Lawrie Miller/BA in 4 Weeks: Question

Lawrie,

Looking over the list of tests in your 'BA in 4 Weeks' plan, I noticed only 30 of the 120 semester hours were upper level. Somehow I got the impression everything beyond the 'core 60,' i.e., the freshman and sophomore years, typically needed to be upper level. (There is also a maximum limit of 60 credits that may be transferred from a junior college, but that's not what I'm discussing here.) What do the big three distance schools - TESC, Excelsior and COSC - require with respect to upper level credits?

Thank you,

Mark A. Sykes

 

Hi Mark,

In the Excelsior College Liberal Arts bachelor's degree Program, the minimum upper division credit required is 30 semester hours. Remember that "BA in 4 Weeks" was designed to yield the maximum benefit for the minimum effort, i.e. - make the most efficient use of a working adult student's limited time and resources. The goal was the most flexible, bare bones but legitimate, degree possible in Liberal Studies, utilizing what I considered the "friendliest" set of examinations.

Broadly equivalent Liberal Arts programs offered by the other two assessment colleges (TESC BA and COSC General Studies BS and BA) have similar minimum upper division requirements (TESC BA I seem to remember being 33 semester hours but don't quote me). For a Lib Arts degree, I don't think this is unusual.

Note also that some of the tests deemed lower division by Excelsior may be awarded upper division credit by TESC and COSC, and indeed by other more traditional institutions. Excelsior tends to be tougher than most in this respect.

Other degree programs with designated majors may require more than 30 hours upper division credit at Excelsior and at TESC (COSC offers only the General Studies degrees - these have specializations as do the Lib Arts degrees from the other two colleges, but that's different from a designated major, though of course, you can design your degree so that it parallels a traditional major).

And again, when counting upper division credit, one has to look at the context. For instance, the core of the Excelsior Business degree program is not designated upper division, yet to all intents and purposes, much of it is.

I take your point though, and when I was completing my Regents undergrad testing, I made significant effort to incorporate as much "generally considered" upper division exam work as possible.

I don't think there's any slight of hand going on here with the assessment colleges, they seem to be following generally accepted norms if you look at requirements on a course by course basis.

 

I don't know about COSC and Excelsior, but TESC allows up to 80 credit from a Junior College.


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Larry Walker

 

Note also that some of the tests deemed lower division by Excelsior may be awarded upper division credit by TESC and COSC, and indeed by other more traditional institutions. Excelsior tends to be tougher than most in this respect.


Is there a way to tell whether a clep test is upper or lower?

 

Stan, I believe all CLEP tests, both general and subject, are considered lower level. Charter Oak may consider one or two of them as intermediate, a category that may be unique to them. As Lawrie has pointed out before, the intermediate designation seems to define a level beyond an introductory course, but lower than upper division.

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Bill Gossett

 

Yes.

COSC, Excelsior and TESC, all produce data that detail exam passing scores and the level of credit awarded. The relevant documents can be found:

1)
In the Excelsior PDF file, "Student Guide to Credit by Examination", and in every one of their catalogs (if memory serves) on the back few pages - Liberal Arts, Business, and Technology catalogs, also downloadable in PDF format. http://www.excelsior.edu/exold/pdf/studntgd.pdf

2)
COSC produce a list on their site, also downloadable in PDF format. http://www.cosc.edu/enrolled/Testing.pdf

3)
TESC produce a paper catalog (not their prospectus) that details passing scores and level (in 100, 200, 300, 400, course equivalent form) for all the main exams, (chapter heading "Other Testing Programs", beginning on page 105 in my copy). This catalog is available on request from TESC.

In brief, and as Bill has noted, COSC and Excelsior awards no upper division credit for CLEP exams. But . . .

4)
COSC will award upper division credit in the case of 10 (ten) DANTES exams.

5)
Excelsior will award upper division credit in the case of up to 7 (seven) specific DANTES exams depending on degree program (in practice this means you may only accrue upper division credit from two or three DANTES exams).

6)
TESC awards upper division credit for some CLEP exams, specifically:
Principles of Management,
Principles of Marketing,
Calculus with Elementary Functions.

7)
TESC awards upper division credit for no less than (eleven) 11 DANTES exams.

8)
All of COSC, Excelsior and TESC, will award upper division credit for RCE/ECE exams, but not necessarily for the same ones - i.e., an RCE/ECE exam deemed upper division by Excelsior may be deemed lower division by COSC, and so on.

9)
Both COSC and Excelsior will award some quantity of upper division credit for a suitable score in a GRE subject exam. TESC will award no credit at all for GRE subject exam.

10)
All of COSC, Excelsior and TESC, will may upper division credit in the case of TECEP exams.

11)
University of Phoenix awards (or did award) upper division credit for the CLEP exam, Introduction to Educational Psychology and at least one other CLEP exam whose name I can no longer recall.