Transfer Credit - Times are Changing

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Mary A, Jun 23, 2008.

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  1. Mary A

    Mary A Member

    Before sharing my thoughts, in the interest of full disclosure, for those who don't know, I am president of a DETC accredited institution as well as a commissioner of the DETC.

    The transfer credit issue is one I have dealt with and followed for 20 years. I helped to start an online university offering Master's degrees in 1988. NA schools, DETC in particular, and transferability of credit have long been a topic on this and other forums so I thought participants might be interested to know what I have learned based on a limited survey, but relevant nonetheless.

    It appears that some of the well-known distance universities that have been cited often on the forums as dismissing credits from students that were earned at DETC accredited institutions have changed their policies. DETC graduates and students are able to have their credits and degrees accepted at RA institutions in increasing numbers.

    This appears to be part of a national trend where DETC accreditation is gaining more and more acceptance at more regionally accredited institutions.

    To illustrate the point, I know that the following RA institutions have advised DETC that credits from DETC institutions will be considered and can and have been accepted as appropriate to particular degree programs: Excelsior College, The Union Institute, Charter Oak College (via portfolio assessment), three of the schools previously reported as refusing to accept credits earned at DETC schools.

    Additionally, the Middle States Association Commission on Higher Education has informed all of their institutions that that cannot reject any nationally accredited credit in transfer strictly because it is coming from a non-regionally accredited institution.

    This isn't to say the issue doesn't still exist, just that things are not as bleak as sometimes portrayed. I think DETC and its member schools have done a good job working on this issue and applaud their (and my school's) success. DETC continues to work with start-up institutions to improve them and bring them along over a period of years so that there will be affordable learning opportunities to more learners.

    Best,
    Mary A
     
  2. pugbelly

    pugbelly New Member


    Mary,

    Thanks for the update. I'm curious as to whether the MSA institutions have begun to accept DETC credits yet, and if so, which of them? This is important to me because I live in Maryland where MSA is the biggest RA accreditor.

    Pug
     
  3. Mary A

    Mary A Member

    Hi Pug - Below is a list from CHEA. It may be helpful. Each of these 42 MSA accredited colleges are members of HETA, and therefore agree NOT to reject credits based on the source of accreditation:

    • Adelphi University (Garden City, NY)
    • Arcadia University (Glenside, PA)
    • Bloomfield College (Bloomfield, NJ)
    • Bucks County Community College (Newtown, PA)
    California University of Pennsylvania (California, PA)
    • Capitol College (Laurel, MD)
    • Cayuga Community College (Auburn, NY)
    • Centenary College (Hackettstown, NJ)
    • Central Pennsylvania College (Summerdale, PA)
    • College of Notre Dame of Maryland (Baltimore, MD)
    • College of Southern Maryland (La Plata, MD)
    • Columbia Union College (Takoma Park, MD)
    • Cumberland County College (Vineland, NJ)
    • Delaware State University (Dover, DE)
    • Dowling College (Oakdale, NY)
    • Edinboro University of Pennsylvania (Edinboro, PA)
    • Emmaus Bible College (Dubuque, IA)
    • Felician College (Lodi, NJ)
    • Harford Community College (Bel Air, MD)
    • Harrisburg Area Community College (Harrisburg, PA)
    • Hilbert College (Hamburg, NY)
    • Keystone College (La Plume, PA)
    • Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (New York, NY)
    • Lackawanna College (Scranton, PA)
    • Lincoln University (Lincoln University, PA)
    • Marywood University (Scranton, PA)
    • Medaille College (Buffalo, NY)
    • Mohawk Valley Community College (Utica, NY)
    • Mount Saint Mary College (Newburgh, NY)
    • Neumann College (Aston, PA)
    • Pennsylvania College of Technology (Williamsport , PA)
    • Pennsylvania Highlands Community College (Johnstown, PA)
    • Saint Peter’s College (Jersey City, NJ)
    • Salem Community College (Carneys Point, NJ)
    • Seton Hill University (Greensburg, PA)
    • Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (Slippery Rock , PA)
    • Sullivan County Community College (Loch Sheldrake, NY)
    • Thiel College (Greenville, PA)
    • Trocaire College (Buffalo, NY)
    • Universidad Adventista de las Antillas (Mayaguez, PR)
    • University of the Virgin Islands (St. Thomas, VI)
    • West Chester University (West Chester, PA)

    Hope it helps. Mary A
     
  4. jagmct1

    jagmct1 New Member

    I can personally attest to the transfer into Seton Hall University, where I was recently accepted into their master’s of art in strategic communications and leadership. My transfer(s) was a bachelor’s and an MBA from Columbia Southern University.

    Honestly, I am going to seriously consider a doctorate in education from a DETC school. I'm already teaching at several universities so the doctorate would open the door to teach at the master's level. Harrison-Middleton has an attractive, flexibile and affordable doctorate of education. I believe Aspen University also rolled out a doctorate in education as well.
     
  5. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Really? Cool! :cool:
     
  6. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member


    Great info. Mary. I agree with you 100%. Of course, you know about the great news as far as the Texas CB. It is nice to see that negative issue resolved once and for all.

    All in all, I have seen a positive shift in perception in regards to the NA issue. As familiarity grows, so will further acceptance. I can't wait to see what awaits DETC in another 5 to 10 years. Exciting times indeed.

    Thanks once again, keep up the good work.

    Abner :)
     
  7. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member

    You beat me to it Ted!


