I hate to beat a dead horse but Excelsior name change?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by bceagles, Mar 18, 2004.

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  1. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member

    So for a period of time the University was as well a university with its own degree. I guess it was the Regents' status as an accrediting agency that allowed them the latitude to experiment though that would have had to be okayed by Middle States if the school was RA. Or something like that.
     
  2. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Yes, it was RA. I don't recall much--if any--discussion in their literature about their status as an accreditor.

    BTW, it wasn't only RA. The nursing degrees were NLN-accreditrd, too.
     
  3. Adam1914

    Adam1914 New Member

    Next time they ask just tell em its named after its States motto

    Description of the New York State flag:


    Emblazoned on a dark blue field is the state coat of arms. The goddess Liberty holds a pole with a Liberty Cap on top. Liberty stands for freedom. At her feet is a discarded crown, representing freedom from England at the end of the revolutionary war. On the right is the goddess, Justice. She wears a blindfold and carries the scales of justice. Meaning that everyone receives equal treatment under the law. The state motto "Excelsior" on a white ribbon expresses the idea of reaching upward to higher goals. On the shield a sun rises over the Hudson highlands and ships sail the Hudson river. Above the shield is an eagle resting on a globe representing the Western Hemisphere.

    So the name is in a New York state of mind
     
  4. bceagles

    bceagles Member

    It's been over a decade since I posted my "opinion" of the Excelsior College name. Over this time period, 60k or so people (myself included) have been granted degrees from Excelsior College. I found the graduation data within the EC annual reports via google, see below.

    A few observations:

    * The name has clearly not been an obstacle for the college
    * At no point have I been questioned about my BSLA degree from EC
    * I received exactly ZERO push back when applying to grad school (twice at this point)

    My guess is that over the past 10 years "E-Degrees" (this cracks me up, see prior post in this thread) / online learning has really come a long way as far as legitimacy with hiring managers.

    All that being said:
    * I'm at the point in my career that my experience is more important than where I did my undergrad work
    * I haven't really been thru an ultra corporate interview process in which minor details like this could potentially come up
    * EC is buried under an MBA and MSF in progress on my resume

    So why am I still considering a second undergrad degree to replace EC? https://continuinged.uml.edu/degrees/undergrad/online-bachelors-information-technology-second-degree.cfm

    For one, the prevalence of social media (LinkedIn in particular) makes me want to remove anything that might look "a bit left of center". I'm getting to the point in my career that a "Professional Bio" is sometimes requested in my line of work (sales/consulting).

    I want to move onto a PHD - Leadership/Organization Behavior program, but the EC "Thing" is still in the back of my mind.

    I'm a big fan of EC, don't get me wrong. EC has created a lot of opportunity for me. I am in no way shape or form criticizing EC. Despite all the great stats i've included here, i'm still hung up.

    Am I completely off base here? Feedback/Perspective is greatly appreciated here. Thanks in advance!

    2004-05 4,558
    2005-06 4,827
    2006-07 5,019
    2007-08 5,267
    2008-09 5,680
    2009-10 6,057
    2010-11 5,547
    2011-12 5,184
    2012-13 4,643
    2013-14 4,693
    2014-15 Couldn't find an annual report for 2014-15
    2015-16 4,948
     
  5. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Yes, completely.
     
  6. Agreed. I think it's more off centered to obtain a BA/BA after obtaining TWO grad degrees. If I'm looking over a resume and see the then someone has some explaining to do. And to be frank, if your response would be "I didn't like the name" then I would immediately be suspect as any employees.
     
  7. bceagles

    bceagles Member

    This is a fair response. I appreciate it.
     
  8. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    Yes, you are off-base. To most everyone outside of this forum, Excelsior is just a private college with a weird name, no more left-of-centre than roughly 4,000 of its peers. You have grad degrees. Move on.
     
  9. bceagles

    bceagles Member

    Great, this is the type of perspective that is helpful. Thanks!
     
  10. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    I'm not thrilled with the name of my undergrad alma mater (Curry College), but it offered what I needed, when I needed it, and in the time frame I required. I graduated, applied to graduate school, and moved on. I don't even think about it anymore, it was a pay boost and the entry ticket to graduate school.

    You have one graduate degree from a solid RA school, and if no one has ever heard of Lewis University, they most certainly have heard of the University of Massachusetts. Personally, I think the time, expense, and effort necessary for a second Bachelor's degree would be much better put towards certificates/certifications, continuing education, or even a doctoral program.
     
  11. I reread my response and it's crazy jumbled. I apologize for that. Fresh off an ACL and meniscus surgery so I'm a little off.

    I think it's more off centered to obtain a BS/BA after obtaining TWO grad degrees. Especially if they are going to be in the same/similar field. If I'm looking over a resume and see that then it begs the question "why". If your response would be "I didn't like the name" then I would immediately be suspect if you were a potential applicant. If it's served you well this far there's no reason to to assume that wouldn't continue.
     
  12. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    You certainly can do as you wish with your own money, but from an ROI standpoint, I would deem it a waste of time and money. It would be unnecessary, given your stated goals. I know personally at least 30 full-time tendured professors at several different universities with undergraduate degrees from Excelsior College. All of them were accepted into their various doctoral degrees without issue. I know at least as many IT and business professionals with EC degrees. A degree from Excelsior College is just not that controversial. I would save your money for grad school.
     
  13. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    It's really a case by case issue.

