Excelsior becomes more expensive

Hello,

I've learned that Excelsior raises its fees starting July 1. Does somebody know more about the new rates and how this will affect students that have enrolled before July 1?
Incidentally, how often do such increases happen and does someone remember the last time Regents/Excelsior did it?

Thanks,

Dennis Siemens

 

Sometime in late 1995/early 1996, and at least one time between then and now, but not often, and not usually by much. I'll be very interested in seeing what the new rates turn out to be.


Peace,

------------------
Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

 

To be honest I don't remember the rates ever going up during my time of enrollment there. (But I really only did my last "year" of school there ....)

 

Regent College is dead - Excelsior is lost and no longer at that level, their customer service is BAD, and they no longer foster the value of non-traditional education.

Also the credit banking department is lost in space, as well as their credit review program.

I would stay away - sorry Excelsior,

Feedback from a grad from the old "REGENTS COLLEGE"

 

I haven't had any serious issues with Excelsior yet. They missed a class on one of the transcripts that I sent in, but corrected it quickly once I pointed it out to them. On some of the tests that I took, they counted the result as lower level credit despite their own literature indicating that it was upper level. Again, this was corrected. Their response time seems reasonable to me (less than a week response to emails). I wouldn't call them "great", but as a low maintenence student, I have had a positive experience.

 

Fees are not the only thing going up at Excelsior. I notice in the credit by exam guide, http://www.excelsior.edu/exold/pdf/studntgd.pdf , that minimum scores for a 'C' will be raised to 50 on all CLEP tests for which Excelsior gives a letter grade effective July 1st. Apparently the scores required for higher grades will change also, but haven't been established yet. For a few of the tests, such as Micro, this may make a significant difference.

Does anyone know if this reflects changes in the ACE recommendations or is Excelsior simply revising their own standards?

------------------
Bill Gossett

 

Mike,

The Excelsior customer service is better than most schools, but worse than most service organizations. Room for improvement? Yes, bad? No.

They no longer foster the value of non-traditional education? With all due respect (and not intending to sound rude): Are you insane? They are a purely virtual school. Without non-traditional education they fail to exist.

It sounds as if you have had some serious problems with them. Most places will drop the ball on SOMEONE given enough time. I highly suggest you contact someone higher up at the school and see if you can get them to work out your issues for you.

Ellis Z.
B.S. CIS - Regents College
M.I.T. - Amer. Intercontinental University (Cand.)

 

Ellis, I agree with you, I got my BS from Regents in 93. Over the past 6 months I have received over 30 e-mails from students complaining about the CHANGE in the management @ Excelsior.

I have to say that my experience was good, If you called them lately, ITS REAL BAD

I'm concern because I'm afraid that the boat is sinking - I wish USNY sill had control, because soon it's going to be over

Mike

 

I called them a few months ago and, while they weren't quite as warm and cuddly as they were when I did my USNY BA in '96, I certainly didn't pick up the impression that "the boat is sinking." Given that they're the only university to officially offer credit for the MCSE exams, I suspect the major reason their service is sub-par at the moment is that they're being flooded with applicants. Which might also explain why they upped the tuition, for that matter.


Peace,

------------------
Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

 

They were overloaded with work two years ago. (Small_staff + huge_student_body == overworked_stressed_staff)

If they have not hired more people than this is a product of staffing.

Eventually they will rectify it. They are not going to go away.

(Now if I could get my current schools financial aid department to stop moving like slugs on salt ....)

 

This is the major point that I think we should make -- Excelsior's overhead is so phenomenally small, as institutions of higher education go, that they're in no danger of going bankrupt. The worst that could happen would be that they might get bought out, but I don't see even that as very likely.

Peace,

------------------
Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

 

By the way, what happens to your transcripts etc. if a school runs out of business? Are they being kept somewhere and is it possible to transfer them to another school?

Thanks,

Dennis Siemens

 

This varies from situation to situation. Sometimes another school takes the records and takes on the task of issuing transcripts, verifying enrollment, etc. Sometimes existing students are transferred as well.

The state government can also step in and take custody of the records.

There may be other possibilities, like a non-school third party who takes on these functions.

Rich Douglas