Thomas Edison State College

I am glad to have found Thomas Edison State University. I work full-time and was able to earn my BS in Technical Studies. I have earned military education credits and additional credits from community college that were both accepted. I am glad to have found a school that accepts and appreciates the hard work of our military personnel. I have learned a lot during my time here at TESU and would recommend to anyone looking to further their education by earning their Bachelors Degree. Classes were easy to access and the instructors were always there to assist in anything I needed. The exams were taken through a proctored service and they had individuals who were dedicated and professional. I have come away with a better understanding of the technical information prescribed during the course study and look forward to putting what I have learned to work.

I am so frustrated with this school. I have been trying to complete my last 2 classes for a year now. They are so slow to respond and heaven forbid if you actually need financial aid. You can watch paint dry and the ice caps melt long before you'll see any response to your questions or concerns. I sent an email on Jun 20 after waiting 2 months for anything about the financial aid award. Someone finally responded today, July 12, exactly 8 hours ago. That's absurd. If it wasn't for the fact that I am almost done, I would've went anywhere else by now. Maybe, just maybe, I will graduate this year. As for my experience since coming to TESU several years ago, the teachers rarely give quality feedback that helps you improve and exceed goals. I like feedback so I can improve every single time and there have been some that just give you a 90 or 85 on something and don't bother to explain why. That's useless, especially with a Calculus or Discrete Math class! I have attended and helped my children and husband attend AND graduate from several other schools while I'm still twisting in the wind with this place. I don't understand why they don't have a more streamlined financial aid system that doesn't take months to request more info from you and then another couple of months to send you an award letter. When you call to ask questions, you feel like you're on a practical joke show because they seem to be mocking you and utterly useless. They tell you, oh yeah, "he's" working on those next week. Who is he? You have one guy doing this??? Well, that explains it! They tell you to email important documents like a tax transcript. I guess they are under the impression that email is a secure way to transmit financial information. APUS has an entire online office where you upload your documents and transfer your information securely. I highly recommend American Public University (btw) and at least 5 other online schools including Excelsior. TESU is a horrible waste of your time, talents, and money. If you talk to a counselor to figure out how to best achieve your goals, they have nothing of value to add so you have to figure it out on your own. If you take time off, you'd better be quick because they'll send you to the back of the line as if you haven't already been going here for the last few years. I came here with no debt, a 3.6 GPA, and 60+ credits, this was supposed to be a fast and affordable solution. It has not been. Meanwhile, my husband is now in grad school, he has completely passed me up while I've been farting around with these folks. My daughter has graduated with a bachelors degree and my son has achieved an associate's degree. I'm hoping these numb-nuts will approve my financial aid in time for the August session but I feel like I'd have a better chance buying a lottery ticket or getting struck by lightning on a clear sunny day. Seriously, if you're considering this school because you read that they take a lot of credits and it's affordable but you live outside of New Jersey, I suggest you keep looking and side-eye whoever is telling you that garbage. I have over 20+ credits in excess that they never accepted. SO yes, that means I could almost have been closing in on a Master's if I hadn't screwed myself over putting all my eggs into this broken basket. Yes, I'm bitter and all I want is to just be done with them. I want to hang my stupid expensive piece of paper on the wall and kick myself because now I know that there were better ways and places to do it with.

I am currently an enrolled student who completed 10 courses in the BSBA program at TESU. TESU is exactly what you make of it; meaning that if you put in the effort to complete assignments on time, study, and are self-driven, you will do well. TESU utilizes Malcolm Knowles' andragogy theory of learning in administering its courses. Hence, individuals enrolled in TESU should understand what this teaching style means before enrolling. In traditional brick-and-mortar schools, generally, the teacher assumes more responsibility of what the students are expected to learn, and the knowledge the students take from the class (given the students are ambitious towards their education). At TESU, the student must assume full responsibility for acquiring the necessary knowledge to perform well. Mentors are available to answer any questions; however, they do tend to be somewhat vague and do not simply "give" you the answer you are looking for. The mentors do provide sufficient constructive criticism regarding each of your assignments. Some mentors are better than others at providing support, but overall, it is fairly consistent. I believe the grading system used is fair, perhaps lenient as well regarding late assignments. If you become overwhelmed with work/life/school responsibilities and can not keep up with your assignments, reach out to your professor, briefly explain the situation, provide a reasonable estimated time frame in which you will be able to submit your late assignments, and follow through with your promise. Even the toughest mentor I had (business law) granted me reasonable accommodations for finishing late work and did not penalize me for submitting work late. Some mentors take 5-10 points off on late assignments which is fair and acceptable. Truthfully, taking more than 2 classes in a term is extremely demanding. The amount of assignments per class ranges from approximately 12-20+ assignments, depending on the course. You will have many written assignments. For those that enjoy writing papers, this type of learning environment will be a breeze. Exams range from 1-3 proctored exams depending on the course. Personally, the exams have been the most challenging factor thus far. It is moderately difficult to effectively prepare for an exam. The study guides are vague, and require you to fully understand all material in the given chapters relative to the exam. It is not an easy task to understand what will be expected on the exam. The mentors do not know what questions are on the exams either. Unlike traditional schools where the professor tells you face-to-face what to study and what to know for the exam, at TESU, it seems to be more of a gamble which for me has constantly been a losing hand. I currently have a 3.3 GPA, and it is quite discouraging to see my perfect grades drop after an exam. For me, the proctored exams have been my kryptonite. Some classes are much easier than others using an online format. For instance, Ethics and the Business Professional was a fairly simple course to study for and complete. Quite the opposite situation for Macroeconomics. Macro would be better fit in a traditional style classroom environment where the teacher administers the lecture and thoroughly and carefully explains the content. At TESU, you must teach yourself the required content which can be a daunting challenging task for learning course content in technical classes whose textbooks are information dense and apply theories you are not currently familiar with. In this case, youtube will be your best friend. Overall, TESU is what you make of it. If you put in the effort to proficiently complete all of your assignments by the end of term date you will succeed. If you are a good test-taker, you will do even better. I am valuing the educational opportunity that TESU currently provides for me. I work 50+ hour weeks and TESU has enabled me to continue my education. Although the exams are tough, the written assignments allow you to think critically, and analytically about the course content. I have also significantly increased my ability to effectively prepare word documents, powerpoint, and excel spreadsheets by attending TESU because of the applicable usage in each course. Microsoft Office competency is considered valuable by many employers. To conclude, I would recommend TESU if you are an individual capable of being self-taught, self-disciplined, ambitious, and dedicated to continue your educational success. These individuals will be able to take something extra out of each course. However, as another commenter stated below me, don't expect an academic nirvana, but I will restate, take what you can get and make of it what you will. If you are good at what you do, 5 years from now nobody will care about your degree.

Retired Army, I learned two languages at the Defense Language Institute while in the Army. This and many other training opportunities through my career translated into ALMOST a Bachelor's degree, after I did my transfer credit evaluation this University stood out over American Military University, Phoenix University, and others with who would get me closest to a BA. I was pleased to hear all I had left to do was Seven classes, that's right folks, 21 semester hours away from my BA. I finished my last classes on 23 July 2017 with my overall GPA of 3.57 our of 4.0 (That's "Cum Laude" Baby!). Helpful hint, buy your books used and one edition previous to save a TON of money.

Hello: I am writing this review for adults who really need a "fast-track degree" and nothing more. TESC serves its purpose, but its main function is to serve as a sanctioned "diploma mill" really. I mean, you "do" get your regionally accredited degree in a hurry, if that is what you want -- just to "have your degree" for job prospects, by all means do it. That is what it is there for. Nothing else. Don't expect academic nirvana, b/c you won't get it. You will get a fast-track "regionally accredited degree" because they do accept a plethora of credits toward degree completion. So, depending on your goals, weigh your options. They are fast, regionally-accredited, and "serve the purpose of a Bachelor's degree". Don't expect anything special either in staff help or academic particulars. They are marginally functional and the courses marginally acceptable for accreditation. But, again, it "works". So just treat them as a step above a diploma mill that legitimizes your education and you will be fine. They are in it solely for the money and nothing more, but again, it does "work" for fast-track degree.

I am an Army soldier who attended Thomas Edison State College between 2010-2015 before they called the FBI on me and expelled me from the school in my senior year with 118 credits earned, for making the following statement saying: “I had a list of names of the people who I was going to see, I know where all of their offices are, they won’t see me but I’ll see them when I come up to the school” I made this statement after several of my phone calls went either unanswered, constantly transferred or flat out ignored. Thomas Edison State College exploited this harmless statement to hide its incompetence, bias, and unprofessional behavior which would jeopardize its reputation pursuant to seeking University status and further renewal of its accreditation. Needless to say, the FBI found no cause to investigate me for making this statement and immediately closed the investigation with their apologies. My papers and assignments regularly went ungraded at the end of semesters. This prevented me from registering for the following classes in a timely manner because financial aid is disbursed depending on the overall GPA. Meaning they have to have to wait for all of the grades to be turned in before releasing Financial Aid. Thomas Edison State College uses a tracking system to grade students. Your not graded on how your performing at the current time. The instructors look at your grades on how you’ve performed on average in your other classes and draw there assessments on that. Obviously Improvement is rare and hard to obtain. Thomas Edison State College does not publish its graduation and retention rates on FASA.GOV.((Red Flag!)) –All schools do! Thomas Edison State College charges a $3,000 enrollment fee each semester that is not put towards tuition or school materials. (-Swindlers) No other school does that! And they’re a “State School.” Which means a great deal of there funding come from the state. Mentors frequently would not post an assignment or question(s) they want answered and then adversely grade me on it! Consistent and repetitive Contradictions between what the syllabus outlines and what the instructor asks for. For years I took 100 200& 300 level classes at Thomas Edison State College that often directly contradicted the information taught in each succeeding class. This resulted in poor grade performance and submitting an above average number of academic appeals that often went unresolved or not ruled in my favor despite screen shots and hard written evidence of this outrageous contradictory activity. They took my money and ran! The phone numbers of senior leadership members was not posted to Thomas Edison’s website until after my expulsion.