    I know a person who has bachelors, masters, and Ph.D. A professor in UK University and registered Engineer CEng in the UK, but because his bachelor's degree wasn't recognized under Washington Accord, he couldn't register as Professional Engineer in his home country.
    So that person after trying everything to change the council's decision realized that he can't practice as an Engineer in his country and enrolled in BScEng program that would be recognized by his country council.
     
  14. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Excelsior College doesn't sound like a bad name to me. I wore it proudly when I got my AA from there. I think I might have liked to get my BA from there instead of TESC, now TESU, but that's neither here nor there, is it? And that certainly has nothing to do with the name.

    EC was your stepping stone to get to where you are now. We all have to start somewhere. Instead of being ashamed of where you started, you should be proud of how far you've come!
     
  15. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    I'm curious to know what difference this would have made. They're both unranked schools.

    When it comes to non-traditional schools, I prefer the lesser-known. Hardly anyone has heard about TESU. The first thing they'll notice is that it's a public school. I've heard stories of people mistaking Excelsior for a for-profit college.

    When finishing my BSBA, I considered all of the big 3. I ended up choosing TESU for the flexibility they had at the time, but I got a bonus I wasn't expecting. TESU earned ACBSP accreditation. While I don't really plan on working in the business field, I've seen ACBSP and AACSB accreditation listed as a requirement for some federal jobs. IACBE accreditation, which is what Excelsior has, was not listed. I've also come across states that automatically qualify people to sit for the CPA exam if their degrees are AACSB or ACBSP-accredited. Maybe IACBE will be more included once organizations start getting wind that the accreditor has finally gained CHEA recognition.

    I wouldn't have a problem with earning a degree at Excelsior and never understood the issue with its name. The one thing I would be worried about is nursing since it's pretty well-known for not requiring any clinicals or actual courses.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 14, 2017
  16. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    I enjoyed my experience with Excelsior much more than TESC. It was much more professionally ran. I could get answers to questions quickly. The online platform was sleek and user-friendly. I didn't have to wait for ECEs to show up on my transcript. Overall, I felt like I was an Excelsior student.

    TESC was the opposite of all of that. I had my reasons why I chose TESC over Excelsior, but those all became obsolete when I decided to change my path and I only stuck with TESC at that point because I had already paid for enrollment. I never felt like a TESC student. I felt like I was just doing my own thing and all they did was put a stamp on my work.

    I still recommend them for anyone whose particular plan can be met most conveniently or inexpensively than Excelsior- in that sense, they are interchangeable. Whichever one offers what you are looking for is the one you should go for. I'm very happy with the fact that I of all people, who couldn't make up his mind what he wanted and couldn't stick to a plan, STILL found a way to get a BA. However, in the end, it makes no difference what school name is on my degree- I just think I would have had a better experience getting to that point with Excelsior over TESC.

    Can't say that I regret finally finishing that darn thing, though. This is just nitpicky hindsight.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 15, 2017
  17. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    Those are valid desires. I never cared about that stuff. LOL. I'm probably independent to the extreme. All I want is the information to finish. TESU puts a lot of info online, so the other forum has a list of options for various requirements for multiple degrees at TESU. If you have to enroll to get a question answered, you can take a TECEP for less than $120.

    While Excelsior has better customer service when you're enrolled, the problem is that most will have to enroll in order to plan a degree. They haven't updated their document detailing how CLEPs and DSSTs transfer since 2013. It's, technically, not even linked to on the website anymore, but you can find it with a Google search. Still, the information is out of date. They bury specific degree requirements in their catalog rather than putting them directly on the website. They don't put effort into giving ACE and NCCRS partners equivalencies for their courses. For example, I can go to the Davar Academy website and see exactly how their courses will transfer to TESU and COSC. I just feel like it's too much work to create a degree plan without having to pay Excelsior over $1,000 upfront or enrolling in one of their expensive courses. But, maybe that's their intent.

    Another thing that turned me off is that they wouldn't give me a full evaluation unless I enrolled. Paying them $75 to apply ended up being a waste. Not only is the format of their preliminary evaluation horribly organized and vague, but if they have to put in a little work to find out how a course will transfer, they will require you to enroll for them to do further investigation. For $75, I received two full evaluations at TESC and knew exactly where I stood. COSC gave one full evaluation that wasn't as detailed as TESU'S, but a lot better than Excelsior's.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 15, 2017
  18. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member


    That's true but there is some interesting data about these schools. I took a quick look at Excelsior.

    U.S. News has the starting median salary for alumni at $56,600. Because the alumni were mostly establishing themselves in their careers while attending Excelsior?

    Payscale - Best Univerisites in New York by Salary Potential: Alumni from Excelsior College are among the most likely to say their jobs have a positive impact on the world.

    https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/excelsior-college-11716

    https://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/best-schools-by-state/bachelors/new-york


    For whatever reason, the Excelsior grads seem to do well and that should be as well true of the other two.
     
  19. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member

  20. bceagles

    bceagles Member

    This is great data! Thanks a ton for posting it! Feedback like this, and the other comments on this thread, are really helpful.

    I think that i'm getting to the point in which i'm comfortable with the fact that there are thousands of relatively unknown (RA) private colleges in the US. Excelsior college is basically just lumped in the middle of them.

    I think i'm ready to focus on finishing the MSF program and moving onto a PHD from Indian Tech.

    Thanks again everyone for the feedback!
     

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