I re-read the letter more carefully. It appears that at some point in the future there will be an EC page on their site, but it's not there yet. I'm posting the url but it returns an error page. www.pearsonvue.com/excelsior This link is listed on the letter.

Anyone who does not test by the cutover (assuming their eligibility does not expire) will be automatically transferred to vue at no cost.

Warning: rant following: get this! (I just read futher down the page) Pearson will CHARGE YOU $10 to schedule, reschedule or cancel an appointment over the phone. LAME!

And Ana and Rob S. are right - you do have to find a Professional Center - of which there is 1 in San Antonio.

__________________

Best of luck,
Joanne

31 hours traditional schooling
11 Microsoft exams, 1 Linux+, 2 ICCP's, 6 CLEP's, 12 DSSTs, and 6 ECE's

Degree Completed!
BS in Liberal Studies

Edited - Hopefully this will all turn out alright for everyone in the end. I am remembering that I am still going to be able to get a degree by testing out!!! And that is very, very wonderful even if it does get harder.

Librevore

__________________
Kate
*******
BS Psychology

at least your river didn't catch fire. ours is 'cleaned up' now. i row (in an 8-person shell) on the cuyahoga. no bodies found yet this year! but i have to say, it really is beautiful, down on the river looking up at the cleveland skyline. i'm also biased. and off topic!

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Dawn
Taking the Road Less Traveled
The Journey of A Thousand Miles Starts with The First CLEP
BS-Psychology - Excelsior College
Enrolled in the School of Business, BS in Accounting
After MIS I'll be halfway there!
72 CLEP Credits, 21 DSST Credits, 25 ECE Credits (Including Inf Lit), 6 TESC Credits, 2 FEMA Credits = 126 Total
Withholding 6 Credits for Accounting = 120 for Psychology
12 credits completed toward my accounting degree

I think this move is probably yet another attempt by Excelsior to try to get people away from testing and into taking their courses. I may be all wet about this but just look at how many EC exams have "gone away" in the recent past. This seems especially true regarding business exams. Excesior eliminated their offerings of Ops Mgmt and Business Policy, making it much more difficult to test out of a business degree. It looks to me that the school feels that it doesn't make enough money on the exams- they would much rather have you take their courses. If you need any evidence, just think about that old favorite- Information Literacy- now there was a money well spent! I'm just glad that I only need one more EC exam (that is if pass OB next Friday!

__________________
-Need 6 more credits for Excelsior College BS in General Business
-Tested out of 46 credits to date
Credits to finish:
Operations Mgmt-CSU-Pueblo MGMT 311
Business Policy- CSU Pueblo MGMT 485 or TESC exam???

I understand your frustration with the change. However, I'm thinking they just got a better deal out of Vue. They can get money out of people who aren't their students with the testing. The best solution for the students would be to do both, but I don't know if they have the volume for that. I can see the Info Literacy course as a possible grab for money, but I don't see this as a trend to eliminate tests in anyway. Excelsior may have done away with some exams, but at the same time they just added three more exams this year plus the college writing exam is very recent. The college writing exam not only takes away from people going to their own class, but takes away from money for their 6 credit exam. I found college writing to be a great test, and an inovative technology. I don't think they'd be working on it that hard if they didn't want to continue down the testing path.

On another note. Good luck with your organizational behavior exam, I did ok on it and didn't study at all. I should have though could have done a bit better with the GPA . If for some reason you don't pass it, can't you just take the DANTES OB? Cheaper, and no frustration with Vue.

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Hi I'm Rob, and I'm an Internetaholic.
Excelsior BSLS - CIS/Psychology Student
3 Credits to go.
DSST Ethics?
.. Graduate, then start over in another program

Seems like VUE are only in major population areas, there are only 8 in Florida each in a major city setting.

__________________
ShotoJuku +
A.S., B.S., M.S.

Always be ready to release your mind and be willing to listen to the advice of others. Remain flexible. - Gichin Funakoshi

Hold on, let me get my soapbox out... OK.
I am quite sure that Pearson agressively pursued EC and gave them a good deal to switch. The assessment buisness is very complex and I think we're seeing that, case in point.

I ABSOLUTELY do not think that EC tries to push people into taking online courses rather than exams. And, I have never had an advisor recommend I take a class over an exam. Never. Period.

Be mad a Pearson, not EC.

As to the IL question - y'all have got to remember that we are a unique set of adults in that we can actually USE a computer and have Google as our home page. Most adults don't. And going back to school as an adult, particularly in a distance learn situation, EC has got to make sure adults are able to use the tools available on the Internet. Could you imagine interviewing someone for a job who says they got a college degree via distance learning but doesn't know how to do research online? How bad would that be for the rest of us?

Wait, I've got to put my soapbox away. Ok, I'm done.

__________________

Best of luck,
Joanne

31 hours traditional schooling
11 Microsoft exams, 1 Linux+, 2 ICCP's, 6 CLEP's, 12 DSSTs, and 6 ECE's

Degree Completed!
BS in Liberal Studies

Oh yeah, forgot to add - take a look at your testing schedule. What can be bumped around to get all your EC's in before Sept 1?

Just a thought...

__________________

Best of luck,
Joanne

31 hours traditional schooling
11 Microsoft exams, 1 Linux+, 2 ICCP's, 6 CLEP's, 12 DSSTs, and 6 ECE's

Degree Completed!
BS in Liberal Studies

I thought I was the only one

__________________
Dale H.
half way...
Enrolled - BS-BGB Excelsior
Completed - 65 credits
Togo - 4 CLEP, 6 DSST, 2 ECE, 1 EC Course, 1 TECEP

I agree with everything you said,

However, my problem was not with the IL course itself, but with the cost. $260 for a 1-credit course that I was able to complete in one evening really left me with a sour taste in my mouth. It's not like the exam is hand graded or anything. It's all automated.

It's the cost that leads me to suspect that they are making an "income booster" out of this mandatory requirement. I would have felt less bristled if they had just raised their enrollment fee by $260, and then provided the IL course for free. The overall cost would have remained the same, but I wouldn't have had this feeling of being 'ripped off' on the price of one credit.

But hey! Even with the $260 charge for one credit, we're still WAY ahead of the curve when compared to B&M degree costs.

__________________
My name is Rob
So far, I have earned 142 credits (12 not used).

Excelsior College
- BS Psychology (5 courses/exams to go)
- BS Business (2 courses/exams to go)
____________
Upcoming: N/A
In-progress: CSU-Pueblo: Labor Relations course
Most Recently Completed: English Composition at PFC (97).
Exams/Courses Passed To Date (43):
- Courses (4): 1 ECE, 1 CSU-Pueblo, 2 PFC.
- Exams (39): 24 DANTES, 15 CLEP.
GPA: 4.0