Any Alternatives to "The Big THREE"?

I know it's been probably asked before.
Are there any alternatives to getting an Associate's degree or Bachelor's entirely by testing other than the so called "Big Three"?

Maybe I should get Bear's latest guide to check out in detail colleges and their requirements?

 

Western Governors University

http://www.wgu.edu

 

University of London.

 

The problem is that you have to pass their tests which I am guessing involves more than just 100 multiple choice qurstions.

 

UOL

Which courses of study are you refering to at the University of London? I was not aware of these. Thanks.

 

I believe there are about 350 others described in Bears' Guide, which can be found in many public libraries. It really does pay to shop around for price, academic model (some are mostly exam-based, some have few or no exams), policy on credit for prior learning, and various other factors.

John Bear

 

are there any which also offer all the courses and/or tests required to complete their degree (other than Athabasca) without going to other colleges/schools for credit accumulation ?

 

etech,

I once had an email from an advisor at UMass Lowell that stated Umass has challenge exams for alot or all of their courses. You may have to give them an email on the specifics. I don't really remember if it was EVERY course or what. I also don't know if it counts as a residency requirement. Something to check out though.

Best Regards,
Bill

 

Uhmmm..maybe should stick to Big Three

WGU: Too Expensive, and their information not very clear. It doesn't specify that you can get a degree "entirely" through testing using standarized tests. In their fees schedule they talk about tuitition for "semester terms", etc. What if you already have all the credits through testing, what fees to pay then?

Perhaps, now I realize, there's a reason for the "Big Three" reference continually mentioned in these forums...Anyways, although I will probably go through one of them to get my degree, just in case their marketing departments are interested in my opinion, these are the major problems I see as a consumer:

TESC: Too expensive, lack of clarity.

COSC: Too many requirements (aesthetic appreciation, research methods...etc that make it difficult to fulfill entirely by testing, or force one to take courses that one has no intertest in just to fulfill these requirements). Also they don't have Associate's degree in Business, just general AS; same with their Bachelor's, they only have concentrations, but no mention on the degree of your major.

EXCELSIOR: Horrible name. Sounds degreemillish, cheap, artificial, lacking serious intellectual depth. Regents College was way much better. Please do us a favour and change your name!!! Also their excelsior examinations are too expensive!!!

Otherwise, I thank those Big Three for being there, as a good option for us adult distance learners who need the flexibility their programs provide so as to achieve our educational goals.

 

Of the Big 3, I'd say Excelsior has the best name.

Thomas Edison State College: Is there any other "State University" or "State College" named after a person rather than a place? Sounds strange to me.

Charter Oak State College: "Charterhouse" (a famous English boarding-school) makes sense, but how can you charter an oak?

Bowling Green University: Sounds too recreational for me to take the academics seriously.

Pepperdyne University: Sounds like a kind of cheese.

 

Western Governors University

Will Makeit wrote:

> WGU: [...] their information not very clear. [...]
> What if you already have all the credits [...]?

Their Website makes it clear that this isn't possible:

"This competency-based system does not use credits in awarding degrees. [...] However, if you have completed college coursework at another institution, you may have your transcripts evaluated and may be able to have some associate-level domains cleared."
-- http://www.wgu.edu/wgu/academics/understanding.html

Note the "associate-level". You cannot do their upper-level stuff before enrolling.

 

Re: Uhmmm..maybe should stick to Big Three

FWIW, I satisfied COSC's distributive requirements entirely by testing, taking eight exams and earning 36 credits in the process. Here the list of exam, credits earned, and COSC requirement(s) satisfied:

CLEP College Mathematics (3 cr): Analytic/Quantitative Reasoning Data Interpretation (Q)
DSST Criminal Justice (3 cr): Ethical Dimensions & Citizenship [C]
CLEP English Comp w/Essay (6 cr): Written Communication (E)
DSST Environment and Humanity (3 cr): Global Society (G)
CLEP Humanities (6 cr): Aesthetic Dimensions (A), Historical Development (H)
CLEP Natural Sciences (6 cr): Scientific Process (S)
ECE Research Methods in Psychology (3 cr): Research [R)
CLEP Social Sciences/History (6 cr): Relationship to Groups & Communities (I), Western Civilization & Culture (W)

 

The Charter Oak is where the good citizens of Connecticut hid the colony's charter from an evil governor to protect their rights that were granted in the charter.

Subject to correction by those who actually studied the subject.

 

You're kidding, right? Just off the top of my head, there's Austin Peay State University, Sam Houston State University, Sul Ross State University, and Stephen F. Austin State University. Those are just a few that popped into my head, and are obvious because of they include full names - I would think that there are more.

 

I'd also like to point out that these are quite respected institutions. Sam Houston State University, for example, is very well known for its criminal justice programs. It also has a good selection of correspondence courses.