I am very surprised where did these positive reviews came from? cheaper than this. Let me tell you my experience : 1.Departments don't really solve your issues if you complain they gang up against you sort of thing. 2.Trust me, they will find million reasons about not accepting your transfer courses. They are picky. Do not expect magic and graduating conveniently and in a short time! 3. Courses are very hard. There are tons of papers each week. So you need to expect typing nuisance stuff every week. If you miss exam or midterm then you fail your course, because 25 % for midterm and 30% for final.

I've attending Thomas Edison University for over a year, overall, you really do not need to do much work to pass a class. I suspected that my mentors were not actually reading any of my papers so to test my assumption I posted a paper containing a single period, nothing in the paper but 1 period. The Mentor gave me an 80 on the paper. What does this tell us, well, they obviously do not even read the papers. So, are they accredited, yes, will you learn anything, possibly - more likely not. Is the degree from Thomas Edison worth anything? no more than any other For Profit school. So, after a year of Bad communication, poor oversight, conflicting information and very poor academic support I am transferring to another university. My fear is that if the poor quality of their online programs gets out, they may loose accreditation making any degree worthless. Unless you have no alternative, I strongly recommend you attend another school, why take the risk with your future. Best Of Luck

TESU has been a horrible experience in pursuing my BSN. The only reason I even gave TESU a chance was because of the affiliation it had with my nursing school. The staff here was very rude and not helpful. First semester was 15 weeks which looking back was ridiculous when there are better programs such as Grand Canyon or Wilmington U that offers courses that are much more centered around the adult student based in 5-7 week blocks. For the first semester I was able to get through and obtain two A's in both my courses. Therefore it is not that I am looking for the easy way out or that I am not accustomed to working for my grade. The second semester of the 15 week courses at TESU required 7 papers/posts (between both classes) a week and a 9-11 page paper every third week for EACH class. Being a new nurse I felt overwhelmed taking two courses with this workload. 2 1/2 weeks into the semester I called and spoke with several departments as I was transferred multiple times when asked to speak to an advisor about what my options were. When I reached the correct department I was told no outside calls can be transferred to the nursing advisement department and I would need to make an appointment. I asked it there was anything else I could do because as stated by the bursar office I had already exceeded the time to withdraw with any refund. I stated that my concern wasn't the cost I want to keep my GPA up and not fail my courses, I simply just needed advise. They did allow me to speak to an advisor (not my assigned advisor) and I was ok with that and her response was, "well you either withdraw or you don't." I wish I wrote down her name but I didn't as I was just trying to get to some resolution. They said you need to speak to the bursar office to make sure what money you will owe. I repeated I understand that I will need to pay out of pocket as my financial aid will not cover the costs it will be around 2700.00 that isn't a problem I will pay the balance but I need to know how to I proceed. Have students had issues taking these two courses together? Do I have the option to take one course at a time? No one in advisement could help and I felt lost as to what I could do. So I contacted the bursar office as directed and spoke with someone and she was NASTY! For he sake of this context I will leave out her rude attitude, condescending remarks and just stick to the actions that happened. I called asking what are my options as far as withdrawing from a course and she said if withdraw then you will owe the 2700.00 balance. I stated that I understand that and inquired what else could I do as far as going forward. She stated that I would need to speak to the advisor about that. I stated ok and asked what is the process of how to withdraw for a course. I then followed the instructions and withdrew from the course. As now I'm thinking ok now I can speak to an advisor and try to get this whole thing straightened out and figure out how to proceed. No, I was so wrong. I was cut off from everything immediately. As of that day it was in the system that I had a "past due" balance of 2700.00 and had no access to my online student account, no access to advisors and no access to any guidance. I emailed my advisor directly at this point trying to bypass the phone system and she stated that she had never heard of such a thing. About 30 mins later she emailed me back and stated that [name removed] had put a hold on my account and that all access is cut off until my balance is paid. Once again I didn't have a problem paying the balance per say but it was the way they went about everything. I called and spoke to the manager in the bursar office and stated how nasty [name removed] was being and asked why students are not informed that if they withdraw from a course they are cut off from the university? His response was its not my job or her job to inform you of that my suggestion to you would be to pay the bill then you can get your questions answered. I understand that universities are out here just to take your money but if a student is actively seeking help, then help. Don't turn them away and then state that you have an "outstanding" bill that just generated the same day. Not to mention the semester was not even 3 weeks in although I had no problem complying to pay I still was informed that I had the option to pay until the next semester and that obviously wasn't true either. Lastly I asked if I could set up a payment plan and [name removed] stated, "you can pay what ever you want but you won't have access to anything until your balance is paid." I then asked how will I know what courses to not take to together or even evaluate which way I should go forward and the response was, "Pay your balance and you will find out." Please do not go here, go to a school that cares about their students and willing to give you the guidance and support needed. Thomas Edison University is NOT geared toward the adult student and does NOT value their students.

I heard of TESU (TESC) back in 2007 on a degree forum. Several people were talking about it because they were able to transfer a lot of credits from different sources. This got me curious as I was a senior at my university at the time. After making a quick phone call, I found out that I only needed to take two more classes to graduate. I was elated to hear the news! I quickly processed an application and sent in my transcripts. The counselor that I had spoke with was very helpful. I took the following courses: Managerial Communications and Business Policy. The classes were fast paced, moderately difficult, interesting, and a bit time consuming. We had to write a ton of papers! If I remember correctly, it was a 4 page paper each week. There is a lot to do as well. We have classroom discussions to participate in and give feedback to our peers. I never had to do that before but it was okay. Overall, I am happy that I graduated from TESU (TESC) because it made me a better student. I was more prepared going into my MBA program as opposed to what I was doing at my former university which was more test based.

I recommend TESU. I've been a student off and on for about five years. Just finished my last course yesterday for my BSBA in Accounting. TESU is a regionally accredited, non-profit school that caters to working adults who have some prior college level learning. It is a state school, just like other state schools. You've heard of Ohio State University, right? This is Thomas Edison STATE University. There were a few hiccoughs during the past five years, but I have no regrets about the choice to graduate from TESU. Given that I work full time, it just did not make sense for me to go to a brick-and-mortar school for a bachelors. The administration is good about responding to emails in a timely way, but I suggest only asking one question at a time. Also, if you are asking a question about your academic evaluation, and you do not want your academic eval changed, be sure to mention that in the email. Several times they changed my academic eval when I was only posing a hypothetical question. Go to degreeforum.net to learn more. There is a ton of wisdom there.

I called to get information about the rn to bsn. I finished my rn program waiting to sit for the boards. but I know I want to continue my education so I called to ask about the program. Spoke with a Jackie from admissions. she was rude. I told her my situation and she keep saying" you have to have a rn for this program before I can speak to an advisor" .I understood that. I just wanted some information about the program and it was like pulling teeth for her to give me anything. I wont be going there.....

I find the negative reviews comical...too much coursework, I don't understand the syllabus. If you cannot handle the workload, then do not go to college. That is the issue today, everyone wants the easy road and a handout. The coursework is college level and very informative, many of the concepts learned have been applied in the real world. Highly recommend this school to adults that are serious about learning and are not looking for the easy way out.

This is a school for those who have credits already or for those who are going to another college part time while TESU being your parent school. The courses are challenging because you have to teach yourself. If you cannot teach yourself and really dig into the text books then this school is NOT for you! Let me repeat that. If you can't teach yourself through textbooks and scholarly articles then this school is NOT for you! I attend Indiana University and there is no difference in the amount of work to be done or the quality of materials. I have learned just as much at TESU as I have at Indiana University. The only difference is the delivery of the information. At Indiana University there isn't as much high stakes testing which can be an issue for bad test takers. If you generally do not test well using standardized testing then TESU is NOT for you! Be prepared to be well versed to pass the test, some test are 25% of your entire grade, so two test can equal 50% of your grade. I have not run into a course at Indiana University with such high stakes testing. Overall, I think that you will be just as prepared coming out of TESU as you would be Indiana University. However, TESU does not have internships and you will have to search for internships and apply outside of the college. It wasn't a problem for me, but if you want a university to hold your hand by writing your resume and placing you into an internship then TESU is NOT for you. If you want to earn your degree and you can teach yourself, if you need flexibility, i.e. military/working professional, don't mind paying a lot for out of state tuition and don't need the college to hold your hand then TESU can provide the education you need.

The courses themselves weren't so bad, and the its definitely not a diploma mill. Hard work required. Problem is with the administration. The school is arrogant and in denial of its own problems. If you have a problem, unless you wind and complain until it makes it to the top, they'll just give you the run around. The big issue is getting beyond the phone bank. I had constant problems with disappearing mentors, BLACKBOARD and later MOODLE becoming inaccessible... stuff like that. Burnt out on dealing with their buggy system. Totally detracted from the school work. Not worth it, even if the courses were good (though anything but state of the art.)

