COSC Degree Plans

COSC Degree Plans Overview
WARNING: Please ensure these requirements are still relevant to the updated catalog you are using.

The following degree plans are provided as an example of how to complete a Charter Oak State College (COSC) degree with a primary emphasis on testing out. Be sure to read the Charter Oak Degree Structure Guide for more information on establishing a Charter Oak degree plan for yourself and that you read this page carefully from beginning to end.

If you're looking to do a B.S. in Business Administration, students find that the COSC B.S. in Business Administration can be easily tested out on 95% (114/120 credits) of the program, hence much of this page discusses strategies and courses for fulfilling this degree as easily and cheaply as possible. The B.S. in Business Administration degree plan below was developed primarily for convenience and ease as a priority (how easily you can obtain credits with the least amount of stress, time, and energy put in) while being mindful of cost. If starting from scratch, it could/should cost around $5,300 to complete (if you are unable to spend ~$5,200 refer to this page for ways to pay for your degree).

Keep in mind that many of the courses listed below will fulfill other majors/concentrations through COSC as well.

Exam Master List
This is Charter Oak's Master Credit Exam List: http://www.charteroak.edu/current/academics/earningcredits/exam/exams-master-list.pdf. This provides a list of credit exams that satisfy different requirements and is handy to have while designing your own degree program.

Advantages of COSC
Compared to Thomas Edison State University, and Excelsior College, Charter Oak's main advantages are:
 * 1) Charter Oak's B.S. in Business Administration degree has the least number of major-related requirement degree to complete.
 * 2) Considerably cheaper than Excelsior, and comparable to TESU's cost.
 * 3) They are the only school to easily accept FEMA credits (which are free, quick, and easy credits that count as "free electives" - filler credits that help you get closer to 120 credits but don't fulfill any specific degree requirements). TESU no longer accepts them, and Excelsior will charge a hefty price to bring FEMAs in.
 * 4) They have a Master Exam Table on their website that clearly tells you how many exams will satisfy any Gen. Ed requirements and whether or not the exam counts for upper level credit which makes it easier in planning a degree (though this is similar to TESU's CLEP equivalency chart and DSST equivalency chart)
 * 5) COSC is known for having excellent customer service as does Excelsior College but TESU is known for having average and/or subpar customer service.

Costs for Sample B.S. in Business Administration (Includes Fees) – 2015*
''*Note: These are just approximate costs following a degree program that uses cost-effective resources for credit. This excludes the cost of any official practice exams (around $200), 6 month InstantCert.com membership ($105), and extra cost of any Penn Foster courses you wish to substitute. Also below, user KittenMittens describes her costs for her degree plan which is a little more expensive but avoids the DSST in Finance (hard), DSST in Money (hard) in favor of the Penn Foster Financial Management (easy) and Penn Foster Employee Benefits (easy) courses. Your costs will vary depending on what exams/courses you choose based on price and convenience. ''

Please ensure these requirements are still relevant to the updated catalog you are using

2 COSC Required Courses (6 Credits)
Cornerstone Course – $1333

Capstone Course: Strategic Management Capstone – $1333 (Upper Level) 

Subtotal: $2,666.00

Core General Education Requirements (40 Credits)

 * CLEP College Comp (6 Credits) – $100
 * CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature (6 Credits) – $100
 * DSST Intro to World Religions – $100 (satisfies both Global Understanding and Non-US History requirement)
 * DSST Public Speaking – $100 (can be waived if you submit a petition demonstrating you have public speaking experience/evidence – explained below)
 * DSST Civil War & Reconstruction – $100 (Upper Level)
 * Saylor Chemistry – $25
 * Saylor Biology – $25
 * Straighterline Biology Lab (1 credit) – $100
 * Straighterline Macroeconomics – $50 (part of B.S. in BA degree)
 * Straighterline Microeconomics – $50 (part of B.S. in BA degree)
 * ALEKS Business Statistics – $20 (part of B.S. in BA degree and fulfills Math requirement)
 * DSST Business Ethics & Society – $100 (part of B.S. in BA degree & fulfills both Ethics Requirement and Upper Level Business Credits)


