The view of Penn Foster College

That's OK, Maniac. People do exaggerate. I've done it myself. No big deal.

I promise to drop the subject after this - and it's just a matter of record, not directed at you.

There have been a few postings about the ICS-Penn Foster connection (a couple of them mine) since they took the name around 2005. Here's one of the early ones:

"They once went by the name International Correspondence Schools (ICS) with the added name of Center for Degree Studies. They later around 2001 or somewhere around there changed the name to Harcourt Learning Direct. Then they later changed it around 2002, to Thomson Education Direct, and sometimes it just states Education Direct. When they issue a degree it states Center for Degree Studies and that you graduated. I don't think that the degree is very impressive looking, but all this name stuff makes it confusing. They mentioned that the company Thomson will continue to own the school, but that they wanted to have the name reflect back to the founder of the school. So, they added Penn to reflect there presence in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and to add Foster, which is the name of the founder which they took the last name from to come up with the name Penn Foster Career School. I think that this is somewhat better than the name Thomson Education Direct, but they need to make a correction and stick with the name instead of changing it so much. Otherwise, it makes it seem like there is no distinction or reputation that is being established." (Emphasis mine - Johann)

It's here: http://www.degreeinfo.com/general-distance-learning-discussions/22340-education-direct-changes-thier-name.html

Johann

 

I do .....

 

My assistant is currently taking the administrative assistant career program. They are now transitioning to online digital study guides instead of the paper guides they sent before. She'll receive paper guides until they have disposed of all of them. Of course any programs requiring textbooks the student will receive the text. She does not have to take proctored exams, she simply takes open book exams online.

I'm in the 4th semester of criminal justice associates at PF and at the end of every semester I have to take proctored exams with my proctor (a colleague that holds a bachelors degree) overseeing me. I take the exams at an office and they are open book, however there is no access to a computer. The proctor has to have a minimum of an associates and not be related. Just because the exams are open book don't think that they're easy. You have one hour per exam and usually I'm writing up through the end of the hour as they are all essay tests.

 

That's OK, I have exaggerated everything I have ever said.

 

I don't view the programs listed in the first response to the OP as "self-paced" as they have a deadline attached to them and the more courses you try to cram into that six month semester, the less self-paced and more furious paced it seems.

PF, California Coast, and Ashworth-- not sure if there are others-- are true self-paced programs that are open ended on a per course basis. I think they have a "You must graduate within 5 years" type deal going on, which is fine, but individual courses at these schools have no deadline at all. I don't think there is an RA school that has such a thing. I would venture to say that many would view this true self-paced design as proof of inferiority. In my life it was a godsend.

I say this not in criticism of the poster who responded to the question but because it was the true self-paced programs at Ashworth and California Coast that enabled me to get a degree.

 

With PFC you get one year to finish out the semester. The maximum course load I've had to take have been six. You work on the courses one course at a time. If you need more time you can pay $75 and get a six month extension. I have yet to pay for an extension. I've come close. With my industry summer is one of our busiest times. If I were to go on the six month plan with some of the other schools I doubt if I could get the degree too.

 

What deadlines are you talking about? I don't think you understand how those programs work. The programs I listed don't just let you go as fast as you want, but you can go as slow as you want too. You're not required to cram in courses; you have the option of cramming in courses. That's part of being self-paced; you can choose to go fast or slow. Self pacing means choosing your own speed. Every self-paced program is going to have some sort of deadline or minimum credit completion requirement within a certain period of time.

To be honest California Coast is not 100% self-paced; I don't think there is a program that is 100% self-paced. CCU requires a minimum of 9 months for undergraduate and master's degree programs. What if the person can finish faster? Is that really allowing him or her to work at his or her own pace? WGU will let you finish a master's in 6 months. Also at CCU, you're required to finish a minimum of 2 courses per year (that's a deadline), and there is a 5-year deadline to finish your program. Again, is that truly being self-paced? A 100% self-paced program would let you take as long as you want even if that means taking 20 years to finish your program, but that's unreasonable. A 100% self-paced program will also let you go as fast as you want even if that means you'll finish a 4-year degree in one month.

