Taking Courses
At Thomas Edison State University, we deliver courses directly to our students, wherever they live or work. Students are not required to visit our campus in Trenton, N.J. Whether you live in a home in Princeton, on a houseboat on the Mississippi River, in an apartment in Manhattan or on a military base in the Middle East, we deliver your courses to you.
Our course formats include:
- Online courses
- If you like interacting with your classmates and mentor, online courses may be a good option. Online courses are 12 weeks long and include a detailed schedule that guides students through course assignments, online class discussions and exams. We currently offer more than 250 online courses.
- e-Pack® courses*
- If you like the structure of a 12-week course, but prefer to work independently with no interaction with other learners, e-Pack® courses may be a good option. Students take a series of online quizzes to prepare for a final exam.
- Guided Study courses
- These 12-week independent study courses enable students to work on their own to complete course assignments to prepare for examinations. Like our e-Pack® courses, students taking Guided Study courses have no interaction with classmates.
- Portfolio Assessment*
- This course-based process enables students to articulate and prove that they have college-level knowledge of a subject, acquired outside of a traditional classroom setting, perhaps through work, training, volunteer service or other experiences.
- Self-Directed courses
- At Thomas Edison State University, Self-Directed courses are a way for incarcerated students to earn credit and use methods& designed specifically with the adult learner in mind.
- TECEP® exams
- Like other credit-by-exam programs, TECEP® exams are designed for highly independent learners who have the ability to study in a student-centered environment with no time constraints, no assignments, and no mentor interaction.
Course Engagement
Students attending Thomas Edison State University are expected to participate and fully engage in all academically related activities. Examples of these activities include making submissions to online discussion boards, communicating within the class lounge forum, dialoguing with mentors within the private mentor forum, submitting assignments, and completing exams and quizzes when due. Students must review course calendars for the timing and types of submissions expected. Note: Merely logging into or viewing your courses does not constitute academic engagement.
The University will periodically review student progress and engagement during each term. Failure to sign into your courses and complete your scheduled course work on time may result in an adjustment or termination of federally sponsored financial support; such as Military Tuition Assistance, Veterans Education Benefits or other Title IV Financial Aid (grants and loans). Such decertification or adjustments may lead to cancellation of benefits or recoupment by the sponsoring agency for any monies paid to students (or to the University on student’s behalf) for enrolling in these courses; including tuition, fees, housing allowance and book stipends. Such cancellation or recoupment does not negate the student’s financial obligation to the University; they may be held responsible for all charges incurred for the courses in which they are enrolled.
*Students utilizing VA Benefits to pay for courses are prohibited from using this method of course delivery. Only Guided Student (GS) courses and Online (OL) courses are eligible. Students wishing to take methods other than GS and OL must pay out of pocket at the time of registration to use this method of course delivery.
