Excelsior Accepted my NA Credits, But....

I don't know what to do. I already have a BSBA from Cal Coast. Should I continue on with my plan to get an RA degree from Excelsior?

As far as I know Wayland is going to let me continue on with my admissions process for my MBA.

Right now I have 35 credits that I are approved, not counting the 30 credits that Excelsior will take from CCU in transfer.

The reason that I bring this up is because I need to choose which 30 I want to transfer into the EC BA.

Here is what I had to transfer, not including the CCU credits:

3 - CLEP - Princ of Man.
3 - DANTES - Here's to You Health
3 - Business Law II
3 - Principals of Finance
3 - Business Stats
4 - Analytical Geometry and Calculus
16 - Machinist Trades - Various Technical
=35 Total

I have 25 FEMA Credits that I have not tried to apply yet.

I need to choose 30 credits from the following courses that EC will accept from CCU:

BAM110 INTRODUCTION TO ACCOUNTING
BAM223 PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
BAM312 BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS
BAM401 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
BAM406 BUSINESS AND SOCIETY
BAM410 ORGANIZATION THEORY AND BEHAVIOR
BAM450 PSYCHOLOGY AND WORK
GED108 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
GED120 INTRODUCTION TO HUMANITIES
GED130 INTRODUCTION TO CIVILIZATION
GED155 ENGLISH
GED216 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY
GED230 UNITED STATES HISTORY
GED210 INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

I cannot take them all, so I have to chose.

I'm torn here. What should I do? Do I really need a RA degree? I just don't ever want anyone to question my credentials. If I apply to a Corporate job I don't want there to ever be a question. Then again, it may never come up. Then again, I could consider a top tier MBA if I went this route.

I could transfer my CCU BS to another RA school that accepts NA credits and would only have 30 credits left since many will accept up to 90 credits.

Then again, EC offers much more flexibility and speed if I really wanted to knock it out by testing. If I went this route I could use the upper division credits and build myself a Liberal Studies BA around business courses.

Or I could just take my Wayland Baptist University MBA and be happy.

What do you guys think?

 

You're right...it will probably never come up. I have worked in a number of different jobs over the past 25 years, and I have never, and I mean NEVER heard of anyone quibbling over the difference between NA or RA degrees. Outside of these message boards, relatively few people are even aware of the difference. Of course, there are certain jobs for which RA is a necessity...such as if you need a certain kind of professional license to do your job, for example. I'm not trying to say there isn't a difference between the two types of accreditation...I'm just saying most people don't know what that difference is. Only you can determine if a degree from CCU will meet your current and future needs. Even if you are trying to get into a top-tier MBA program and they decide CCU doesn't cut the mustard, some have provisional entrance programs in which they take your grades from the first few classes and your GMAT score into consideration. Then again, CCU was just fine for this guy:

The President intends to nominate Alfred Rascon to be Director of the Selective Service. Most recently he served as Inspector General of the Selective Service and has also served as a Special Agent with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. He served with the Drug Enforcement Agency as an Intelligence Operations Specialist, and from 1976 to 1984 he was a U.S. Army military liaison officer in the Republic of Panama. Rascon was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Clinton for military service during the Vietnam War. Originally from California, he is a graduate of California Coast University and Excelsior College at the University of New York State.

or this guy:

As Global IT/Chief Information Officer, Mr. Click brings more than 18 years of experience to Abraxis BioScience. He heads the company's international IT department and its related functions, servicing all of the company's offices and operational facilities. Previously, Mr. Click held the position of Chief Information Officer at Molina Healthcare and has held senior positions at eBay's PayPal unit, American Outsourcing Group, Goodman Global Holdings, Honeywell International and Zenith Electronics. He is a graduate of California Coast University and earned a Masters of Business Administration degree and a Professional Masters Degree from Harvard Graduate School of Business.

 

Your point is well taken. I love my DETC accredited degree. I guess I just have some fear that I would some day run into some sort of roadblock with my degree.

 

Either way, you have choices. I would proceed into your MBA program at Wayland, and decide later, the ball is in your court. You could even slowly take CLEP or DANTES tests while you wait to enter into Wayland.

I have got to say I am glad you had your NA credits evaluated at Excelsior. You are the very first as far as I know, and the next NA eval should be much easier for them. Slowly ECE will begin to accumulate a list of classes from different NA schools, and it will become a more seamless process. Things are looking up every year for NA's.


Abner

 

That's right, things should get easier over time.

I did learn that the reason for the slow process was due to the business credits. The business credits have to go to the faculty in business department. They all work on other projects and teach classes, I think.

The General Ed/Liberal Arts credits only took a matter of hours to evaluate.

I got an email from the specialist stating that the non-business credits were going before the Liberal Arts reviewers this morning. I received and email late this afternoon stating that the evaluation was done.


Since I have gone through this process I feel that I need to go ahead and make a decision on which courses to get transcribed. I think it makes the most sense to go for the business courses first since they have more upper division listings.

Thoughts and suggestions?

Anyone?

 

I would pick the business credits as well because of the upper division listings, as you say.


Abner

 

Wow.....very interesting.

Well, from a purely logical point of view, I would transfer in the credits I couldn't get through CLEP or DSST first- and then the classes I hated next
FWIW, I think you should get them on your transcript RIGHT NOW even if you decide not to get your degree. Suppose years from now you have a reason for needing or wanting an RA degree or at least a number of credits? If that happens, you are ready.
I have a bunch of courses that are not part of my degree, but I had them put on my transcript anyway- you just never know- grab it now, it's low hanging fruit. To get the whole degree? That's up to you.