As a matter of fact, it is possible to finish one of the capstone-free programs at TESC in one month. It's hard to do, but it can be done. I don't know where else you can do this. At Charter Oak and Excelsior, you can complete all of the credits you need before you enroll. Then, you enroll and take the required capstone (and cornerstone at COSC). That's only one or two courses to complete in an 8 to 15-week term. There rest of the degree was totally self-paced, even more self-paced than DETC schools such as PF, CCU, and Ashworth. If you want to go really slow, you can take tests for credit over 20 or 30 years if you'd like and then enroll. You don't have to worry about a 5-year deadline or a minimum of 2 courses per year.

 

For what it's worth, I took 10 or 11 courses through Penn Foster, all ACE reviewed, then transferred all of them to Thomas Edison State College, added some FEMA credits and 2 other courses to earn my AAS. In all, I took only 2 regionally accredited classes. I then transferred all of that to Bellevue University where I completed the major, added a few more FEMA credits and a few CLEP exams, then graduated with a BA in Leadership (regionally accredited). I am now almost done with a MS, also with Bellevue, and am looking at PhD option.

Penn Foster courses served me well, but I urge you to make sure the classes you take are ACE approved. Though not every school accepts ACE, you will have PLENTY to choose from that do.

 

Great, Ted! You'll do well on the upcoming midterm, then. :jester:

Johann

 

I don't think you will find too many people born after 1980 who even know who Sally Struthers is.

 

Wow. Chill out. I wasn't trying to win an argument or even engage in one with you. No need to be so defensive. It's a discussion for goodness sake.

MY personal point of view when thinking about self-paced is not having an 8 week deadline to finish a course or having six months to finish as many as possible. My program had to be flexible enough to allow me to remove myself from coursework for a few months at a time without penalty.

CCU's two courses per year is very generous and if you have a crazy life like I do, you can tailor your courses to graduate on time and allow for those times when you may not be able to do coursework for months at a time.

That's all I was saying. If it makes you feel better, you win.

 

Now, how could anyone be so culturally illiterate as to not know who Sally Struthers is?

 

Wouldn't that be. . . just about anyone who's never watched "TV Land"?

But as to Penn Foster, I've heard more than enough good things about their courses. I'm satisfied they're a competent choice for college credit transfer work, their career courses slightly less so.

 

Has anyone actually been promoted in their job, or been offered a new job due to the skills they learned from a Penn Foster career diploma/certificate listed on their resume? I don't personally know anyone who has take a course there, just curious.

 

FWIW my assistant is taking the administrative assistant career course and so far we've both been impressed with the material. Upon completion she'll get a raise and I'll reimburse her for the tuition for the course.

 

Thanks for the info. It looks like they have some really interesting programs. I have a 4-year degree that was earned nearly 15 years ago, and looking at options to add more education to stay relevant. I don't really know how employers in my area view Penn Foster, but it's good to know that the material seems to be high quality.

 

RA schools don't take 100% RA credits either.

Everything depends on the program. I questioned an RA school just last week about transferring in some Masters level NA credits and they said every credit that is accepted in a degree plan depends on the program that is applied for and the classes themselves. The perspective transfer credits are evaluated on a class by class basis in all reviews she said, NA too. "it's never 100% in any case sir". In my case two of the five (I only have 5 NA classes I've taken at CSU) I was requesting would have been allowed in transfer after an email and an attachment were looked at. University of Alabama.

 

Yes, but many, if not most, RA schools have a policy of not accepting any NA credits or to review them on a case-by-case basis because of accreditation, not because of differences in degree programs. I've never heard of any school that accepts transfer credits have a policy of not accepting RA credits. University of North Alabama has a partnership with Columbia Southern University. CSU has also made case-by-case agreements with other RA schools. While RA schools make articulation agreements to allow for easy transfer that won't end up in credits being lost due to differences in degree programs, they don't have to go out of their way to get colleges to accept their credits, in general. In other words, RA credits are much more easy to transfer. While you might have to talk to someone about accepting a specific course, you don't have to persuade them to accept RA credits in general.