High cost to graduate from one of the Big Three...

If a person earns all of their credits elsewhere, then transfers them to one of the Big Three, they will ending up paying a LOT of money for what amounts to checking your credits and issuing a degree. I wonder why there is not a competitor that will do the same thing for several hundred dollars? Any idea why not?

 

I've never been involved with any other the big 3 but I'm guessing that there's more to it than simply "checking credits and issuing a degree." You could probably learn more about the actual process by reading up on the process of becoming regionally accredited.

http://www.chea.org/About/index.asp

Then you would need to think about the fact that, potentially, you could be dealing with thousands of students per year. You will need to hire more than a few people to do this work. Some need to be qualified to be big-time administrators. Some will need to be able to make determinations of equivalency. Some need to be file clerks, secretaries, etc. Some might just need to wash the floors and plow out the parking lot when it snows. These people might actually expect to be paid. They might actually expect to get insurance benfits and other sorts of things like sick time, vacation time, etc. Then we get into the issue of where will they all actually work. You will need to rent/buy office space. More cost to you. I don't even understand all the complexities and I can see that this is a big operation.

If you decide to do a start-up deal please let me know. I'm available for consulation regarding welding engineering coursework.

 

Yes, I understand their high cost of doing business. If I transfer in 120 credits to COSC, I also know that $1,600 worth of work is NOT involved in checking my credits and issuing a degree. And that is the cheapest of the Big Three. Somewhere, someone has to be planning a more affordable option to compete with the Big Three.

 

If the cost of the Big Three is too high for a Bachelor of Arts / Science degree, consider Athabasca University and their Bachelor of General Studies which has no academic residency requirement either.

 

Have you considered starting a school?

 

If, as you say, you really do understand the high cost of doing business, then you might want to consider Randall's suggestion. I believe that there are few, if any, of us that really understand the complexities (and thus the costs) of such an enterprise.

 

I would think anyone with the requisite credits from several different sources would be thrilled to receive a degree for $1600, considering the type of return you're likely to get on that investment.

It's certainly better than the stock market right now.

 

I figured there would be a pile on, of sorts. To elaborate: the person that transfers in 120 hours and simply wants the credits checked and a degree issued is not getting much for their money. I would guess that the $1,600 that my wife is going to need to spend to transfer in her 120 hours and get her degree from COSC is paying for much more than her simple transfer and degree. In other words, she will be partially paying for goods and services for someone else. I predict that, eventually, another accredited school in the U.S. will offer degrees where the credits are all transferred in at a much lower price.

 

I think that Excelsoir was a real bargain when I received my degree from them in the early 90s (when they were the University of the State of New York).
Costs have increased since then but it is still a bargain. According to their web site I calculate the minimum cost to obtain a UG degree is under $1500.
UG application $75
Enrollment fee $895
Graduation fee $495
Total $1465
That does not include any Excelsior courses or exams. But considering one can take exams such as CLEP, courses at community colleges, state schools, or other low cost options then the final total degree cost probably works out lower than attending a single school. Furthermore one can, within the degree credit distribution limits, take a wide variety of courses whereas in many schools the degree mandates specific courses.

Also $1500 to service one student does not seem unreasonable when you consider Excelsior's G&A, labor, and overhead costs.
I estimate that $1500 equates to 5 to 10 hours of attention per UG student.

 

I don't think anyone meant it that way!

You have to keep in mind that starting and maintaining a regionally accredited school isn't cheap, and even with a school that is 100% distance there are considerable costs in facilities, payroll, advertising, etc.

 

Excelsiors annual report is available here:
https://www.excelsior.edu/Excelsior_College/Publications/Annual_Report_2006_2007.pdf
I'm sure COSCs annual report is also available. You can review their financials and perhaps determine the cost associated with servicing a student.

Incidentally this Excelsior reports has lots of interesting information.

 

>>

I understand exactly what you are saying. BUT, the thing TESC will do for your wife is give her a degree without a residency assuming her 120 credits meet the appropriate distribution. If her 120 credits already met the distribution requirements of the school(s) she earned them, she wouldn't need TESC.

Also, many students at TESC are earning their degree by only taking online courses. When I was a student, I hardly EVER had someone in my classes who knew about CLEP exams. On occasion, people rejected the idea if the topic came up on the forum, but really- most people that I ran into didn't know that TESC was one of the "big 3" or that there was such a designation. So, while a few people may take advantage of the zero-residency requirement, TESC is busy going about the business of running a college.

 

Well, I don't know what "eventually" means (maybe 1,000 years?) but I'm betting that you're wrong. I'm betting that the price will actually go up and no one will ever step in to offer the same product (an RA degree based solely upon transfer credits) at a cheaper price.

