COSC New Policy - Transfer Credit Updated Info

[SteveFoerster]

We've all speculated, but here it is from the Registrar at Charter Oak, verbatim:

TECEP, Uexcel have no transfer credit limit because they are regionally accredited testing programs.
CLEP, AP, DSST are ACE providers and are subject to the 90 cr cap.

So there you have it. You can still test out of 114 credits, provided that at least 24 credits are from TECEP or UExcel. Big Three status preserved!

[openair]

We've all speculated, but here it is from the Registrar at Charter Oak, verbatim:

TECEP, Uexcel have no transfer credit limit because they are regionally accredited testing programs.
CLEP, AP, DSST are ACE providers and are subject to the 90 cr cap.

So there you have it. You can still test out of 114 credits, provided that at least 24 credits are from TECEP or UExcel. Big Three status preserved!

Interesting. I think that's the best advice. But why did their admissions person tell me something completely different, at least with regard to CLEP? I was told that it isn't even subject to the new cap.  I guess that you can't rely on these folks. It would be nice for the admissions people to be informed about such things, or refuse to provide specific advice without the requisite knowledge. Why not simply refer to the registrar? I suppose that you can still "inform" students without the knowledge of such "details." 

Has the big three status been preserved? Barely. They are putting up ever-increasing and more ridiculous obstacles on the educational path of non-traditional students. At a certain point, the "generous" transfer policy will be littered with so many obstacles and caveats that the standard single school 30-credit requirement will look like a smaller and more straightforward challenge to tackle.

[SteveFoerster]

Has the big three status been preserved? Barely. They are putting up ever-increasing and more ridiculous obstacles on the educational path of non-traditional students. At a certain point, the "generous" transfer policy will be littered with so many obstacles and caveats that the standard single school 30-credit requirement will look like a smaller and more straightforward challenge to tackle.

I'll bite: which of these do you consider to be a "ridiculous obstacle"?

1. Fulfill general education requirements, including their Cornerstone course

2. Fulfill the requirements for a concentration, including their Capstone course.

3. Earn 24 more credits from COSC itself, regionally accredited transfer credit, TECEP exams, NYU language exams, or UExcel exams.

4. Earn 90 more credits from (3) or from a very wide variety of ACE approved providers, including AP, CLEP, DSST. StraighterLine, Sophia, SDC, or other non-traditional sources.

5. At least 30 of those 120 credits must be upper division.

6. At least 60 of those 120 credits must be liberal arts.

[natshar]

I made this: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Start-Here

It is long but could help the newbies.

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Has the big three status been preserved? Barely. They are putting up ever-increasing and more ridiculous obstacles on the educational path of non-traditional students. At a certain point, the "generous" transfer policy will be littered with so many obstacles and caveats that the standard single school 30-credit requirement will look like a smaller and more straightforward challenge to tackle.

I'll bite: which of these do you consider to be a "ridiculous obstacle"?

1. Fulfill general education requirements, including their Cornerstone course

2. Fulfill the requirements for a concentration, including their Capstone course.

3. Earn 24 more credits from COSC itself, regionally accredited transfer credit, TECEP exams, NYU language exams, or UExcel exams.

4. Earn 90 more credits from (3) or from a very wide variety of ACE approved providers, including AP, CLEP, DSST. StraighterLine, Sophia, SDC, or other non-traditional sources.

5. At least 30 of those 120 credits must be upper division.

6. At least 60 of those 120 credits must be liberal arts.

Yeah I agree. The obstacle aren't that "ridiculous" so you need need to 24 RA credit. That's only 8 courses. There are so many options to do that for cheap and/or fast! In fact it might even be helpful if you choose a certain major or concentration that can't found all via ACE. Plus, a lot of people wanting to do COSC already have 24 RA credits from the past

[ss20ts]

Not sure why any of COSC's requirements are ridiculous. I attend CSU Global and they have transfer credit limits on community college credit, 4 year school credit, and ACE credit. They also require 30 credits to be taken at CSU. Every degree has a capstone course. Everyone also takes a cornerstone course as well. We have gen ed reqs as well as does every college. Many of these requirements are set by accreditation. What's the problem? This is college not an amusement park where you do whatever you want.

[natshar]

 Every degree has a capstone course. Everyone also takes a cornerstone course as well.

I wouldn't say EVERY degree has a capstone course, a lot don't it all depends on the school and major. But some require a portfolio or internship or something else. I feel like more and more are adding a capstone though, eventually I think pretty much all degrees will have one.

Not all schools have cornerstones courses either. But it seems more and more do. At least three CC"s near me even have an intro to college type course everyone must take. But it is a one credit course more about study skills which is different than info lit like the TESU cornerstone. And the uni I attend has this same requirement as well. The good thing is this course is often offered in shorter time frame than 15 weeks, like 7 and 5 weeks. However, if at all the schools I'm referring to, if you are more than 2 years out of HS and/or are transfer student you are exempt from this requirement, but can still take the course if you wish to. Not sure if this is the same as big 3's cornerstones but kind of similar I guess.

Also for the Uni I attend a lot of majors mostly non-liberal arts (engineering, social work, education, nursing business, etc) have an orientation type course that introduces to the major and it's requirements, defines the subject and tells you what careers in that major and career area. You take it before you declare that major. I guess it is a way to make sure people in those majors actually want to do that thing and know what they are getting into. But since liberal arts majors are more broad so they don't have that. Not quite a cornerstone but kind of similar maybe.

