The Open University - Liberal Arts degree (only £6,192 GBP! fully online)

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by nomaduser, Jan 5, 2021.

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  1. nomaduser

    nomaduser Active Member

    Hello guys,

    I just found another way to get a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal arts at The Open University (UK).

    The Open University has an 'Open Degree' program which is equivalent to a US Liberal Arts degree.

    This program requires you to get 360 UK credits (180 ECTS credits) in ANY subjects.


    http://www.openuniversity.edu/courses/qualifications/qd#course-details

    They allow you to transfer up to 240 UK credits (120 ECTS credits) and they charge £6,192 per 120 UK credits.


    AND NOW you can get up to 165 free ECTS credits from XAMK Open Studies:
    https://www.xamk.fi/en/openstudies/

    Once you collect the 120 ECTS credits from XAMK, you'll be able to transfer them all toward your Bachelor of Arts in Open studies degree at The Open University!
    And pay the £6,192 fee for the remaining 120 UK credits (60 ECTS) to complete your degree.

    The total fee is only £6,192 GBP ($8,311 USD)


    The Open University is the most popular distance learning university in UK.
    They rank 600th in the world:
    https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/open-university
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_University

    I hope this can be included as 'big four'. The Open University is more popular than the big three.
    And their price is much cheaper than the big three degree.
     
    sks972, innen_oda and Mac Juli like this.
  2. Mac Juli

    Mac Juli Well-Known Member

    Hello!

    Can be recommended, yes!!

    Best regards,
    Mac Juli
     
    nomaduser likes this.
  3. innen_oda

    innen_oda Active Member

    Do they accept ALL transfer courses? The XAMK courses are quite varied, and having a quick look at the OU link, while the sections 1, 2 and 3 courses cover a wide range of subjects, I'm not sure how some of the XAMK courses would factor in - if at all.

    I'd want to see something concrete before any pronouncements of 'you'll be able to transfer them all toward your Bachelor of Arts'. Universities can be picky about transfers if it means you're giving them less money.

    I don't understand the obsession with discovering an addition to 'the big 3'. If it has merits as an option (and this has potential), then it's good on its own. The Big Three, as it originally existed, barely exists anymore anyway.
     
    SpoonyNix and nomaduser like this.
  4. nomaduser

    nomaduser Active Member

    I'm trying to figure this out. So the 'Open' programme allows you to take random courses based on your own interests and their max transfer credit limit is 120 ECTS.
     
  5. nomaduser

    nomaduser Active Member

    The Open University guys confirmed it:

    "The most amount of credits we can award towards this qualification is 240 out of 360 (120 out of 180 ECTS). The study can be from any subject and we accept students from around the world and although we have a different credit system, they are the same as ECTS credits.

    For more information, please visit the credit transfer website:
    http://www.open.ac.uk/study/credit-transfer/"
     
  6. nomaduser

    nomaduser Active Member

    They mean you'll be able to transfer US college credits along with XAMK ECTS credits.
     
  7. Mac Juli

    Mac Juli Well-Known Member

    Hello!

    While I think the Open University is great - and their Open Qualifications are, too (I have myself a DipHE (Open)), the credit transfer itself might be a little more complicated and it might be sobering how little of the credits you earned will actually be accepted. When I tried to convert a German Vordiplom (120 ECTS), I was offered an exemption of only 30 ECTS. OK, well, this was in 2009.

    So, as usual, the best way should be to ask the Open University directly.

    Best regards,
    Mac Juli
     
    nomaduser likes this.
  8. nomaduser

    nomaduser Active Member

    The German diploma is taught in German but the XAMK courses are taught entirely in English. They'll issue their transcript in English as well.
    So I believe The Open University will be able to accept them all.
     
  9. innen_oda

    innen_oda Active Member

    Please notice how much hedging language they are using. The 'guys' are confirming the absolute minimum required to answer your query.

    'we can' != 'we will'.

    As I used to explain to my ESL students: 'can' is used when a decision has not yet been made, 'will' is used when the decision has already been made. 'Will' is reliable, a constraint, a commitment. 'Can' is simply possibility, ability, potential.

    Also, point off to the OU 'guys' for their poor sentence structure. That bolded sentence is awkward as.
     
  10. nomaduser

    nomaduser Active Member

    I will first start my Open degree application and see how my XAMK courses transfer. I let you guys know as soon as I successfully transfer my first XAMK course.
     
  11. nomaduser

    nomaduser Active Member


    Don't worry too much. XAMK provides a PDF syllabus for each of their course.
    I can send my XAMK syllabus to [email protected] and get evaluation before taking the course.
     
  12. innen_oda

    innen_oda Active Member

    I'm not worried about you - more mindful of the poor visitor to this forum who takes your repeated wishful thinking posts as gospel.

    I'm also fascinated by people who get taken in by marketing pitches and clever salesmen, and confuse what they want to be true with what is actually true.
     
  13. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    They're not a category because they merely accept a lot of transfer credit, but because they accept nearly all requirements to be fulfilled in transfer and are liberal about the source.

    In the UK, sure. But either way I don't see the relevance of this.

    $8,311? Not really, for those who have a cost-conscious plan.
     
  14. nomaduser

    nomaduser Active Member


    I got another response from Open University:

    "I have check our Naric database and can confirm that we can accept ECTS credits from South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (XAMK) as it is a recognized institution."

    So they can accept ECTS credits from XAMK without an issue.
     

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