Which one of the Big Three?

Here's the situation: I have about 90 credits from prior college courses and ACE-reviewed military training. I have another 17 coming from Penn Foster College as soon as I finish the semester. I have no upper division courses/credits. I'm looking to wrap up a BA in Communications or Journalism (which most of my credits pertain to). I am looking to get student aid when I enroll. Which of the Big Three would allow me to earn the BA in the shortest time for the lowest cost?

 

Tesc

Good Morning, If you used the FEMA EMI credits and the 2 (1) credit ACE approved USFA courses would that leave you close to the credit needs? I know the FEMA credits have been discussed at length but they make TESC a cheaper vehicle for matriculation for many. Hille TESC grad

 

Actually, the credits I am short are all general education requirements, with the exception of English Composition (3 credits).

 

EC will accept any and all ACE reviewed credits; why not "apply" and send them your transcripts for review.

 

TCord,

TESC will accept 200-series courses as being upper division. Neither of the other 2 offers this flexibility. That said, TESC still has a requirement that at least 30 hours must be earned from 4-year institutions. Depending on exactly where you earned your credit you may still be 30 hours away regardless of which of the Big 3 you choose.

Pug

 

I earned roughly 80 credits or so through ACE-reviewed military training...mainly communications, journalism and broadcasting courses. I earned another 9 credits through a 4-year university, and another 17 credits are coming from Penn Foster College...primarily Marketing and Business Courses. I have 3 credit hours in English Composition, and about 3 hours in Social Sciences.

If TESC has a requirement that 30 hours come from a 4-year college, then they are out of the running. I am hoping to earn the rest of my credit through CLEP/Dantes testing. Since I am looking for student aid, then I'm guessing Charter Oak State College is really my only other option.

 

Two things to keep in mind:

Graduates from any of the Big 3 will tend to recommend the school from which they graduated - therefore, take everything with a grain of salt.

Also, keep in mind that TESC (and, I would imagine, both of the others, though I've never confirmed it) have a requirement that any transfer credits come from RA schools. Penn Foster is NA but not RA - therefore, my take is that these courses would not transfer to them. That's not to say that you can't approach them on a portfolio basis, but don't expect a direct transfer.

 

I know that is true of some Bachelor of Arts programs - that being the case for my own Natural Sciences/Mathematics degree; you might want to check if it's also true for Communications or Journalism.

TESC's Web site says a maximum of 80 out of the required 120 hours can come from community colleges; the remainder may come from 4-year college or credit granted for CLEP/DANTES exams, professional licensures, prior learning accessment or the other ways listed on their Web site.

As always, confirm what you read here with a phone call to TESC. Policies can change.

Best of luck,
Mark

 

About a year ago I paid $60 for a transcript review from Excelsior. They said I needed about 22 credits to finish my degree, and that wasn't counting the Penn Foster College courses. By the way, most Penn Foster College courses are reviewed by ACE, so despite being NA many colleges WILL accept their courses for transfer credit.

All three of the Big Three advertise the fact that they will accept ACE-reviewed military training, so I'm assuming the majority of these credits will transfer, even if they are applied as electives. I am not familiar with the "30 credits MUST be transferred from an RA college" requirement of TESC. What about those who have earned the majority of their credits from CLEP/DANTES exams and transferred them all into a Big Three school for a degree? The BA in 4 weeks site comes to mind.

 

Steve,

You are right - I always recommend COSC. In this case I would actually recommend TESC due to the upper level credit situation. COSC only took RA credits.

 

EC will take PFC's ACE reviewed courses, most of which are all ACE reviewed now.

 

At TESC, 40 credits must be from a source other than a two year institution. This does not mean they must be from a four year institution. CLEP or other sources of testing are fine.

Many of Penn Foster’s courses are ACE evaluated. You will undoubtedly find some will transfer directly. But some may not, because TESC does not directly accept DETC credit.

This information was current as of the end of 2006. As advised by another person you will want to call and make sure. As you can see, several people here have already given you incorrect advice.

 

To my knowledge, this has never been a policy at TESC. In fact, one could CLEP their way (or use any other exams) to a degree without transferring any courses whatsoever.

When I graduated TESC in 1987, I did it via 98 credits by portfolio, 16 credits by testing out (1 DANTES exam and the rest TECEP's), and transferring in only six credits.

