Cleveland Institute of Electronics/World College

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by computerguy, May 19, 2012.

Loading...
  1. computerguy

    computerguy New Member

    I am an entry level networking professional. I need a bachelors degree to move forward in my field. I have over 700 in education from a school called MicroPower in NY as well as 20 certifications and over 2 years of experience in networking on the job. I am looking for a school that would offer me the most amount of credit for my previous education.

    I looked at CIE/ World College and for $2,452 for 12 month semester* I could easily complete this degree in no time with generous credit gifting. Please let me know of any experiences or thoughts you have of this college.

    *source Special Offer
     
  2. World College is Nationally accredited by DETC. Have you considered one of the Big 3? All three are regionally accredited. (Thomas Edison State College (TESC), Charter Oak State College (COSC), or Excelsior College). I believe that TESC allows certain credits for those that have certifications. What would you like to do with the degree? Do you have plans of obtaining a masters degree?
     
  3. computerguy

    computerguy New Member

    masters

    yes definitely a masters. I'd like to go all the way till DBA Philosophy with Computer Networking specialization at Capella.
     
  4. Maxwell_Smart

    Maxwell_Smart Active Member

    World College being nationally accredited is not a bad thing and that shouldn't stop you from going after your degree there. Detractors would be surprised at how well many graduates of CIE and/or World College are actually doing in their careers.

    Before you consider the Big 3, consider this: I just did a cost search at Excelsior for an IT degree and it will cost $53,800 dollars. Hopefully that was a glitch (lol), because I'm sorry, but the Big 3 doesn't offer nearly the kind of quality and name recognition worthy of charging students THAT kind of money. They've gone bonkers. Even if they took some of your certs (and I can almost guarantee they won't take them all), you're still looking at one hell of a price tag. There are FAR better schools with FAR better name recognition charging MUCH less. You should really only consider a Big 3 school if you have lots of credits to transfer and/or you're prepared to take a lot of experience exams to combat cost.

    Give Western Governors University a look. It has IT degree programs, the cost and independent study format is somewhat similar to World College (though WGU's terms are 6 months as opposed to CIE/WC's 12 months), it's FAR more economical than a Big 3 school like Excelsior, and has both regional and national accreditation. You could even study at World College or CIE first to get your feet wet with online learning, and then transfer some of that work to Western Governors.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 19, 2012
  5. Jonathan Whatley

    Jonathan Whatley Well-Known Member

    That must be the cost if the student earned all their credits through online courses from Excelsior. I expect almost no one, perhaps literally no one, does this.

    Anyway, if you're sure "small private college with limited national name recognition charges an annualized tuition of 13 450 to students who bring in no transfer credit from elsewhere" is "bonkers," you have bigger problems than with the Big Three. Particularly since what makes them the Big Three is that they'll all award degrees based almost entirely on transfer credit.

    WGU is fantastic. Still, unless they have a waiver from these DETC requirements:

    their hands are much more tied than the Big Three in accepting outside credit, and the path to a degree may be slower and may be more expensive independent of quality.

    Think about it: no more than one-fourth of the credits required for a degree can come for "experiential or equivalent learning (including challenge/test out credits)."

    Take three CLEP general exams (3x6 sh), and one foreign language exam with a high score (12 sh), and WGU is, and any DETC school is, absolutely barred from giving you any more credit net towards your bachelor's degree for any CLEPs, DSSTs, certifications, licenses, military training (outside an accredited degree-granting military school, and almost all of it is).

    A DETC bachelor's degree, and almost any non-Big-Three bachelor's degree, has a hard minimum of three academic years (90 sh) of credit in coursework earned directly from one or more accredited schools, and a hard minimum of one academic year (30 sh) in-house from the school granting the degree.

    WGU (RA and NA) especially can be very efficient and affordable in how it awards its own credit in-house. World College seems to offer some very affordable (NA, not RA) options in EET and CIS, especially if a student completes quickly.

    Still. Structurally, DETC degrees, and almost all non-Big-Three RA degrees, are substantially more 'protectionist' of coursework credit, and credit earned in-house, than Big Three degrees.

    Accusing the Big Three of being "bonkers" because their coursework credit earned in-house can be expensive – if you add up a hypothetical giant stack of Big-Three in-house coursework they don't require anyone, and probably expect almost no one to take; when besides some, varying, usually modest, cornerstone and capstone and program-specific requirements they extend reciprocity to credit not earned in-house and not even through college coursework almost to the point of an entire degree – somewhat misses a point.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 19, 2012
  6. CalDog

    CalDog New Member

    CIE/WC is "nationally accredited" by DETC. This is a legitimate form of accreditation, but it differs from the "regional accreditation" held by most traditional colleges and universities. Regional accreditation tends to be more widely recognized and accepted.

    If the need for a bachelor's degree is related to some kind of formal requirement, then you should make sure that a nationally accredited bachelor's degree will fulfill that requirement.

    Regionally accredited schools, like Thomas Edison State College, Charter Oak State College, Excelsior College, or Western Governor's University, would likely be more expensive and less flexible. But it's also likely that their regionally accredited degrees would be preferred over nationally accredited degrees by many employers or graduate schools.
     