Thomas Edison State College "In New Jersey" REPORT CARD - Applied Sciences Core I'll start off by saying that I was a bright high school student that was admitted to other so called higher "ranked" universities but still chose TESC for several reasons. Growing up in New Brunswick, I already knew the so-called college scene. Yes I wanted to attend college, just not with a large debt upon graduating, "Mom is a Finance Major" go figure. Plus, I work part-time as a building engineer in a large medical facility, needed time to study without the extra time burning activities. TESC does have one of the best returns on investments because of the very low state tuition (Out-of-state is way higher). Lastly but most importantly all of the people I met while touring the campus seemed to be having a great time and had nothing really bad to say about the school. After being here a year neither do I, glad to be here. D.J.

I'm working towards a Master's in Software Engineering at Villanova University. However, they didn't offer a class I needed to take over the summer, so I found a similar one being offered at TESC. It was my first distance learning experience, and it will certainly be my last at this school, at least. For one, there is literally no support whatsoever from anyone. While trying to sign up and pay for the class I wanted, there were login credentials that I needed that were never communicated to me, so I had to call multiple times for information. I was never told how to login to the online classroom, didn't get any information on what course materials were needed, etc. I emailed the professor to ask how to login and if there was a book I needed to purchase. He basically said, yes there is a book (but didn't tell me what it was) and had no other information for me other than to ask the registrar. I was also disappointed to find that there was no online lecture portion at all. The entire class consisted of reading the book, posting pointless discussions in a forum, a midterm, and a final. That's it. While I consider myself a self-directed learner, I didn't pay hundreds of dollars to teach myself everything with no additional help. If that were the case, I would save the money and wasted time from posting in the forum. The professor was one of the worst I've ever had. I've never seen a teacher with such a lack of interest in helping their students succeed. There was minimal to no feedback left on assignments and when another student asked what concepts to focus on for the midterm, his response was "I have nothing specific." I would at least expect the professor to participate in the online forums (considering he seems to have little else to do), especially when students seemed to be struggling with a couple of the concepts, but nope - nothing. Maybe it would be a different experience for matriculated students since they get an advisor, but I wouldn't hold your breath. I would not recommend this school to anyone.

I have completed the BSAST in Nuclear Energy Engineering and Technology this past year. Many people discredit this school as a diploma mill. These people have not taken courses here or received a degree from here. This is a New Jersey state public school, similar to any other state school. The courses are completed entirely online. The deadlines are strict, but if needed the instructors can work with you. Each of my instructors held PhD in their fields with years of related experience. The work was graded with feedback. All of the courses were challenging. They required many hours of homework and study time. For the ABET accreditation, you are required to complete two capstone classes, one of which requires a huge final project. The books are easy to obtain and can be found on the course syllabus. I had been told that getting an engineering tech degree will not help in getting employment. I work as an engineer for a DOE contractor now at a nuclear facility. Great school, great experience.

TESC is a college that continues to move forward, the school is seeking university status which is well deserved. Being a student of both Rutgers and TESC has enabled me to complete degree requirements at a much faster rate, furthermore both institutions work well together. Yes, TESC gave many assignments and conducted multiple online discussion boards, but all the hard work is paying off. My employer is talking about a promotion, still have 7 classes to take.

BAD TEACHERS, POOR STUDENT SUPPORT!!!!!! DONT GO HERE THEY DONT DESERVE YOUR MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN AN ONLINE STUDENT AT THIS SCHOOL FOR ABOUT 3 YRS. I CHECKED IN TO MAKE SURE I WAS ON THE RIGHT TRACK AND ITS LIKE TALKING TO THE WALL.- "OH YES WE GOT IT"- SO THEN IM OK AND ON THE RIGHT TRACK. - YES" UNTIL THIS SEMESTER WHEN I GO TO SIGN UP FOR A $2700 CLASS THAT I HAVE WAITED A YEAR TO TAKE BC OF HOW EXPENSIVE IT IS- HAD TO PAY OFF CREDIT CARD. I GET A REPLY THAT SAYS TO WITHDRAWL- HERE I STILL NEED 12 UNDERGRAD CREDITS THAT I WAS NOT AWARE OF BC NO ONE TOLD ME WHEN I CALLED!! SO NOW I HAVE TO SCRAMBLE AND TAKE 3 MORE CLASSES. THE TEACHERS ARE RUDE- THEY ACT LIKE THE QUESTIONS YOU ASK ARE STUPID. THE ONLINE PRGRAM IS HARD TO NAVIGATE. I AM A PROFESSIONAL NURSE AND I AM VERY UPSET AND DISAPPOINTED WITH THIS SCHOOL OVERALL. CANT NOT WAIT TO BE OUT OF THIS SCHOOL. DONT EVEN WANT TO GIVE THEM ONE MORE PENNY

If 70% or above of an undergrad degree is completed and the student is employed in a profession related to their studies, this college is the right choice, hands down. It will save you money, the professors are knowledgeable, and the school is growing in popularity and size yearly.

Thomas Edison State College has changed so much in the last three years. True, it may be geared toward working professionals, however younger students are now considering this institution due to it's flexibility (online and campus programs), and cost of attendance. Obtaining a quality education with less student debt accrual seems like a great idea. I was at TESC for a year, and though the work was challenging at times, never did I encounter a problem getting help. The college was also fair regarding my program evaluation, taking engineering credits from previous schools, and explaining what remaining classes were needed for degree completion. The school is finally getting the funding and attention it deserves, and their academic reputation is improving yearly. This school does not give a person credit for life experience, wish it did, I would have saved a lot of cash and time. It does allow you to take a college exam or assessment to demonstrate your knowledge regarding a course. Thomas Edison State College is growing, new construction projects are underway. Peer Assessment has improved greatly and I believe the trend will continue. Trenton is cleaning up, and TESC is on the move.

Thomas Edison State College is growing as is their reputation for providing innovative ways to earn a college degree. Their method of teaching helps professionals continue studies without sacrificing their employment or family obligations. The courses are challenging, yet doable with focus and determination. Nursing and Applied Science programs are popular at this college, this may be due to their quality instruction whether on campus or online. This college actually works with students, helping them succeed in their fields of study and in life. Thomas Edison State College is one school not to be overlooked when choosing affordability and a quality education.

I recommend that you do not attempt to earn a degree here in an area in which you are not already proficient. I found TESC to be inadequate in their approach to distance learning. The amount of work they require per credit seems to be excessive, an attempt to compensate for a lack of lecture time in a classroom or even online. I've taken many online classes since I left TESC, every one of them superior to TESC's classes, mainly because they utilize video lectures. None of the courses I took at TESC offered video lectures. I simply found myself writing lots of essays (with little useful feedback from professors), took what would normally be a full-time course load and found the course load overwhelming, and failed classes due to deadlines. I just knew it wasn't a problem with me, but that they don't really teach there, they grant degrees to people who are already advanced in a given field (they were really ineffective at teaching math, BTW). I left, went to community college full time,earned two scholarships and graduated. I then transferred to a state university, where I'm in my senior year and have maintained a 4.0 GPA. TESC failed me, in both interpretations of that phrase.

The real issue is the test are computer generated, which means all the information that you focus on, that you spend a lot of time writing papers on, is rarely on the tests. Often the test will have the most obscure facts, one time questions were from the introduction of the chapters, being one line out of hundreds of pages, and I was expected to write an essay on it worth 15 points. The information was not important for the class, it would be like asking write an essay on how old Freud was when he got married; I am not being dramatic here. I understand that you are working for a BA, but the test should be on the main points of the chapters, not minute details. If you know the material, especially the information that you were told to focus on, inside and out, you should be okay talking a test, but rarely is that the case. It is not as if one question is thrown in, that is on a major point not covered, but you should know, to see if you studied. The issue seems to be that the mentors are not the ones writing the test in general. You also can't skip ahead during the midterms or finals and then go back, which I have always been taught is how to take a test, do what you know first and then go back and answer what you are not sure of. To clarify, they are in sections, like standardized test, you can't go to the next section and then go back. I don't know the point of this. You also can't see what you got wrong, so I don't know how you can learn from your mistakes or even question your grade. Maybe this is common in traditional schools on a BA level, I do not know, but I requested to see one of my test and was told the school would not allow it. The mentor had no issue with it, but the school said no. I only had one really bad mentor, she won't answer any of my questions. The syllabus is confusing at best. I had many people read it and tell me that they had no idea what was expected of me, people currently enrolled in the master's programs, people that have Phd's from NYU could not help me understand what was wanted. This was brought to the attention of the mentor and she did not explain to me what was wanted. It is sad, because if the issues with the test were fixed, and it is a real issue, the school would be a much better school. The classes require a lot of work and I have learned a lot. If a student puts the effort in to write an A paper and to bring something of value to the discussion boards, they should feel that some of the material they focused on would be on the test. I would say that information should be the majority of the test and that the other major points in the chapters should be covered.

Good School - Thomas Edison State College is an exceptional institution, when comparing educational quality and value, the school should rank very high. The colleges infrastructure is improving yearly and its reputation as a provider of affordable, high quality educational programs continues to grow. Working professionals, students with 40 or more transfer credits, and military personnel, give TESC a second look, it's worth the effort.