If you are transferring in credits, there is a limit on the number of community or junior college credits they will accept (providing they are RA), but no limit on anything else, nor any minimum on anything but upper level credits.

When I was there, however, they were very liberal at defining "upper level" as anything in a single subject area over six credits. Thus, you could transfer in, say, 12 lower level credits in music - say Piano 101, Brass 101, Woodwinds 101, and Voice 101 - six would stay lower, but six would be considered upper. I cannot tell you whether this is still their policy.

 

If you are transferring in credits, there is a limit on the number of community or junior college credits they will accept (providing they are RA), but no limit on anything else, nor any minimum on anything but upper level credits. >>



Exactly, and the only real trouble this could cause is if you were trying to use all 200 level classes that you took at your community college to get your BA. At TESC you can use 200 level classes to meet your degree requirements! (EC they must be 300 or 400) This is a cost benefit if you are only trying to fulfill your gen ed requirements, because you can use CLEP/DSST exams for that. You can't take CLEP/DSST exams to meet 300 and 400 level courses. You can take exams, but they are expensive.

In my opinion (which is free LOL) you should consider paying for official transcript evaluations at all 3. For about $200 you will have an exact idea of what you need to do. At this point in the game, you are so close to being done, that official advise from the college might be a solid investment. (p.s. look up the courses you KNOW are ACE evaluated so you can be sure the academic evaluators don't over look this- if they do you can point it out to them)

Calculate the costs of all 3, the amount of course work (plus books), and the number of exams you would need to take. Put together a table and you can have a clear picture of which would have the highest utility.

 

I was wrong on TESC's 30 hour requirement from a 4 year school. It is in fact 40 hours from a school other than a 2 year institution. If that takes TESC out of the running for you, you may run into problems at Excelsior and COSC because it looks like you'll be short on the upper division credit those schools require. Most ACE credit I have seen is lower division, Penn Foster is lower division, and most (all?) CLEP is also lower division. I believe Excelsior requires 30 hours of upper division work. I don't know what COSC requires.

Pug

 

Remember that half the battle toward getting a bachelor's degree is to learn how to work the system.

Don't discount the portfolio option (which TESC now calls Prior Learning Assessment). If you can't get credit transferred for your courses at Penn Foster, for example, find course descriptions for the same courses you took at Penn Foster, but find them in the catalogs of RA schools - then submit a portfolio using the Penn Foster course as a foundation for your submission. Be prepared to list your previous textbooks and any other experience relevant to each submission.

For a guideline on how TESC allows this, see: http://www.tesc.edu/prospective/undergraduate/credit/coursedesc.php

It won't work in every instance for a Penn Foster course transfer (just a presupposition), but if it works for some of them, you've lessened the number of credits you have to earn from scratch...

 

I believe I'm going to apply to Charter Oak State College. I emailed them for some more information, and they require 15 hours of upper level credit, and while they may not accept courses from NA schools, they do accept ACE-reviewed courses, which most of my Penn Foster courses are.

Once I get my credit evaluation, I'll post it here.

 

Though I'm an Excelsior grad; I'm thinking that TESC may well be the way to go here with regard to upper levels.

just my opinion - Excelsior will be more particular about those upper levels than will be TESC.

 

Is this a new requirement? I got my degree through TESC and I had a whopping ZERO credits from regionally accredited 4 year institutions. 8 CC credits, 3 FEMA, the rest CLEP and Dantes. My wife's credit distribution was almost identical (more FEMA's being the main difference) and she just was approved for graduation this year.

 

Pug,

Not to pick on you, but TESC has no requirement for "40 hours from a school other than a 2 year institution." Their rule regarding transferred credits is that a maximum of 80 may come from a 2-year institution. The remaining 40 may, but is not required to, come from 4-year institutions; alternatively they may come from prior learning assessment (PLA), CLEP/DANTES, professional licensure, etc.

In fact, there's no requirement that any credit be transferred from a 2- or a 4-year institution; one could follow the Lawrie Miller plan and fulfill degree requirements entirely through testing.

TCord1964, you could probably transfer much (if not all) of your ACE-reviewed NA credits into TESC indirectly through PLA as Steve had mentioned. If you've decided on Charter Oak, then best of luck.

Mark