Article in Chronicle: Missed Connections - Online colleges complain about traditional institutions' tough credit-transfer policies.
The article tends to validate the view here that credits and degrees from nationally accredited schools enjoy less acceptability at RA schools than those from other RA schools. But it also tends to validate John Bear's simple, yet vital, advice: Ask. I was shocked, however, to see Excelsior College on the list of schools accepting AMU's credits. Excelsior has a long-standing policy of not accepting credits from nationally accredited schools. One must wonder if they're on the list due to ACE evaluation of AMU courses. It was also interesting to see Northcentral University on the list of schools that have refused to accept credits from AMU.
I'm curious as to when Chancellor Etter was interviewed. The article makes no mention of AMU's plan for achieving regional accreditation, the move to West Virginia, nor the controversial new name. There are few people who are as "Go AMU" as I am. However, I can not agree with what Chancellor Etter's logic: "But Jim Etter, chancellor of American Military University, says taxpayer money is wasted when colleges refuse to recognize courses from nationally accredited institutions. American Military University is an online institution accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council. It mainly serves members of the armed forces, who earn undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificates. Most of its students have tuition assistance from the government. If a student completes a course at an online institution but that course doesn't transfer to another institution, the government won't pay for the student to take it again, Mr. Etter says. With thousands of students over the years having to retake courses, the cost to taxpayers adds up, he says. "The government has just thrown away millions of millions of millions of dollars," he says". A strong counter argument could easily be made to only pay tuition assistance for those enrolled at regionally accredited schools. I believe DETC accreditation has served well as an interim accreditation, but regional accreditation is a must for AMU to compete at its full potential. My assumption is that Excelsior only accepts those AMU classes that have been evaluated by ACE. I wonder whether Excelsior considers these credits as AMU transfer credits, or only as ACE transfer credits like TESC. What policy does Northcentral University, Park University, University of Maryland at College Park, University of Maryland University College, University of Virginia on the recognition of AMU's ACE evaluated? Do they recognize other ACE recommendations? I would be concerned if they refuse to recognize ACE's recommendations of AMU classes, but recognize other ACE recommendations.