I was able to transfer every college credit I earned regardless Of how old they were! Staff was always quick to respond!! There are several was to earn your degree and this is an accredited school!! I recommend them 100%

The professors are very helpful. They work with you and help you get through the courses, providing insight on what is necessary for the quizzes and exams. Projects and papers are not overly extensive, however do not procrastinate, especially in applied science courses. Quizzes and Exam materials

Thomas Edison State College met all of my expectations and the tuition was reasonable. Their online programs are challenging but fair. Students learn from professors and working professionals by staying engaged through online discussions. TESC continues to grow in size and popularity, a beautiful new state of art nursing facility is currently being built. The School of Applied Science and Technology offers a number of stimulating programs, all which are regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The Nuclear Energy Engineering Technology program is accredited by ABET, was informed other programs are also being reviewed. TESC is on the move, I am proud to be a student here and would recommend it to anyone.

Not consistent. Some of the mentors are good. most of the mentors take forever to grade assignments. If you want to ask your mentor a question for clarification on a particular assignment, good luck in getting a response. If you ask your mentor a question, as to what you are doing wrong on assignment, you receive a rude response back. Some mentors post comments and some do not. I actually dropped two classes because I was not going to allow poor mentoring to ruin my GPA. I wanted to transfer to another school but would have lost too many credits so I decided not. After I graduate, I will attend graduate school at another college or university.

Ive chose this school because it offered not too many classes for BSN and didnt have statistics in their undergraduate program. First of all, dont count on ANY help from teachers or dean. If you have an issue with a teacher you are on your own.One teacher(health policy) is determined to fail me just because i showed her that her comments on my paper were incorrect. Instead of trying to solve an issue between me and her she contacted the Dean. When i wanted to talk to the dean in that issue i was simply ignored and was told to talk to the mentor! What a joke!!!!!On top of that the tuition is being increased every single semester. DONT GO THERE IF YOU WANT SUPPORT AND FAIR GRADING AND DONT WANT TO DEAL WITH A "GOD COMPLEX" OF SOME TEACHERS. AT THIS SCHOOL YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN!

This is my first semester at TESC and its been a good experience so far. I transferred in about 65 credits from a community college and i plan to finish my BA in psych in about a year and a half by taking 36 credits a year. The courses do require a lot of writing but it is easy depending on the course. Take the time to look over course syllabi and find courses of interest that can apply to your degree. Some courses require less work than others. Also take the time to check out professors on rate my professor before signing up for a class, it really helps. So far ive had no complaints with professors, some are more lenient graders than others. Its important that you stay on top of course schedules.

I just completed my BSAST in Electronic Engineering Technology and went to the commencement in Trenton last week. Overall the school has some issues but for me it was the best option to complete a degree while working overseas. Also my electronics schools from the Navy transferred saving me some work. my main frustration is that they are not a very engineering focused school and actually didn't offer some of the courses I needed. They had an option called a Prior Learning Assessment to gain credit by proving I had college level knowledge of a subjet, but in several cases this meant that I had to go and educate myself from books and then write papers proving I understood it. This is not a school for people who need a lot of hand holding, you basically have to get yourself through it but I am glad I did and I think it is the best place for adult learners out there. I am not working on a master's in project management there and the school helped by having a bachelor's to master's program where I was able to take 3 master's level courses and pay at bachelor's prices and apply the credits as electives to my BS degree so for me it was a good deal. I can't speak about any issues with financial aid as I paid for the whole program on my own with some company reimbursement.

If you read peoples reviews the biggest complaint is about the amount of work TESC assigns. People are lazy and just want a degree handed to them. I completed the BA in Social Science after completing credits from traditional courses at the University of Utah and SLCC. TESC was by far a better experience but did require more work then both of the previous mentioned institutions. After completing my BA in Social Science i decided to pursue a second BA in Computer Science with the goal of attending graduate school. I have to say the curriculum has been great. I learned a ton and it opened up doors to great graduate programs. As long as your willing to put in the work and be self motivated this school provides an amazing opportunity. It is worth mentioning however, that the financial aid department and the school counselors are not the best. I would say customer service is their biggest weakness. But this is a school for self motivated adults, so if you cant figure it out on your own and you need hand holding this certainly is not the school for you. Long story short, great school, great price, and fully accredited.

I'm an online student pursuing my Masters of Science in Management. With my current work and 2 year old daughter the traditional college wouldn't work out for me. This college so far has not been easy it is challenging. The previous college where I graduated with a BA was actually easier to sit through class and do homework. However at TESC I can log on and complete homework on a more flexible schedule. I don't think that I've ever had a problem contacting a mentor.

1. Mentors - some were best I've ever seen, most were very good and 2 other was missing in action (2 of 9). 2. I realize that I know so much more right now after only 2 terms - I am very happy to have engaged my brain once again! 3. Worth the money. 4. Yeah, they make you work on your own - kind of expected I would say. Overall, very good experience so far - two more terms to complete BS Applied Science and Technology - Information Technology

I am 6 weeks from finishing my BSAST degree in Radiation Protection and feel as though I have actually earned it. Not all of the courses needed are offered through TESC, but I was able to figure out how/where to get the credits I needed. In speaking with professors at Oregon State University regarding the legitimacy of the TESC degree, they assured me that the degree is very much acceptable for admission to their Master of Health Physics graduate degree. I was able to handle three courses per 12-week term while working full-time. I pushed the limits at times with four courses at once, but I don't recommend it. Terms start every month, so you can stagger courses, and no need to wait a full quarter for a new term to start. Very convenient! As mentioned elsewhere in the reviews, the "teachers" are mentors only and are there simply to facilitate your progress through individual courses. Do not count on the mentors to prepare you for mid-terms and finals, nor should you expect feedback that will help you through the 12-week term. You are just about on your own. That's my biggest complaint. The school is NOT cheap, yet they use open source, non-TESC produced videos and tutorials that don't follow along with the course's curriculum. Can get very frustrating. I used Western Kentucky Community & Technical College (WKCTC) to obtain my Radiation Biology and Radiation Measurements requirements. The classes are online, only 8-week terms, cost effective, and the instructor is very involved and responsive. I received approval from my academic advisor for these courses, established TESC as the "parent school", and my credits from WKCTC transferred in for full credit. Highly recommended path for completing these requirements. The high tuition coupled with the fact that they use "Kahn Academy" and "Larry Green" videos to facilitate Calculus I & II, is why I scored them low on value. For the money I paid, I expect them to use their own internally generated tutorials that follow along with the curriculum to give students the chance to perform well. For this reason, I will be seeking my graduate degree elsewhere this fall. E-mail inquiries to the academic advisors and other departments were addressed quickly and my questions were always answered adequately. I feel that I am getting a quality degree that fits nicely with my career and provides an excellent foundation for moving into my Master of Health Physics this fall.

I currently enrolled in Thomas Edison, but will definitely be leaving after this semester. There is absolutely no instruction or education at this place. Teachers, or "mentors", as they are called here are non existent. The curriculum consists of you teaching yourself an entire text, then being tested on the material you taught yourself. No interaction or instruction from mentors, no feedback, grades are not even explained, or if they are the explanation is completely vague. And, the course load is substantially higher than any other physical colleges I have attended. 11 graded written assignments, research paper, a mid term and a final along with 5 graded,(based on what, who knows?) , in a 12 week course. All while simultaneously trying to teach myself calculus ( I'm in my 30's, I haven't looked at a math problem in 15 years ). Definitely a lazy school that only cares about getting your money. One good thing is that they did handle my MGIB paperwork very well and I have had no problems with getting payments from the VA. Not for working adults unless you have no life, or job. This school requires a substantial time investment and you have to teach yourself everything...

I feel like for the price you can't beat TESC. I am one semester away from a degree in BSBS-CIS. I think they have decent support and the classes are surprisingly difficult. Another nice thing is that the degree earned online is more valuable because they do remote proctoring. This ensures that students cannot cheat because a proctor is watching them on their webcam. This adds value to the learning experience in my opinion and moves it away from being a "degree mill". My one complaint is that SOME of the teachers instead of actually teaching just say read chapter ## in the book on pages ##-## for how to do this. Obviously I have the book as a tool and I can refer to that. It would be helpful, especially for math classes, if the teachers posted lectures on youtube and made them available to students. It is easier to learn how to do a math problem by seeing someone do it than it is to read it in a book.

I completed the SOC program through TESC for a BSAST in Clinical Laboratory Sciences. I had previous college credit, so I only had to satisfy the 18 credit hour residency (which, as of Oct 1, 2012 is 24hrs for a Bachelor's degree). My TA covered everything, and I bought the books used online--not from TESC's bookstore. The quality of the classes was okay, but I found myself inadequately challenged. The assignments were extremely easy, and not demanding at all. The mentors when I needed them were knowledgeable and flexible and I really appreciate all of the support they were able to give me. I was taking classes in Afghanistan and all of my mentors understood the difficulty of an 8.5 or 9.5hr time difference and allowed late submission on the rare occasion it was needed (because of internet outage or what have you). My academic advisor was also very knowledgeable, helpful, and patient when I made phone calls from a bunker (with jets taking off in the background). This style of institution is for self-motivated individuals who need little structure (other than a weekly deadline). It is not intended for those who need to be taught in the traditional sense. There are no teachers, there are mentors who are perfectly willing to troubleshoot issues and give guidance--but they are no there to educate you. They are there to evaluate your work and assign a grade, and to expect anything more would be unrealistic. The bottom line is that this was a quick and easy way for me to finish my Bachelor's Degree. It is a simple stepping stone in my educational goals; I plan on becoming a Pathologist. If I were going to end my education at a Bachelor's Degree I would not have chosen this institution, but I find it to be a perfectly acceptable stepping stone to bigger and better things.

