Ways to Earn Credit

Guided Study Courses
With Guided Study courses, you work on your own, at your own location, using texts, study guides and other course materials sent to you by the College. You must complete specific lesson assignments, and you must take proctored midterm and final examinations. When you enroll in a Guided Study course, you are assigned a mentor who will answer your course-related questions and grade your assignments and examinations. Guided Study courses offer e-mail enhancements with which you may submit assignments or communicate with your mentor. The courses involve reading, writing and audio or video components. Guided Study courses run on a defined 16-week schedule, and pre-registration for courses is required.

Online Courses
Online courses are similar to Guided Study courses, but they also have an electronically delivered component. Students use a computer to connect to instructional sessions where they participate in group discussions and receive instruction from a mentor. Students and their mentors also use e-mail to send and respond to course assignments. Online courses run on a defined 12-week schedule and pre-registration for courses is required.

Blended Courses
Blended courses enable students to complete online courses in nine weeks and provide the added benefit of having four sessions in a classroom setting where students can interact with faculty mentors and each other, face-to-face. With non-blended courses, students are required to interact with faculty mentors and other students in an online setting but rarely get the opportunity to meet with faculty members and other classmates in person. Currently, blended courses are available at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. For more information about the Thomas Edison State College/McGuire Air Force Base Blended Program, call 1 (888) 442-8372.

e-Pack™
e-Pack™ courses allow students to prepare for a comprehensive final examination by taking a series of chapter quizzes delivered online. This credit-earning option is perfect for self-motivated students who want the freedom of self-paced learning within a semester time frame but would benefit from online chapter quizzes to gauge their readiness for the comprehensive examination. The quizzes break up the subject matter into manageable units and do not count toward the final grade. They also provide simple, easy-to-understand, real-time feedback on each question to which the student has responded. By using the feedback, the student will know which topics need further review. Each course includes a textbook, access to the online chapter quizzes, an opportunity to earn credit on the comprehensive examination and Web site support. There is no mentor. System requirements are: an Internet connected PC, one of the major browser programs such as Internet Explorer and Windows 95 or higher.

Prior Learning Assessment (PLA)
Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is a process through which you may earn credit for college-level knowledge you have gained outside the classroom. PLA is not credit for “life experience.” Through the PLA process, students document and verify their knowledge by comparing it to specific course descriptions, and submitting evidence and written justification in narrative form. The portfolios are assessed by mentors who are content matter experts in that particular subject area.

Examination Programs
Thomas Edison State College will accept credits you earn by successfully passing certain examinations. Usually, you will review specific subject matter on your own and then take a proctored examination at your Military Education Service Office. If you pass the examination, you will be awarded credit based on passing scores recommended by the American Council on Education (ACE). Thomas Edison State College also offers more than 50 examinations under the Thomas Edison State College Examination Program (TECEP®).