FEMA course to college creidts ?

IS there anyway to convert the FEMA Independent Study courses into college credits without going through Frederick Community College ?

I did read a post about TESC credit bank but can't find any info on TESC website

 

Bump there has to be someone out there that knows

 

There have been alot of posts here and on other boards regarding TESC transcripting FEMA EMI courses with little challenge if any at all. It seems to me that this is a given at this point. Some have used the TESC credit bank to accomplish the task at a savings.

There may be an issue with using a TESC credit bank transfer at another school though. Most schools want to transfer from the original transcripts and not from a bank or a secondary transfer transcript.

One series of threads discussed having these awarded credit by TESC and then transferring them (with some argument) to Excelsior. Another thread noted that TESC will award upper level credit for some of these -- FCC, of course, can not.

There used to be two community colleges which would grant credit for the FEMA courses as a matter of general practice listed on the link out of FEMA EMI. One being Frederick Community College and the other was Clackamas Community College (quarter hours).

Some years ago it was Lewis and Clark Community College that we used for FEMA credit.

I don't believe any of these courses have been evaluated for credit by ACE -- if they have then they will be usable anywhere that will accept an ACE evaluation. That doesn't help with the courses that have not been evaluated.

One might assume that the FEMA folks would be aware of places that these credits can be converted to RA transcript. Their page now only lists FCC.

AFAIK - you've got a certainty with Frederick CC at $60 or TESC at cost depending upon method.

 

does TESC still have a credit bank ?

 

im pretty sure that they do, i am kinda counting on it. here is the link http://www.tesc.edu/prospective/undergraduate/credit/pla.php
i think this is the credit bank, without calling it a credit bank.

 

Try this old thread. http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18705

 

PLA isn't a credit bank it's a method to earn credit by portfolio assessment.

The credit bank is listed on the fees page at http://www.tesc.edu/prospective/undergraduate/tuition.php

 

i think someone posted that they give a military discount for their credit bank, but it isnt listed on the site, do you have to ask for it or do they automatically give it to you?

 

GEt FEMA credit- leave the bank after one year -then transcript?

The TESC credit bank reads "The College offers Credit Banking for non-students; that is, those not enrolled in a Thomas Edison State College degree program. The fee is good for one year"
Credit Banking 1-60 credits $350 $350 $350
Credit Banking 61-120 credits $500 $500 $500
Credit Banking 121+ credits $750 $750 $750
IF you convert the FEMA EMI courses to college credits in this way and do not want to maintain the credit bank after you do this after one year how would you get a copy of these credits -could you request a transcript from the registrar for the five dollar fee?

 

Re: GEt FEMA credit- leave the bank after one year -then transcript?

The credit bank fee is the cost for one year of ADDING credits to your account. You could add one credit on day one, another credit on day two, and so on, until 365 days have passed. At that time you can no longer add any new credits to your transcript unless you pay for an additional year.

However, once the credits are on your transcript, there is no recurring annual maintenance fee to keep them on there.

You could request your transcript at any time, whether in one year or ten years, and just pay the current fee for it.

Did I explain it okay?

 

Re: Re: GEt FEMA credit- leave the bank after one year -then transcript?

yes you did THANKS!!

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

Ok so lets see if I got this right !

You could convert the FEMA credits into college credits through the TESC credit bank for $350.

The only problem is the TESC credit bank transcript would be considered a secondary transcript. so you'd possibly have trouble transfering the credit becasue most schools want a transcript from the originating school. Which in this case would be FEMA/EMI which does not awarded college credit

If you go the the Frederick Community College route you'd pay $60 per credit hour but the transcript would be considered a primary transcript because Frederick Community College appears to be the originating school

 

does anyone know if excelsior excepts tesc credits without a problem. i read the other thread and they said they had some issues, but that was a while ago, has this been fixed or is it still a mess? thanks

 

The original poster in the other thread DID finally resolve the issue. He was able to transfer all his FEMA courses, from his TESC credit bank account, into his Excelsior degree program. He had to fight for it, but it did happen in the end. This occurred last August.

More recently, there was a thread over at the Instantcert.com forum related to this issue. One of the members received additional confirmation from their advisor that Excelsior DOES indeed still accept FEMA credits via a TESC credit bank account.

Originally, the instantcert member was told that Excelsior wouldn't accept the credits. However, when the student asked the advisor to check with her supervisior, she came back with an apology and confirmed that the TESC/FEMA credits WOULD transfer without issue.

So, don't take "no" for an answer. Excelsior DOES accept FEMA credits from a TESC credit bank account!

