I cannot get a straight answer from a school about their ACE policy. Any suggestions?

[gremlinbrawler]

Hi everyone, 

I have been trying for a few weeks to get a straight answer from the Art Institutes (the ones in California that are part of Argosy university so they are regionally accredited) about their ACE, Study.com and Straighterline policies. Their mother college Arogsy is a partner college with Straighterline. 

No one there seems to know what their policy is in regards to how many of these courses they accept. All they say is that they would have to have the transcripts. Is it possible that they do not have a policy for how many Straighterline or study.com courses they accept? Even though they are a branch of Argosy who is a partner college with Straighterline? I'm looking into it for my cousin. I was thinking of maybe sending them all of my transcripts to see what they accept but I would really rather find out what their policy is before he starts taking courses. He doesn't have any credits yet. 

Of course I know that nothing is guaranteed until they evaluate your transcripts but I would like to know what the typical number is and if those can be used for General Ed and Major related courses or not. I found a document stating that they signed articulation agreements with Study.com in 2015 and with Straighterline in 2012 but they don't have any more information than that. 

Any suggestions on how to get an answer from them? We have an appointment for Monday, and it's about a two hour drive. I'm a little bit worried that we will get down there and still not get any clear answers.

[Ideas]

It's not a friendly process at some schools A lot of schools just say nothing until the student is enrolled and/or they have the actual official transcript. Some schools say you have to complete 12 credits with them before they evaluate transfer credits. I hope you can get a good answer.

[gremlinbrawler]

Thanks, yeah it's been frustrating   

I think I'm just going to give them my transcripts because they said they would do an unofficial review for me. Then my cousin will have an idea of what they will accept and hopefully they will be consistent and accept the same ones for him by the time he completes his courses.

[Ideas]

Yeah, that would be worth doing.

[a2jc4life]

If they have an articulation agreement, they will probably accept all of them As what is a whole other question, though.

[Life Long Learning]

I find this common almost in 99% of all colleges.  After all "they" are the educated ones.

[cookderosa]

Most colleges don't have an ACE policy, so I'm not shocked - but I share your frustration!! If you're lucky enough to apply to a school that has a simple "blanket coverage" ACE policy, that's great (the big 3 are in this category) but most colleges want to individually evaluate courses. As an example, CLEP is ACE evaluated- that's "why" it is worth credit, but accepting CLEP doesn't mean that a college has an ACE policy, rather, they have a CLEP policy.

You could try some of the freebie ACE options and submit a transcript- see what they do with the classes. I'd try Sophia's team building course as your best bet. If they accept it, then you could push for Straighterline - that gives you a good catalog of options. If they won't accept 1 credit from Sophia, I'm afraid you're probably out of luck with ACE courses. I do think that they accept DSST and CLEP though, so that's an avenue you can pursue.

[dragonfly333]

Hi everyone, 

I have been trying for a few weeks to get a straight answer from the Art Institutes (the ones in California that are part of Argosy university so they are regionally accredited) about their ACE, Study.com and Straighterline policies. Their mother college Arogsy is a partner college with Straighterline. 

No one there seems to know what their policy is in regards to how many of these courses they accept. All they say is that they would have to have the transcripts. Is it possible that they do not have a policy for how many Straighterline or study.com courses they accept? Even though they are a branch of Argosy who is a partner college with Straighterline? I'm looking into it for my cousin. I was thinking of maybe sending them all of my transcripts to see what they accept but I would really rather find out what their policy is before he starts taking courses. He doesn't have any credits yet. 

Of course I know that nothing is guaranteed until they evaluate your transcripts but I would like to know what the typical number is and if those can be used for General Ed and Major related courses or not. I found a document stating that they signed articulation agreements with Study.com in 2015 and with Straighterline in 2012 but they don't have any more information than that. 

Any suggestions on how to get an answer from them? We have an appointment for Monday, and it's about a two hour drive. I'm a little bit worried that we will get down there and still not get any clear answers.

---

Corporate (for-profit) colleges are a problem to deal with even more so than traditional brick & mortar.

If you still don't have a reply, write to the CEO, note the sources and courses you want to have evaluated.  Also note the dates you believe there were articulation agreements.   Staff turnover is often very rapid, both at the staff level and sometimes at the management level.  They literally may not know they have articulation agreements if they haven't been there for an extended length of time.  Ask for a copy of their policy.  If they don't have one, that will tell them they need one.  Hopefully, the CEO gives a damn, but not all of them do.

The CEO will likely delegate your letter to someone below him/her but is much more likely to get a reply than dealing with his/her clueless staff.

[Life Long Learning]

Hi everyone, 

I have been trying for a few weeks to get a straight answer from the Art Institutes (the ones in California that are part of Argosy university so they are regionally accredited) about their ACE, Study.com and Straighterline policies. Their mother college Arogsy is a partner college with Straighterline. 

No one there seems to know what their policy is in regards to how many of these courses they accept. All they say is that they would have to have the transcripts. Is it possible that they do not have a policy for how many Straighterline or study.com courses they accept? Even though they are a branch of Argosy who is a partner college with Straighterline? I'm looking into it for my cousin. I was thinking of maybe sending them all of my transcripts to see what they accept but I would really rather find out what their policy is before he starts taking courses. He doesn't have any credits yet. 

Of course I know that nothing is guaranteed until they evaluate your transcripts but I would like to know what the typical number is and if those can be used for General Ed and Major related courses or not. I found a document stating that they signed articulation agreements with Study.com in 2015 and with Straighterline in 2012 but they don't have any more information than that. 

Any suggestions on how to get an answer from them? We have an appointment for Monday, and it's about a two hour drive. I'm a little bit worried that we will get down there and still not get any clear answers.

---

Corporate (for-profit) colleges are a problem to deal with even more so than traditional brick & mortar.

If you still don't have a reply, write to the CEO, note the sources and courses you want to have evaluated.  Also note the dates you believe there were articulation agreements.   Staff turnover is often very rapid, both at the staff level and sometimes at the management level.  They literally may not know they have articulation agreements if they haven't been there for an extended length of time.  Ask for a copy of their policy.  If they don't have one, that will tell them they need one.  Hopefully, the CEO gives a damn, but not all of them do.

The CEO will likely delegate your letter to someone below him/her but is much more likely to get a reply than dealing with his/her clueless staff.

State runs Universities are the same.  I gave up on one even after paying the $75 fee.

[davewill]

Unfortunately, this is depressingly frequent. It may literally be impossible to get an answer without actually sending them a transcript... Nevermind that this is unreasonable. The only thing I can suggest is to try asking about one single course instead of asking the larger question... Also escalate to the Dean of the school/department you want to attend.