Thomas Edison State College

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 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!

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+

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.

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.

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.

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.

Overall it is an accredited school and has decent programs. As a US Navy nuclear plant operator, they took so much credit from my military training that all I have to worry about was the General Education part and fulfilling their 12 credit residency requirement. Teachers generally have been a mixed blessing, my programming teacher was near nonexistent but my nuclear instrumentation and control instructor was extremely helpful. On the other hand, its CD courses are only so-so and leaves much to desire for. Their support is only decent at best, they're better at responding to faxes than answering e-mails. Transcripts takes weeks if not a month to be transferred in. If you can overlook a few of its shortcomings, this is a great program especially for any US Navy Nuclear Power School graduates without a bachelor degree.