Excelsior - Clarification of new NA Acceptance Policy

well I ask If could use PennFosters non ace evaluated english comp course to fulfill my written english requirement and was told

"effective July 1, 2006 Excelsior College has developed an appeal process for students to utilize work completed at a non-regionally accredited professional school. The school must be accredited by any one of the agencies classified as "Professional and Specialized Accrediting Organizations". Unfortunately, Penn Foster is accredited by one of the National Institutional Accredited agencies, which we can not accept"

meaning DETC


I replied with this

Just out curiosity do you have a list of "Professional and Specialized Accrediting Organizations" that EC will now accept/allow students to appeal for. I just find it strange the DETC would be left off that list as it is a national accediting body recognized by (CHEA) Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Your Admision page states

"Excelsior College accepts credit from accredited degree-granting institutions in the United States. These institutions must be approved by the U.S. Department of Education and hold either professional or national accreditation, as verified by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)"

I'm still waiting on a response

 

Excellent as I'm down to just one lesson left - Thanks!!

 

Response from Excelsior RE: NA transfer policy

Here is the response I received from Excelsior today. I used Pugbelly's list of criteria as well.

My inquiry email is at the very bottom, EC response is on top, see below:



Dear Abner,

Thank you for your inquiry to Excelsior College.

You are generally correct in your understanding of the process. I would just add that the coursework must be degree level and there are some limitations when it comes to NLN and ABET degrees.

As well, the nationally accredited institutions must be approved by the US Department of Education and hold either professional or national accreditation, as verified by CHEA.

I hope this information is helpful to you. If you need further assistance, please contact us again or call our toll free number at 1-888-647-2388 ext. 2-7.

Sincerely,

Emily Glasser
Admissions Counselor
[email protected]





Hello:

Can you tell me if there was a new policy instituted effective 7/1/06 whereby a potential Excelsior student can follow the procedures listed below in regards to transfer of Nationally accredited Colleges/Universities?

1) Student must pay $200 appeals fee
2) Student must complete an "appeal" letter, which Excelsior will make available
3) Student must provide official NA transcripts
4) Student must provide NA school catalog with course descriptions for the year(s) attended
5) NA school must provide signed letter referencing 3 RA schools that have accepted its credits in the past
6) Package goes before a board for a decision.

Would this procedure apply to the National Accreditor DETC? DETC is recognized by the U.S. DOE and CHEA. Please advise.

Thanks,
Abner

 

Abner,


I love the EC Generally correct responce !

here's the responce I got

Hi Marc,
>
>I received your message through our message center, however I thought it
>would be easier to explain our Non Regionally Accredited Policy through
>email versus message center. First, I do apologize ... I did more
>research and it looks like the Academic Affairs Committee did revise the
>policy this month to include National Accrediting Organizations. I was
>going by the original policy. In reviewing our policy, I found that it is
>strongly recommend that students who have a significant amount of credits
>to complete for our degree program and have those credits through a non
>regionally accredited school are encouraged to go through this appeal
>process. It is a very elaborate process:
> Appeal to Transfer Credit from
>Non-Regionally Accredited Institution
>
>You must submit the following documentation in order for the Excelsior
>College faculty to consider your appeal for the acceptance of your
>college-level credits completed at a non-regionally accredited institution
>to be applied toward your degree.
>
>1. An official transcript from the institution you attended.
>
>2. Catalog from the year(s) of your attendance, including complete
>set of descriptions for all courses offered by the school at the time of
>your attendance.
>
>3. A formal letter of appeal to the Excelsior College Provost
>explaining your rationale as to why credit should be accepted.
>
>4. A letter issued by an appropriate official at the school (e.g.,
>Registrar) in question listing the names of three regionally accredited
>institutions that have previously accepted work completed at the
>non-regionally accredited institution you attended. (use Form A attached).
>The letter must be on official letterhead and signed by the official at
>the school. The letter can be mailed or faxed. It should be addressed to:
>
>Excelsior College
>Attn: Provost
> 7 Columbia Circle
> Albany, NY 12203-5159
> Fax 518-464-8777
>
>
>Once this information is received, then our department will need to
>collect information from the three regionally accredited schools that
>accepted the credits from the non-regionally accredited school. The
>school will need to answer a series of questions with documentation; for
>example:
> What documents are required to be submitted in order for
>learning to be assessed?
> Who assessed the learning?
> Does your institution have a full time faculty in the
>disciplines in which you accepted the credits from the non regionally
>accredited school?
>
>Those are just a few from a worksheet that must be completed. When all
>the information is collected, then it will go to our board of faculties
>for review. It is a very length process and at the end, there isn't a
>guarantee that we can accept the credits. Therefore, to meet just one or
>a few requirements, it may not be the most efficient means. If a student
>has a significant amount of credits to still complete and completed those
>credits from a non regionally accredited school, then this option would be
>helpful.
>
>I recall that in your case, it is to satisfy the Written English
>requirement. This process may not be the most efficient and appropriate
>process for one requirement. I would recommend our College Writing
>proficiency exam or you can take a on-line course.
>
>I hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to contact us with
>any questions or concerns.
>
>I look forward to hearing back from you on how you would like to proceed.
>
>Sincerely,
>***************.
>Senior Academic Advisor

 

I've always looked at EC as a degree completion school
and thought most of there students already had significant amount of credits from other sources.

So why would EC even create a policy where it's not worth the aggravation to transfer 1 or 2 course . . . .

It Puzzles me

 

There are plenty of other RA colleges and universities which will accept transfer credit from NA institutions without jumping through all of the "flaming circus hoops" like those put in place by Excelsior. There are better alternatives to going through all of the (unnecessary) time and effort.

 

This is just my opinion..

EC create a policy to accpet non-regional credit so they where not accused of discriminating agaisnt national accrediting bodies that are approved by US Department of Education .

But the policy is so painstakingly ridiculously that few would partake in the process and to top it off there Academic Advisors discourage it by being oblivous to the policy.

 

Absolutely ridiculous and absurd, but that's fine. Currently, there are over 4 million students enrolled in DETC institutions, so the majority of this student population will probably never even consider Excelsior. There are soooooo many other options and schools out there, why would anyone subject themselves to this process. EC is not that spectacular.

 

I also think EC's process is ridiculous. that said, at least there is a process. When I fisrt spoke to Excelsior about the new policy I was told it was primarily intended for those students with a lot of NA transfer credit. Now I see why. The lengthy ordeal would probably not be worth it for 3 hours of NA transfer credit, but for 30 or 60 hours of transfer work? Then it would be worth it. EC still accepts NA work without the senseless process as long as it has been evaluated by ACE, which most of Penn Foster's courses have been.

Pug