I had a great experience with TESC. I had completed about 80 credits at a Community College and traditional 4 year school. Life issues made me stop college, but TESC gave me the opportunity to complete my degree.

I LOVE people who write these comments and complain about the amount of work they had to do. This is COLLEGE people!!!!!! Ok now...I took some time off after high school and when I went back to community college at age 24, online learning was just starting to take off. I preferred it better to going and fighting for a parking spot, so I took as many online courses as I could. When I graduated in '07 with 2 Associates degrees, I was looking to transfer for my Bachelors, but still wanted to do online learning if I could. My counselor recommended TESC, and after looking at the pricing (5k a year for undergrad-up to 36 credits), I applied. Yes, there is alot of work. Discussions, papers, tests etc, but it's nothing extravagant or more than anyone else who has gone to college has had to do before. I never wrote more than a 10 page paper while I was doing my Bachelors. Now, I am 2 classes shy of my Masters at TESC, and again, I'm not drowning in work. And yes, I work full time, 12 hour days. As long as you do the work and keep up with the assignments, you will be fine. And again, a Masters for 18k-unheardof!!! The good: The price. They are accredited, which means your degree means something, not like at U of Phoenix or Capella. Some of the mentors are excellent, most are understanding and flexible. It's people who are serious about school and who are working adults, not 18 year old kids who don't care. Andrea Mirsky is the best advisor ever! The bad: Some mentors are lacking. The Financial Aid office is HORRIBLE and IGNORANT! Exams are proctored by some new online system.

Taking 3 courses (9 credits) and still able to work a full time management job at a major corporation. The work load is heavy if you actually do it. It is very self-directed and self-reliant. Like many have said here, there is plenty of writing. The best way to retain information is to read and then write articulating your thoughts. I came from a top 30 private college prior to TESC and I believe the content and workload is equivalent. You have mentors, not professors. There is no hand-holding here which is why this place is for motivated adults.

I was a Firecontrolman First Class in the Navy and I earned my AAS from TESC in 2008 just before my discharge. The support from the on base representative was outstanding and the PACE rep was equally impressive. TESC gave me the maximum allowable transfer credits from other colleges and Navy schools that I attended and I only had to take 2 courses to complete the degree. I also earned a BSAST but that review is in that section and is a totally different story. If you want to get a quick degree and you have a lot of schools and military training under your belt then give TESC a look. It is difficult to find a place that is accredited and yet willing to accept this amount of credit and issue a degree this quick.

I have just finished my BSBA at TESC and I have not complaints. Can somethings be improved at the school? YES, but this is everywhere. You will never find a school that is 100% perfect. The staff at TESC have all been professional and extremely helpful even at times when I knew I was being a pain (LOL). Professors were all great and gave me a nudge when I needed it to get through. Look if you are looking to complete your degree in a short period of time using various forms of credit (ALEKS, CLEP, DSST, ACE, Straighterline, and Fema) then this is the school for you. They accept a lot of different forms of credit that other schools do not. I am thankful for TESC and if you are looking for a regionally accredited degree that is reasonably priced I a sure you will be thankful for them too.

I've been a student at TESC for about a year and a half. Here is what I think. I am 45 and have worked for about 20 years in my degree area. Pluses: 1. It's regionally accredited. If you're not sure what this means, I encourage you to spend a new minutes to google it. It's important. 2. Great for professionals who have a lot of experience in their subject area. There are several ways to earn credit, including PLA and testing-out. Perfect if you have a lot of experience in whatever degree you are pursing. 3. Generous with accommodating previous units. I had 50 units from university work that I did right out of high school. Granted, I did not know what my major would be, so I was very good about only taking general ed classes. This paid off very well, because TESC accepted them all toward the lower division requirements of my degree. 3. The "comprehensive" tuition is a good value, if you are willing to take a lot of units and sacrifice your social life. Translation: you can get a lot done in a short time. 4. Email support is pretty good. Overall the administration was prompt at replying to my questions. 5. The "student services" area of the website is fantastic. So easy to track progress on your degree. Even after you register for classes (but havent' started them yet), you can see where the classes are going to be applied on your transcript. This feature is really wonderful. Also, if you are considering changing majors, you can do a preliminary review of how your classes will fit into it. This will help you decide if you want to change or not. Minuses: 1. Email etiquette is non existent with most professors. I find most of the email communications to be unnecessarily curt, borderlining on rude, condescending, and even insulting at times. Sometimes I have the impression that they either don't realize there is an actual person on the receiving end, or they think they are dealing with an 18 year old freshman who doesn't have a clue about anything. Either way, the administration is not good about requiring a certain amount of courtesy from their professors toward the students. 2. Blackboard is a POS. Blackboard is the main interface for earning units. (It's not an issue for most of the ways to earn units: PLA, ePack, TECEP, GS. These do not utilize Blackboard very much.) But if you need to take a class labeled OL, watch out. OL classes use Blackboard extensively. I won't go into the details here, but if you want more info on Blackboard, google it. There are many, many people who feel like I do. 3. Problems with a professor? Your recourse is hit and miss. Over the summer one of my professors simply checked out. Meaning he quit answering emails, gave no reason why, and did not give any indication as to when he would resume. I needed an extension for his class. Even though I requested the extension from him a full month before the end of the term, he did not respond to my multiple emails until after the term, then there were issues with the administration becasue it wasn't handled before the end of the term. The bottom line was that I had to retake the class. But all was not lost because I just turned in the same assignments that I already did and picked up where I left off. But his lack of communication was stressful and frustrating, not to mention very unprofessional. With another professor, she refused multiple assignments because she could not figure out how to reorient the pdfs. I am not making this up - I saved her emails. She also didn't want the assignments completed in Excel, even though it was a Finance class (finance is a fancy name for "advanced business math"). Given that I have worked in the accounting field for about 20 years, both of these issues were truly outrageous to me, and certainly very unprofessional. I won't even go into detail about the stress with my family issues, that I'm taking 12 units, and that I work full time. Remember that the professors have Ph.D.s. I think that we are entitled, even obligated, to expect a certain level of competence and courtesy from them. Do not be surprised when you have a few who lack these. Hopefully you won't have the stress level that I have, so you can accommodate their weakness better than I've been able to. But the bottom line, for me at least, is that I should not have had to accommodate these weaknesses for them. Overall recommendation: I recommend TESC for working professionals who are pursuing a degree in an area where they are very familiar. Also needed: very good reading and writing skills, ability to work independently, and willingness to give up some social life (if you want to finish quickly). There will be many papers to write, and there are no lectures. I do not recommend TESC to young adults who have little or no experience in the working world, who do not know what they want to major in, who need a professor to lecture on every chapter of each assignment, and who are looking for some of the social aspects of college life.

Finished my BA in Social Science at Thomas Edison State College. After completing my degree I got accepted into Florida Atlantic University, Master of Counseling program. This is a public state college just like any other state college in the United States. Regionally accredited and offer amazing online programs. There is also on campus courses if you are in the Trenton area for the Bachelors in nursing program. Graduation was amazing, took pictures with some of my professors and went around the campus in Trenton, NJ. I also found a job as a case manager after completing my degree. Only good things I can say about this college! It's worth it!

I went to Rhode Island College for three years before joining the military. I served six years in the military. While in the military I finished my degree with TESC. With my military experience and TESC degree I was able to get a job in the civilian sector starting at $90,000. I do not work at a nuclear plant or nuclear facility. I never work on the weekend and never have to do shiftwork. This degree means something if you are willing to work for it. Please read the following: Materials: No issues here. The books and materials are about the same cost as a tradition college. Teachers: Like traditional schools, you have good mentors and bad mentors. Please be advised that the mentors are not teachers. If you are looking for help, take advantage of the online tutoring. I hired a tutor for two of my classes (Calculus I & II). If you aren’t self-motivated then this is not the school for you. Institution: The institution usually responded within 24 hours of a request. Waiting on hold can be frustrating, so try emailing first unless you need immediate help. I did have some issues with the personnel working in the military support office. Be persistent! The institution gives a lot of work! The work is manageable if you budget your time. I do not recommend more than two classes at a time if you are working full time. Support: This is the area where the school was most lacking. I am very persistent so I was able to get solutions but you may want to consider a different school if you do not have an “a-type” personality. KEEP IN MIND you do not have a teacher. You are required to teach the material to yourself or seek the appropriate amount of support. Get a tutor if you have to. The assigned mentors are not professors and you should not expect them to teach you the material. Value: The Bottom line is TESC is regionally accredited from the same organization as every other prestigious school in the Middle States Association. This means the degree will be valuable if you apply to graduate school or if you go straight into the work force. Other online colleges are only nationally accredited which may limit your options down the road. Use of Technology: I had almost no issues in this area. Be careful if you are using Internet Explorer 8 when taking a online exam. Overall: You must be motivated and must know how to manage your time. Don’t take more than two classes at a time if you are working full time. Get extra help early from a tutor if you start to struggle with the material. Be persistent to resolve issues! Good Luck!