 * SUBTOTAL: $870.00 (cheaper than TESC's Cumulative Gen. Ed. requirements by like $55 or so)

B.S. in Business Administration Requirements (33 Credits)

 * Saylor Principles of Management – $25
 * Saylor Principles of Marketing – $25
 * Saylor Business Law and Ethics – $25
 * CLEP Financial Accounting – $100
 * Straighterline Managerial Accounting – $50 (use a coupon to save $50)
 * DSST Principles of Finance – $100 (but this is a hard exam, so I’d find an easier substitute like Penn Foster Financial Management)
 * CLEP Information Systems & Applications – $100
 * DSST Money & Banking $100 – Upper Level (but this is a hard exam, so I’d find an easier substitute like Penn Foster Employee Benefits)
 * UExcel Organization Behavior – $145 (Upper Level)
 * UExcel Labor Relations – $145 (Upper Level)
 * UExcel Human Resource Management – $145 (Upper Level)


 * Subtotal: $960.00

Miscellaneous Upper Level Exams (9 Credits)

 * DSST Substance Abuse – $100
 * UExcel Psychology of Adulthood & Aging – $145
 * UExcel Social Psychology – $145
 * Subtotal: $390.00

Miscellaneous FEMA & TEEX Credits (32 Credits)

 * Any 1 credit FEMA "courses" – $0 (can be completed pretty easily and rapidly in a few hours)
 * Any 1-2 credit TEEX "courses" – $0 ((can be completed pretty easily and rapidly in a few hours)
 * Miscellaneous Fees
 * Application Fee – $75
 * ALEKS Fee – $20
 * ACE Fee – $40
 * Graduation Fee – $205.00
 * Subtotal: $340.00

 TOTAL: $5,225.00 

Cost of KittenMittens' B.S. in Business Administration Degree* (Current as of 2015).
*All calculations assume you are out of state/not a resident of Connecticut

WARNING: Please ensure these requirements are still relevant to the updated catalog you are using

It's hard to say what the exact cost of this program is – a lot will depend on how many credits you already have beforehand, how many FEMA credits/TEEX/etc. credits you want to get for free, whether or not you have an employer that will reimburse you (I personally did), etc.

Note: I had 60 credits coming into the program (I already satisfied a bunch of gen. ed/liberal arts requirements decades ago), but through testing out & separate coursework, I will have completed 36 credits through exams (12 exams, 9 of which counted as upper level) + 9 credits through ALEKS + 9 credits through Penn Foster + 6 credits from Charter Oak's cornerstone and capstone courses + some other free/cheap electives which was a total of about 69 credits  over the span of 6-8 months . If for some reason you don't have enough credits, then you should look into FEMA or TEEX credits which are free, quick, and easy to get.
 * 1) COSC Application Fee – $75 
 * 2) Charter Oak State College's Two Required Courses ($1,333/course X 2, includes tech fees, student activity fees, etc.)  – $2,666
 * 3) 12 exams equivalent to 36 credits (1 CLEP –  $80 + $25 test admin. fees = $105 + 5 DSSTs – $400 + $80 test admin fees = $480 + 6 UExcels – $570 + $300 test admin. fees = $870) – $1,455
 * 4) 2 Penn Foster Courses (6 credits) ($237/course X 3 = $711, I took Penn Foster Financial Management, Penn Foster Employee Benefits, and Microeconomics)   $474
 * 5) 2 Straighterline Courses (6 credits) ($50/course * 2 = $100, took US Government, and Microeconomics) – $100
 * 6) 9 credits through ALEKS  (ALEKS  Fee = $20 for one month of service, it'll cost you $20 for each month of service, and I passed the exams in a day) –  $20
 * 7) ACE Transcript Fee (used to get my Penn Foster and ALEKS coursework that was on ACE sent to Charter Oak) – $40
 * 8) 6 Month InstantCert Membership – $105
 * 9) 1 Official CLEP Practice Test ($10) + 6 Official DSST Practice Tests ($5/exam X 6 = $30) + 6 Official UExcel Practice Tests ($25/exam X 6 = $150) – $190
 * 10) Random/Miscellaneous Fees ($60 to send previous transcripts to COSC + $0 for Cornerstone e-book (find it for free online) + $50 for BUS 499 Textbook International Edition) – $110
 * 11) $205 – COSC Graduation Fee

