: open
Timeline: 6- 9 months
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: Out of pocket

Average income after graduation looks like 33k as per google. Whereas Excelsior is 54k. I wonder why? I’m deciding where I’m going to go right now.

I need help designing a Bachelor's Degree plan for either a Construction Management or Civil Engineering BS degree. I have about 1.5 years of RA traditional college experience at Youngstown State University. I took a break from the traditional college student role and I have been working in the Construction field primarily as a carpenter. I would like to be a Construction Project Manager or Superintendent and eventually have my own company.  I tried to give the requested information in the template that I have other seen people post in other threads below. I have to work full time and do not want to take out any loans for my degree program so I am pretty price sensitive as I am paying for it (no tuition reimbursement). I would like to pursue a program that is online and has shorter courses than the traditional 15 week semester (like classes every 7-8 weeks or every month). Additionally, I would like to do a program that allows me to satisfy my general education classes quickly and cheaply like Study.com, Sophia, or Straighterline. It looks like the hard lab science classes are offered at either Sophia.org (Chemistry and Biology) and Physics with a Lab is offered at Luna Community College in New Mexico.

Since I am price sensitive, I am trying to keep my budget under $20k ($25k at most)

Location: Youngstown, OH
Age: 23
Desired degree: Potentially Associate in Construction Mgmt/ideally BS Construction Mgmt or Civil Engineering

Youngstown State University

ANTH 1500 Introduction to Anthropology 3 cr B
REL 2601 Introduction to World Religions 3 cr A
THTR 1500 History of Motion Pictures 3 cr B
ASTR 1504 Descriptive Astronomy 3 cr B
CHMST 1545 Communication Foundations 3 cr B
ENGL 1550 Writing 1 (same as Engl Composition) 3 cr A
PSYCH 1550 Psychology General 3 cr C
YSU 1500 Student Success Seminar 1 cr A
HIST 2605 US History 1 3 cr D (likely no transfer for traditional school as it is not C grade)
GEOG 2630 Weather 3 cr C


Total: 25 (without D grade in History)

I found the list (below) of online BS Construction Management programs that were somewhat lower priced. The issue is from a cost perspective, although the Gen Ed and LL and UL Business Management courses can be satisfied with Sophia and Study.com, the Construction/Engineering courses must be taken at the University I would attend and they account for about 30-50 credit hours so that the cost is significantly higher than say a BSBA at UMPI. The least expensive per credit hour price I was able to find for the Construction Management BS degree is Arkansas at $282 per credit hour.  According to the Arkansas State University website, they allow up to 90 credit hours, but, I do not see this school specifically listing acceptance of Sophia, Study.com, or Straighterline credits so I will need to contact them and the other schools listed below to see if they accept SDC and Sophia credits.

Another factor that I am trying to consider in addition to the lowest credit hour price is which school has generous policies on non-traditional credit (i.e. Sophia, Study.com) and which school will have a shorter term period (i.e. National) like 4-8 weeks so I can get the degree quicker.

Potential list of least expensive BS Construction Mgmt/Civil Engineering online degree programs 

Arkansas State University
Thomas Edison State University
National University
Louisiana State University
University of Southern Mississippi
Alfred State College of Technology (part of SUNY system) requires Associates, finish 60 credits at Alfred, would look at taking other courses cheaply from Sophia, SDC, or Pierpont nearly free Associates degree
Purdue Global (Certificate with Construction Mgmt can be paired with Proj. Mgmt major)
CSU Global (Certificate with Construction Mgmt can be paired with Proj. Mgmt major)
Liberty University (BS in Civil Engineering)
Indiana State University
University of Minnesota, Moorhead

Any additional suggestions on Constr. Mgmt or Civil Engin. BS programs are appreciated. I am also wondering if someone can recommend an Excel template to start building my Gen Ed classes, elective, and core major courses.

Thanks, 

ecebiz2001

Anyone else looking forward to the CS degree finally coming to UMPI later this year? I can't wait! Although it does look like it'll take around 3 terms - seems like a lot of courses will need to be done at UMPI itself. 

Does anyone know if the degree has exams or if it's writing papers like their BABA?

I am a mechanical engineer working in MN with a BS & MS in mechanical engineering. I currently work full-time at a local semiconductor fab 9-5 Monday-Friday. I am also 33 years old and married with a four-year-old son and 11-month old daughter.

I met a CPA at the 2024 Boglehead personal finance conference who recommended I consider becoming a certified financial planner (CFP) based on my personal hobby and interests in index funds, financial and estate planning. He runs his own assets under management (AUM) wealth management firm in Northern California.

A certified public accountant with three or more years of relevant work experience can follow an expedited track to become a CFP since most of the CFP educational requirements will be waived. 

How Does CFP® Certification Complement My CPA? | CFP Board

In my mentor's opinion, a CPA/CFP is a very strong combination for a financial planner who wants to do advanced tax planning by merit of their experience with doing tax forms for trusts, individuals and small businesses. CFPs are more limited in the amount of tax planning knowledge they have compared to CPAs, which is why he recommended I take the longer path of getting a CPA first, if I am willing to put the work into it.

