Hi. I hope that I am posting this in the right forum. I have searched and been unable to find the answer. My step-son has an associate degree, and also he has attended and has many "W" 's on his transcripts. He has transcripts with Chattanooga State, Dalton College, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Draughon's, -I think that's all. He wants to obtain a BS in Liberal Studies through Excelsior, so that he can have one transcript without all the bad grades. We found out that the federal government will still require copies of all of his transcripts though. Anyway, our question is this: We are in the process of having all of his transcripts sent to Excelsior. Draughons is closed now, and we are having trouble finding someone to send an official transcript. Once we do send all of his official transcripts from the appropriate school or agency, does the college then send off for another official transcript to verify? The reason for asking is that it is taking us a long time to deal with the State of Tennessee to find official transcripts for Draughons. So, if it is taking us this long, will it take even longer for the evaulation from Excelsior? (My step son has already taken these exams: DANTES Soviet Union-59 Business Law II-53 Drug Abuse-49 Criminal Justice-60) In closing, my advice to all (I have been reading this forum carefully and now know the differences) is to chose a school for you or your family that is regionally accredited. My step-son went to this ACIS nationally accredited school, but they went out of business and now we have problems getting transcripts. My other advice (from reading this great forum) is that Excelsior seems to be a very good school to obtain a BS degree through testing locally. Please forgive me for writing about so many things. Good night and thanks.
My experience with Excelsior is that you have two options: The first is to have transcripts sent directly to them from any school. The second is to have transcripts sent directly to you and then to forward them unopenned to Excelsior. In either case, I am not aware of them ever requesting a verification transcript. On another note, I have had very good results getting Tennessee state schools to send transcripts wherever I want, free of charge. I am not familliar with Draughon's, but you if it is a public school, you might try calling another Tennessee board of regents school, and then getting the contact information for the Board of Regents records office in Nashville. Daniel
Good Questions You ask some very good questions. First, with regard to the grades of "W" it is my understanding that Excelsior will not have a problem with accepting the student into there program provided that they have graduated from high school. The "W" grades stand for "withdrawn" and this actually is better then him receiving an "F" for a grade. Even in the case of an "F" grade, this would not be reflected on his Excelsior transcript. The only courses that would show up on the transcript is those classes with a grade of "C" or higher, and from what I have been told, Excelsior will note what the classes were, what the grade received was, and also where these credits were transferred from. (They will accept a grade of "D" but I think it is only in non-concentrated areas.) In terms of the scores that he received on his exams that you listed, I am not familar with what and how Excelsior would transfer them in. The best advise I would have for you is to go to there website and contact an admissions representative and see if these scores are sufficient for credit. With respect to the problem of getting a transcript from the one school that you mentioned, I am sure that there is a record of it somewhere, as all accredited schools are required to keep on record transcripts of grades for all students regardless if they have graduated or not. Excelsior is a good choice, and you might even want to check out Charter Oak State College as well. The more options you have the better. You're absolutely right, that regional accreditation is the best way to go to have your degree accepted. Let us know how you make out, and also good luck! (If you are sending an official transcript -- colleges will generally accept them as long as they are marked "official" and have not been opened. There is no verification that needs to take place. The only time there are questions are when they need to have a catalog or course description, to see how they would be transferred into there college, and this is the only time that there usually is any questions.)
Draughhons I am not sure I understand the problem with Draughons. This school is alive and well. I know they shut the Chattanooga school down but there are still several locations operating in many other cities. www.Draughonscitysearch.com The Nashville office is... Draughons Jr. College 340 Plus Park Blvd. Nashville, TN 37217 615-361-7555 Surly they can help you get your transcripts. Hope this helps. Herb
Jacques, if you care to PM me you can provide additional information on what the Federal Government actually needs and I may be able to offer some insight. I am not sure of the sensitivity of the need so I won't ask. Generally, transcripts are required if you are using the education to fulfill a requirement for employment (normally, in lieu of experience). Only passing (read "C") grades count for this purpose. If the need is for military I can also offer some insight in that direction. In any case I have found the members of this board to be very insightful and as they have pointed out, the "search" feature may provide information that will help. Good luck.
Draughons address Chris, Thank you for correcting the www address. I simply copied the information out of the Nashville phone book and it does not show the period! Glad you caught it. Thanks, Herb
Has Excelsior told you that they will accept credits from a non-RA school? If not, you may be going through a lot of work for nothing. There are RA schools that will accept NA credits, but I don't think Excelsior is one of them.
reply Excelsior will accept credits from nationally accredited schools that are Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) and also through the ACE (American Council on Education.)
I don't think they will accept DETC w/o ACE evaluation. I also believe that ACE only evaluates individual courses, so it is possible some courses will be transferable and others won't. In any event, Excelsior seems like a great opportunity for him to tie his learning together and earn a degree.
Dave is correct. In Excelsior's catalogue http://www.excelsior.edu/pdf/Liberal_Arts_Catalog.pdf under "Sources of Undergraduate Credit", it says: "College-level credit from any degree granting institution accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) that also has been approved and recommended by the American Council on Education’s (ACE) College Credit Recommendation Service will be applicable."
