Hi - I thought I would share the edited text of a message from Exclesior below. The edits are to remove the personal information. Excelsior appears to be moving in the direction of accepting NA credits and specifically DETC credits which is a change from their previous position. Mary A ========= Dear <>: I am writing in response to your recent email message to our Admissions Office regarding your interest in our MBA program and your intention to transfer credits that you've earned at <a DETC accredited school>. First, let me thank you for considering Excelsior College. We are proud of our over 30-year tradition of providing high-quality and flexible degree program options to adult learners throughout the world. I would also like to let you know that our academic affairs staff is in the process of developing a policy governing the process of transfer credit review and acceptance from institutions that have national or professional, but not regional accreditation. I expect that the policy and procedures will be approved within the next few months; once this occurs, we will make the information available to enrolled and prospective students via our website. Please let me know if you have any further questions. Advisement and Evaluation School of Business and Technology Excelsior College
I am sure this question has been asked before.....but.. What other RA schools accept NA credit? I know NCU does...but are there other RA schools...specifically BM schools which accept NA credits?
Matt, I think you can review the list of universities on the "American Council on Education" site... that may very well be a start. --- Mary, this is GREAT NEWS!
From what little I know: St. LEO Capella U of Phoenix NCU are all RA that accept an undergrad NA degree for their Masters programs.
Hmm...all of them big players in the Distance Learning area. Anyone else know of state schools that accept NA degrees/credits?
Here is a helpful database of schools open to accepting NA credits: http://www.chea.org/heta/default.asp
Great news... This is definitely great news for all of the students who worked hard for NA credits and degrees. Excelsior should be proud of their new policy. I wonder what prompted the change? Now, only if TESC would at least update their embarrassing website. http://www.tesc.edu/prospective/undergraduate/credit/transfer.php Thomas Edison State College will not accept in direct transfer credits earned at institutions accredited by other associations, such as the Association of Independent Colleges and Schools, American Association of Bible Colleges, National Association of Trade and Technical Schools, National Home Study Council, and Commission on Recognition of Post-Secondary Accreditation-approved professional schools, which are outside regionally accredited colleges.
Here's a small sampling: http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12190 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12168 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11831 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10101 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9695 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9375 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5891
Maybe someone else will chime in with more threads. Maybe Rich will chime in with his insights on RA and NA.
Hello Everyone, I too tried to transfer over to Excelsior College, but was denied due to my MBA being accredited by the DETC. This fueled my fire to fight the college on this discrimination. With the help of Mr. Lambert (Executive President - DETC), I drafted the following letter to admissions at Excelsior...... Dear Excelsior College Admissions Department, A few days ago, I called the your admissions department with interest in transferring my MBA degree from Columbia Southern University to your MBA program at Excelsior College. As your website states, students can transfer 42 credits into Excelsior MBA program and only be required to take two more classes to receive an MBA from your institution. I was informed that my MBA credits from Columbia Southern University would not transfer over due to CSU being nationally accredited by the Distance Education & Training Council (DETC) (http://www.detc.org). The Commission on Higher Education of MSA has specifically endorsed the CHEA policy statement called "Transfer and the Public Interest." The policy states in part: "Institutions...need to assure that transfer decisions are not made solely on the source of accreditation of a sending...institution." The CHEA endorsement of the above statement suggests to me that they would not object to Excelsior from at least examining my transcripts from a DETC accredited institution. I was surprised that Excelsior would not even consider a transcript from a DETC accredited institution. It is my understanding that half of the public members on the DETC Accrediting Commission were formerly on the Excelsior Board of Visitors. One would think that Excelsior executives would have some confidence in the judgment of these Excelsior Board alumni. My alma mater, CSU, has partnered with six other regionally accredited universities to offer online training to the students of those universities. These institutions include University of North Alabama, University of West Alabama, Trinidad State Junior College, Clinton-Muscatine-Scott Community Colleges (Eastern Iowa), University of West Florida and Northcentral University. This is a vote of confidence in CSU. I understand that federal legislation (HR 609, as amended on July 13) is at this moment moving through the House which, when enacted, will