 TOTAL OF 1–10  = $75 + 2,666 + $1,455 + $474 + $100 + $20 + $40 + $105 + $190 + $110 + $205 =  $5,440* 

* Note: My employer, which was through the state, ended up paying for two courses, and for ALL my examinations + test administration fees, so my cost became $5,440 – $1,455 (Total Exam Fees) – $1,560 (Employer Tuition Reimbursements) = $2,425.00.

Please keep in mind that your cost can be cheaper or more expensive depending on how many extra courses you take like through sources like Penn Foster or StraighterLine. I think it is an absolute necessity to get practice exams* for anything and everything (DSST, CLEP, UExcel) and the InstantCert.com subscription for the flash cards and the forum student feedback.

''*Note: Be sure to also find the free samples questions for DSST, CLEP, and UExcel for extra practice questions. For instance, UExcel has official sample questions on their website. Just Google them.''

B.S. in Business Administration Degree Advice
The following degree plan was created and completed by DegreeForum.net user burbuja0512 and updated by user KittenMittens in April 2015. It is derived and successfully used from: http://www.charteroak.edu/prospective/programs/concentrations/business.cfm. This plan covers only the business major; the general education requirements are addressed via separate plan below.

GPA
Keep all these following things in mind when trying to figure out your GPA:
 * UExcel exams are given a score of A, B, or C on your transcript for calculating GPA. Your transcript will show the letter grade you received on these exams, but won't be factored into Charter Oak's GPA on the transcript which comes exclusively from Charter Oak courses. In my case, since I transferred everything, the only courses that showed a GPA were Charter Oak's two required courses: IDS 101 Cornerstone Seminar and BUS 499 Capstone course. CLEP and DSST exams are not graded & they're only pass/fail. The only exception to this is older DSST exams that are on the 20 – 80 grading scale (with 50 as a C), but these have been phased out. You know a DSST exam is pass/fail (no grade allocated to it) when it uses the 500 grading scale (400 minimum to pass out of 500).

''*TECEP exams (through Thomas Edison State University) are not part of KittenMittens' degree plan due to the lack of InstantCert flash cards and information about these exams. They are typically more involved with some having writing and short answer questions, tedious reading of textbooks, and possibly "harder" than any of the other mentioned exams. That said, if you find that you are interested in taking a TECEP exam, and it fits any requirements, then that's fine too.''
 * Coursework from other colleges that are graded A, B, C will become a part of the Charter Oak State College's transcript (i.e. if you take Penn Foster's Financial Management and you get an "A", then Charter Oak will record that on your Charter Oak transcript as an "A" but it won't be part of GPA calculations for overall GPA). If you have any coursework that you do not want to bring into the college, you can have Charter Oak remove them individually for the transcript, but you have only up to a month after matriculation to do so before it is finalized. This may be useful for you if you want to keep your GPA as high as possible on the COSC transcript which may be important for graduate admissions. Keep in mind that some graduate programs have a GPA cut off of at least 3.00, competitive programs probably > 3.6–3.7 GPA, and may factor in GPA from UExcel, DSST, or CLEP if it's their school policy (likely just UExcels though). In general, it is advised to do as well as possible on each exam just for the sake of keeping doors open in the future, but that is up to your own discretion. One thing to keep in mind is that if your goal is to pass as many upper level credits and credits in general using pass/fail exams like CLEP, DSST or TECEPs, graduate programs may frown upon an absence of letter graded college work as they typically want to see some type of GPA particularly in upper level coursework. UExcels are graded which is one nice thing so long as you do well on them (which can be pretty easy if taking UExcel exams that are covered by InstantCert.com). *** See: http://www.charteroak.edu/catalog/current/academic_policies_regulations/academic_forgiveness_policy.cfm

Confirm Before Attempting
Always confirm with Charter Oak's registrar before taking any coursework through another college and always refer to the latest Master Exam Table from the COSC website. And be sure to get anything the registrar & admissions say in writing in case any issues arise (i.e. whether a course will count/meet a certain requirement). COSC has been known to occasionally be incorrect & backtrack on things, and if you can have a paper record through e-mail it will help should any issues arise (unlikely, but you never know).

