National College Credit Recommendation Service

[jayboy]

I just got my eval back from TESC and they put in the notes that this was an option for getting credit for my law enforcement academy training in Texas.

Has anyone used this service? Is it expensive? What was your experience? Is it worth it?

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks,

Jason

[cooperalex2004]

I just got my eval back from TESC and they put in the notes that this was an option for getting credit for my law enforcement academy training in Texas.

Has anyone used this service? Is it expensive? What was your experience? Is it worth it?

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks,

Jason

It seems to operate similarly to ACE in that coursework is evaluated and credit recommendations are made to partner schools. It sounds like you get the transcript requested from your organization instead of through them (see Student_Steps) and so the cost should be small if any and then TESC can tell you what you'll get credit for. It definitely is worth it if you can get credit but you need to reach out and get the transcript to start the process.

[sanantone]

I just got my eval back from TESC and they put in the notes that this was an option for getting credit for my law enforcement academy training in Texas.

Has anyone used this service? Is it expensive? What was your experience? Is it worth it?

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks,

Jason

Is the law enforcement academy already evaluated, or are they telling you to use NCCRS to evaluate the credits? If it's the latter, then the law enforcement agency or other entity that offers the academy will have to submit the course materials to NCCRS, fill out a bunch of paperwork, and pay a fee.

[Dr John]

Another option is Rio Salado College, they have a partnership with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement to award 39 hrs of college credit for having graduated from an approved academy. The catch to it is that you have pay Rio Salado for the credit hours which i think is sitting somewhere around $1400 or so, I haven't looked it up in a while. When I did it, I had to take a series of exams to receive the credit since I graduated from the academy a year before the agreement was put into place with TCLEOSE. On the positive side, I did receive letter grades for those exams. On the downside, COSC only used those credits to fulfill the free electives needed and none of those credits counted towards liberal arts credits.

The Austin Community College, also awards college credits for having graduated from the academy, I think it is 15 hrs and I do not know the cost they charge.

[sanantone]

Several colleges in Texas award credit for TCLEOSE, but I don't know how TESC would treat them. Tarleton State University will award 33 credits toward their BAAS in Criminal Justice Administration. The BAAS degrees in Texas are usually CBE friendly.
Bachelor of Applied Arts & Science in Criminal Justice - Tarleton State University

[DrJohn]

A couple of the guys I work with are working on degrees from Tarleton State College. It seems to be a popular choice for some, Texas has a lot of good schools that offer online degree programs for adults. Of course the price for an in-state student is going to be higher then an out of state COSC student since they accept less CLEP/DSST & ECE exams then does the big 3, consequently you pay more since you have to complete at a minimum 30 hrs in residence.

COSC was a good fit for me based on current credits, the speed at which I wanted to complete my degree and the overall cost. Tarleton is a good school, but the total cost would have been double what I have spent at COSC and the additional time it would take would have prolonged my degree by at least an additional year, perhaps longer. My understanding is that most of the courses at Tarleton are 15 week terms and not 8 week accelerated classes. At the end of the day, it matters more that you have an accredited bachelors degree and not what it is in or where you received it unless of course it is from a nationally ranked university like the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, or another nationally ranked school. There are thousands of small universities that no one has ever heard of but they may be great schools. One of my sisters graduated from St. Norberts College in De Pere WI. Who has ever heard of that small catholic university? Great school, beautiful campus......but i'm willing to bet that probably very few people outside of Wisconsin has probably ever even heard of the school.

[sanantone]

In law enforcement, it doesn't matter what your degree is in. For almost everything else, your major is very important. Employers have become very inflexible.