DETC Schools w/ACE evaluated courses

Hey good people,

Anyone know of any schools with ACE evaluated courses? DETC is good but not totally needed. Looking for a few other options for credit.

Business or General Ed. would be good but, not the end all.

So far I have Education direct and the USDA.

The USDA is a new one on me. They have a Graduate school (that's what they call it) that is very interesting. Some of you should check it out. They carry some really interesting courses.

here's the link:

http://grad.usda.gov/cgi-bin/sb/nav.cgi/aip=815280w3M6Z,00XWt3ZT8gtvQs,Mgl,DsSCk.?nav=100383

 

That was weird . . . I got am email saying that someone responded to my thread then, there wasn't one there?


hmmm . . .

 

Hi - Your message confused me a little since at first I thought you did not want DETC schools, and then listed Ed Direct. So, just in case you are interested in other DETC schools that have done ACE credit recommendations I have copied the list below from the
DETC website. The best way might be to check the database at the ACE site. I believe you can search on topics and/or schools.

Good luck



Allied Business Schools
American Academy of Nutrition
American Health Science University
American Military University
Applied Professional Training, Inc.
Art Instruction Schools
California College for Health Sciences
The Catholic Distance University
Education Direct
Institute of Logistical Management
National Association Medical Staff Services
Seminary Extension Independent Study Institute

 

ACE Reviews

Mary A,

Aspen is not on the ACE CREDIT list? Could you explain why your school has chosen not to participate? As I am sure you are aware, ACE reviews significantly ease existing transfer barriers. Why not do everything possible to help your student body?

I spoke with ACE CREDIT about a month ago to learn more about the process. The costs seemed reasonable, especially considering the utility gained. What am I missing?

I can understand properly accredited schools resenting having to spend the extra money. But the fact remains, DETC credits have lower utility levels. Until the credit transfer problems are remedied, the ACE recommendation process should be utilized. In my opinion, anything less demonstrates a blatant disregard for student success.

 

Re: ACE Reviews

Aspen has chosen not to partipate in the ACE process for a couple of reasons. In the early years when we only offered graduate education the majority of the ACE recommendations were for undergraduate work. As time went on, money WAS an issue in the process - for all of our programs to undergo the review the out of pocket expense was about $50k. Add the time expense and it just wasn't in the budget. During that time Aspen and its predecessor, ISIM, has been successful at having its credits accepted at a number of RA schools and indeed a number of its graduates accepted into RA doctoral programs from which they have graduated. It is not in our plans to seek ACE recommendation and for now I do not see that changing.

Mary A

 

DETC, ACE, Law School, Faculty Hiring

Thanks for the response, Mary A. If money is that much of an issue for Aspen, your explanation is a reasonable one. If obtaining ACE reviews will put your school in an unstable financial position, they are not worth it. However, whenever financially possible, it is my belief that ACE recommendations should be sought; even for graduate level courses. This is mainly because I hate to see hard working DETC students hit dead ends. Successful ACE reviews help to ensure that students will be able to move on.

You stated that many of your graduates have moved on to RA doctoral programs. I noticed the same thing while browsing this and other DL forums. It is definitely inspiring to see DETC grads find a way to become legitimate doctors. However, it seems to me that many of the RA doctoral programs they graduate from are of the DL variety. Capella seems to be a favorite among those who have chosen go the DETC to RA PhD route.

While schools like Capella, Northcentral, Walden, etc are all fine choices, they should not be the only properly accredited options available to DETC graduates. Several doctoral programs I spoke with over the years said they would accept DETC Master’s grads into their doctoral programs, but only if the curriculum courses were ACE reviewed. St. Ambrose is the first school that comes to mind.

In any event, are you aware of any Aspen graduates who were able to move on to traditional (primarily campus based) doctoral programs? Have any Aspen grads moved on to doctoral programs at schools not unlike say Temple, Villanova, or Rutgers? In my opinion, that would be the true test of DETC degree utility.

Also, Mary A., a few recommendations, if I might……

I am a second year law student. About 2 years ago I began applying to JD programs (tiers 1 through 4) all across the U.S. As a result, I became very familiar with law school admissions policies and procedures. It is clear to me that a majority of ABA approved law schools are more than willing to admit NA undergraduate degree holders. Most law schools require an acceptable LSAT score, an appropriate uGPA, and a bachelor’s degree from a school properly accredited by any recognized regional or national association.

