It's the time for graduation ceremonies again. I remember my own graduation with joy. It was a very small group. Only three undergraduate degrees were awarded. It's worth noting that AMU was established with the goal of providing an opportunity for commissioned officers to further develop Professional Military Education (PME). That is the reason so many master degrees were awarded.

For a fun comparison, I listed the numbers for my own graduating class and those of the most recent. Our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was awarded his AMU MA just a few years after I  was awarded my own. AMU BA.

I delight in the success and growth of American Military University / American Public University.


June23, 2002 - 
American Military University held its commencement ceremony today, at the Army and Navy Club in Washington, DC. I was one of one of seventeen graduates in attendance. Fourteen Master of Arts in Military Studies, two Bachelor of Arts, and one Associate of Arts degrees were conferred.

https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?threads/graduation-ceremony.4397/#post-39559


May6, 2025 -


The Class of 2025 – one of the largest graduating classes ever – includes 11 doctoral degree recipients, over 4,600 master's degree recipients, 9,600 bachelor's degree recipients, and 3,900 associate degree recipients. Some exciting facts about the 29th annual commencement:

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/apus-to-celebrate-over-18-000-graduates-at-one-of-its-largest-ever-commencements-on-may-9-10--302447251.html

ACE recommended for 3 upper-level credits starting May 1 this year.

Business Data Analytics on Sophia.org

Business Data Analytics (ACE National Guide)

Hi everyone,

I transferred some foreign credits to TESU. As a result, certain previously allocated credits — such as some ACE credits no longer needed and some foreign credits — were "pushed outside the regular program," since I’d already met those requirements with other RA credits. At the bottom of the "My Progress" page, beneath the electives 30 (SH) credit section, I now see a new "Other Courses" section listing all of these de facto "no longer needed" credits.

My question:
Do these surplus credits still appear on my Transcript of Records? I don’t mind if they do—in fact, I find it helpful to show that I’ve completed more college-level work than what is strictly required for my degree. Does anyone know?

BTW: If they do appear, could this approach work as a type of "credit banking"?

Well, what do you know?!  I just applied to their BS Health Sciences degree program as they're now RA and it's one of the programs that can't be had for this cheap, easy, fast elsewhere.  Even though they've got a funky 'degree mill' sounding institution name and need some work on the teaching back end (along with their leadership or management), it's a good deal if you can get it!  The other degree I'm interested in is the MEd Advanced Teaching (IB), I'll do that afterwards... I believe the next term starts June 19th, I hope to get accepted sooner rather than later...

For the most part, almost all associates degrees are 60 or more credits, and comprises of general education and electives.  There are some degrees with an emphasis, focus, minor, etc, it's just a different name for a similar structure of 15-18 credits or so.

With alternative credit, the max most institutions allow for transfer is 75% of the associates degree, which is 45 credits out of the 60.  For those using the associates to ladder into a bachelors, you can max out that 75% as well, which is 90 credits out of the 120.

My suggestion nowadays have been to maximize the use of ACE and alternative credit options, up to 90 or even more if you're going for Coursera certs that grant college credit through ACE recommendations.  This adds to the trifecta of certs, degree, experience...

Going above the 45 for the associates and getting 90+ will hit all the general education and elective requirements for the bachelors, you'll only be left with the residency requirements for the major, usually 30 credits, unless it's in a very unique major.

When I started several years ago, I went with StraighterLine to get a feel of online education, I took 34+ courses with them over a span of 3 months subscription, I also had to pay for each individual class I wanted which cost between $49-$69 each back then.

You now have better options that are cheaper, easier, faster, here's an example:  Study.com recently came out with a new pricing plan, their College Starter which is $95/month, 2 at a time, unlimited classes a month (currently 67 classes to select from).

You can use these classes offered by Study.com towards the 90+ credits, hitting all the general education and electives for a degree from one of our recommended institutions, you'll still need to complete the requirements from those institutions to finish.

TLDR: For your associates, complete more credits to hit future requirements for a bachelors of your choice, affordably using alternative credit such as Study.com, up to 90 credits for use towards recommended institutions within the board.