I am in my third term with TESC. The first two I was a part time student and really chocked my frustrations up to working full time and having limited focus even though the testing was ridiculous - more on that later. I have read the reviews about bad customer support and I completely agree to that, I would say beyond bad but not as bad as Financial Aid. I use my MGIB and there has not been an instance where I received valuable or accurate information from the "VA specialist" in this office. EVERY term I have had to call them and REMIND them to process my paperwork... this should be automatic, right? Or at least after 6 weeks of a term has past and I have emailed 3 trouble tickets, left 2 voicemails and spent close to an hour on hold, you think it could be done without my help. It can't! Testing here is insane. Online courses are for professionals with full time jobs right? How am I suppose to remember 7 weeks worth of stuff in each class and prepare for 40 random questions on each test? There is no narrowing down of information either. My first two terms, I thought it was just me but anytime a mentor is asked whta to study the answer straight out of the syllabus is listed. My Biology class midterm was 8 chapters worth of information.. that's several hundred pages of stuff! WTF I do not know what my options are which is why I even registered this term. If I remain fulltime - and that seems impossible- I can be completed in3 more terms... I don't know what to do. The "Mentors" are nonexsistent. I have only had one class where the mentor was really into the class and it was Photography 101... not really a critical course for knowledge. My accounting teacher half ass answers questions and does not further explain any theories needed for exam purposes. I would not recommend TESC to anyone unless you just need 1 or 2 classes to finish off your degree. As for a full time program - forget it if you have any sort of life.

I'm a Social Sciences major at TESC, taking 3 history classes right now. Like many of the other reviewers have said, there's a lot of reading and writing. I had 11 books assigned for the 3 classes, and I've written about 30 essays halfway through the term. What means the most to me about this school is that I've actually learned something from the course material. I can now speak and write intelligently on subjects that have always been rather hazy for me in the past. As for the support staff, the school so far has lived up to everything they said they would. I've never waited more than 2 minutes on hold to speak to someone. My application, transfer credits, and course-related issues have all been handled exactly when they said they would be. In the past, I've been very wary about collegiate bureaucracies, but I haven't had that problem here at all.

I'm in the middle of my course work toward an MS. I am over 50 and decided to return to school last year to give myself a better edge in my industry. I'm very glad I chose TESC. The tuition isn't high and the classes I've taken so far have ben very interesting. It takes a lot of time and self-discipline to do well, but it's all been worthwhile. Some have complained about how much work there is, but this is college, that's normal. There is one negative comment though, the concentration offerings are limited. It isn't a university, so there isn't the huge offering oyu'll find in other on-line institutions.

I wish, for the sake of those who need some information, to be as accurate as possible in this review. I also endeavor to communicate impartially, though I know my experience at TESC could be seen as making objectivity impossible. However, I don't think complete objectivity to be what is needed by those looking for answers. If you have been working in a profession, and you need a degree, TESC might be for you. It would be very helpful if your employer's company has educational resources. Not a good place to learn something new. Telephone interaction with advisors and mentors is inferior to face to face time at a traditional school. For those who want a radical career change, TESC is not the place to study. A local community college (if a good one, suited to your taste and temperament) can provide a better launching pad into a new phase of life. TESC is very good for a professional who needs a college credential, but TESC is not very strong academically. Comparitive examples are NJIT's superior online teaching format, and classroom instruction is superior because more and higher quality interaction is available. They offered me 30 more credits toward my degree than community college offered, and I found that I would have missed classes that I needed to fill gaps in knowledge had I continued with TESC. TESC books are more expensive. I left feeling ripped off, in every way and on all fronts. I'm an honor student now, studying, writing and calculating day and night, and I know that TESC would have given me an inferior education and experience, possibly leaving me with a false sense of educated competence relative to my professional peers.

The financial aid department at this school is awful. They consistently gave me wrong information. Now I am left with one class to graduate and I am not eligible for any type of financial aid, not even a loan. I put a complaint in with the Better Business Bureau. A representative front the school called me and asked me to remove my complaint. I refused. I want to let others know how this school operates. They take your money and give you nothing in return.

I have to give TESC an overall 8 to 9 score. As an adult student that manages a full-time accounting job, I found the on-line program the best for me. Students must be self directed and self motivated. Those that are not will have issues. Stay on schedule, live by your appointment book, and please do not forget to block out time for reading. Since there is not professor in front of the class providing information, every student must cover the reading material on their own. I had only on issue with a professor. I did contact my advisor and to my satisfaction the professor was spoken to about the lack of communication to the class. I have to state that I had an overall great experience at TESC. This is a great institution for type "A" adult students. Younger, hand holding, needy students should stay away until they are ready to take themselves in a new direction.

Mentors are very slow to respond to emails. There is a lot of work in each course that requires papers, group discussions, and quizzes. If you can write well, the course assignment are no problem. The exams are difficult because the mentors require seven weeks worth of reading and then the pull information from several hundred pages and expect you to know a phrase or a definition. The test development at Thomas Edison State College is the worst that I have seen in any educational setting.

This is a great online program if you are self guided. People who need hand holding, interaction, cannot read directions and then follow a task, should not pursue an online program in general, but definitely not here. The school is surprisingly less responsive to email inquiries but can be reached very quickly on the phone. I was also less than impressed that some of the forms are not accessible, meaning they have to be printed and/or faxed, which is ridiculous for a school online. Other than these inconsequential things, the classes have discussion forums, good mentors, powerpoint presentations for each chapter, good texts and rigorous assignments.

After attending a state school in Minnesota I left 20 credits shy of my degree to work full-time in the Minnesota National Guard to get some relevant job experience, which sparked my interest in finishing online so i wouldn't have to go back after I completed my job. I chose TESC because of the military program, impressive accreditation (same as Princeton and Rutgers) and it being a state school. These factors help make it a legitimate college unlike many of the schools that are based mainly online. My experience finishing my last 20 credits at TESC was great, the professors were helpful and the assignments were thorough (I learned just as much as i did at the state school in Minnesota I attended). The classes rely heavily on book reading and class discussions, but it helped me learn because I was forced to actually do the reading and interact with classmates. TESC is not a pushover college or a degree mill, it is even tougher than traditional college and I came away with more than I did at the traditional state school I attended because of the extra work required to learn online. The convenience of the online classroom far exceeded my expectations as a student and i was easily able to work full-time and be a full-time student. The only things I would ask is for are a student e-mail address so I could enjoy many of the student discounts that are available everywhere; and for more employees at the college offices, I was sometimes on hold for a long time trying to call the financial aid office. Other than those two things, great experience and I am proud to say I am an alumni at TESC.

I received my BA in Communications from TESC last year. For all those who are on this thread complaining about the school, please let me point out the fact that this is a school for mature adults. Its programs can be rigorous at times. There are a lot of reading assignments, several forum posts that take a well thought-out explanation, and many writing assignments. In my experience, the mentors who graded my assignments didn't simply give me full credit because I had the assignment completed, they read through my papers and posts, meticulously grading me on all errors. This "tough love" ensured that I was shaped into a better writer, and communicator. I am by no means a perfect communicator, but a better one, thanks to my education at TESC. This school is a regionally accredited school, and not a simple degree mill that you will find at some nationally accredited schools. It does have its faults, mainly with mentor-to-student communication, but if you keep yourself motivated, you will achieve your education goals. If you're lazy, and need somebody to constantly remind you to accomplish tasks, then this school is not for you - look at ITT Tech, or one of those other overly marketed online schools. I almost get "the giggles" when somebody tells me they're "A Phoenix."

The online books that were provided are a complete ripoff. The institution is a scam.

I've been with TESC since 2009 with no complaints or regrets. Several months ago I completed an AAS (Associate's in Applied Science)and currently pursuing a Bachelor's in Electrical Technology. As a parent and active duty service member college seemed impossible but Thomas Edison has given my wife and I the oportunity to excel and achieve our short term goals. TESC base counselors are dedicated to review your military transcript and help you all the way through the college journey. It is simple, convinient and most important your Tuition Assistance covers almost all expenses(except books, but there are other programs that cover the cost not provided by the TA). There is no reason to achieve a degree while on active duty. Semper Paratus!

This school is a great oppertunity for SELF DIRECTED ADULTS to finish schooling and enhance their careers. Its a school for professionals with an academically rigorous and practical educational approach. You need to be self motivated and hard working with an aptitude to learn independently to succeed at Thomas Edison State College. Its not an easy school but its a quality education that has a real world application.(I have been to other State Schools and online schools so I know)

I graduated in Dec 2006 with a BA in History. I had no problem getting into graduate school at Milligan College. I graduated Dec 2010 with my M.Ed in secondary education. The professors at TESC are top notch. If you have been GIVEN grades all your life,such as most American high schools do, then on-line courses will be demanding and tough at TESC. The work load is heavy in many courses but very rewarding.

Terrible, what a waste of money and time. Complete waste. They were unwilling to even hear what I had to say. And the teacher, haha what a joke! It was one giant contradiction with no guidance.

