Would like to confirm that ACE will take 70% as passing Penn Foster classes

I was rushing through my Art Appreciation class and truly bombed a test putting my average very low (only a couple tests in). I want to confirm that although 70% is a D to Penn Foster that it will be accepted by ACE. My search has turned up varied and old results to this question and I wanted a more reliable answer. I hate contacting ACE because they always take forever to get back to me. Frankly, I'm in a hurry and grade is not an issue because I'm going to use ACE.

Thanks everybody!

 

From the "other" website:

Geezer: "I will answer my own question for any person that finds themselves in this position down the road. My son was one of those impatient persons who didn't wait for his books to arrive before taking his Penn Foster chapter exams. He scored a 70% on his final and ended with a 71% overall average for his course. A 71% is both passing and a D at Penn Foster. Any of you fine people familiar with ALEKS, SL, etc...know that a 70% is all that is needed to earn ACE credit, since ACE is pass/fail. Right? According to PF, no. When my son submitted the course for ACE credit, the person at PF would not approve the course because it was a D, despite the fact that he passed with a 71% and PF has no written policy that says otherwise.

Mary Ann at PF is awesome, but the other people at PF are not. Eight emails and appeals all the way up to the VP of Academic Affairs (an old goat) were met with ignorant, uninformed, and condescending replies. The good news is that the very, very courteous and professional people at ACE responded by agreeing that a 71% passing grade IS all that is needed to earn approval for ACE credit and they added the course to his transcript.

Lesson learned, if you get a D in a Penn Foster course, immediately appeal to ACE directly and they will add the course to your transcript."

 

I looked the post up and see that it is a modern post (07-08-2010) and answers my question. A 2nd case of success with a D would be nice just to confirm.

 

Just make it happen for yourself. You don't have anything to lose. ACE considers a 70% for passing and that is all that matters.

 

Just called ACE and got a very different story. According to this person if the school will not approve the class ACE will not overrule it. ?????

I'm tired of having my time wasted by people who don't know what they are talking about. Nobody knows how the system works and you always have to fight with somebody to make things happen. </rant>

I'm thinking of calling ACE back in a moment and asking somebody else :-D

 

Just like with everything else you always have to step it up a notch. Ask a manager and up. Sucks that you have to spend time just to have them follow their own policy.

 

Geezer responded to a post at *cough* the other forum. Apparently there is a specific fellow he dealt with that is rather important at ACE. I asked him to send me his contact data and that should resolve these issues (I hope). Thanks for your help JB

 

No problem, good luck.

 

Contacting ACE did not work for me either. I had to go on and take another course and I did not do it through PF. I don't know if I will ever take another course from them or not.

 

The issue is that Penn Foster College considers a course to meet transferability standards as that of a grade of "C," or higher. A grade of "D," is not considered a transferable grade to most colleges and universities.

Since Penn Foster College is recommending college credit for the student the fact that a student earned less than a "C," would be unacceptable and demonstrate that the student didn't meet the standards of transferability of the course. A grade of less than a 75 is not transferable and meeting satisfactory academic progress.

Although there are some colleges and universities that will accept a grade of "D," in some instances, this is very rare. A student must earn a grade of "C," or higher at most colleges and universities in order to be eligible for consideration of transfer. This is why I think Penn Foster College essentially has this in force when it comes to recommending credit to ACE (American Council on Education) when it comes to their courses and that the acceptable grade is 75 "C," or higher in order to be given approval for academic credit. I hope this helps to answer your question.

 

The curious thing is that geezer successfully transferred a D onto an ACE transcript. Penn Foster is denying that they have anything to do with it and that ACE makes the calls, ACE is saying the opposite. Nobody seems to know. it appears that it is allowed but ignorance on the part of Penn Foster is the sticking point. I'm taking geezer at his word that he was successful.

Nana, please check out this link:
Penn Foster will a D transfer for ACE credit?

There is some good information there if you want to try and battle PF's call on your D.

 

I don't mean to doubt anyone, but the burden falls upon this person to prove that they were able to get a grade of "D," to be approved and placed on the ACE transcript. The person would need to show us a copy of their Penn Foster College transcript that shows the grade of "D," and that this same course was added to the ACE transcript.

The issue here is as I stated before, Penn Foster College deems a transfer equivalent to be a grade of "C," or better and that is why they don't allow it to be approved and added to the ACE transcript because that isn't considered being able to transfer to other colleges and universities. There are some that do transfer in a grade of "D," but that is very rare.

I stand behind Penn Foster College to refuse to approve a course being added to the ACE transcript. Unless the course was passed with a grade of "C," it shouldn't be allowed to be added and it falls upon those who say that they have been able to challenge this policy to prove, otherwise.

Honestly if a student can't earn a grade of "C," with Penn Foster College with all the books and materials that they give, then there has to be something wrong because you have so many opportunities to do well.

 

The burden doesn't fall on anyone. This is an internet forum where someone was sharing their personal experience. He doesn't have to jump through hoops to prove to anyone. Why would someone lie about being able to get a PF course on an ACE transcript? He was attempting to help others who are in the same position as him and offering advice on how to get it done. I have had conversations with Geezer on the forum before and he created that thread to help people, not to get attention.

If you don't agree with the process than so be it, let ACE and PF worry about it. I know if after I paid for the course there was a way to get it on a transcript for credit then I would definitely do it.

 

My criticism isn't their standards, they have every right to make the cut at whatever level they desire. My annoyance is that nobody seems to know what that cut is. My correspondence with PF has given me mixed answers. It's not that they won't take it, it's that they can't seem to figure out if they will or not. Apparently the rule is not well defined to the people that work there and ACE just follows orders. Also, JB is right, if it's allowed, one should do everything possible to transfer whatever credit they can even if they did not achieve a great grade.

 

How does this work? If I want to send my stuff over to ACE, do they get the info from PF or does PF sent it to them?

 

It is done entirely online. After you register for an ACE account you will be able to search their database (you can search it before hand to see what is available) for the class you have completed and "add" it to your account. ACE will then check with the institution to make sure that you have completed the course and will then change it to pending/approved and then a few days later it will appear on your transcript.

The discrepancy with this situation is that most of the ACE approved courses aren't through colleges and are just random courses through various institutions. ACE audits the courses and then approves them. ACE requires 70% completion to meet their standard for the course. I understand PF's policy because they are a college and most colleges wont accept less than a "C" for credit at the receiving institution but most colleges will still transfer out the course to let the receiving college decide. PF won't even send out the transcript if you received less than their qualifying score. Yet they list a 70-74 as a "D" and "passing." Also, "An overall program average of 70%, or above, is required to graduate and earn your diploma." http://www.pennfoster.edu/learning_experience.html


The person who was able to do it printed out their transcript with a grade above 70% and was able to fax/email over a copy to ACE to prove that they met ACEs standard and PFs standard of "passing" for the course and it was put on a transcript. Most haven't gone to those lengths to get it approved and have failed based on what both institutions have said on the initial phone call and it has skewed the results. For a couple hundred bucks it is definitely worth the time and effort. YMMV.