"Big Three" DL College Feature/Cost Comparison

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by michaelaptos, Jan 14, 2004.

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  1. michaelaptos

    michaelaptos New Member

    Hello,
    First, I'm impressed with the usefulness of this site... just what I've been needing.
    I'm wondering if anyone has come across or even tried to create a formal cost comparison--for fixed costs--of the "big three" DL schools?
    There are many variables when it comes to degree cost, but a comparison of enrollment costs, per-credit/unit costs, maintenance fees and the like would be invaluable. A cost comparison table, offset by highlighted features, would be incredibly useful to so many people who, like me, and as indicated by other discussion threads, have to dig long and hard--or learn the hard way--to compare costs and benefits across schools.
    And it occurs to me now that the previous "big three" thread, offering at least an informal random opinion poll, is a sort of epinion (epinions.com) of the top DL schools. A DL feedback/rating application... what a great tool that would be for prospective DL enrollees, like me! Especially while some among us easily stray off topic.
     
  2. Hi Michael,

    One thing that is a variable with the per-credit costs is the administrative fee for each CLEP or DANTES exam (if you're doing the majority of the credits via testing). For example, CLEP charges $50 but my local testing center adds $30 per exam (or $5-10 per credit depending on the exam). DANTES exams are $45 but my center only adds $5, making it a comparative bargain. On a per-exam basis this cost is minimal, but if you take 20-30 of these exams it can add up significantly. ECE and TECEP exams also tend to be more expensive per credit, and if you need a proctor for TECEP exams (ECE are taken at Prometric) this can add $50-$75/exam.

    The expense for learning materials also varies widely. Some people already have the practical knowledge and experience on a subject and therefore may just need a refresher in the form of a condensed study guide (such as COMEX, CliffsNotes, etc.) Others may need (or want) to explore the subject in more detail and therefore purchase multiple texts.

    So, the additional per-credit fee above a CLEP or DANTES exam could be as low as $0-$5 (small or no proctor fee + study guide or internet review), to $20-30 (a couple of texts purchased on half.com or amazon's used list + a more substantial proctor fee) to $100+ (all recommended texts, latest edition, new at the bookstore + proctor fee).

    This cost per credit can be reduced if you take "big bang" exams such as the GRE or the CLEP foreign language exams which can give you 12-30 credits in one exam.

    Also, if you need foreign credits evaluated then you need to factor in ~$250 for ECE (with Excelsior - don't know about the other evaluators accepted by COSC or TESC).

    For Excelsior, I'm paying around $1000 for the initial fee, around $500 for the graduation fee, and I estimate around $3500 for the exams and books...about $5K all up (I don't plan on paying the maintenance fee).

    Except for TESC's "all you can eat" option of a consolidated enrollment+course/exam fee, I think that the Big 3 are pretty much similar in total fixed expense, although TESC may be a bit more if you are not a NJ resident.

    Without getting into perception-related issues (such as people loving or hating a particular college's name), I have seen the following:

    - benefits of Excelsior are that you have an actual major, and they will give credit for IT certifications such as MSCE. People tend to comment negatively on their stingy allowance for foreign credit (when evaluated by ECE) or military credit, and lackluster customer service.

    - benefits of COSC are that the program can be very flexible (combining disciplines such as business and IT in one degree), have good customer services and they will give credit via portfolio. Negatives tend to be that their degrees are only in General Studies (i.e. a Computer Science "degree" would actually be in General Studies with a Concentration in Computer Science).

    - can't really comment on TESC as I only really looked closely at Excelsior and COSC but I know they do portfolio evaluations as well (see the articles on this site which provide more info).

    Hope this helps a bit - maybe others can comment on COSC costs and about TESC to give a balanced view.