    Abner :)
     
  8. jagmct1

    jagmct1 New Member

    I was incorrect in saying that Aspen has rolled out a doctorate at this time.
     
  9. Ike

    Ike New Member

    Is this unusual?
    :confused: :)
     
  10. japhy4529

    japhy4529 House Bassist


    While Aspen has not officially rolled out an EdD on their Degree Programs page, they do have a page created for an EdD in Leadership and Learning (so it is likely in the works). The Aspen EdD will (likely, since it has not yet been publicly announced) consist of eighteen, 3-credit courses, a 3-credit Internship course and a 3-credit Dissertation. Also required is a comprehensive examination, consiting of four papers.

    I do not see an EdD for Aspen listed in the latest round of DETC approvals, so it may take a little while before this is rolled out (2009, perhaps?). However, Aspen was just approved by DETC to offer an MBA-Finance (already available on their website) and an MS in Health Sciences (page has also been created, but the degree has not yet been officially announced on the Degree Programs page).


    Tom
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 24, 2008
  11. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Incidentally, I thought I had seen that DETC www.detc.org had just given Taft University www.taftu.edu approval to open an EdD program but, interestingly enough, I had not seen anything of that at Taft's website. Anyone know anything about this?
     
  12. dlady

    dlady Active Member


    Hi Mary A:

    First off, it was nice meeting you at the DETC conference earlier this year!

    There have historically been two big criticisms around NA degrees, credit transfer and acceptability as a teaching credential. As you point out the credit transfer issue is starting to see some movement. In the spirit of piling on, the NA degree as a teaching credential is also starting to see some movement. You can check out the link below to see the requirements to teach at the ITT Technical Institute:

    http://hostedjobs.openhire.com/epostings/jobs/submit.cfm?fuseaction=dspjob&jobid=273738&company_id=15665&source=ONLINE&JobOwner=969016&bycountry=0&bystate=1&bylocation=FL&keywords=&byCat=NULL&tosearch=yes&CFID=23565614&CFTOKEN=1870adb-1906a910-16f7-4c48-8507-d47212347c4d

    Yes, I know this isn’t Harvard, but it is a legitimate teaching opportunity for anyone with a: “Masters degree from an institution accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the US Department of Education”

    DEL
     
  13. jagmct1

    jagmct1 New Member

    The teaching opportunities are out there for people who have graduated from nationally accredited institutions, and rightfully so. I've secured adjunct positions at three universities and one local community college. The three universities are nationally accredited and I am perfectly ok with that, and the community college is WASC accredited.

    You'll find a lot of times the "regional required" is boiler plate language without any definitive explaniation, and many times when you ask about this policy the people you talk to don't know squat about accreditation. Many times the "regional required" means less that it HAS to be regionally accredited and MORE that it means it has to be accredited by a recognized accreditor with the U.S. Department of Education and CHEA. I think you'll start finding more and more schools using the language of US DoE and CHEA and less of "regional required."

    Will I ever be offered a teaching position with a Harvard, Yale, Stanford? Probably not, but again, I am perfectly ok with that. In addition, to open up even more teaching positions, I am pursuing a second master's at a very well known university (Seton Hall). And yes, I transferred with no problems whatsoever with my nationally accredited BSBA and MBA. As a matter of fact in my acceptance letter they indicated how impressed they were with my academic background.

    The tides are changing (with 50 foot waves)!
     
  14. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    It would be very informative to see graduates of doctoral programs accredited by DETC put them to use in teaching situations. However, it will be difficult for casual observers to discern the impact/utility of said degrees since most (all?) examples will be of people teaching in positions where their master's degrees would suffice. (This is the same condition we find with examples of people teaching with unaccredited doctoral degrees.)

    However, someone like you, posting contemporaneously about his/her experiences, would be able to provide greater insight into the "DETC doctorate's" role and use. I, for one, would look forward to reading about such things.
     
  15. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    It is important to note that this applies the other way, too. Schools may be committed to refrain from discriminating on the basis of CHEA-recognized accreditation, but they still reserve the right to accept/reject individual students and their credits/degrees. Just because a school is on some list doesn't mean a student's credits/degrees will be accepted. This is true for students/grads of RA schools, too. The question is, to what extent?
     
  16. PaulC

    PaulC Member

    Ah, Mary A., who almost single-handedly was responsible for my plunge, in 1994, into the only 100% online, legitimately accredited MS program out there.
     
  17. Mary A

    Mary A Member

    Hey Paul - I am going to assume you still believe that plunge was worth it! Nice to hear from you.

    David, I enjoyed meeting you also. We made the decision three years ago to hold an annual commencement ceremony and it has been great to meet many more students than I ever did in the past. Paul was the exception and only one of a handful of students I met in my first 17 years of online education.

    Mary A
     
  18. PaulC

    PaulC Member


    That aforementioned MS led me to a regionally accredited doctorate which led to numerous academic positions with several schools and much self satisfaciton.

    Thanks to that humble little nationally accredited online MS.
     
  19. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    I don't mean to hijack this thread, but since we have someone from Aspen U around...

    Any chance Aspen will bring back the "pay upfront, and get a Master's for $4,500" payment plan?
     
  20. Mary A

    Mary A Member

    Hi - Aspen is a great school and one I am proud to have helped start. I still stay in touch with Aspen's President, Jerry Alley, but I left Aspen 4 years ago so I have no idea if they will bring it back. You should email them and ask.

    Best,
    Mary A
     

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