National credits earning a regionally accredited degree

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by potpourri, Feb 17, 2010.

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  1. potpourri

    potpourri New Member

    I see that a lot of people have posts on here about whether this college or university will accept national credits (nationally accredited) courses into a regionally accredited college or university.

    The thing that has always intrigued me is the hypothetical. I'm sure that it has probably happened before, but say a student completed 30 credits from a nationally accredited school and this was accepted into transfer from a community college (regionally accredited) and the person had to complete 30 credits of residency (most community college require at least 30 credits, some less). Thus, they have 60 credits and say that the person was able to earn and graduate with an Associates degree.

    My question is, "How would that be accepted by a college or university in a four year program (Bachelor's degree) if that college or university doesn't accept or recognize credits from a nationally accredited institution?" Legally the person has earned an Associates degree from a regionally accredited community college so the receiving four year school couldn't say that they don't have an earned Associates degree so how could they refuse to take the courses at least to recognize that these were applied to an academic/official transcript from the community college? Has anyone ever encountered or experienced this situation before, and if so, how did you handle it or how was it addressed?

    The other thing that gets me into sort of the same scenario, but a little different is if a person was lets say able to transfer in 90 credits or whatever they could into a four year college or university (that being from a nationally accredited institution to a regionally accredited one) and then fulfill the rest of their degree requirements (residency and such) and they earn a four year degree (Bachelors) then how could a graduate school refuse to let them into their program other than GPA and other requirements if that person has legally earned a regionally accredited degree from a college or university? This is what intrigues me and was wondering if anyone else has experienced the same situation, and if so, how it was addressed and dealt with?
     
  2. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    My question is, "How would that be accepted by a college or university in a four year program (Bachelor's degree) if that college or university doesn't accept or recognize credits from a nationally accredited institution?" Legally the person has earned an Associates degree from a regionally accredited community college so the receiving four year school couldn't say that they don't have an earned Associates degree so how could they refuse to take the courses at least to recognize that these were applied to an academic/official transcript from the community college? Has anyone ever encountered or experienced this situation before, and if so, how did you handle it or how was it addressed?
    >>

    All colleges have a policy already in place for this sort of thing. If the college accepts an AA as a block- meaning it's met the general education requirement without evaluating each credit- then the student would be covered. Not all colleges do this- but enough do to explore the idea! I just read on University of Idaho's page yesterday that they take AA block credit - as an example- so you just have to dig and put together a list of schools to try. I'd expect the list of schools that accept AA block credit will be very long- while finding a list of community colleges to accept your NA gen ed courses might be very short. (and expensive)
    I would expect that this does not apply to AS, AAS, or AOS degrees unless noted in the college handbook.


    The other thing that gets me into sort of the same scenario, but a little different is if a person was lets say able to transfer in 90 credits or whatever they could into a four year college or university (that being from a nationally accredited institution to a regionally accredited one) and then fulfill the rest of their degree requirements (residency and such) and they earn a four year degree (Bachelors) then how could a graduate school refuse to let them into their program other than GPA and other requirements if that person has legally earned a regionally accredited degree from a college or university? This is what intrigues me and was wondering if anyone else has experienced the same situation, and if so, how it was addressed and dealt with?
    >>

    Same thing. As long as the school you earn your bachelor's degree from is RA, then your degree is RA. It's very simple.

    I feel like I have to add that since you used the word "legally" quite a few times, that you might have the impression that colleges have to enroll you- or else. It's simply not the case that you can demand admission somewhere. As far as I know, only state funded community colleges operate open enrollment, and those laws might differ on a state by state basis. We have open enrollment her in IL and IA, but I'm sure this only applies to state funded community colleges.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 17, 2010

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