    Cheers,
    Mark
     
  3. michaelaptos

    michaelaptos New Member

    "Big Three" DL College Feature/Cost Comparison

    Thanks Mark, very helpful... more detail than expected. Am leaning towards COSC and for testing out via CLEP for as much credit as possible (should be fine except for the math... yikes). TESC's "all you can eat" per year option would be a slam dunk if not for my being out of state (5k is a lot of money). Still, outside testing expenses and the like aside, cross-college cost comparison is possible. Also useful, in case the creators of this site would like to collaborate with me on creating such a utility, I'd love to see an epinion.com type DL college rating/feedback system, with some sort of side-by-side comparison feature. Wouldn't you? Could save days, weeks and dollars.... I'm a cautions decision maker and I'd give such a tool much use.

    Not too off topic I hope: As a web developer I also tend to judge schools by the thought and effort given to their web site... especially relevant given the "distance" in DL and time/distribution efficiency of the web. The web is still very underutilized, in my opinion, by DL institutions. By far TESC has the most comprehensive and comprehensible site. COSC is second of the "big" three and Excelsior is dead last, if not for content then definitely for organization (page and site) and navigation. How much this reflects on the nature of the institution is debatable, but in my professional experience it relflects on them to fair degree.

    Thanks again,
    Michael
     
  4. I agree 100% with respect to your website opinion - I go to Excelsior's site quite often and still can't easily find links...even though I know where they are :confused: This is more amazing these days when you can buy great Dreamweaver templates on the web at nominal expense...

    The other thing that makes me laugh/cringe/whatever is the sign that is held up by some children of a commencement ceremony attendee: "way to go mommy your the best". Cute, but not what lends credibility to an academic institution...

    ...obviously the kids didn't have to meet the Written English requirement :)

    I will say that there is a fair amount of content and information available to enrolled students. How much I don't know because I really don't use it. To paraphrase Julius Caesar I only look at 3 things from Excelsior, "I enroll, I test, I graduate with a regionally accredited degree".

    Cheers,
    Mark
     
  5. MarkIsrael@aol.com

    [email protected] New Member

    GuitarMark2000 writes:

    > I go to Excelsior's site quite often and still can't easily find
    > links...


    Google to the rescue! You want to find Darwinism at Excelsior? Search on Google for:
    site:.excelsior.edu darwinism
     
  6. SJEditor

    SJEditor New Member

    Hey Michael,
    I agree with you on the usefulness of a cost grid, especially for those of us to gravitate toward spreadsheets. I created a rough spreadsheet of the Big 3 for my own situation and it allowed me to make more of an apples-apples comparison (of course within three months all the fees had changed, but at least I had something). Two programs ended up costing virtually the same, with the third about $250 higher. With no clear winner, I wasted an inordinate amount of time splitting hairs and trying to find that "secret" degree that had yet to hit the discussion forums. Ultimately, it took about four years to complete my BA and it was roughly broken down thusly -- 39 months of procrastination followed by 9 months of taking tests, completing DL courses and satisfying degree requirements.
    Were I to do it again, I'd flip a coin, send in my check and get on with it.
    Cheers,
    Dan
     
  7. michaelaptos

    michaelaptos New Member

    Point well taken Dan. My three years of excuses and procrastination just ran out....
     
  8. etech

    etech New Member

    maybe degreeinfo admins can have this info (or even compiled ones from different posts) as a sticky so any new member can find info on big 3 quickly.
     
  9. seekinghelp

    seekinghelp New Member

    You've already determined that TESC is too expensive (me, too!). So you are down to comparing just two. Excelsior's website is awful, you'd think with thousands and thousands of students they'd have a more user friendly site.

    I don't know about needing hi-tech to compare, maybe I'm just old. I just took a sheet of paper and drew a line down the center and listed the fees, figured the tests I needed and added it all together. I would think the costs of tests and/or classes would vary so much it would be difficult. And study materials makes it even more so.

    Or are you talking about adding all DL schools to the spreadsheet? I've been looking at DL about 8 weeks now and there are hundreds of programs. If you include all DL, you'd be forever updating it. I agree it would sure be useful but it's seems you'd never get your degree for always comparing schools. Well, good luck with it, hope you figure something out.
     

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