Sergio Rodriguez received his Associate of Arts in Mechanical Engineering from Miami-Dade Community College and his Bachelor of Science in Applied Science and Technology with a concentration in Software Engineering from Thomas Edison State College. After completing his associate degree, Sergio first attended Florida International University as a third-year transfer student in pursuit of a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and successfully completed 24 credits towards the program. However, due to the time constraints of his full-time job and the responsibilities of his growing family, he found it very difficult to enroll in several of their mechanical engineering courses, most of which were only offered in the mornings or early afternoons. This dilemma led Sergio to meet with his advisor who recommended that he transition into an engineering program that would allow him the flexibility to complete his degree in the evenings and on the Internet. The decision to change his engineering major is what led Sergio to transfer over to Thomas Edison State College and ultimately graduate with a bachelor’s degree in software engineering.

Sergio graduated from Thomas Edison State College in June of 2015. However, Thomas Edison State College became Thomas Edison State University in December of 2015. In the process of transitioning to "University" status, the leadership decided to make changes to several of their academic programs. In doing so, some were combined while others were completely eliminated, the BSAST in Computer Science (with the software engineering option) being one of them. As a university, they still offer the BSAST degree, however, the areas of study are more generalized now.

While he was a student, Sergio was informed by his advisor of the possible changes that were being discussed by staff members. He was also reassured that any future changes to their degree programs would not affect his degree in any way. Especially since he would be completing his degree and graduating long before any changes were to take place. In addition, Thomas Edison State College was fully accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, as is Thomas Edison State University today. This is the same regional accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education that accredits higher education institutions located in the northeastern region of the United States (e.g. Cornell, Princeton, Georgetown, Villanova, Syracuse, Lafayette, Penn State, and NYU).

In anticipation of these upcoming changes, Sergio took a screenshot of his degree program’s webpage to save for future reference, which can be seen below. In addition to satisfying all the courses listed, Sergio satisfied all electives by solely taking software engineering related courses. This enabled him to successfully complete all of the college's curriculum requirements for a Bachelor of Science in Applied Science and Technology degree with an area of study in Computer Science and a concentration in Software Engineering.