Hope that helps!

 

Yes, I transferred 7 FEMA credits to EC last month.

 

Please excuse my lateness into this thread...

I used to work for US SBA Disaster Assistance and I'm always trying to learn more, so this FEMA training sounds interesting and certainly something I'd like to do. Let me know if I have this right:

1. If I go here: http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/is/crslist.asp , take the courses, and then pass the online exams I will be granted 1 credit per passing grade?

2. If I finish all credit courses (I think there are like 38), I will have 38 or so college-level credits?

3. I can then take those 38 or so credits go over to TESC, pay the $350 non-military fee to open a credit bank with those credits (or any other credits I've accumulated from other places)?

4. Then I can have TESC evaluate 38 or so credits for inclusion into a useable transcript?

5. I can then take this transcript with the 38 or so credits over to Excelsior and request those credits be applied towards an Excelsior degree?

Am I understanding this correctly?


I have zero credits at the moment, but I am starting a 61-credit AAB at an RA this fall. I then plan to take an AS Psych course with Ashworth (60 credits) and my goal is to use the 121 total credits towards an Excelsior Psychology Degree.

Would FEMA credits help me get there faster by solving the Upper-level credit issue I'll have with doing the two Associate Programs?

I'll appreciate any knowledge you can lend on this

 

No, the Fema courses are all lower level. If you needed a few lower level elective / applied professional credits then FEMA would help you

Theoretically yes you could transfer the FEMA credit by useing the TESC credit bank but I've only read 1 post where someone was successful doing it that way. Everyone else that I have correspondent with has gone through Frederick Community College or Colvis which is far more expensive.

Also I know EC has a appeals process to accetp NA credit but theres no guarantee. Personally I would rethink your plan as far as Ashworth is concearn if your ultimate goal is get a BS in Psychology from Excelsior because you might have a problem transfering your Ashworth credit.

 

Hi LearningAddict,

I'm sure you have already weighed all your options and have your reasons for deciding upon the plan you outlined above. However, I am just wondering why you are choosing to go for an AS Psych from Ashworth and THEN aim for the BS Psych at Excelsior.

Why not just go straight for the Bachelor's? You will be able to apply many of your RA credits, and you won't have to worry about whether your DETC credits will eventually transfer or not.

Once you have your Bachelor's, your AS Psychology will no longer serve much of a functional purpose anyway. So why not focus your efforts on your end goal rather than allowing yourself to get distracted with an Associate's degree that may or may not apply towards your Excelsior degree?

I'm not suggesting that you change your plans. I'm just letting you know that there may be a more direct and efficient way to reach your final destination.

Anyway, something for you to think about.

Best of luck to you, whatever you end up doing.

 

After I finish my 61 credit AAB from Ashford, I plan to take those credits over to Ashworth. Ashworth says that they will accept at least half of those credits, which means that I could get a second degree for $1,500 or less!

The second point of intrigue for me, is that learning Psych at the Associates level will give me a decent foundation for the Bachelors level, and it will save me from taking unnecessary lower-level courses for the Bachelors, which will of course cut down on the amount of time necessary for completion.

I emailed Excelsior and they told me this:

"Ashworth is currently being evaluated by Excelsior College with regards to whether or not we may award credit for coursework completed at this institution. Please keep in mind that two associate degrees will not give you the credits you need to complete a bachelor's degree (which I knew already).

The advisor went on to say, "... You will need to have completed the degree requirements for our Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts with a major in Psychology. This consists of 30 credits of upper level coursework, our general education requirements and Information Literacy."

I knew that two Associates wouldn't equal a Bachelors, but my thinking has been that having the 121 credits consisting of Math, Business and Pysch work will cut down on the amount of additional work necessary for an Excelsior Bachelors; at least by about 75 credits or so. This would be an ideal situation.

HOWEVER, the problem at the moment is that Excelsior does not seem to be accepting Ashworth credits, according to the Advisor....

This is where the FEMA credits could come in handy. If I could do the credit bank transfer I could come into the Bachelor's program having more than half of the credits completed.

In another view, I could take the second Associates program with Penn Foster instead of dealing with Ashworth; the credit courses at Penn Foster would be better-fitting to the Excelsior model, since to my knowledge, they are ACE evaluated and ACE is something that Excelsior accepts. Problem with Penn Foster though, is that they require a High-Speed internet connection for the online version of the course, and I'm on dial-up. I've tried to upgrade to High-speed, but the lines in my house are old and they've rejected every DSL installation attempt that's been made