 

Good points.


Abner

 

You did notice in Terry's earlier post, that "Mr. Click" (great name, btw) was accepted into Harvard Business School with a BS from CCU? If that isn't enough to close this issue in your mind, I'm not sure what will!


Tom

 

LOL, I understand what you are saying. I guess I am 1) a worry wort 2) someone who can never pass up a good deal.

 

When you finish the MBA nobody is going to ask about your BSBA. If the education you received from California Coast University is enough to get you into a regionally accredited university like Wayland Baptist University, you have no reason to worry about the nationally accredited undergraduate degree.

 

Go for the MBA, it is going to trump the BA anyway. All this NA verse RA stuff, at the BA level your fine. Be loud and proud, it’s not as big a deal as these boards make it sound. I would hate to see you make a decision like this, and spend another 2 years chasing a near duplicate credential when you could have spent the time chasing an MBA.

I can tell you first hand, my MBA from Aspen has served me wonders in both what I learned and as a credential in the business world and now as a consultant.

 

Thank you for your encouragement. From every one of you.

Maybe I am suffering from an educational inferiority complex.

 

Not so fast...I as a BIG fan of NA and have taken a number of courses from NA schools. In most cases and in most situations, NA and RA will be treated as equal, if anyone even knows the difference. However, there are some employers, particularly some state governments, that WILL NOT accept NA. You just need to be aware of that. For example, Maryland requires RA. BP Energy requires RA and AACSB for management positions. If it were me, I would always make sure the BA is was RA. The BA is your base degree, make sure your foundation has the most utility possible.

Pug

 

Na. What is a base degree? I… don’t think so. An RA MBA will solve any NA inequity around the BA. I would recommend focus there, the rest is hype.

 

Yes, but what to do until that RA MBA is finished?


Tom

 

This question assumes that the NA degree is worthless. I don't get it. This is a distance learning web site, yet half the time people who are taking distance learning courses at an NA school spend their time on this board defending their choice of school. The distance learning movement should be embracing ALL accredited programs, and stop bickering over the whole NA/RA debate. Are there limitations to an NA degree? In some cases, yes. Each student must determine which school and degree will be meet their current AND future needs...and that goes for RA schools, too.

Out in the "real world" there is much more of a bias against "online" programs then there is over whether the school is NA or RA. Most people outside of this board don't know the difference. To them, there is little to no difference between Excelsior College or California Coast University.

My future plans include getting a Masters of Science degree in Marketing at Heriot-Watt, or a MSc in Communications at University of Leicester. I may even enroll in an MBA program at some point, if I find one that suits my needs. An NA undergrad degree will serve me just fine. Can you become a brain surgeon with an NA degree? Of course not, but then again I can't become one going to many RA schools, either.

 

I don't understand why so many people throw such a tizzy when the debate over the utility of national accreditation is brought up. It is a VALID concern. Not saying that nationally accredited degrees are not valid or legit, because we all know that they are; however, many people in the REAL WORLD do not know that they are legit and have a negative perception because this accreditation is connected with online schooling which has a negative perception. And unfortunately the REAL WORLD perception is probably the most important.

Before anyone says it, yes, I know that almost every RA school now has some form of online education, but they are not KNOWN for online education. Also, we all recognize that NA accreditation has limitations when it comes to future teaching jobs and other government work. I am choosing to go to an RA AACSB MBA program because it will give me the chance to teach at the university level one day. If I were to get my MBA from say, Andrew Jackson, I would not likely have the same opportunities. I think that is important information for people to understand before they make their choice on what school to attend. Obviously, everyone does not have an aspiration to teach and may never be effected by having an NA degree versus an RA degree, but I think it is definitely worth a lot of thought and certainly debate on this forum...

 

In the real world nobody is likely to even ask, much less wonder, whether a degree is from a nationally accredited or regionally accredited school. In the real world the only organizations which are likely to make a distinction are government agencies and departments as well as professional licensing bodies.

 

Simply NOT true in all cases. Again, I am a fan and a supporter of NA, but the utility of a NA degree will be very limited in some situations, equal to RA in others. Example, if you want to teach elementary education and the requirement is a regionally accredited BA, a nationally accredited BA will not be sufficient, even if you have the regionally accredited MA to "trump it." In some private organizations, particularly publicly traded companies, position qualifications are written in specific language. For example, the base qualifications for a regional manager might be listed as: Regionally accredited BA/BS is Management or related field, 5+ years relevant experience. In this case, you MUST have a regionally accredited BA to meet the requirement because the written criteria is NOT "regionally accredited BA or higher." Is that stupid? Yes, of course it is, but sadly it is the case in some companies and a lot of state agencies. I've said on this board many times that I think NA degrees will have equal utilty about 90%-95% of the time. However, how disappointing would it be if your dream job offer comes along and it falls into that 5%-10% range for which you aren't even eligible to be considered? Unless someone is VERY sure that the NA degree will meet their needs 100% of the time, now and in the future, they ought to really think hard about it. I love the idea of a NA degree to supplement a RA degree. I love the idea of a NA degree at the graduate level (unless you want to teach). I love the idea of a NA degree for personal enrichment. I do not love the idea of a NA degree at the BA level in most cases. It is ALWAYS better to have and not need than to need and not have. The same concept would apply to AACSB accredited business degrees, although to a much lesser extent.

Pug