Penn Foster

[ryoder]

I have enough trouble justifying to people that my school is legit because it is online and for profit and is not AACSB accredited (ACBSP accredited).
I would hate to have to justify a NA school. Funny thing is that my best friend has an NA doctorate of physical therapy from a well known and recognized school in the field. So for some niche markets, NA schools are fine.

"National accreditation risks
College credit earned at nationally accredited schools are rarely accepted by regionally accredited schools. The problem of credit transferability between nationally and regionally accredited schools presents a risk to any student who may want to enter graduate school.

If you are even remotely considering earning a master's degree or PhD, think carefully about the risk of attending a nationally accredited institution"

Understanding the Critical Elements of Accreditation | CollegePlus!

[ShotoJuku]

...Then again, and it depends on what you need your degree for...

Can you say?

[sanantone]

Click Link: Ripoff Report Search Results: capella university

Not that I want to start a debate, but Penn Foster and ITT Tech have even more rip off reports. Most of the well-known for-profits have a lot of online complaints. Some of them are legitimate and some of them aren't.

[IrishJohn]

Not that I want to start a debate, but Penn Foster and ITT Tech have even more rip off reports. Most of the well-known for-profits have a lot of online complaints. Some of them are legitimate and some of them aren't.

I looked up COSC, EC & TESC on the ripoff report link and besides some... well, I'd call it whining about really failure to take personal responsibility for one's own problems, with mainly EC, all the Big 3 seem fine in comparison to Capella. Since 2 are state colleges and all 3 are regionally accredited as well as cheaper there's no comparison IMO.

[jam123]

[COLOR="#000080"]Why? :confused:
There are many roads to choose from.[/COLOR]

Since we don't know the reason this poster wants a degree we can only make general comments. I think everyone would agree that a RA degree is better than a NA degree when it comes to job opportunities, graduate school, teaching, working for the government, etc. For the same $10k I think the poster could get a RA degree so why not? It's so much better. If the poster simply needs a degree to get a promotion at a current job that would strictly be a ROI decision to me.

About 18 years ago I got a NA degree in computer science from American College of Computer and Information Sciences (now American Sentinel Univ). I paid $1800 back then and it took a year to complete for a ... ahem ... BSCS. I immediately got a $20k raise in the form of a new job. So the ROI was excellent for me. The NA degree opened a lot of doors compared to when I had no degree and nobody ever asked if my degree was RA or NA. I never worked for the govt. because they require RA. Today companies are getting smarter and are asking questions about degrees. They are also doing more background checks which check your education. I always wanted a RA degree and I want to get a MSCS so I decided to go back to school and get an RA degree which I will be finished with this summer. With the help of CLEP, DSST, Aleks, Straighterline, IT certs, ACE, instantcert and most importantly forums like these, I am getting a RA degree for under $10k in about a year.

[sanantone]

I looked up COSC, EC & TESC on the ripoff report link and besides some... well, I'd call it whining about really failure to take personal responsibility for one's own problems, with mainly EC, all the Big 3 seem fine in comparison to Capella. Since 2 are state colleges and all 3 are regionally accredited as well as cheaper there's no comparison IMO.

I wouldn't argue with that, but the OP is probably looking for a school that will accept the NA credits. At least Capella is RA, but I wouldn't recommend it over the Big 3 in most situations. It's hard to find non-profit, RA schools that will accept ACCSC or ACICS credits that aren't ACE approved.

[IrishJohn]

I wouldn't argue with that, but the OP is probably looking for a school that will accept the NA credits. At least Capella is RA, but I wouldn't recommend it over the Big 3 in most situations. It's hard to find non-profit, RA schools that will accept ACCSC or ACICS credits that aren't ACE approved.

I believe for all the Big 3 as long as the courses are ACE-approved, which many from Penn Foster are, they will take them although they have a cap on how many (TESC is 90 credits I think). Always check the ACE National Guide, which can be found here:

ACE CREDIT | The National Guide to College Credit for Workforce Training

Also check the policies of the particular one of the Big 3 you wish to attend. As for those courses that are not ACE-approved, neither TESC or COSC will touch those. Excelsior College might, however. Check out the section "Transferring Credit From Non-Regionally Accredited Schools" in their Student Policy Handbook:

http://www.excelsior.edu/c/document_libr...upId=78666

[ryoder]

Only some of Penn Foster's courses are ACE approved and some that once were have lost their approval. Be careful with Penn Foster courses. Always check the ACE site and always send your course plan to your advisor before paying the money.

[sanantone]

I believe for all the Big 3 as long as the courses are ACE-approved, which many from Penn Foster are, they will take them although they have a cap on how many (TESC is 90 credits I think). Always check the ACE National Guide, which can be found here:

ACE CREDIT | The National Guide to College Credit for Workforce Training

Also check the policies of the particular one of the Big 3 you wish to attend. As for those courses that are not ACE-approved, neither TESC or COSC will touch those. Excelsior College might, however. Check out the section "Transferring Credit From Non-Regionally Accredited Schools" in their Student Policy Handbook:

http://www.excelsior.edu/c/document_libr...upId=78666

The OP is looking to transfer ITT Tech credits.

[IrishJohn]

The OP is looking to transfer ITT Tech credits.

Hmm...okay. I guess I got confused with all the talk about Penn Foster. I'd say "no" you cannot transfer ITT Tech credits to one of the Big 3, except maybe to Excelsior College under their policy "Transferring Credit From Non-Regionally Accredited Schools" (see link above). ITT Tech isn't regionally accredited and all of their courses do not appear to be ACE-approved. I'd contact EC to find out for sure if I were the OP.

Oh yeah, Wikipedia has some unpleasant things to say about ITT Tech too if anyone is interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITT_Technical_Institute