what would you estimate the total cost of excelsior would be?? including everything courses, books, fees, etc. i have around 20 credits. could i get to the endgame (ba degree) for less than 4 or 5k?
Off hand, I'd say yes... Around 5Gs sounds right to me. I'm assuming you have no military funding...They will (I believe) pay for all your testing, whether Dantes or Excelsior--a great deal! I'm also assuming that getting a generic BA in Liberal Arts is acceptable. This matters because then you can rack up alot of credit via CLEPS 6 credit--or 12 for foreign language--tests, whether in English lit or the sciences. Books don't cost much. It's the testing. Particularly for upper division credit...that can be significantly much more costly, e.g., $200 per exam for Ohio University CCE. Thus, UD credit requirements can start to strain a tight budget, especially for a major. So--what kind of credit do you have, and what are your goals? --Orson
well a generic BA would be fine. I'm tempted to just go the community college route and get my AA and do the calcoast thing for my bachelors. cleps are pretty cheap though at the community colleges that are near me. so with excelsior they do not offer the actual exams or classes? do they just "monetize" your other RA credits and CLEP into a degree? also is it acceptable to say you graduated from "university of the state of new york"? that sound a lot better than excelsior which sound like the name of a font in MSpaint.
Brandon, You could list it as Excelsior College, Member of the University of the State of New York. Why a Cal Coast undergrad? There are certainly good RA bachelor degree programs including Excelsior that will give you a lot more utility with the degree. The Cal Coast undergrad is more than likely to close some doors that are normally open to RA bachelor degree holders. John
As per discussion here, "Excelsior College, The University of the The State of New York" is acceptable usage. (SUNY/CUNY etc. have so many units and sub-units, few know that EVERY higher ed institution within the state of New York are members; the state of New York has the oldest US accrediting authority in existence, which leads to such confusing locutions.) Does Excelsior "just "monetize" your other RA credits and CLEP into a degree?" Basically--yes. This is the function of what are termed asessment colleges, also called on this board The Big Three (TESC, COSC being the others). They do not offer "classes." Despite this seemingly junior role in higher ed, satisfaction with these degrees appears to be quite high. The first thing to do is get their info and catalog; then accumilate another 45 to 60 credits via testing, should this method work well for you (see Lawrie Miller's web site for more examples of degree via testing). If it doesn't, you should know fairly soon that is isn't for you, and can then re-evaluate your alternatives without too much money lost. If you are, as you say, tempted to do the CC route for the AA, I say do so! Then, again, you can re-evaluate your options, and consider the Excelsior (etc.) route once again. It's not lost effort, and will be readily accepted almost anywhere towards your BA. Your AA will allow you to know what you really want a degree for, anyway--consider education first as a voyage of self-discovery! After that, it's a goal with more utilitarian purpose. --Orson
Excelsior cost estimate via testing Psychology Major: $745 BA Enrollment Fee $475 BA Graduation Fee $1300 ~20 CLEP exams at ~$65ea $300 1 TECEP Psychology Test $1395 9 ECE Exams at ~$155ea $320 4 DANTES DSST Exams at ~$80/ea $300 LSU English Composition Course including books ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- $4835 (I have not bought books, and used a local uni's library instead) $1050 35 books at around $30/per (estimated if you need books to study from) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- $5885 I have not used cost as a constraint, nor have I been looking at the "easiest" way with my program. I have been after a liberal arts education, and it happens that what is outlined about is about what it is taking me to complete my degree from Excelsior. I have some other costs associated with courses that have to do with getting an education in subjects that interest me rather than getting a degee, so my total costs will come in closer to $5500 or so. Once I complete my program, I'll probably write up the tests I took, etc. Considering that my wife is paying about $10,000 per year (fall, spring, and summer including books) at the local public university, <$6000 for an Excelsior BA start to finish is one of the best deals around. Add about $1000 if you wish to pick up an AA degree along the way.
Actually, TESC offers quite a few courses (more than 130 of them, the last I checked), and COSC now offers some as well. The key is that these schools have no "residency" requirement, meaning that they don't require anyone to take courses from them in order to graduate.
