Continuing Education Units (CEUs)...what are they good for?

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong forum. I did a search for my question but got zilch.

I try to find programs that give traditional college credit, but I am looking at the eCornell programs which award CEUs. What exactly are CEUs good for? Can I bank them and use them to fulfill requirements at colleges for traditional classroom-based study? Would Cornell consider my CEUs when considering my application for a grad program at their school? If not, why not? How does one schools view the CEUs from another school? Are there industry regulations, standardizations or accreditation rules that apply?

 

I think CEUs are not very useful - they just show that you attended a course for a certain length of time. I've never heard of an RA school giving credit towards a degree for CEUs. Anyone can offer CEUs.
The one area where they might be useful is the Credit via Portfolio route; the CEU can be one of the indicators that substantiate your independant learning learning.

Wiki says it helps some professionals that require continuing education.
Continuing education unit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Hi

Yes indeed. As Ian mentioned, they're often required for professionals to maintain licensing. I know nursing requires them and there are several CEU providers that specialize in courses for them - do the course and test on line and get your CEUs as soon as you pass. One CEU (I think) corresponds to 10 contact hours. (Yes it does. Just confirmed.)

We had a thread before that mentioned the same info, except the CEU was wrongly equated to one contact-hour. Here it is: http://www.degreeinfo.com/off-topic-discussions/10638-continuing-education-units.html

I remember a long tme ago (in a forum far away) there were enquiries from people hoping to convert their CEUs into college credit-hours. One individual had 180 CEUs and hoped to convert them to 120 credit-hours for a bachelor's degree. Needless to say - it never happened and members agreed that the chances of ANY CEU-to credit-hour direct conversions are minimal. Not zero, but close enough for all practical purposes.

if anybody knows of any exceptions --- I'm sure there are many CEU holders who would like to know!

Johann

 

I have taught CE classes for a long time, my students are housewives who want to learn how to make sushi - NOTHING in my class is relevant to the person trying to become a restaurant cook/chef. In fact, if someone came in and told me they had taken all these CE courses and wanted to become a chef, I'd have a hard time not rolling my eyes. (and maybe I'd even wonder how much undoing I'd have to do?)
How does this relate to Cornell? Will it help you get into the college? Who knows what they think of their own CEU, but I don't suspect any of the adcoms would take notice. I doubt it's meant for "their own" to become educated, it's likely intended for "others." If you still need credits/a degree before you can apply to Cornell as a student, use your money for the credit courses and go directly through admissions...unless of course you are totally wealthy, because a Cornell degree is going to cost you a few bucks.

 

Some CEU classes, if you pay extra 100 for proctored exam and get ACE credit for the classes.

 

Actuallly many certification boards and licensure boards require a certain number of CEU's to maintain the credential. As a certified rehabilitation counsleor I have 100 contact hours of training each 5 years. Depending on the school this is 10 CEU credits (10 contact hours per CEU)

 

Many CAGS also are translated into CEUs.

 

Thanks folks. This cleared it up for me.