So my question is this: Why is Education Direct the only DETC institution to register a school code (7025) with the Law School Admissions Council? It is definitely not necessary to register an LSAC code, but I can’t think of one good reason not to. I believe that an LSAC school code on the LSDAS report, will give the applicant more credibility. This is because if the school has no LSAC code, the LSDAS report will show “Misc2yr 1000” or “Misc4yr 2000”. This could end up making law school admissions committees suspicious. Why not take a few minutes, contact lsac.org, and register Aspen?

As an aside, while on the topic of law school, I wanted to point out a strange anomaly. Notwithstanding the policies in place at many ABA approved law schools, Concord actually refuses to admit those with undergrad degrees from schools not accredited by the DETC or regional bodies. So basically, ACICS, ACCSCT, TRACS, etc. degree holders can gain admissions in to top ABA approved U.S. law schools, but not into Concord. Are they insane?? You would think that as victims of accreditation discrimination, Concord would have an extremely fair admissions policy in place. I just don’t get it?!?!

Finally, Mary A, I wanted to voice my concerns regarding DETC faculty hiring. I recently scanned the faculty lists at several DETC institutions, and what I found upsets me. It appears as if DETC schools have no interest in hiring DETC grads to act as online instructors. It is a shame the DETC schools show little or no faith in their products. There is no reason why DETC graduate degree holders should be prohibited from instructing undergraduate classes. If DETC schools refuse to hire DETC instructors, why would any RA institution be expected to? Do you have any thoughts on this?

Thanks for your time!

 

Hi - you have addressed several issues in your email and I will try to respond.

First, money is not the reason Aspen does not seek ACE recommendation today. It WAS the reason we did not in the past.

Second, you are correct that the students who have gone from our school have gone on to non-traditional RA Ph.D. programs. I don't have statistics on students who have sought enrollment at traditional schools to complete a doctorate. Given that our students sought a non-traditional master's program for its convenience and flexibility I can only guess that is why they don't seek admission to brick and mortar programs. I can tell you that if an Aspen graduate seeks enrollment in a school and is denied due to the accredited status of Aspen we will and have worked with them and the school of their choice to get them admitted. That is the behavior that resulted in our students being some of the first ones to be accepted to Capella and Walden.

Third, on the Law School Code, to be honest it is the first I have heard of it and will certainly take the time to find out what we need to do to register a school code.

Fourth, on Concord, I have no idea why they have the admissions criteria that they do. Have you asked them about it?

Fifth, on the issue of hiring faculty. There are reasons beyond your assumption that DETC schools do not wish to hire teachers with DETC degees. At Aspen we have in fact used some of our graduates to teach - particularly now that we have a Bachelor's program. We like using them because they know what is expected of our teachers. For many schools the reason could be that there weren't that many DETC graduates who met the qualifications. Aspen has been offering accredited graduate degrees for only ten years and we were one of the first. Give us some time - although to be honest this feels like a darned if we do, darned if we don't situation. If we hire lots of DETC graduates to teach we could be exposed to criticism that our faculty are not as good as they should be - given the biases that already exist. If we use RA teachers then people like yourselves challenge us for not hiring more DETC graduates. Perhaps the most significant reason has to do with the standards. Since there are no DETC Ph.Ds and the requirement is that the instructors should have a degree one higher than the one they are teaching in many schools had to go to RA faculty. So you see, it is more complicated than you might think.

Best,
Mary A

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond, Mary A. I appreciate your explanations and points of view.

As far as Concord goes, yes I did ask them about their admissions policy. After reading their website, I contacted them to learn more. Basically, I was curious to see if they would admit an ACICS graduate. They responded with an emphatic no.

On a side note, do you happen to have any inside info on he proposals made by Rep McKeon (R-CA)? In my opinion, the credit transfer provision is excellent. http://www.mckeon.house.gov/Issues/Issue/?IssueID=174

 

No, no inside information, just watching it unfold along with a whole lot of other folks interested in the outcome.

 

If you support this provision, this is the time to let your representatives in Congress know. The regional accrediting bodies and ACE are lobbying against it.