make the practice of refusing to consider credit transfer on the sole basis of the source of accreditation of the sending institution a violation of federal law....maybe now is a good time to position Excelsior to be ahead of the law, which I am told has an excellent chance of enactment within a year or less. Transfer of Credit Alert Over the course of the last three years, as the House of Representatives has unveiled several versions of its bills to reauthorize the Higher Education Act of 1965, we have become increasingly concerned with the bills' unprecedented and intrusive provisions on transfer of credit. The previous iterations of the bill included not only substantive proposals on the process of credit evaluation; they also contained highly burdensome reporting requirements. AACRAO is pleased to note that the most recent version of the bill, a substitute to H.R. 609 (for more information visit http://www.aacrao.org/transcript/index.cfm?fuseaction=show_view&doc_id=2746) has done away with the reporting requirements of the previous versions, and has dropped most of the substantive federal requirements. The bill does, however, continue to contain a "non-discrimination" clause that would prohibit institutions of higher education from basing their credit acceptance policies on the accreditation of sending institutions if the accrediting body is recognized by the Secretary of Education. AACRAO continues to object to the inclusion of this mandate, because institutions should be allowed to exercise their best academic judgment with regard to the terms and conditions that their students must meet to earn their credentials. In addition, we are very concerned that by denying institutions the right to set higher standards than the Secretary, the new federal transfer mandate would eliminate an important tool without providing additional alternatives. Rep. Tim Bishop of New York has proposed a compromise alternative that would require sending institutions-typically nationally accredited schools-whose students have experienced difficulty in transferring their credits to supply such basic information as faculty qualifications, course syllabi, and textbooks used. This approach would ensure that collegiate credit evaluators would have access to at least some basic information about coursework from such institutions. We encourage you to review the Bishop amendment, and inform your member of Congress of your views. Time is of the essence on this important matter. The amendment will be voted on in the subcommittee tomorrow, July 14, 2005. It is important to point out that the Bishop amendment does not require sending institutions to provide any information whatsoever, it only relieves receiving institutions from conducting a course-by-course evaluation for those non-regionally accredited schools that fail to provide this basic information. As such, the amendment strikes a reasonable balance between the interests of the sending and receiving schools. If you feel strongly about this important matter, now is the time to contact Congress. A list of the members of the Subcommittee and their phone numbers are below. It is essential that Members of Congress hear from the college administrators this proposal will affect the most. Thanks in advance for your consideration! Members of the Subcommittee: Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-Calif.) 202-225-4527 Jon C. Porter (R-Nev.) 202-225-3252 John Boehner (R-Ohio) 202-225-4527 Tom Petri (R-Wisc.) 202-225-2476 Michael Castle (R-Del.) 202-225-4165 Sam Johnson (R-Texas) (202) 225-4201 Vernon Ehlers (R-Mich.) (202) 225-3831 Patrick Tiberi (R-Ohio) (202) 225-5355 Ric Keller (R-Fla.) (202) 225-2176 Tom Osborne (R-Neb.) 202-225-6435 Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) 202-225-6030 Cathy McMorris (R-Wash.) 202-225-2006 Tom Price (R-Ga.) 202-225-4501 Louis G. Fortuno (R-P.R.) 202-225-2615 Charles Boustany (R-La.) 202-225-2031 Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) 202-225-2071 Thelma Drake (R-Va.) 202-225-4215 Randy Kuhl (R-N.Y.) 202-225-3161 Dale Kildee (D-Mich.) 202-225-3611 Donald Payne (D-N.Y.) 202-225-3436 Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) 202-225-5516 John Tierney (D-Mass.) 202-225-8020 Ron Kind (D-Wisc.) 202-225-5506 David Wu (D-Ore.) 202-225-0855 Rush Holt (D-N.J.) 202-225-5801 Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) 202-225-6631 Chris VanHollen (D-Md.) 202-225-5341 Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) 202-225-5261 Robert Scott (D-Va.) 202-225-8351 Susan Davis (D-Calif.) 202-225-2040 John Barrow (D-Ga.) 202-225-2823 Major Owens (D-N.Y.) 225-225-6231 **** American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 520, Washington, DC 20036 (202) 293-9161 To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.aacrao.org/unsubscribe Your response and feedback regarding this matter would be greatly appreciated. Jamie Gauthier - MBA (xxx) xxx-xxxx (Home) [removed by moderator] (xxx) xxx-xxxx (Cell) [removed by moderator] I then received this response a week later........... Dear Mr. Gauthier: I am writing in response to your recent email message to our Admissions Office regarding your interest in our MBA program and your intention to transfer credits that you've earned at Columbia Southern University. First, let me thank you for considering Excelsior College. We are proud of our over 30-year tradition of providing high-quality and flexible degree program options to adult learners throughout the world. I would also like to let you know that our academic affairs staff is in the process of developing a policy governing the process of transfer credit review and acceptance from institutions that have national or professional, but not regional accreditation. Columbia Southern University, with DETC accreditation, is one such institution. I expect that the policy and procedures will be approved within the next few months; once this occurs, we will make the information available to enrolled and prospective students via our website. Please let me know if you have any further questions. Sincerely, Anne F. Connor Director of Advisement and Evaluation School of Business and Technology Excelsior College Phone: (518)464-8711 Fax: (518)464-8777 [email protected]
