Question:
I have about 100 semester hours of traditional college. In my youth, I majored in education, and then needing a job in my sophomore year, I took a job as an entry level computer operator. So, nine years later, I'm a VMS/UNIX/NT systems admninistrator, and well established in my field- by-accident.
Along the way, I had a job at a major systems integrator. They had a tuition reimbursement program that I took part in, but it was up to the manager what degree program they were willing to pay for. I had one manager who would only pay for computer science or CIS, and so I had quite a few of those. My last manager would only pay for an engineering program, and so I picked up an Industrial Technology program that (somehow) made most of my prior credits work.
Due to shift work and family changes and numerous other stuff, I haven't been to school in a couple of years. Also, I no longer live in the area where I was enrolled in the IT program, so I can't re-enroll there. My current employer does not require a degree for the job I'm currently in, but to move into Software Engineeringthey require a BA or BS, at least.
My thinking at this point is to try to amass the credit I have earned into a workable degree package, like a general studies or something similar, from an RA school. Then, when I have that, enter a master's level MIS program. I would appreciate your candid feedback on my plan, as well as suggestions for various schools that would allow me to do it with minimal expense.
Any comments for me???
Answer:
It sounds like you're in a similar situation. In my case, it looked like it would take me a minimum of 2 years and $20,000 to get a BSCS degree through a college like NJIT (I would have to take more than 30 hours to obtain the degree). It will take me approximately 12 months (or less if I worked hard) and $3500 to receive a BSCIS from Regents/Excelsior.
Then if I want I can enroll in a Master's program in CS or Software Engineering. For example, the program I am aiming to get into post-bachelor's is Kansas State's software engineering program. If enrolled there, it looks like I could have a Master's in approximately 2 additional years at a cost of around $15,000.
So for me at least it looked like a choice of a BSCS in 2 years (of hard work) for $20,000 -or- a BSCIS and MSwEng in 3 years (2 hard years, 1 relatively easy) for $18,500. This is a no- brainer, especially considering the BSCIS has some value after the 1 year.
It sounds like you're thinking in the same way. Based on my research, a TESC or Regents/Excelsior degree should be fast and cheap for you. You may also have some 12 to 15 month adult degree completion BSCIS programs available that might cost a bit more but might work for you. One reason I ultimately decided to go the Regents route was the flexibility to take the specific classes I wanted to (dicrete math, data structures, etc) in order to maximize my chances of getting into a decent computer science graduate school.
