Most Credits transfer for DEAC

Yes, they list the courses, but do not apply them to the degree. But most (all?) institutions will want the original transcript from the original school--not accepting Excelsior's second-hand evidence.

Did they? I thought you said they didn't apply the credits towards a degree. If that's the case, I'm not sure how you can conclude they "accepted" them when they did just the opposite.

Note: CCAF transcripts all carry 4 hours for basic training under "physical education." These were not acceptable towards a Regents (Excelsior's predecessor) degree--they didn't accept phys ed credits. Yet they listed them. How can that constitute "accepting" them?

As for counting towards meeting a 15- or 18-credit requirement, simply being listed on an Excelsior transcript probably isn't going to cut it. The school will apply its own standards regarding TRACS accreditation. Excelsior's listing of the credits is hardly an evaluation that they are RA-equivalent--mainly because they're not, but also because, remember, Excelsior didn't apply them towards a degree.

This is all a big, illogical stretch. The gaining institution will make its own decision regarding the acceptability of credits from a TRACS-accredited school, and will do so on the basis of a transcript from that school, not from Excelsior. (You can find exceptions to anything, but you would be hard-pressed to go this route.)

 

You bring up a good point since I am not currently using the coursework towards a second degree at Excelsior College. The service is a credit banking service that posts the coursework, "below the line." The "line" is coursework taken after graduation and considered "non-applicable" coursework for the previous degree posted not necessarily future degree pursuits. Since I have no intention of earning another degree from Excelsior College, it has yet to be seen if one can apply that coursework towards another Excelsior college degree. My guess is that it has the potential to count towards meeting a number of requirements for a second degree. The recency of credit, free electives, upper-level credit requirements, etc. Posting the coursework on an official transcript is much more than a continuing education record!

 

Very likely, but I'm only out $25!

 

This is not a good example because last I checked, none of the degree programs at Excelsior College required physical education! Today they count as free electives. Unlike many schools that require a few courses in PE to graduate, Excelsior College does not.

Physical Education Courses - Excelsior College

"Excelsior College will accept toward our degree programs up to 2 semester hours of credit from college-level physical education activity courses."

 

This is a change from times past, when Excelsior accepted zero PE credits.

 

How many credits one may transfer into a graduate degree is something I've wondered about. My highest degree is the Master of Laws from DEAC accredited Taft Law. Their catalog limited transfer credits to nine of a 24 credit program. I have no idea whether this is the industry standard. I think most J.D. programs will take from one third to one half of the total degree requirements in transfer credits.

 

6-12 semester hours is normal. There are examples beyond this range, naturally.

And then there's what they don't print: that these things can be negotiated. For example, of the 16 courses required for my MBA, I took 8 of them at other institutions besides the one who awarded my degree.

 

FWIW, I there are two "favorable" outcomes for credit transfer: "these credits apply to the degree program" and "we would accept these credits but not for this degree program."

I was at Scranton, left my B.A. program. While I was in the Navy, I realized I could, at the very least, walk away from Scranton with an A.A. but I had to apply for the degree. I transferred my SMART (Navy) transcript with all of my ACE Recommendations. They got 3 or 4 credits for Physical Education for basic training. They accepted them as Scranton does/did have a PE requirement which I was a credit or so shy of meeting until then. They were also willing to accept my 3 credits in seamanship and 3 credits in nautical navigation. However, I already met the requirements for that specific degree and so they would not apply.

The processes were separate there. The registrar reviewed your coursework and told you what would be allowed to count, period. However, which major you selected was outside of the registrar's purview (and could change). That was academic advising. So the registrar, essentially, accepted all of the credits but it was the academic advisor who ensured they were applied to a degree once they were accepted.

If your degree only has space for, say, 8 electives then you are certainly able to sign up for a 9th course outside of your major. You'll get credit for it and everything. It will appear on your transcript. But it won't help you meet the degree requirements.

