Need help planning BS Liberal Arts from Study.com to Excelsior

[helaurin]

Hi,

I am looking at completing as many credits through study.com as possible and then transferring to Excelsior for a Liberal Arts bachelor degree. (I'm posting using my mom-mom's degreeforum account with her permission). 

Can anyone help me figure out what courses from study.com will transfer properly to Excelsior?

I am currently working through an Art History course and am ready to enroll in my next study.com course. In the the lower-level subscription plan, and want to wait to upgrade to the more expensive plan as long as possible. 

Here are the courses I've completed through Study.com so far: 


[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]MAT102 - College Math, 81%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]NUT101 - Science of Nutrition, 95%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]PSY101 - Intro to Psychology, 96%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]BIO101 - Intro to Biology, 93%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]HIS102 - Western Civilization II, 91%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]HEA101 - Principles of Health, 91%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]PHI301 - Principles of Philosophy, 90%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]HIS104 - U.S. History II, 94%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]PHY111 - Physics 1, 90%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]PHI103 - Ethics - Theory & Practice, 90%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]ECO101 - Principles of Microeconomics, 88%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]BUS100 - Intro. to Business, 84%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]FIN102 - Personal Finance, 90%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]BUS108 - Business Ethics, 88%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]HIS101 - Western Civ I, 91%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]BUS212 - Business Statistics, 88%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]BUS101 - Principles of Management, 85%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]HUM201 - Critical Thinking. 90%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]PSY107 - Lifespan Developmental Psychology. 93%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]SOC101 - Introduction to Sociology, 86%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]HIS103 - U.S. History 1, 93%[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]CJ104 - Intro to Criminal Justice, 89%[/color]

[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]Thank you in advance.[/color]

[Jonathan Whatley]

This should be your first reference:

Excelsior University transfer page from Study.com

[helaurin]

This should be your first reference:

Excelsior University transfer page from Study.com

I am not sure that the Study.com list is entirely accurate. I have found some possible discrepancies, such as where a course is indicated as upper level on Study.com but on Excelsior, it appears to be a lower level course, or vice versa.

[bjcheung77]

Basically, that list is your go to list on the Study.com website. They do constantly update the list regularly, not many people have a list of their own created, and there aren't many in the plans that are recent. Your only other option is to apply to Excelsior and try to transfer them in, Excelsior has a transfer guide of their own as well...

[Jonathan Whatley]

I am not sure that the Study.com list is entirely accurate. I have found some possible discrepancies, such as where a course is indicated as upper level on Study.com but on Excelsior, it appears to be a lower level course, or vice versa.

Are you sure those are discrepancies? Maybe they’re accurate reports. It’s moderately common for a school to make a different decision on upper/lower placement, etc., than the ACE recommendation.

[helaurin]

I am not sure that the Study.com list is entirely accurate. I have found some possible discrepancies, such as where a course is indicated as upper level on Study.com but on Excelsior, it appears to be a lower level course, or vice versa.

Are you sure those are discrepancies? Maybe they’re accurate reports. It’s moderately common for a school to make a different decision on upper/lower placement, etc., than the ACE recommendation.

---

Yes, there are definitely discrepancies.

1. Study.com says there is a 20% tuition discount when transferring to Excelsior. However, two sources at Excelsior have informed me, via email, that Study.com is inaccurate and the discount is only 10%.

2. One of the Excelsior counselors - whose job is it to support transfer students, including those from SDC, has also informed me that NONE of the SDC courses transfer in at the upper level, no matter what SDC indicates on the transfer page. However, on the SDC page specific to Excelsior, there are 49 courses that are supposedly upper-level courses.

The fact that Excelsior is saying something entirely different than SDC has me worried. Excelsior won't tell me specifically which SDC courses will transfer over to their Liberal Arts program unless I apply - and then I'd need to pay a credit transfer re-evaluation fee after taking any additional SDC courses and that would be several hundred dollars.

Has anyone recently transferred any SDC courses over to Excelsior? Any that transferred as upper-level credits?

[ss20ts]

Is there any particular reason you've selected Excelsior? Which degree are you trying to complete? UMPI may be more ACE credit friendly. My experience at Excelsior was not great. My counselor couldn't answer any transfer credit questions and it took her at least a week to respond to emails and phone calls.

[helaurin]

Is there any particular reason you've selected Excelsior? Which degree are you trying to complete? UMPI may be more ACE credit friendly. My experience at Excelsior was not great. My counselor couldn't answer any transfer credit questions and it took her at least a week to respond to emails and phone calls.

It seemed to me that Excelsior would accept the most credits from SDC, minimizing total cost for a degree. I figure I need a total of 35 transferable SDC courses. I've got 21 done so far with 3 in progress. Based on the information at SDC, all of these should transfer to Excelsior:  (the transcript doesn't show the most recently completed course - Business 209).  Then another 11 courses and I should be good to transfer.  

My hope is to be ready to start at Excelsior in mid/late 2026 with one of these start dates:  May 4th, June 29th, or August 31st, at the latest.

[Mint Berry Crunch]

Is there any particular reason you've selected Excelsior? Which degree are you trying to complete? UMPI may be more ACE credit friendly. My experience at Excelsior was not great. My counselor couldn't answer any transfer credit questions and it took her at least a week to respond to emails and phone calls.

It seemed to me that Excelsior would accept the most credits from SDC, minimizing total cost for a degree. I figure I need a total of 35 transferable SDC courses. I've got 21 done so far with 3 in progress. Based on the information at SDC, all of these should transfer to Excelsior:  (the transcript doesn't show the most recently completed course - Business 209).  Then another 11 courses and I should be good to transfer.  

My hope is to be ready to start at Excelsior in mid/late 2026 with one of these start dates:  May 4th, June 29th, or August 31st, at the latest.

Minimizing costs in this circumstance is utopic. You may be able to transfer in more credits, but the cost per-credit is significantly higher compared to UMPI. You may have to do less classes, but the cost is more overall. Then again, it depends if you're able to knock out all 10 classes at UMPI.

[bjcheung77]

Yes, continue with your Study.com classes until you're done with the max transfer. Those 11 classes are your main focus, once done, verify you're done with max transfers and complete the residency credits required.