My career path would be to get the educational requirements completed in order to sit for the CPA exam, pass the exam, get the required work experience in Minnesota so that I can become a CPA. Then I will work for a few years at either a dedicated tax firm or a financial planning firm that also files taxes on behalf of its clients. Then I might spend a few years at a financial planning firm before going out on my own and starting a solo tax filing, financial planning business.
Since I already have a bachelors and masters degree, Minnesota has a route for me to sit for the CPA exam without getting a business or accounting degree. I just need to get 24 accounting credits at an accredited college university that are at an "intermediate or advanced level, not introductory level". See MN Rules 1105.1500 option D

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/rules/1105.1500/

Minnesota Board of accountancy CPA exam requirements link: https://boa.state.mn.us/applicants.html#...ionsection

My CPA mentor's son who is currently working to obtain a CFP too said college level accounting coursework only importance is preparing you for the CPA exam. He recommends paying for a Becker CPA exam prep course, which is his preferred test prep company. Therefore they told me I should take accounting courses that help prepare me for the exam. Minnesota says my 24 accounting credits have to be in the four branches of accounting: financial accounting, managerial accounting, auditing, and tax accounting. It does not look like Minnesota cares whether my credits were earned from a college or university located in Minnesota. The only thing they care about is whether the college or university is accredited.

I tried calling the Minnesota Board of accountancy, but they told me that they don't advise anyone on what routes to take to fulfill the educational requirements. The recommendation was to talk to an academic advisor at the college or university where I plan to obtain my accounting credits. The problem is no school will let me sit with an academic advisor until I apply. There are many options for me to get accounting credits, so I would like everyone's opinion on this topic. I will email the MN board of accountancy once I have a proposed educational plan in place so that I can get their blessing in writing before I proceeded.

Questions:

1. What are the cheapest and fastest routes to get college level accounting credits completed? Thus far, I am considering going for an accounting certificate from TESU. The problem is, some of those courses are 1xxx level, which means they are probably introductory courses and won't help me satisfy the 24 credit accounting requirement. So I would like to skip out of those. I only found one CLEP exam in financial accounting. Sophia.org offers two past fail classes: one in financial accounting and another in managerial accounting. They do partner with TESU, but I will probably have to talk to the registrar's office at TESU to confirm that they will accept those sophia.org courses.
   
2. If I use a faster self study route such as sophia.org, will that provide me enough practice problems so that I can confidently move on to upper division accounting courses at TESU or another school such as WGU? I never took any business or accounting courses as an engineering student, so if I'm going to start from the beginning with accounting, I don't care which option I follow to get the credits completed as long as I am learning the requisite knowledge and getting more comfortable with the field of accounting as I get closer towards sitting for the CPA exam.
   
3. Looking at the TESU catalogue, it looks like I am allowed to take some of their upper division accounting courses as a self-pay option. From what I understand, this means there is no required homework, quizzes, or midterm exams. I am given Free non-graded chapter practic tests and can take each course is graded final exam when ready. Has anyone used that course option before? Does that course option even provide practice problems for me to study from?
   
4. From what I have read online, it looks like introductory accounting textbooks are updated by their publishers frequently because of changes made to US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), which makes introductory textbooks obsolete quickly and adds a lot of costs for students. Are there any good open access textbooks people can recommend and managerial and financial accounting for self study? If not, this suggests I should just bite the bullet and take formal online accounting classes from a school where the instructor has all the study materials laid out for me.
   
5. my fear with following a traditional path to completing 24 accounting credits is that I don't think I have the ability to take more than one traditional course per term since I have a full-time job and I married with two children. If there are self study options available for me, that might make it easier to squeeze in more than 3-4 credits per term. I'd love to get all 24 non-introductory accounting credits completed in one calendar year, but that may not be realistic for my situation, so guidance and Frank advice is welcome.
   

Hi,

Has any transferred the following certs to Pierpoint for credit?

I sent over my ACE Badges for certs for Google UX Design, Google Project Management, and Google Data Analytics.

However, they didn’t include any credits.


Any feedback appreciated.


Thanks!

Hello All!

As the title suggests, I am looking to attain my Bachelors as quickly as possible. Ideally, in a business capacity as it will help leverage me into more senior positions in my industry (defense contracting). I have my AA in general studies and various other Gen ed/elective credits via JST and SOPHIA.

Your Location: Florida, United States
What kind of degree do you want?: Bachelors of any kind, with preference for business/project management.
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: have Military Joint Service Transcript, have completed 33 credits via Sophia.Org that went into attaining my AA in General Studies from American Military University. 
Budget: I have GI Bill so money is less of a restriction, primarily looking for the fastest way to attain Bachelors.
Dedicated time to study: I work full time job but have very flexible hours with up to 3-4 days off every other week. Looking to invest as much time as feasible into school and degree completion (20 hours a week?)
Timeline: Need to complete the credits and attain degree as fast as possible.

Background: Have AA in General Studies from AMU. Have JST from military service. Have completed 33 credits via SOPHIA.org that a good portion went to completing AA. Desire Bachelors (preferably in business/management) as quickly as possible where GI bill can be used (virtually any accredited college.)

Requesting any and all help in achieving this goal! Thank you in advance!

Please let me know if there is any more amplifying information that would be useful!