Thomas Edison State College experiences and opinions ?

[wp_913]

Hi All,

I was wondering of there are any current students or recent graduates of the Thomas Edison State College Nuclear Technology program lurking about here.

I have finished the two-year AAS degree in Radiation Safety from Lakeshore Technical College and I'm considering pursuing a BSAST degree from Thomas Edison State College (TESC).

Any opinions oe experiences that you would care to share about this learning institution?

Thanks

[co60slr]

Hi All,

I was wondering of there are any current students or recent graduates of the Thomas Edison State College Nuclear Technology program lurking about here.

I have finished the two-year AAS degree in Radiation Safety from Lakeshore Technical College and I'm considering pursuing a BSAST degree from Thomas Edison State College (TESC).

Any opinions oe experiences that you would care to share about this learning institution?

I had a positive experience, during an after.   What do you want to do with it though?  That may be your better question for a peer check out there.

[Preciousblue1965]

I will be a graduate from TESC next month.  I have finished all my course work, but I am also currently in a pilot class so TESC can get their ABET/TAC accredidation.  Basically the final class is one big research project.

The good:  If you are an ex-Navy Nuke, you won't have a lot of classes to take before you get your degree.  Almost all of the classes are either online(not a typical online class, there is no videos of lectures or anything like that, you just participate in online discussions) or a "Guided Study" which is read the Syllabus, do the work, and submit for grade at your own pace. 

The bad:  It is very expensive, at least I thought so.  There is a $2500 enrollment fee for the college that is per calendar year.  I think classes were $180 per hour.  If you are the type that has trouble teaching yourself, classes are going to be difficult for the more techinical subjects like math and sciences.  The majority of the work is read the textbook, do the homework, turn it in, and take the midterm and final.  There is little actual instruction from the "mentor".  Also, you have to set up proctored midterms.  Basically, you find someone they can send the test to such as a local teacher, librarian, etc, fill out the paperwork, and when it is time to take your midterm, they send the test to him/her and you take it during a given week.  They are, however, working on doing online proctored midterms using webcams, but no word yet on it being finalized.

Overall, I didn't take too many classes with TESC, but it was a means to a degree.  The only class I had trouble with was the PLC course because I didn't get any feedback from the mentor on what I was doing right and wrong. 

[93-383]

I finished my BSAST Nuclear Eng Tech last year and will finish my BA Computer Science next spring.

The above is pretty much accurate about how courses work. Some of my computer science classes have had links to video lectures the prof recommended.

My biggest gripe about the college is the name. "Thomas Edison State College" sounds like the little brother of "University of Phoenix Online" I wish the governor of NJ would have succeeded in changing the name to "Rutgers."

I have known several people go on to grad school programs from TESC. I myself plan to start on my MS soon after I finish my second degree.

[wlrun3@aol.com]

Search TECEP, NRRPT and NNPS on their site.

[Jonesmp]

I've been talk with a lot of head hunters because of my position with the Kansas State University Military Veterans.  I have asked about that program specifically, and a lot of recruiters view the degree more like an associates than a 4 year degree because it does not have ABET accreditation.  For those not familiar with ABET, it's essentially the control standards nationally accepted for degrees, much like ANSI would be for measurements and standards, or MILSPEC for military standards.   ABET accreditation is something that TESC is currently trying to get (as mentioned in a previous post), however TECS has been seeking ABET accredited at least since 2006 when I looked into it, and as of yet is not accredited. 

For a degree, I would recommend first transfer as many credits as possible to the Air Force community college, which is ABET accredited.  This will make it much easier to transfer credits to an ABET university.  As a next step, research universities that offer programs that you are interested in, primarily in the state that you are a resident of as many states seem to not accept veterans as in state students.  Active military generally do get in state tuition at most universities with an LES to show that they are stationed there. 

When looking for a university and a major, make sure you know what you're wanting to do, and what that major does.  For instance (my case) you may be a nuclear mechanic and think you want to go into mechanical engineering with a nuclear minor (my previous major).  The more I found out about what mechanical engineers actually did, the less I wanted to do it.  I ended up switching to industrial engineering, which basically is engineering management and optimization. 

The next thing is to look at is how many credit hours your degree will take, and how many credit hours your GI bill covers.  With the post 9/11 GI bill  you will be paid up to 12 credit hours per semester at that state's highest state school tuition.  As an example, I am in Kansas, and our most expensive university is University of Kansas.  I go to Kansas State University, so basically taking base tuition of KU and multiplying by 12, and then dividing by base tuition of K-State, the GI bill pays for 14 credit hours per semester if I am enrolled in 14.  If I enroll in 12, only tuition is paid, no extra. 

Another thing you may want to consider if you go to an accredited 4 year university is lifestyle.  When I got out in 2008 if you calculated the BAH, Sub pay, special duty pay etc. etc. etc., I was making about what a university engineering graduate makes per year, except with 6 years experience. 

I actually would recommend a job in college if you go back after you're out.  Most of the military veteran guys I work with deal with frustration of having to take random classes that don't make any sense to take after 6+ years in the real world matter even less for your degree.  Working provides not only a little extra spending money on top of the GI bill's living expense, book and expense stipend and paid tuition.  If you do go to a university with a reactor, contact the reactor or facility manager, and you'll more than likely be first in line for a job, which means if it takes you 4 years for a degree (paid for by the GI bill) and you have 6 years in the navy, you'll be starting in the commercial world with 9-10 years nuclear experience with a degree.  When I first started at Kansas State, I worked for the Student Union in the maintenance department.  I was told I was over qualified for the job, but at least for me, it was relaxing because I could go to work and actually do stuff without supervision that I didn't have to think about. 

Hope some of that helped.