Your Location: Utah, USA
Your Age: 36
What kind of degree do you want?: Project Management/Info Tec
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 0
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: 0
Any certifications or military experience?: 0
Budget: $5000
Commitments: Work
Dedicated time to study: 15 hours a weeks
Timeline: 4 Years


I have a weird living situation however, I live in Section 42 housing and cannot be a full time student for more than 5 months out of the year. My hope is to do as much of my degree as possible with Sophia/Study.com and then do UMPI within the constraints of having to maintain part-time, less than full time for that 5 months. The only degree path that I think I could pull this off is UMPI's BLS with a Minor in Project Management and/or MIS.

I have a Pell Grant available for the 2026 school year that I would like to use up. I figure I could do two 8 week terms and come under the 5 months full time student limit. If I can pull off 15 credits during those terms I could use Sophia/Study/Saylor to get an Associates degree. What UMPI courses would be the fasteset to knock out to reach that 15 credit residency requirement?

If at all possible, a BABA in MIS/Project Management would be preferred, but it seems like this option is limited.

I'm thinking of doing the IBM Coursera Software Engineering/Devops + IBM Product Manager for electives, but if I can get as many UL from Coursera courses that would be ideal.

As posted in the other thread, once my tutition reimbursement kicks in I'm considering a Construction Technology/Management degree from an NA as I work in the construction software industry, but after some introspection it may be better to focus my efforts strictly towards the BLS. My career goals are Product Manager/Owner and they generally favor degrees.

Hi everyone, I have been thinking about getting my BLS degree for a while but I'm pretty confused regarding the possibilities. I was checking some posts in here and saw that someone was talking about getting biology and mathematics minors and that would make my decision really easy. Is this possible? How can I approach it? Sorry if this is too broad to answer, feel free to tell me to contact the university directly if that's the best way to go!

Sadly, I have been forced to report this course to the HLC and ACE, due to my personal/professional ethics:

re: "Prof, are you even in control of what is happening in the course you oversee?", as I discovered some young woman, a student IT support agent, IN FULL CONTROL OF MY FINAL GRADES, just able to edit them on the fly!

Then she entered my grades, missed entering entering the final grade (for ALL of the COURSERA section, including overall final combined grade) AND FINALIZED MY COURSE... I passed, but she TANKED my GPA (took me from 98%+ to 88%!!)
The prof took days to even notice, and only after I contacted "The Dean of Students" office.

How can the Prof have replied to my emails, graded my paper, had an in scribe chat with me about the paper... but is not aware of issue or noticing .... WHO IS GRADING THE COURSE AND CORROSPONDING?

Worse online learning experience I have EVER had (and I have had about 3, "really bad ones", including this)

Hello I’m new here.

I work as a security guard and most days I work 12 hour shifts. The site I work at I really do next to nothing so I can dedicate a lot of time everyday to school work.

I am in my 40’s and I completed some basic college courses back in a junior college but that was about 20 years ago.

My goal is to get a degree as fast as possible and get out of doing security. I really dislike writing assignments and would much rather do quizzes and exams. I know I probably can’t avoid writing assignments completely but I want to go where there is the least amount required.

I heard WGU is a good option for that and in particular the BS in IT Management is a quick path to a degree. I want to CLEP out of as much as I can using Modern States. Then I plan to use Sophia & Study to complete the remainder of the transferable courses.

How do I find out which CLEP exams I can take to cover the requirements for WGU BSITM? I work 7 days a week and most days are 12 hour shifts. I have to do most things on my phone, but trying to match what Clep, Sophia, Study classes match up with WGU is new to me and I am getting confused.

Today is May 14th 2025 and I plan to use the rest of May to get my game plan together. Then June 1st I would like to start. I would like to finish all transferable credits before the end of November so that I can submit everything to WGU. To my understanding WGU needs 1 month to process all transcripts and then I can start my Degree Program January 2026 and hopefully finish in 1 term.

I was hoping I could get some feedback and advice on how to find the transferable courses, what you think about my timeline, and if WGU is the right choice for me as a person who wants to minimize writing assignments. Also since I have to do everything from my phone which do you think is better Sophia.org, Study.com, StraighterLine, or are they all ok using a iPhone?

Here's a read from the sister board, it's my post update I just did a few minutes ago: https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?thr...ost-609577