Upper Level Credits
A minimum of 48 credits is required to complete the B.S. degree in Business Administration. At least 15 credits must be at the upper level (12 UL credits in business electives + 3 cr. exam UExcel Organizational Behavior + COSC BUS 499 Capstone Course = 18 credits which satisfies the 15 credit requirement in upper level business credits). Grades of less than "C" are not accepted as part of the concentration.

You need at least 30 upper level credits to graduate.

18 upper level credits = UExcel Human Resource Management (3 cr.) + UExcel Organizational Behavior (3 cr.) + UExcel Labor Relations (3 cr.) + Penn Foster Employee Benefits (3 cr.) + DSST Business Ethics (3 cr.) + Required COSC course: Capstone Seminar: BUS 499 – Strategic Management (3 cr.)

Then, you will need to fulfill the remaining 12 upper level credits (30 credits - 18 credits UL credits = 12 credits remaining). 12 upper level credits is equivalent to 4 exams in any subject exam. You may wish to take UL exams that fulfill other degree requirements like general eds./liberal arts requirements.

Here are some examples of miscellaneous upper level exams that are worth looking into. These have high pass rates (>90%), considered relatively easy to prepare (I was able to prepare for each, having no background knowledge with about 5 - 25 hours of preparation the week before the exams), have official practice tests, and flash cards from InstantCert.com. Remember to read the InstantCert.com exam forum posts as well (from InstantCert.com), doing the InstantCert.com flash cards, reading Free-Clep-Prep.com as well as purchasing/obtaining any practice tests, and also doing the official sample questions that are available for each exam in order to maximize your chances for passing and scoring well:
 * 1) DSST Substance Abuse (this one is very easy. See Free-Clep-Prep.com's input on this exam. )
 * 2) DSST Civil War & Reconstruction (counts as an Upper Level course, and also the US History requirement for COSC. Straightforward exam, but kind of tedious to prepare for since there's so much to cover if you don't like history. See Free-Clep-Prep.com's input on this exam)
 * 3) DSST Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union (counts as Upper Level, and also both the "Global Understanding" and "Non-U.S. History/Culture requirements. See Free-Clep-Prep.com's input on this exam)
 * 4) UExcel Psychology of Adulthood and Aging (this is known for being very straightforward typical advice is to read the flash cards, read the forum advice, and do the 2 official practice exams)
 * 5) UExcel Social Psychology (a little harder than the Psychology of Adulthood and Aging, but the Psychology of Adulthood and Aging Exam tends to prepare one well for this one. Same advice as the previous one)
 * 6) UExcel Ethics – Theory & Practice (it's 3x as expensive but I took it since I was able to get this to transfer as a separate ethics course in addition to the DSST Business Ethics exam, but confirm this with the registrar in case anything changes)
 * 7) ECE Abnormal Psychology (it's 3x as expensive as the previous psych exams mentioned but pretty straightforward. See Free-Clep-Prep.com's input on this exam)
 * 8) ECE Foundations of Gerontology (it's 3x as expensive as the previous psych exams mentioned, but also known for being fairly straightforward)

Additional Advice
This template also provides some of the easiest and most straightforward exam & course options available in order to get the minimum 12 UL business electives. If you don't want to take the Penn Foster Employee Benefits (counts as an UL course) or Penn Foster Financial Management course (this one is LL, and so is the DSST in Finance but said to be very difficult/hard) which can take only a few hours each to complete, then you can do an exam instead, but many of the remaining UL business exams that are left can be much harder or a pain to do (in particular the TECEP exams like "TECEP Federal Income Taxation" where some students recommend reading a 300 page IRS book or "TECEP Security Analysis and Portfolio Management" or even some UExcel exams like "UExcel Quantitative Analysis" which can't be really studied for in a few days).

