TESU was founded to help adults finish a degree rather than start from scratch, and its whole model reflects that. Instead of taking every course, you assemble a degree from four sources: transfer credit from prior college, credit by examination (TESU's own TECEP exams plus CLEP and DSST), prior-learning assessment where you document college-level knowledge from work or life, and TESU courses for whatever is left. The strategy is to fill as much of the degree as possible with credit you already have or can earn cheaply, then take courses only for the gaps.
The degree-completion model
Most universities assume you start a degree and take a course for every requirement. TESU assumes the opposite: that you arrive with prior college, work experience, and the ability to test out of some subjects, and it builds the degree around that. The mindset shift is to see the degree as something you assemble from credit sources, not a fixed sequence of courses to sit through.
The four sources of credit
Four things fill a TESU degree. Transfer credit moves in prior college coursework. Credit by exam — TESU's TECEP exams plus CLEP and DSST — lets you test out of subjects you already know. Prior-learning assessment lets you document college-level learning from work or life for credit. And TESU courses cover the requirements none of those reach.
The cheap-first strategy
The money-and-time strategy is to sequence those sources by cost: bring in every transfer credit that fits, test out of what you can cheaply by exam, use prior-learning assessment where you have a genuine case, and reserve full TESU courses for the requirements you cannot fill any other way. Done well, this is how people finish a TESU degree quickly and for less.
Where a tutor fits
We help with the parts that still require work: preparing for the exams you plan to test out with, building a prior-learning portfolio that actually demonstrates the competency, and getting through the TESU courses you do take. The model saves money; the execution still has to be done well.
Sources and verification
Facts on this page come from official sources; confirm current details with TESU:
- www.tesu.edu: Thomas Edison State University's official site
- TESU accreditations: the official accreditation and licensure page
- msche.org: the Middle States Commission on Higher Education listing for TESU
- www.acenet.edu: the American Council on Education, which recommends credit for many exams