Athabasca 3 year bachelors degree

[publius2k4]

Does anyone have experience with this? I see that Athabasca is a Canadian school, but it has US regional accreditation. How well is this degree received in the US? Can it be used for acceptance into a US graduate school program?

[Yanji]

To get a job or a promotion, a 3-year Canadian degree will probably be fine. Athabasca's regional accreditation is a nice little perk too. I've taken several courses through Athabasca and I believe they are a fine institution. Their customer service occasionally leaves something to be desired but they have a wide range of self-paced courses at a reasonable price and the educational quality is good too. 3 year degrees are common in Canada like most of the Commonwealth but unlike 3-year degrees in England and Wales, Canadian 3-year degrees are general degrees, not specialist degrees (aside from applied degrees, but those are a completely separate discussion). The exception is Quebec where CEGEPs play a similar role as Sixth Forms in the UK and the normal undergraduate degree is 3 years. In the rest of the country, a four year degree (also known as an Honours degree in places like Ontario) is generally required for admission into postgraduate programmes.

I've looked at a lot of US postgrad programmes in the last few months and I've found no evidence to suggest that Canadian 3-year degrees are sufficient for entry for all but a very few. Canadian universities will generally consider you for admission with a Canadian 3-year degree (flexible postgraduate admission is common in Canada as in many other Commonwealth and European countries) but they'll usually require some professional experience or further education to ensure you have the required depth of knowledge for entry. However, if you get a 3-year degree from Athabasca, you can definitely enroll into their interdisciplinary MA programme which is open admissions and is reasonably-priced. Their EMBA also accepts 3-year Canadian degrees. Since AU is regionally-accredited the MA should have no problems being accepted in the US.

I'm assuming that you're interested in the no-residency BGS programme from Athabasca? Bear in mind that the Senior level coursework requirement is quite high and their transfer credit and evaluation policies are not very generous compared to TESC/COSC/EC. If other Canadian universities are an option for you, Thompson Rivers University (an actual B&M university in Kamloops, British Columbia) has a large distance ed arm which only has a 15 credit residency requirement, is open admissions, partners with Straighterline and provides "codeshare” courses which are delivered by Simon Fraser University and the University of Victoria, two of the most respected universities in Canada. TRU isn't as well-known as AU and isn't RA but they are a legit public institution if you're really interested in getting a Canadian degree. I have a soft spot for AU but I don't think their BGS is a good degree to pursue postgrad study in any country, nor is it intended to be.

[publius2k4]

To get a job or a promotion, a 3-year Canadian degree will probably be fine. Athabasca's regional accreditation is a nice little perk too. I've taken several courses through Athabasca and I believe they are a fine institution. Their customer service occasionally leaves something to be desired but they have a wide range of self-paced courses at a reasonable price and the educational quality is good too. 3 year degrees are common in Canada like most of the Commonwealth but unlike 3-year degrees in England and Wales, Canadian 3-year degrees are general degrees, not specialist degrees (aside from applied degrees, but those are a completely separate discussion). The exception is Quebec where CEGEPs play a similar role as Sixth Forms in the UK and the normal undergraduate degree is 3 years. In the rest of the country, a four year degree (also known as an Honours degree in places like Ontario) is generally required for admission into postgraduate programmes.

I've looked at a lot of US postgrad programmes in the last few months and I've found no evidence to suggest that Canadian 3-year degrees are sufficient for entry for all but a very few. Canadian universities will generally consider you for admission with a Canadian 3-year degree (flexible postgraduate admission is common in Canada as in many other Commonwealth and European countries) but they'll usually require some professional experience or further education to ensure you have the required depth of knowledge for entry. However, if you get a 3-year degree from Athabasca, you can definitely enroll into their interdisciplinary MA programme which is open admissions and is reasonably-priced. Their EMBA also accepts 3-year Canadian degrees. Since AU is regionally-accredited the MA should have no problems being accepted in the US.

I'm assuming that you're interested in the no-residency BGS programme from Athabasca? Bear in mind that the Senior level coursework requirement is quite high and their transfer credit and evaluation policies are not very generous compared to TESC/COSC/EC. If other Canadian universities are an option for you, Thompson Rivers University (an actual B&M university in Kamloops, British Columbia) has a large distance ed arm which only has a 15 credit residency requirement, is open admissions, partners with Straighterline and provides "codeshare” courses which are delivered by Simon Fraser University and the University of Victoria, two of the most respected universities in Canada. TRU isn't as well-known as AU and isn't RA but they are a legit public institution if you're really interested in getting a Canadian degree. I have a soft spot for AU but I don't think their BGS is a good degree to pursue postgrad study in any country, nor is it intended to be.

A very reasonable evaluation. Thanks for the information!

[OE800_85]

Let's not forget their "challenge for credit" options. I'd say it gives athabasca a very big advantage, particularly if you haven't already completed a lot of senior level credits.

Keep in mind they won't accept a lot of american testing credits. That includes DSST, CLEP, Straighterline, and ACE.