Hello all, I'm new to the forum and new to looking into colleges to attend. Since I have been looking into DL Universities, this site has been the most help of all sources. I have been getting many people telling me about Excelsior College. I was wondering if anyone had any furthur insight into the reputation of this school. I know they are accredited, but do they have a decent reputation are are they considered inferior???
It is a "Regionally Accredited" institute of higher learning with a great deal of flexibility and it is affordable. This is strictly my opinion but I do not adhere to the ideas of "superior" or "inferior" schools. If it holds regional accreditation then it is worthwhile regardless of name, curriculum and/or location.
From a Regents grad (now Excelsior) The degree is fully accredited and has gotton me accepted into two different grad programs (Troy State U and U of Oklahoma) no questions asked. I know another grad with the same degree who was accepted into Air Force officer training school. If you are looking to get a job or a grad school slot that desires a top notch bachelor program graduate, you might find the program wanting. I don't think any Regents/Excelsior grads have went on to become Rhodes scholars. But I would say 95 percent of the time the degree would do just fine. For employment, your work history is probably more important than what degree you have and where it is from, provided you meet the educational requirements.
thanks again everyone, you have all been helpful!!!! Now all I have to do is give Excelsior a call and see where I stand. It seems I will probably do well as I have 70+ College credits and 6 IT certifications(MCSE, MCDBA, etc.) to apply towards my degree. If they will accept my 14 years of work experience towards credits somewhat as well, my degree may be almost complete.
Excelsior will not give credits for work experience. You can also look at doing portfolios from Thomas Edison College and transfer them to Excelsior. There is an article on portfolios on this website main page.
If you want experience towards credits, you're going to be looking towards some sort of portfolio process I assume. Excelsior doesn't do portfolios, but has their students go through COSC to get portfolio credit recommendations. You may want to consider enrolling in COSC, over Excelsior, and that way only need to work with one school. I have no experience with trying to get portfolio credit, but from the conversation I had with an Excelsior advisor, it sounded like it was not worth the effort and hassle.
Excelsior served my needs and qualified me for admission to graduate school as well. I am weeks away from finishing my master's degree instead of still working on my BS because I transferred to Excelsior and saved much time. Two visits to a testing center earned credits that would have required an additional year to earn in a traditional manner. Most people have not heard of it so it has no reputation either way just like most other schools with no Div I sports programs. In the end it's a valid degree about like any other.
Re: From a Regents grad (now Excelsior) D. Crosbie, were you able to get into campus based or DL program at the universities that you mentioned ?
For Troy St, I was in their TSU-West program as they have a contract to provide opportunities at some military bases. But not all students were military, some were relitively local and they could obtain passes to come on base and take courses. I had to apply to TSU in Alabama. I took the MAT, which is easier than the GRE or GMAT I'm sure. After 5 classes I was transferred overseas and then decided to switch from international relations to education. Same story with U of Oklahoma, but only overseas. Like TSU, many of the students were not military. I was admitted to OU Advanced Programs, but had to apply to Norman to get in. They did waive the GRE though. U of Oklahoma has no M Ed DL program, and they lost the European contract for M Ed and MBA to UoP last year. I am struggling to get Norman to accept my various proposals to get my last 3 SH done, they seem to want to abandon me after comps in Feb. I'm trying to get them to buy off on BYU online for my last class. For both campuses, my professors were flown in from Alabama and Norman, respectively. The OU profs were usually Dept heads. For this I am gratefull. UoP is using part-time course "facilitators". I'm nearing 200 total SH of college, but havn't opened a book on a real campus yet. I say this with more regret than pride in accompllishment. I do like the British way of saying "John is away at University" instead of "John is at the University at/of XXXXX" It reflects "university" as a concept, not a place.
