Baker college

[beargins]

Hey guys and gals, I need some input in regards to Baker college and whether or not they are a good school to consider taking a few courses from to save money.

I'm in Excelsiors BS IT program and I'm trying to gear it towards programming, so I still need to take data structures, discrete math and a few other comp sci related courses. To save money I was considering enrolling in some baker courses.

question:
from your experience or from what you've heard, are baker transcripts frowned upon when applying for grad school?

Any other comments are welcome as well.

Thanks

[mrs.b]

My husband finished his degree through Baker College, and it made me cringe the whole time. I can't testify to how their transcripts are viewed on the grad school level, but I can give his and my (as the bill payer in the house) perspective on the courses and general experience:

Pros:
* The six-week terms were very nice and manageable for him.
* No proctored exams.

Cons:
* The tuition for 2011-2012 year is $210 per quarter hour, and their courses are 4-6 quarter hours each...not exactly an inexpensive alternative to virtually anywhere, unless it's for a specific course nowhere else offers.
* If you will not be getting an entire degree from them it is a non-issue, but he spent over $40k (with me sobbing the whole way) to earn 128 quarter credits (until recently, neither of us knew the difference between quarter and semester credit hours), and they changed his program during the last semester, giving him an Assoc. in something different than what he needed. It has to be the world's most expensive Associate's degree, and once he gets over how annoyed he is about the whole process, I'm working on convincing him to send his transcripts to TESC to get the Bachelors he deserves.


Others may and probably do have more positive experiences. They're still in business, so our opinions could be flukes. Personally, my advice is "steer away, captain!"

[ryoder]

40k for an associates! Holy crap.

[mrs.b]

40k for an associates! Holy crap.

You have no idea. Let us simply say it was a test of the marriage. He's a little (warning: understatement) stubborn and does not like being told he's wrong, so I'd ask nicely to confirm the accruing loan balance (grr on Sallie Mae for not letting spouses call on behalf of one another!) he swore he had it under control. Now each month, when I write the check to his student loan, I'm reminded of how very much I love him, because if I didn't, I know where he sleeps and, well, you know.

When I could finally get into the totals and was able to show him, we decided to chalk it up to his own mid-life crisis. By the time interest is figured in, he's spent his ridiculous Ferrari money and dented his younger, prettier trade-in girl fund, so he's stuck with me and an Associates degree he didn't want. I'm special and all, but unless you want the same, I definitely would not recommend Baker for a full degree program.

[sevyn220]

You can also look into the Game Institute for programming and discrete math credits. When I was looking into that degree, you could take a bundle of courses and get the credits for around $33 each.

[sanantone]

My husband finished his degree through Baker College, and it made me cringe the whole time. I can't testify to how their transcripts are viewed on the grad school level, but I can give his and my (as the bill payer in the house) perspective on the courses and general experience:

Pros:
* The six-week terms were very nice and manageable for him.
* No proctored exams.

Cons:
* The tuition for 2011-2012 year is $210 per quarter hour, and their courses are 4-6 quarter hours each...not exactly an inexpensive alternative to virtually anywhere, unless it's for a specific course nowhere else offers.
* If you will not be getting an entire degree from them it is a non-issue, but he spent over $40k (with me sobbing the whole way) to earn 128 quarter credits (until recently, neither of us knew the difference between quarter and semester credit hours), and they changed his program during the last semester, giving him an Assoc. in something different than what he needed. It has to be the world's most expensive Associate's degree, and once he gets over how annoyed he is about the whole process, I'm working on convincing him to send his transcripts to TESC to get the Bachelors he deserves.


Others may and probably do have more positive experiences. They're still in business, so our opinions could be flukes. Personally, my advice is "steer away, captain!"

I, too, didn't know about quarter vs. semester hours a couple of years ago and that cost me a lot of money. I looked at Colorado Tech's tuition rate and thought, "$265 per credit hour isn't bad." What I didn't know is that all of their courses are 4 or 6 credit hours. I really don't see any advantage to the quarter hour system. At a semester hour school, I have been able to take courses that are 16 weeks, 8 weeks, 5.5 weeks, and even 3 weeks. There are community colleges offering online associate's programs for under $4,000, so that $40,000 would have had me steaming too.

[ryoder]

The quarter hour system bugs me as well. I have a hard time getting a feel for costs. Capella has a quarter hour system also. So I am looking at their PhD programs and can't really understand what its going to cost and how much time it will take. I am just so used to semester hours.
NCU charges in semester hours and you can finish their courses in as little as 3 weeks or take as long as 8 weeks. But semester hours transfer better and are just easier to understand.

[sanantone]

That's another advantage to semester hours; they transfer better. Divide the number of quarter hours required at Capella by 1.5 and you'll have the equivalent semester hours. For some programs, Capella has the quarterly tuition; and for others, it has the per quarter hour tuition. The doctoral program in psychology is $487 per quarter hour and the doctoral program in nursing is $816 per quarter hour. The DBA is $4,071 per quarter (term). You're considered full-time if you take 6 credits per quarter. Most of the courses are 4-6 credits. I think you can attend 4 quarters per year. I can't tell how long it'll take to finish. Three years will run you $48,852 and four years will run you $65,136 not including fees.

[beargins]

Hmm based on these replies there's really no benefit of taking the courses at Baker rather than EC. Thanks for the replies. I received an email from Excelsior stating they would accept Game Institute for Discrete Math, and baker credits as well, however depending on how potential grad schools may view those transcripts I may as well not even take the chance.

[ryoder]

That's another advantage to semester hours; they transfer better. Divide the number of quarter hours required at Capella by 1.5 and you'll have the equivalent semester hours. For some programs, Capella has the quarterly tuition; and for others, it has the per quarter hour tuition. The doctoral program in psychology is $487 per quarter hour and the doctoral program in nursing is $816 per quarter hour. The DBA is $4,071 per quarter (term). You're considered full-time if you take 6 credits per quarter. Most of the courses are 4-6 credits. I think you can attend 4 quarters per year. I can't tell how long it'll take to finish. Three years will run you $48,852 and four years will run you $65,136 not including fees.

Thanks for the breakdown. It shouldn't be that hard to figure out.
I like the idea of Capella and might give them a call next month or so to see how my MBA courses would transfer and what my least expensive cost would be. I still think that the cost is a little too high for me, however. I am also considering Nova Southeastern.