So if Excelsior "accepted" the credits that doesn't mean they applied them to a specific degree. However, they are saying that they COULD be applied to a degree. Circumstances don't always allow for that. Same thing happens when you switch majors. If you were a theater major for two years and then switch to engineering you have a stack of credits that are still "accepted" by the university. They just don't apply to your new degree program. When you walk out your transcript will reflect more credits than were necessary for your degree because of how they were applied (see also: the guy I was in the Navy with who thought that you got a degree once you hit certain credit counts and had years worth of practically useless credits but not the bachelors and masters degrees he thought he had).

 

Wow, three credits for physical fitness training? The PT I got at Navy OCS in Newport would have been worth maybe 1/4 credit. It was dead winter 1977 and bitter cold so they told us "These are the PT tests you will have to pass on those dates. The gym and pool are that way and some of your evenings are free. Go to it, gentlemen."

 

9 weeks with nearly every day spent on the grinder doing marching drills in July. I feel like my sweat was at least equivalent to taking three semesters of Tai Chi (PE courses were 1 credit each at Scranton).

As I recall they also had quite a spectrum for those classes ranging from weightlifting on one end to a breathing meditation class.

 

The coursework side was hard. Like, really hard. They taught us everything from celestial navigation to steam operating engineering, damage control and Naval law and etiquette. We wrote a surprising amount. I was destined to the Supply Corps but unlike every other staff corps (medical, dental, nursing, civil engineers, legal, chaplain etc.) we trained alongside the line officer candidates. The reason is Supply Corps officers went to sea. I think I saw recently where new SC candidates don't go to OCS anymore. I suppose their duties are mostly ashore now. I hope not. Sea time teaches the SC officer an awful lot about his shoreside establishment work.

 

Hm. One third of us actually reached commissioning. I don't know what caused the attrition rate but the rumor went round that the CO was on the carpet about it.

 

Then I spent the next six months at Supply School in Athens, GA. Hottest, most miserable summer I've spent anywhere. The Basic Qualifying Course was aptly described as a "ninety course compressed into six months." The leisurely pace matched the summer Southern culture. It really WAS nice. Good times.

 

All of those staff corps officers, with some exception for civil engineers, go to sea. I would guess, though it is purely a guess that the key differentiator is that it is very easy to define who gets to be a nurse, chaplain, dentist etc. There are specific degree requirements, often licensing (or endorsement in the case of chaplain) requirements, etc. I like how it was described by a chaplain I served with "we had jobs before the Navy and we'll have jobs after the Navy." Supply Corps is a bit of an outlier in that respect. Anyone can become a supply officer but you must BECOME a supply officer. A nurse is a nurse before they ever land at the recruiting office. The lines around a supply officer are much hazier.

Though, unlike in Star Trek, a doctor cannot take command of the bridge in an emergency where a supply officer potentially could.

 

Oh, yes, the other Staff Corps officers CAN go to sea but almost ALL SC officers went to sea and on small combatants and submarines where doctors and chaplains were unlikely to be.

 

That was the point of the line training. A Supply Officer could easily have operational duties and on submarines certainly would. I stood underway watches myself.

 

Well, now you made me look. SC officers don't train with the line candidates anymore: https://www.navy.com/careers/supply-corps-officer

 

From the little recruiting video, the job looks pretty much like it did 30 years ago except that pay isn't handled at sea any longer. We paid in cash twice a month. I found a diary by the "Paymaster" of the USS Monitor (yes, that Monitor). His job in 1862 was very much like my job in 1978.

 

Annnd...the video makes the job sound about as boring and about as necessary as it really is. Very tiny commands that could not support a Supply Corps officer would be assigned a specially trained line officer to do limited Supply Corps duties. I swear, the special training was officially called "Line Officer Supply Training" and the acronym was LOST.

 

What are your thoughts on the value of the TRACS accredited coursework being posted to a RA school's transcript like Excelsior College? Additionally, the credits are transcripted after degree conferral but have the potential to be used for a future degree. Having accomplished this, do you believe this process somehow demonstrates the "equivalency" of NA and RA coursework? Can I make a convincing argument that I hold the 18 credits needed to teach in that particular subject at an RA school?