Overall I a happy with this online college. I was able to finish my Associates and now my Bachelors degree with them. I am in the military, so therefore a large number of my military credits were accepted by TESC. I recommend this college to any military member who is looking for an online college. Once things have calm down a bit in my career I will pursue my Masters Degree at TESC. A+

There seems to be quite a few negative reviews by people going through the dissertation phase at this time. Having successfully completed my degree quite recently, I know the process is an arduous one. However, this is a doctorate program! I can assure many of the writers that at no reputable school do you "breeze through" your dissertation without numerous revisions to your work. It is common for researchers to be told they need to reevaluate their hypothesis, build stronger research questions, or make significant revisions. While form may seem rather unimportant to many, in academia it is paramount. Expect to be held to rigid standards. I had a very supportive committee and chair at Northcentral who worked with me constantly (and not always gently!). Every question/revision/concern was dealt with properly, professionally and quickly. Also, the Learners' Portal has a specific section where dissertation candidates may compare progress and problems. Although Northcentral was not inexpensive,I feel it provided me with a quality learning experience.

with my prior education in HVAC/R I ran into a dead end in my career.I started taking management courses to moveup and started another degree.Fortunatly through Thomas Edison State College I was able to utilize my prior industry knowledge, consolidate my prior accredited education, and complete my Associates of Applied Science.Now I am working toward my Bachelors.The Bachelors portion consist of General Ed, engineering, physics with all my prior Business courses filling out my electives. Thomas Edison State College gaveme an oppertunity of a life time and gave my career life again.I am now looking into starting a masters program at Thomas Edison after my Bachlors Degree. THANKS TESC ! If this school isn't for you go somewhere else theeres plenty of schools out there. Its not a degree mill nor is it Ivy League. But for heavely experienced knowledgable hard working professionals its the best online institution.

Let's get straight to the point - A lot of essays and work at TESC. Best for someone who is focus, motivated and committed. The institution lacks mentoring and the essential support from the faculty to take it from average to excellent. I attended a couple of traditional institutions prior to attending TESC and the same holds true - ultimately you get what you put in. Can this institution be improved? Definitely, but the curriculum is strong enough to provide a foundation to pursue your career or attain a degree beyond the bachelor level.

Like many of the other reviews available on this site, My experience is pretty bad. TESC is extremely slow to respond and if you are lucky enough to get one it often does not answer your question. If your fortunate enough to not require any assistance from them you should do fine. There is no accountability for errors made by TESC. I could not register for two months due to a problem on their side and then they would not waive the late registration fee. I even wrote a letter to a supervisor which they required me to fax. No response from them what so ever. Hard to understand their position considering we are paying for their support.

I just finished a BA in History through TESC. The worst part about TESC is the customer service, it barely exists. The support staff are rarely much help and the processing of documents takes far longer than is reasonable. As for the quality of the education, I can only comment on 1 history course because that is all I took at TESC. Overall it was about average I'd say. However, I didn't choose TESC because of the classes they offer but I did so in order to finally finish a degree. TESC offered me a way to piece together a degree with credits from my time in the military, community college, etc. The credits I was missing I tested out of thanks to CLEP and DSST exams. Some of those were easy for me while others were not. I recommend DegreeForum.com for help in taking these exams. All in all though for an adult worker with years of job experience already like myself, this was the perfect way to finish an RA degree through a state college and for that reason alone I am very glad I found out about TESC.

Perhaps I am spoiled because I took courses with the the University of Phoenix, where you had constant interaction with mentors and teachers. This college has very poor customer service...very frustrating from the get go. If I was not in the process of trying to get this specialized degree, I would cut my losses and transfer.

Thomas Edison State College is an incredible school. I left college in 1968 and I thought that my educational opportunities had passed years ago. I discovered Thomas Edison State College in 2004 and enrolled shortly after I found it. It was the hardest, most challenging and exhilarating experience of my life. But I did it...in a year and eight months. By June of 2006 I had earned my Associates degree and by August of the same year, I had my Bachelors. Understand that this is not a diploma mill. It's an amazing educational opportunity. If you're thinking about going back to college, it would be worth your while to investigate Thomas Edison State College of New Jersey.

I thought that TESC would be an institution that excelled in providing online learning because they are specialists. I was wrong. There were no online lectures. Other institutions of higher learning provide such lectures. There was very little mentor support; I have not yet had a "teacher" of whom I may ask questions. Many say that studying at TESC requires motivation. I am highly motivated, and I find that I need my questions answered but have no one to ask. It is run as a business, quite blatantly. If you want to study anything technical, don't try it here. If you want to develop a relationship with thinking faculty, you can't do it here.

I completed the Master's of Management degree with this exceptional institution. I do not agree with the reviews that are less than favorable for this college. TESC is a fantastic college for highly motivated students (particularly motivated, smart professionals)seeking a high-quality education. I can attest to this because not only did I complete a master's degree (honor society), I also completed a bachelor's degree in business with TESC. This college is not for students who want an easy curriculum like you find at the traditional schools (walls and mortar). I say this because I have attended traditional schools such as Trenton State (now College of New Jersey), Saint Leo University, Maryland University, and Florida State University), but found there curiculum very easy and unchallenging because of the slow pace. I was bored out of my mind sitting in a class and waiting for the next assignment. TESC was intellectually challenging for me because of the dynamic pace of the assignments (writing, reading, projects, discussions, etc.). If you are looking for a free ride, please consider another school. However, if you are seeking a quality education (challenging and stimulating) TESC is for you. I feel very sorry for the reviewer who expressed that TESC gave way too much work. Perhaps you should consider staying with a more traditional (slower paced,i.e. Rutgers, Harvard, etc.) school, because TESC is for those students who thrive off of knowledge and are motivated to learn as much as possible and at whatever pace. Also, anyone with a mindset such as this reviewer should not consider graduate school. Foremost, you can not beat TESC's quality of education and value. I would put the education I received from TESC against any school on this planet. NOTE: Everyone will experience at one or even on several occasions disagree (teaching styles, methods, etc.) with an instructor or professor, but one must adjust and adapt to the circumstances and focus on getting the education.

This is a University for adults with busy lives that have practical experience and have some amount of previously completed college credit. Like many others have said, expect to do your own learning and provide your own motivation. It worked well for me but I feel like like most people need or want the feedback that physical attendance in a classroom provides. Cost is reasonable. I wouldn't even bother with TESC unless you have completed at least 75% of your degree requirements, and take advantage of DANTES and CLEP tests.

TESC is an excellent school for working adults. The classes are somewhat long (12 weeks), but they do start monthly and are easy to overlap and manage. I have easily juggled four at a time with a very busy work schedule. The counselors do a great job developing your degree plan with you. I took about 8 or 9 classes per year (I already had an AA) and finished my BA in about two and a half years. The value for your money at TESC is exceptional. The only shortcoming I found through my studies was the attitude and engagement from a (very) few of the mentors (only one "bad" one and he was fired). Also, if you don't like the military then do not take classes with TESC because half of your class will be in the military (like me).

Like many of the people that pursue this degree, I am a navy nuke. I chose this degree simply because with our experience, it was the quickest route to obtaining a bachelors degree from an accredited college. The question that often comes up is what the actual value of this degree is, considering that it is not ABET accredited. I've known many people that have gotten out of the navy with this degree and had no problem getting good jobs at power plant... the majority being in operations. Just remember that this not an engineering degree, so if you are looking to becoming an engineer, you probably want to aim a little higher. For the rest of us, who are just looking to get a degree as quick as possible from an accredited college, it is a means to an end.

Great school but slow corespondence due to faculty size in relationship to student body. TESC gives the oppertunity of a quality accredited education for indiduals who are mature and self motivated.If you are a proactive learner or a mature indivual with a lot of research experience, they might be the school for you. Especially if you have a fragmented educational background among different colleges. If you need to be told things,not a seeker of knowledge and prefer to have your hand held than stick with a community college and their study groups. Thomas Edison State College is a great school for grown ups.

Make no mistake, classes at TESC WILL require work and lots of writing. TESC provides one of the few ways to earn an accredited degree fast, however, this is not a cakewalk. You have the opportunity to EARN a degree in a year if you work your butt off, skip sleep and study, study, study. Customer service has its issues, but their are counselors that actually care. The key is to avoid the few that don't.

My TESC experience was a little different from most that I've read on this website. As an ex-Navy nuke, I had a significant amount of credit to transfer. I had three class requirements satisfied by demonstration of prior experience essays. For the balance of the requirement, I attended local community college and university as well as having once CLEP exam. Do you benefit from the 'college experience' - not really, but for me, I was already working and I needed to get my degree out of the way in a manner that suited my schedule. Bottom line for me: A means to an end and a real degree from an accredited college.

If you can write a good essay, you should expect nothing less than A's. However, I feel as though this school does absolutely NOTHING to challenge my method of thinking. Every class is basically a big book report broken up into lots of little essays. I only had one single mentor who contacted me regularly - the rest were inconsistent. As for the tests, I'd say 90% of the material on every test is based on the essays you wrote. I had no problem getting A's so I never complained, but I don't think I learned anything. On the plus side, the flexibility of credits is great - you'll earn your degree quickly...but it seems like its just another piece of paper.