[ss20ts]

 Every degree has a capstone course. Everyone also takes a cornerstone course as well.

I wouldn't say EVERY degree has a capstone course, a lot don't it all depends on the school and major. But some require a portfolio or internship or something else. I feel like more and more are adding a capstone though, eventually I think pretty much all degrees will have one.

Not all schools have cornerstones courses either. But it seems more and more do. At least three CC"s near me even have an intro to college type course everyone must take. But it is a one credit course more about study skills which is different than info lit like the TESU cornerstone. And the uni I attend has this same requirement as well. The good thing is this course is often offered in shorter time frame than 15 weeks, like 7 and 5 weeks. However, if at all the schools I'm referring to, if you are more than 2 years out of HS and/or are transfer student you are exempt from this requirement, but can still take the course if you wish to. Not sure if this is the same as big 3's cornerstones but kind of similar I guess.

Also for the Uni I attend a lot of majors mostly non-liberal arts (engineering, social work, education, nursing business, etc) have an orientation type course that introduces to the major and it's requirements, defines the subject and tells you what careers in that major and career area. You take it before you declare that major. I guess it is a way to make sure people in those majors actually want to do that thing and know what they are getting into. But since liberal arts majors are more broad so they don't have that. Not quite a cornerstone but kind of similar maybe.

I was specifically speaking about CSU Global. Every bachelor's degree there DOES have a capstone. Everyone is also required to take ORG300 as a cornerstone course. They don't call it a cornerstone, but that's what it is.

[natshar]

 Every degree has a capstone course. Everyone also takes a cornerstone course as well.

I wouldn't say EVERY degree has a capstone course, a lot don't it all depends on the school and major. But some require a portfolio or internship or something else. I feel like more and more are adding a capstone though, eventually I think pretty much all degrees will have one.

Not all schools have cornerstones courses either. But it seems more and more do. At least three CC"s near me even have an intro to college type course everyone must take. But it is a one credit course more about study skills which is different than info lit like the TESU cornerstone. And the uni I attend has this same requirement as well. The good thing is this course is often offered in shorter time frame than 15 weeks, like 7 and 5 weeks. However, if at all the schools I'm referring to, if you are more than 2 years out of HS and/or are transfer student you are exempt from this requirement, but can still take the course if you wish to. Not sure if this is the same as big 3's cornerstones but kind of similar I guess.

Also for the Uni I attend a lot of majors mostly non-liberal arts (engineering, social work, education, nursing business, etc) have an orientation type course that introduces to the major and it's requirements, defines the subject and tells you what careers in that major and career area. You take it before you declare that major. I guess it is a way to make sure people in those majors actually want to do that thing and know what they are getting into. But since liberal arts majors are more broad so they don't have that. Not quite a cornerstone but kind of similar maybe.

I was specifically speaking about CSU Global. Every bachelor's degree there DOES have a capstone. Everyone is also required to take ORG300 as a cornerstone course. They don't call it a cornerstone, but that's what it is.

Ah. I misunderstood.

[openair]

Has the big three status been preserved? Barely. They are putting up ever-increasing and more ridiculous obstacles on the educational path of non-traditional students. At a certain point, the "generous" transfer policy will be littered with so many obstacles and caveats that the standard single school 30-credit requirement will look like a smaller and more straightforward challenge to tackle.

I'll bite: which of these do you consider to be a "ridiculous obstacle"?

1. Fulfill general education requirements, including their Cornerstone course

2. Fulfill the requirements for a concentration, including their Capstone course.

3. Earn 24 more credits from COSC itself, regionally accredited transfer credit, TECEP exams, NYU language exams, or UExcel exams.

4. Earn 90 more credits from (3) or from a very wide variety of ACE approved providers, including AP, CLEP, DSST. StraighterLine, Sophia, SDC, or other non-traditional sources.

5. At least 30 of those 120 credits must be upper division.

6. At least 60 of those 120 credits must be liberal arts.

By ridiculous obstacle, I did not mean that it's almost impossible to meet these requirements. I've meant to say that they are putting totally unnecessary limits and caps on credit, which works against non-traditional students and simply prolongs their education. I am surprised that the policy is unveiled during a pandemic that has resulted in the closing of exam centers throughout the world. Secondly, it is out of step with all the recent trends in online education and the increasing role of non-collegiate yet ACE approved education providers. It's an attempt to curtail and limit their role. Thirdly, I am skeptical of the COSC ACE credit acceptance policy itself. Based on the official Sophia page (just an example), COSC accepts the least amount of credit from the big three. We'll see how that works out for the people who bring in the 90 ACE college credit recommendations and whether they won't be at a significant disadvantage compared to students from TESU and Excelsior.  How many of these credits will actually be accepted? Without published results, we are still speculating. And did they really have such a hard time with incorporating more Sophia credit into their programs compared with other regionally accredited schools? Excelsior takes 29 Sophia courses (of course, depending on the program) , but COSC potentially accepts only 19 courses. Why such a big difference? Of course, I am not challenging their right to set their own policy in that regard. But I can also provide a critique as a an observer. They are making it harder for alt-credit provider users. It isn't just done by putting up a 30 regional college credit requirement. It can also be done by eliminating potential ACE credit (for example, 1 year of a popular alt course provider ACE credit). This does sound like putting up way more obstacles than the other schools.

[cecilgambe7]

The credits that I can transfer from an international university favor me to complete the 30 non-Ace credits?