Alex

"Don't mess with Texas!"

 

Re: UOL

Just off the top of my head, London offers bacheolor's degrees in philosophy, English, theology, geography, sociology, law, classics, history, information technology, German, French, Italian, and a large number of business and economics degrees.

The most important thing to consider in your school selection is your present transcript. London, for example, may be an excellent choice for someone who has no college credits, but who has disipline. The degrees can be completed in three years, and are very respected.

On the other hand, it is probably not a good choice for some one who already has 100+ units, and could finish the remainder in a year at the big three.

The Big Three are mentioned quite often on this forum because they fit the requirements need by many of the members who:

1) Have attended traditional colleges or universities
2) Have earned a subtantial amount of units
3) Have continued to read academic material beyond the class room and/or have substantial work experience in their disipline.

For these students, simply "testing out" of courses that contain information they are already framiliar with is both inexpensive and fast.

But I sometimes wonder if we make this system seem too easy. For a student who has never been to college, and has done very little reading and writing since high school, learning a subject from the ground up and testing out may be too difficult. A student in this situation might benifit more from a structured DL program with assigned reading and feedback on papers.

Of course, there are students who have done it before.

 

Re: Re: UOL

I was looking for a school that provides all the courses to complete the degree. I think I will not be bringing in too many credits and may not perform too well if I just go with the testing option. Although I like the fact that Excelsior gives credits for IT certification.

UoL has variety of choices and their degrees are well known. The problem I see with that is it will take 2-3 years. They only offer credits for maximum 4 courses. On the other hand the other valid option seems Athabasca. Athabasca has all the courses needed to complete the program but probably will take 3 years (maybe more?) but will have better utility in North America for postgrad study and employment, right?.

Are these the only that offer complete courses to complete their degree ? Are there any others (same or less expensive than these) ?

Thanks..

 

Without leaving Indiana, there's Purdue and Ball State.

Look on the back of the CT quarter.

 

Um, not all of these are state-run, but:

Malcolm X College
Daley College
Wright State University
George Mason University
Yale University
Harvard University
Ferris State University
Gustavus Adolphus College
Martin Luther College (hee hee)
William and Mary

come to mind as accredited schools named after mostly real people.

 

Re: Uhmmm..maybe should stick to Big Three

Perhaps, now I realize, there's a reason for the "Big Three" reference continually mentioned in these forums...Anyways, although I will probably go through one of them to get my degree, just in case their marketing departments are interested in my opinion, these are the major problems I see as a consumer:


I think the "big three" are mentioned so much because they're pretty much the most flexible and least expensive programs out there (among regionally accredited schools, that is.)


TESC: Too expensive, lack of clarity.


Wow, really surprised to hear you say this. Edison has (last I looked) a flat-rate plan whereby, if you're doing portfolio and credit-by-exam, you can do an entire degree for under $4,000 or so, if done in a year or less. Pretty inexpensive in my book! And as for clarity, they have lots of great resources and good advising. You might read "The BS in Levitation" , one of our articles, for more on how the portfolio program works.


COSC: Too many requirements (aesthetic appreciation, research methods...etc that make it difficult to fulfill entirely by testing, or force one to take courses that one has no intertest in just to fulfill these requirements).


Well.... the "too many requirements" are pretty much distribution requirements that will be necesary at almost any accredited school in one form or another... Edison has plenty of requirments as well. Remember that you're getting a liberal arts degrees... but also be aware that you can porfolio out of most of those requirements if there are no exams. "Research methods" is a requirement for a number of majors in the natural and social sciences not just at Edison, but at most schools, so you may have difficulty getting out of doing something for that if you're doing a social science.


Also they don't have Associate's degree in Business, just general AS; same with their Bachelor's, they only have concentrations, but no mention on the degree of your major.


Yes, this is a significant disadvantage, and I've never really understood why they do it that way...


EXCELSIOR: Horrible name. Sounds degreemillish, cheap, artificial, lacking serious intellectual depth. Regents College was way much better. Please do us a favour and change your name!!! Also their excelsior examinations are too expensive!!!


Couldn't agree more. "Excelsior" (while it's the NY state motto and means "Onward and Upward" or some such) means "packing material" or "shredded paper" to a lot of folks, including me, so I think of Execlsior as "Shredded Paper U"... maybe where the Enron accountants got their degrees.


Otherwise, I thank those Big Three for being there, as a good option for us adult distance learners who need the flexibility their programs provide so as to achieve our educational goals.

The fourth, not so often mentioned one of the "big three" is Athabasca University in Canada. You may want to check them out, as they have a lot of similar programs to the Big Three, and you may find things more to your liking there.

We at DegreeInfo are also in conversations with a fairly well known distance learning school that's considering entering into the degree completion marketplace and coming up with offerings similar to the Big Three. We'll tell you more if anything ever comes of it...