How to get a Bachelor's Degree in 27 Years

I graduated high school in 1998 and enrolled in my first college class that fall. I quit before finishing the semester and joined the Marines. I tried again a few years later. It didn’t take. In the late 2000s I finally got my first college credits but that student experience would only last one semester before I quit again.

In 2009 I moved to Thailand to attend university using the GI Bill. I bounced between majors and never got enough credits in one program to take a degree.

After returning to the States, I started thinking about working for a defense contractor as I had in the years before leaving for Thailand. When I spoke with a recruiter, I was told how things had changed. I would now need a Security+ certification and a bachelor’s degree in order to check the boxes on the applications.

In 2023 I decided I’d transfer my credits from Thailand and try to finish. What follows are the major steps in that process.

Timeline

Getting Transcripts From Ramkhamhaeng

There was a two-day turnaround on the first email. When that reply came, I was told they wouldn’t be able to send me transcripts because I didn’t have my student ID number. Then I was told it wouldn’t matter as it had been over 10 years since I was enrolled. It had only been 9. After many back and forth emails they refused to send transcripts. They eventually said I had been deleted from their system. I wrote about how incompetent they were back in 2012. It seems nothing has changed.

Getting Transcripts From Payap

There was a one-day turnaround on the first email. The reply contained instructions for making a payment and a form for where the transcripts should be sent. The only issue was, their form had only one spot for a student number. Since I was enrolled in three programs over the years, I have three student IDs.

I had to call them as they were too vague over email. I ended up paying for three transcripts. They botched the first sending; they sent two English language transcripts and one Thai language. I emailed and they corrected the problem the next day.

Picking an Evaluation Service

Having gone to university in Thailand I needed to have those transcripts evaluated before Thomas Edison would accept the credits.

I decided on ECE. They answered the phone and had a less convoluted submission process (note, as of 2025 they will no longer answer the phone). As with all the services, they nickle and dimed me during the checkout process. I paid $255 to have the evaluation of my transcripts from Payap and have said evaluations post mailed to TESU.

Creating a Degree Plan

Thomas Edison has a system to keep track of what you have taken and what is left. I wanted my own to keep track of third-party credit sources and pricing. You can see that spreadsheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1H-YENVDf5-R-KYJ0WLGEvgpYmTGmKm1uOXh1DVcgd9g/

Regionally Accredited Credits

If you follow the guidance from Degree Forum, you will read about “RA” credits. I found this confusing until I understood that this was their way of distinguishing credit sources. Each school has a limit of what types of credits they’ll allow you to transfer. Thomas Edison will allow you to transfer 90 ACE credits. If the degree you want requires 120 credits, you will need to get the other 30 from somewhere else. That usually means getting them from a regionally accredited college or university and that is why they call them RA credits.

Security+

One of the goals of getting a bachelor’s degree was to get a job with a defense contractor. I knew I’d need a Security+ certification to get one of those jobs, so I studied CompTIA Security+ Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-601 Study Guide by Darril Gibson. I had planned on using this for credit, but never did. Having studied this, it did help with the Network Technology TECEP below.

TECEP Network Technology (CMP-3540-TE)

Due to some New Jersey grant money, I was able to take this upper level TECEP for free. I took the test at a local community college. I used a lot of the Secrity+ knowledge but I also bought the cheapest Study.com plan for one month.

SOS-1100: Information Literacy Today

I could have taken this for $500 on edX compared with TESU’s $750 (I got the military rate, the regular price would have been ~$1,600). The main reason I paid extra was to take a class with TESU. By doing so I became an official student which gave me access to journal databases I could use for Sophia classes.

Note: As of 2025, the edX class is only allowed for Computer Science majors.

Sophia

I found these Tips and Tricks for Maximizing Your Sophia Learning Experience helpful.

You get three questions per each Challenge Question.

You are allowed to retake a Milestone.

A Note on Typing Challenges

Before taking Milestones, you will sometimes be asked to take a typing challenge. These are designed to prove that it is you and not a proxy taking the test. I failed one of these and it took two days to have my account unlocked. You are given three chances. On your third try, you’ll see an SMS option. Use it. If you didn’t get the first two correct, you won’t get it the third time.

Class Times and Pace

Here are a few classes I completed and how long they took. These are just a few outliers to give you an idea. It is important to note that I was working a full-time 9-to-5 while taking these classes.

Introduction to Information Technology

3.5 hours over two days

The time to complete this course was not my average experience as you can see below. I have spent over 20 years in IT so I didn’t need to read anything.

US Government

30 hours over 59 days

Environmental Science

7.5 hours over 47 days

Study.com

You may read online that Study.com only allows two tests per month and requires some crazy big-brother software for testing that can only be run on on Windows or macOS. Neither of these are true as of mid-year 2025.

They gave up on the draconian testing service. You can now take the tests on Linux, BSD, or any other system you like, using any browser you like.

They also gave up on the two tests per month system. As of 2025, there are no speed limits.

A Note on Computer Science 306: Computer Architecture

The first assignment requires the use of a program called Logisim. Logisim hasn’t been updated since 2011 and looks like it hasn’t been updated since 1993. I was unable to understand how it works enough to use it. I left the diagram parts out of my assignment. I made 13/50. The comments were:

Based on your exam grade 94 and your essay grade 56 you have passed this course with a 80 overall. That score is above the 70% average needed for credit.