Does anyone have experience with the Board of Trustees BA program available from a number of Illinois universities. I've checked the websites of Western Illinois, Eastern Illinois, Governors State, and Chicago State but I could not find the answers to my questions below. I've emailed each school but have yet to receive answers. Western Illinois was kind enough to acknowledge receipt of my email and advised my questions would be forwarded to a counselor. Their website also was the most informative, stating that they encouraged their BOT students to utilize the CLEP, DANTES, & RCE examination programs. Unfortunately, further details were not available. This is the text of the email sent to Western Illinois. It was slightly adjusted for each school. Dear Counselor or Advisor: I am a prospective student, currently assessing non-traditional degree programs to enroll in. The Board of Trustees BA program is one that has caught my eye for its flexibility and capability of declaring a formal minor. I am a business application (software) developer who would like to earn his bachelor's degree through a combination of proficiency exams (CLEP & DANTES) and distance education. With that in mind, I'd like to ask a few questions which I am sure you see frequently, all of which concern credit-by-examination which is important to me. 1) Is there a maximum amount of credit that can be obtained through proficiency exams in the Western Illinois program? 2) Do you accept all of the CLEP and DANTES exams currently given? If not, could you list which exams ARE accepted? 3) Could you also list which CLEP and DANTES exams give upper division credit? 4) Finally, is it possible to take proficiency exams AFTER enrollment in the BOT program? I'd love to enroll right away to receive the benefit of advising, but I would not want to if this would jeopardize my ability to leverage my knowledge through examinations as much as possible. I look forward to receiving your feedback. I hope my questions will not be too much of a burden. Sincerely, AN
Thanks, Mike. I've read those threads before but they don't really answer the questions I had. I did find more detailed information from Eastern Illinois's website regarding CLEP minimum cut-off scores, so my question about which CLEP's they accept is answered... still no idea if there is a maximum amount they will take, though. http://www.eiu.edu/~adulted/clep.html Another thought...As a Texan, I'm not really familiar with any of the five schools nor their reputations. They are certainly all RA, but I wonder if there is more utility to one degree more than another? I doubt it - I'm currently most attracted to Eastern Illinois or Western Illinois or Chicago State. For what it's worth, the US News rankings seem to sort out like this: 1) Eastern Illinois 2) Western Illinois, Chicago State (did not fill out form), Northeastern Illinois 3) Governors State Governors State was not mentioned in the US News rankings. A Google search will reveal an unfortunate recent incident, but I'm sure they're just fine. http://www.collegefreedom.org/gsu.htm http://www.collegefreedom.org/MediaPev.htm
In my materials, none of these schools (those that participate in the Serviceman's Opportunity College (Navy) network--Eastern, Western, and Gov. State place a finite limit on credits for test based credit. Anecdotally, Gov State will accept up to 80 lower division credits (earned and from non-traditional education, i.e., military), requiring only 40 upper division. I would guess, therefore, that they would be flexible. Again..only my feeling. Ternahan. BTW, you can see what I am referring to at: http://www.soc.aascu.org/socgen/SOC%20Guide%202001-2003.html
Some further information to help others that may be looking at this program: Governors State requires that you have 30 semester hours amassed before you can be admitted to the program. Eastern Illinois has no such rule; you can be admitted with no credit as long as you meet their other requirements such as the minimum age of 25. Both schools will allow you to take proficiency exams after you are admitted and enrolled. Eastern accepts all CLEP/DANTES exams; Governors State accepts "nearly all". I'll update the thread when I get feedback from Chicago State and Western Illinois. Northeastern Illinois also offers this program but they have the least informative website of the five schools and they do not list an email address where inquiries can be directed.
I could answer some of your questions, having just gone through WIU. I took both of my DANTES exams well after enrolling in the BOT/BA program. Both CLEP & DANTES should list which exams give upper division credit. But before taking an exam, you'll need to check with your advisor to make sure that exam is for credits you don't already have. You can take as many exams as needed for your BA, but you're obligated to take 30 credit hours in classes through WIU. Any extra credits would just be counted as elective hours.
