Excelsior English requirement

Hi, if I were to use credit banking at TESC and take the CLEP English exam, could I later use this at Excelsior? I have heard that TESC is more apt to give credit via portfolio and I was thinking of using TESC to get credit this way and for English, then enrolling in Excelsior. What are your thoughts?
thanks in advance, John

 

It's an idea but Excelsior specifically proscribes use of the CLEP English with Essay in fulfillment of the WER (Written English Requirement). Would be safer to go with the ECE English Composition exam. I know the credit transfer would be college to college, but Excelsior may consider acceptance of credit derived from proficiency examinations to be subject to the same set of rules regardless of the institution submitting the transcript. To be certain of their policy (Excelsior), best thing would be to ask 'em directly.

Doubt you would have a problem with acceptance of transcripted portfolio credit, but there are cost considerations, earning the credit at TESC then transferring to another institution.

I gave the TESC tuition engine a spin, citing 90 credits by testing out and 30 credits by portfolio to be completed in one year (for a total of 120 required in most degree programs):-



Year 1
Application Fee = $75
Annual Tuition = $1630
Technology Fee = $70
Testing Tuition 90 s.h. @ $49 = $4410
Portfolio Tuition 30 s.h. @ $49 = $1470

Estimated costs for year 1 = $7,655

Graduation Fee = $165
Estimated costs for degree $7,820


Lawrie Miller
BA in 4 Weeks
http://www.geocities.com/ba_in_4_weeks

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Lawrie, don't they have a comprehensive tuition of about $4K that covers the portfolio and testing tuitions? That is the way I understand it, anyway. How would the $4K compare with a similar plan with Excelsior?
BTW, I tried to access the BA program on your website, however I could not get the "year 4" page. I am using your site for my plan and really appreciate your putting it all together!!
thanks, John

 

Hi John,

Yes, there are a number of options available.

Your initial inquiry in this thread concerned credit banking at TESC, where services are priced a la cart and you are not an enrolled student. The prices quoted were those cranked out by the TESC tuition pricing engine (take off the "annual tuition" fee, add the Credit Banking fee??).

If you use the TESC comprehensive plan you would be enrolled and there would be no need of credit banking. Plan covers some tuition, all portfolio, and test costs for TECEP exams. You would still have to pay separately for exams other than TECEP (CLEP, ECE, etc.), though credits so earned would be transcripted at no extra cost under the plan.

So, the final figure may not be too far off of that given by the TESC tuition engine, albeit, derived using a different cost basis for services. Depends on how efficiently you can make exclusive use of TESC credit gathering services to complete degree requirements. If you utilize that approach, it's not clear why you would then opt to transfer to Excelsior. In terms of side-by-side comparison, the TESC plan provides great flexibility in how credit may be accrued for a single fee.

As noted in BA in 4 Weeks, price of the Excelsior bachelor's degree by examination, 120 semester hours, "out-the-door", including all exam and college fees, was around $4000+ last time I did a detailed costing. If heavy use is made of GRE subject exams, the cost could be significantly reduced, even from that figure.

External and internal links are provided on the menu page of my site to Big Three literature including fee structures, the various proprietary exam fees, estimates of exam administrative costs, and estimates of book prices. The enterprising may opt to use these resources to do their own price-comparison shopping, tailored to their specific requirements.



Lawrie Miller
BA in 4 Weeks
http://www.geocities.com/ba_in_4_weeks

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Thanks Lawrie,
I will probably go the Excelsior route. Frankly, what prompted my interest in TESC was that I was a little scared of the English requirement at Excelsior. It has been stated that it is much more difficult than the CLEP exam. Also, I was hoping to gain a lot of credit via portfolio, but it now seems just as easy to just take an additional CLEP exam than to put together all of the materials required for portfolio. A narrative 6-15 pages is what is required for credit from TESC (unless I am misunderstanding this) and I think that I could study for and pass an exam much faster and with less trouble. Your thoughts on this? BTW, since Excelsior does not evaluate portfolio credit themselves, to whom would they send it?

 

I think it was me who started that rumor, first in AED posts, then in the usenet edition of [BA in 4 Weeks[/i], then here. See:-

http://www.degreeinfo.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1120&highlight=english+essay+composition+lawrie


Having sat both exams I was in a position to "contrast and compare". If you have the option of taking one or the other, take the CLEP English with Essay in preference to the ECE English Composition. If you do not have a choice, no point in sweating it, just ensure you understand what will be required of you by reference to the relevant ECE practice test (a PDF version of which can be downloaded via the link on my web site).

That is my take on it, and so stated in the BA in 4 Weeks FAQs :-

Q · Isn't it better to use portfolio assessment?

A 10. I had plenty of prior credit going into my first degree, and a bunch of documented evidence to support any claim to credit via portfolio assessment. After doing a couple of competency exams, I decided it was clearly the way to go. Your mileage may vary. There's no doubt that it's quicker to do the exam if you know the subject and if a suitable exam exists. If not, portfolio is certainly a good way to go. Portfolio may also be your best choice in the first instance. You must decide that.

I think, Ohio or COSC, but current Excelsior catalogs refer only to assessment by, "carefully selected colleges and universities" (Excelsior Liberal Arts catalog, P46). That's why I don't specify a source in my guides. Access links are provided on the menu page though, to relevant COSC and TESC portfolio documentation and guides.


Lawrie Miller
BA in 4 Weeks
http://www.geocities.com/ba_in_4_weeks

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Another altenative...

Another option--take it viaq correspondence.
Excelsior only requires 3 semester credits for the
English requirement.

--Orson