Unlike the last reviewer, I attended TESC sometime this century. I feel my review would be better off for anyone interested in TESC since the school was very much a correspondence school back then and not a online learning school. The work is fine for people who want to take a course or two each semester but don't expect to get great grades if you decide to take 4 or 5 classes. Lets compare a traditional college with TESC. In a traditional college environment you will start your semester on September first and finish sometime in late December or early January. At TESC you will start it on September first and be finished by the third week of November. The courses run 12 weeks. So expect to read all your books in 10 weeks while spending the other 2 on exams. It doesn't seem so bad until you start to throw in the additional requirements. Every online class requires you to post on a message board weekly. You then are required to respond to every person with your comments. This would work well if half the students weren't in the military and posting 20 minutes before the due date. Another area where TESC goes nuts is with the essays. Just about every class requires you to do a weekly essay. Most of the essays are 1,000+ pages. In all honesty it's not really too hard to get good grades on the essays. The weekly essays and posting typically make up anywhere between 50 to 60 percent of your final grade. The midterms are typically 30 percent and the final 10 percent. Lets be honest here. How much time do you have as a working parent or even just a working student? Lets say you can spend 4 hours a night on your studying. Lets say you have 4 classes with each class requiring you to read 60 pages, post on a message board, respond to posts and do 1,000+ word essays. How much are you really going to learn? My advice is to take two classes max if you want to attend this school. Anything more is a waste of time and money, especially if you want to transfer somewhere else with As.

I hold a BS/BA '99 and an MS '01 from TESC. Yes, the work load is highly competitive and that's what makes the degree so valuable and gives the institution such high integrity. Cohort XIII

TESC is a complete joke. Every single class you take requires you to do WEEKLY essays. Some of the essays are between 2,000 and 4,000 words. This is for EVERY class you take. This is on top of your reading and weekly online discussions that you are required to do. My cousin went to Rutgers, Brooklyn Law, NYU and is headed to Penn and he hasn't seen anything like this. There is way too much work. You can not possible read things and soak them in because all you are doing is trying to finish essays at the end of each week. The teachers are non-existent. In many cases they take weeks to get back to you via email or phone. Why even have a mentor? They seem to be nothing more than hired graders. I came to this school from Rutgers thinking that it would allow me to work full-time while going to school I'll be headed back to Rutgers in the summer since TESC thinks they need to give more work than Harvard.

I am in my last semester, and have had an excellent experience at TESC. This is an online program and I write approx 20 to 30 pages per week total for 2 courses. To do well you need to drive the curve in each class and manage time well. It is not a program for a learner that needs hand holding. I would venture a guess that there are no online programs for students that need to be in a classroom. For me, with a busy career and 4 kids, there is no other option. I have had such an excellent experience that I am continuing in an online environment for a masters, albeit not at TESC, but only because they don't have the program I want. I highly recommend TESC for you if you are a serious learner.

Alot of room for improvement I have had alot better professors at the community college level.Out of the 5 teachers I had at the college only one was great Dr.Page.Dr.Page help raise the scores I was going to give the college.Most of the people when you call up have no idea what they are doing.It is really scary if someone is new to college they might give up after only a couple of classes.

I'm so furious right now! I wish I'd actually listened to the reviews on this website. I've always been an honor student, but between working full time, having a 14 month old, and being pregnant going to a regular university wasn't an option to finish up my undergrad. So i decided to stick to TESC, but BIG mistake. You're bombarded with phenomenal amounts of work, I'm expected to write a 3 page essay for each one of my 4 classes EVERY week. Like OKAY, I'm sooooo not super woman. Needless to say, i ended up dropping 2 of my classes. The "mentors" are really there for no purpose, but to make your life more difficult, I don't think many of them are competent of even teaching the courses they're attempting to mentor. For example my religious studies mentor is actually a journalism major that's very biased against every religion except his own. After spending hours on my psych paper, the "mentor" gave me a 55, like what the hell? I even had it reviewed by a friend that's doing her PhD in psych, he had totally stupid remarks on the paper. I'd drop those 2 classes too, but then I'd have to pay the school some outrageous amount like $6000 or something, so I'm gonna tough it out, and if I do bad then screw it, but I'm so not gonna be here next semester, I'm transferring to La Salle University, they have an evening program for working people, and I'll get REAL professors that are competent to teach the course material. The price isn't so bad, but considering you won't learn much if you have any of the mentors I have, is it really worth that hole in your wallet?

Thomas Edison State College has a wide range of degree offerings, if you're looking for a specific program or major. However, the staff are unnecessarily difficult to deal with. Do not expect a timely response to inquiries, or knowledgeable staff. Expect to do most of your learning on your own. The tuition of nearly $7000 a year is outrageous for the level of service and the likely negative experience you will encounter. You'll spend much less out of pocket and financial aid will go much further at a traditional college, especially community college.

I am sorry, but I have NOTHING good to say about this university. After completion of my two classes I will try my luck with "AMU". This university uses out date teaching materials. I wonder if somebody that works with TESC wrote the good comments about their school in the hopes to sucker some students in. The bottom line is that your education is an investment for life and it should be taking seriously by an institution.

I graduated back in 2003 while still in the US Navy. If you're looking for a nuke engineering technology degree consider Excelsior college also. Excelsior is NOW ABET accredited! That makes a huge difference! For ME, TESC was very challenging with a high homework load (3-4 classes at a time) very comparable to Nuclear Power School (graduated in 1994 3.56 gpa)(you nukes know how difficult Power School can be!). My instructors were always available during their office hours and replied to my emails within 24hrs. The administration office was not to good. Some of their staff (not all) was very rude and not helpful at all. To the previous review who had a bad experience, all schools will have a professor that sucked for someone but good for another. I also went to Northern Arizona Univ and had an instructor that was a joke. I assume you also live in Arizona. If you were planning to go to Harvard grad school you should have been going to ASU or UofA! They have online programs as well. Overall, I would recommend TESC. It is a PUBLIC school (not one of those private FOR PROFIT like Univ of Phoenix) that is regional accredited.

I have always been an online student and after graduating from Mercer County College with an AAS, I transfered to TESC. I had 85 credits and they took all of them for my BA. I have had very little issues with the school and only 3 tough professors. I Have had an amazing experience with my MHRM program and it went real quick in just over a year. The only downside I can think of is how long it takes to get grades posted and often how long it takes certain mentors to respond, but that varies greatly. The value is really good, but I caution any one thinking of online courses, the work is just as hard as the in classroom classes, and you do not have someone reminding you of due dates and of the work that needs to be done. If you are not self motivated, do not take online classes, it will be hard to keep up and do well. The flexibility is wonderful, and I am actually oonsidering a second masters from there

I loved Thomas Edison State College. Compared to other schools the cost for Thomas Edison cannot be beaten. If it were not for Thomas Edison I would not have had the opportunity to earn my degree. Considering the school is online I believe it is awesome. Yes, you may have to wait a day or two for an answer but one must remember there are other students. We have access to mentors, their phone numbers and the whole nine yards. Buying books is easy as 1, 2, 3. You order them online and I have gooten my books in days. i would recoomend Thomas Edison State College as my experience has been awesome. Too bad the whole world does not know about the school.

This is really hard for me to write out because of my experience at TESC was so hurtful and awful. I was an honors student at both other schools I attended, one of which being Northern Arizona University. I had great relations with every one of my teachers. I loved school, including all the online classes I had taken outside of TESC. After I had my son I came to TESC with 82 transfer credits, I think. Was expecting it to be wonderful, because I could be at home with my new son and still finish my degree. Well I was very wrong. I had awful teachers, not all of them, I think 3 were wonderful and helpful, but the others were either, downright rude or incompetent. They never got back to me regarding questions, most were hopelessly uninformed when it came to teaching online, and one completely destroyed my ability to get into graduate school which she knew she was doing. I plan on placing a web site up telling my story because it's really horrible what they did to me, and now I'm paying for it and will be for the rest of my life. I wasted 12 months of my life, and went really far in to debt, with nothing to show for it. I have even spoken to a lawyer, and if we can, I plan on taking action. What I'm trying to understand is why me? I'm a great student and a good person, I guess just had really bad luck with these teachers. I cannot even do anything about it, and I'm really sad, mad, and just in general upset about this. I do not recommend this school, unless you are taking the tests to get your credit. Now I'm left with 125 credits, with no degree, bad overall GPA because of two very bad teachers and an enormous amount of debt. I had before going to TESC honors status and a 3.65 GPA, but because of these two horrible teachers, and that TESC doesn't count my past GPA, I've been left with a 2.9 GPA, which does not show prospective employers or schools how good I am. I was hoping to get my Graduate degree from Harvard, now I have no hope to do this at all. I just want to cry because it's so unfair and there's nothing I can do about it, at least not that I know of right now. Did I mention I even kept my honors status while my mother was on her death bed. She told me not to give up on school, no matter what, so I pushed really hard for this. Worked as a single mom and through my mothers death, but now, even though I worked so hard I'm stuck with this. It not ok! Yes, I've complained to the school, but was given the cold shoulder because there is no one there to represent the student. Everything the teacher said, even if it were lies was taken as truth. Trust me these two teachers lied on two occasions but I couldn't prove anything, because the teachers went in and changed the information on Blackboard. This making me look like a liar, I asked if there were a way to see if anything were altered on BB but was told that it wasn't possible. I think that's untrue, but it's me against the school. No! don't take the risk of experiencing what I did.

The school promises what it says. You will get practically all your credits transferred. You can test out of many courses and receive the credit. My biggest complaint and the reason why I would never recommend anyone else to this school is the time everything takes to be accomplished. From them receiving transcripts and taking 8 weeks to put the credits on your evaluation, to the mentors to take 3 to 4 weeks before grading an assignment, all the while other assignments are due weekly. Calling the school is a nightmare. I have never been been transferred no less than 3 times before getting to the department i need. Each time having to explain my situation. If you have a low level of patience stay far away, if you are ok with all that, great school and you get what they promise you.