  7. Maxwell_Smart

    Maxwell_Smart Active Member

    That may be the case, but bringing up that point is negligible to the situation to begin with, because the person asking about this would be bringing in few if any eligible transfer credit, which brings it back to the obvious point that he'd have a huge bill to pay. MicroPower is NA (and has a not-so-good reputation), so he's going to get little if any transfer tread at the Big 3 just because of that alone.

    My "bigger problem" is with people who seem to be completely disconnected from the reality that most others are living in today, not seeming to understand that somethng like $13,450 per year is a helluva lot of money for the average person to pay (i.e. they can't afford it), or borrow. Even half that amount would be a SOB. And it's certainly a helluva lot for the kind of school it is. Even at half that amount I wouldn't recommend it with THOSE schools specifically. And again, your transfer credit point is irrelevant to the student of subject for the reasons I've mentioned previously since it doesn't apply to his current situation (he won't be bringing in much if any credit).

    I'm sure you can think of some non-conspiracy theory reasons as to why WGU, the DETC and pretty much all schools are not as liberal about transfers, experiential learning credit, or banking or whatever the hell else the Big 3 schools allow with legs wide open...

    I stand with schools like WGU and with the DETC on this matter, and I feel they're doing the right thing. I have reservations about any program that would allow certain degrees (especially those that are technical in nature) to be earned the way the Big 3 does. Others are free to believe or do whatever they wish in that situation, but people in the OP's situation have far better options and he should at least be made aware of them before he goes out and spends a fortune... and he would because he's not going to have much transfer credit. And, believe it or not, many people neither believe in nor want to do a bunch of "testing out".
     
  8. World College doesn't seem like a bad idea if you are limited on funds and don't have any plans to pursue a maters/doctorate. The website does hint that their bachelors could be finished in 12 months (didn't see anything about transferring). That's 1) pretty misleading 2) sends up a couple of red flags. I am assuming that it's self-paced.

    With that said I still think that WGU, or one of the Big 3 are better options. Excelsior wouldn't cost this person anywhere near the amount you quoted if he/she mapped it out correctly. Chances are, three years at World College would probably cost the same amount of completing an Excelsior degree.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 19, 2012
  9. Jonathan Whatley

    Jonathan Whatley Well-Known Member

    Fair enough, though the distinction between testing out and, say, "WGU’s competency-based approach to education" where "you will demonstrate your mastery of the necessary competencies by completing challenging assessments. An assessment may be a traditional 'test', a project, an essay, or another practical demonstration of a required skill" may be finer in practice than in theory sometimes.

    (WGU goes on to elaborate, "Our approach allows you to leverage the skills and knowledge you’ve already acquired through job experience and prior college to your benefit. Since we don’t ask you to attend class but rather require completion of challenging assessments, as soon as you feel ready, you’ll be able to do just that.")

    With WGU, of course, there are subject-matter-expert faculty mentors there who students can communicate with as they prepare to take each assessment. That can be a material advantage.
     
  10. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

  11. Maybe the others can chime in on their admission standards. I don't see the specialization that you are referring to. Capella is regionally accredited.
     
  12. I would caution against World College. While I think you would save more up front you may end up paying more on the later end. Capella isn't exactly cheap. On their website it lists tuition as $4,193 per quarter. If you can afford that then you are better off getting an undergrad RA degree.
     
  13. computerguy

    computerguy New Member

    Thank You for all of your input!! Ive decided to go with WGU! I feel thats my best bet for growing my career.
     
  14. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    ??????????
     
  15. I searched high and low for that specialization and couldn't find it. :wtf1:
     
  16. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

  17. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Last edited by a moderator: May 20, 2012
  18. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    Well I think World College could be a good choice.

    If a person has a lot of credit to transfer then WC will accept up to 75% of credit transfer in to their Bachelor degree program.
    Then in one year a person can complete the remaining 25%.

    Continue in to Masters in IT at WGU.
    Do a UK research Doctorate. Or DBA in IT etc.

    The big 3 are a good choice the only thing is that even if they take all your credit and you need just last 6 units it will cost you 5K. If you need more then that then your cost will grow higher.

    WGU Bachelors will cost a lot.
     
  19. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    Hey Lerner,

    Overall, you have a good plan there for the OP. But you said:

    From the standpoint of the current state of the economy, I can understand that sentiment. But $5780 per year doesn't sound too bad, and then factoring in the possibility of getting some credit for his work at MicroPower, he could finish the whole degree for well below $20,000, or even lower since WGU is self-paced and you only pay based on your time enrolled. Heck, he might come out with a steal of a price if he learns quickly and is good at testing.
     
  20. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    WGU is a good school in my book so I have no issues with that.

    I don't know how generous WGU with transfer credit, he will need to apply etc.
    There is benefit for having both degrees RA.
    If he has 1 year at WC/CIE then he will spend around 3K.
    Then he can enroll for Masters in WGU.

    Your plan sounds good to, we simply don't have the detailed info.
    So we a little bit speculating here.
     

Share This Page