 

There is a lot of processing that goes into the issuance of a degree from Excelsior College, Thomas Edison State College, and Charter Oak State College. These colleges are an affordable and flexible option for people who have accumulated enormous amounts of credit from various schools. The cost of tuition has skyrocketed. The nice feature about these schools is that they will take credits from various sources, and translate them into academic credit. Furthermore, there's no residency requirements so long as you have met the requirements prescribed by the course of study that you wish to obtain. The only acception is if you pursue a Master's degree from Excelsior College or Thomas Edison State College. Charter Oak State College doesn't offer any Master's degree at this time, but I suspect that they might in the future. All three of these schools have regional accreditation and have various memberships with professional entities. They've been around for quite sometime. I think my concern with your post is that you're somehow trying to suggest that these colleges are trying to profit off from the student. They don't receive regular enrollment (high volumes) of students like traditional colleges and universities do. There service is to offer flexibility. The nice feature is that you don't have to retake all your credits over again that you've earned from other colleges and universities. And, quite frankly, if you were to do the calculation of what it would cost for you to earn a degree from a regionally accredited school at 30 credit hours (traditional residency requirement) in order to graduate it would be surpassed what it would cost for you to get a degree from one of these three fine educational institutions. You also have to look at the fact that being conservative you would look at a Bachelor's degree costing you $40,000+ in tuition over 4 years. I think $1500 or $1600, or $2000 is far better to pay than $40,000 and if you did the math for just 30 credits you would be looking roughly at anywhere from $6000-10,000 or more depending upon where you attend. So you need to think more about this, and when you actually do the comparison, I think these school serve a good purpose and shouldn't be characterized as you have made them out to be.

 

I don't think I "characterized" the school at all. I don't think I was mean, rude, or disrespectful. Not a single bit. I stand by my prediction. A school with the mindset of Andrew Jackson University (maybe not AJU, per se) will offer degrees through examination/transfer credits for much less than $1,500.

 

I hope you are right!

 

I do think that you've madea judgment about these colleges. You mention that AJU (Andrew Jackson University) is much less expensive than that of the other three. In making this comparison you fail to recognize that AJU isn't regionally accredited as the other three. I'm not knocking Andrew Jackson University whatsoever, but, this school serves an entirely different purpose other than what the intended purpose is for the other three - Excelsior College, Thomas Edison State College, and Charter Oak Sate College. I fail to see the relevance of your argument. It has no substance to it and you don't provide to us the fundamentals for supporting your argument. If you took into consideration all the costs that are associated with operating these schools you would see that this is a good overall deal. So what are you going to propose to start a new school and directly compete with these three schools? If so, what basis do you have to start a school, and do you have valid credentials to back up your intended purpose? As an individual that sounds as if you're totally in protest for what these schools do and they just are here to make all kinds of money than why would you be willing to pay this amount? Have you any idea of what the process is to become a school, let alone the requirements it takes an educational institution to become regionally accredited? For the numerous students that have graduated from these schools, I firmly believe that most wouldn't agree with your assessment. I would ask of you to give us compelling arguments to support your assertion that all these schools are out to do is make a fast buck. I totally disagree with your assessment, and find it totally unsubstantiated. So since you're so convinced that you're right about your assessment why don't you give us supporting arguments, and facts to state that what you've stated is factual or credible. Furthermore, how do you determine what credits are acceptable in transfer? What training have you had to evaluate academic credit? I'm very much interested in hearing your arguments and supporting your statements. In addition, you state that another school will be popping up really shortly to be in direct competition with these three schools. What will the name be? When is this school expected to open? Do you know where this school will be operating from? I'm also curious to know what the process is for you to get accredited since you seem to know so much about this as well. I shall look forward to your most compelling arguments.

 

I figured there would be a pile on, of sorts. To elaborate: the person that transfers in 120 hours and simply wants the credits checked and a degree issued is not getting much for their money. I would guess that the $1,600 that my wife is going to need to spend to transfer in her 120 hours and get her degree from COSC is paying for much more than her simple transfer and degree. In other words, she will be partially paying for goods and services for someone else. I predict that, eventually, another accredited school in the U.S. will offer degrees where the credits are all transferred in at a much lower price.


Since you're so good at predicting. Besides the previous post that I just entered, why don't you tell me what you mean by the statement, "In other words, she will be partially paying for goods and services for someone else." Who is this someone else? Do you honestly consider the programs that Excelsior College, Thomas Edison State College, and Charter Oak State College to be that of goods and services? What kind of goods and services are they selling? How exactly do you define education?

You also mention, "I predict that, eventually, another accredited school in the U.S. will offer degrees where the credits are all transferred in at a much lower price?" Where do you get this information from. Are you proposing that such a school will offer a $99.95 deal, or something on sale, like a buy one get one free sort of thing?

I really am interested in hearing your reasoning for all of this, plus answering my previous post. Quite frankly, I find your whole argument unsubstantiated and totally misinformed. So I'm looking forward to your scholarly report on all of these intriguing questions.

 

WOW! One stretch after another. Again, and this will be the last time I say it, I never said that the schools were ripping people off or "out to make a fast buck." I stand by what I said concerning people that transfer in all 120 hours of credit. THERE IS A ZERO PERCENT CHANCE THAT THEY ARE DOING $1,500 WORTH OF WORK TO VERIFY MY CREDITS AND ISSUE A DEGREE. Therefore, another school can/could/should/may/eventually will enter the same market and compete for business at $1,000, for example. I never said I was going to start a school. I never even hinted at that. There is a market for a $1,000 program that will still make plenty of money to do very little work.