Jamie, let me compliment you on your effort. It has been my experience that a professional dialog usually will result in a positive response. As Rich would say, I took my CSU MBA out for a spin and was able to get several universities to either accept it as qualifying or to reduce the number of credits required for another degree. By that I mean they wouldn't transfer credit since the credits were part of a degree but they would allow the coursework to exempt me from some classes based upon completing similar classes at CSU. While not perfect it did show me that at least folks were willing to listen. I did not deal with the first admissions person but rather struck up a dialog with the graduate school dept head. A point that I like to make is that all my professors for my courses at CSU held RA terminal degrees or equivalent. My suspicion is that NA credits will eventually be accepted and allowed for whatever nominal credits a school normally allows. While not much it will be a start. Best wishes and good luck on your pursuit. Kevin
An excellent and well worded letter. Personally I have read the mission statements regarding Excelsior and how they started up...then to find out about how limiting they were in their acceptance of non RA credits. It always struck me as hypocritical.
jagmct1, If you believe that your MBA from a DETC school is comparable to one from a regionally accredited school, then why are you trying to use it to get one from a regionally accredited school like Excelsior? -=Steve=-
DETC and RA - Comparable? .... Comparable in quality and rigor? Yes, maybe even more so. Did you get a chance to read the recent SCUPS to NCU transfer threads? Both schools apparently have similar syllabi and course work, and both have (or had) common ownership. One is regionally accredited, and the other remains unaccredited as a flat out DETC reject. Comparable in utility? Probably not; at least not until HR 609, or its substitute, is passed and signed into law by the majority party. The regionals had their shot at institutional autonomy, and they blew it. They treated people unfairly for illogical reasons, and now may suffer the consequences for it. But, the feds have no business regulating in this area, right? Normally I’d agree, but not this time. Properly accredited schools receive much of their tuition money from Title IV programs. And forcing students to repeat coursework only because regional accreditors do not like national accreditors (who have the same level of government recognition) is simply unfair. Wasting money and time completing duplicate coursework serves no legitimate purpose. Increased time in school and larger student loans debts all in the name of autonomy certainly does not benefit the American public. In any case, jagmct1’s decision to seek a second MBA may not even be related to DETC v RA comparability. I notice how some people get an extra BA or BS from one of the test out schools just because they can do so quickly. I also noticed how some people decide to pursue second MBAs in different concentration areas. Our friend Ted Heiks may be one such example? So, maybe Excelsior has an MBA concentration that jagmct1 is interested in, or maybe he just wants to avoid any potential degree utility problems. Hopefully, he’ll explain his rationale to us.
Honestly, I'm unsure if I'll pursue another MBA with Excelsior or not. I challenged Exclsior not so much on my own merit (although it was worded that way), but for DETC graduates in general. If I have to, I'll write letters to every RA school regarding this matter Although, with the 42 credit transfer available and having to only take two more classes to get another MBA from another school is not such a bad deal. I've attended and have graduated from two regional accredited schools. One was for my reserve police academy Cabrillo College (WASC) (6 months) and the other was for my full-time police academy Evergreen Valley College (WASC) (6 months). I have not attended a regionally accredited graduate program and would be possibly interested, out of sheer curiosity, to see if the RA school is in fact more or less academically challenging. And of course, the stigma of DETC vs. RA (which will slowly diminish with time a federal law), I would like to have the utility of an RA masters to teach someday. Plus, why not get a second master's from another school.
Personally I applaud your efforts. Also Bush04 is right on with Federally subsidised schools wasting money of tax payers and students (who incidentally pay taxes as well) all in the name of what? Snottery? (I know it's not a word, but it should be.) America must be the only country (correct me if I am wrong please) where a government or THE government will recognize a degree and the institution that granted it, yet a non-governmental private organization (are accreditors for profit?) third party can refuse to recognize the degree and then turn around and ask the government for money and recognition. Silly isn't the word for it.