If you're a good test taker, then you can do that – and you can look for these other upper level business electives from the Charter Oak Master Exam List. The benefit with the Penn Foster courses is that they are known for being really, really easy, and in the case of Penn Foster's Financial Management, there is no proctor for the final. For a list of courses that Penn Foster offers click here. For Penn Foster Employee Benefits, there is a proctor requirement for the final, but it can be anyone like a friend, co-worker, colleague, etc. who can proctor you which is nicer than having some ProctorU stranger from the internet watch your every eye, hand, and body movement. Also, for each course, you can retake the quizzes 2 times. For each course, I was able to complete all of them within a few hours to days total. They're supposed to be equivalent to a regular 3.5 month 3 credit course, but their standards are so low, it can feasibly be completed in a few days. In both cases, as of 2015, these courses are really, really easy. If you decide to to this, please do a google search/DegreeForum.net search on previous students' experiences on these courses.

Also, if you need to take an Intro Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Financial Accounting or Managerial Accounting course and don't feel like taking a credit exam for any of them through CLEP, look into Penn Foster's courses (which are only $237/each), StraighterLine's courses, or a community college if you want more instruction. I personally recommend Penn Foster's courses as they are cheap, easy to do well on, and have a lax proctor requirement where it can be anyone for the final. If you already have a decent background in microeconomics, macroeconomics, financial accounting, or managerial accounting, or like to prep on your own, CLEP exams are another attractive option as well and are the cheapest.

Please refer to the Sources of Credit guide for alternate methods for satisfying any upper level credits or miscellaneous coursework. Look into ALEKS courses, FEMA*, TEEX*, or Straighterline credits to fill in any gaps, or look into courses that you can take with an instructor at a college (use ratemyprofessors and google searches to find out what your best options are).

Useful Sources of Credit:
 * 1) Free FEMA Credit Equivalencies (Count for Lower Level Credits Only)
 * 2) Free TEEX Credits (Count for Lower Level Credits Only)

B.S. in Business Administration Degree Plan – 48 Business Total Credits
Refer to Free-Clep-Prep.com, InstantCert.com, BAin4Weeks.com, and DegreeForum.net for information about the exams, ease, difficulty, useful study guides, etc. Exam/course recommendations below have been given based on what may be the best/easiest/most straightforward option available. All of the exam recommendations below have >90% pass rates, and typically 95% or above!

UL = Upper Level Credit

LL = Lower Level Credit

Courses are lower level unless otherwise specified.

General Education Degree Plan – 40 Credits Required
This plan provides the general education credits required to complete a degree at COSC. You will still need to complete a major or concentration of study like the business major above, and the COSC IDS 101 Cornerstone course. Also, by following the plan below, you could obtain an Associate's Degree by getting an additional 20 - 23 credits in random electives like the free FEMA, or TEEX credits or any credits you wish to obtain.

Refer to Free-Clep-Prep.com, InstantCert.com, BAin4Weeks.com, and DegreeForum.net for information about the exams, ease, difficulty, useful study guides, etc. Be sure to practice the official samples questions, any official practice exams, and InstantCert.com flash cards to maximize your success. Exam/course recommendations below have been given based on what may be the best/easiest/most straightforward option available. All of the exam recommendations below have >90% pass rates, and typically 95% or above!

UL = Upper Level Credit

LL = Lower Level Credit

Courses are lower level unless otherwise specified.

Associate's Degree (A.A. or A.S.) in General Studies
An A.A. is essentially the General Education Degree Requirements + the IDS 101 Cornerstone course + some free electives which ends up being an extra 17 - 20 credits or so for a total of 60 credits.

If price is an issue (and the student was ok with an A.S. instead of an A.A.), the student could drop the CLEPs in the Free Elective Section and add additional FEMA or TEEX credits, which are free, to fill those missing 12 credits.__INDEX__