Help concerning EC’s credit transfer policy from Straighterline, & expiring credits

[Trod]

I am considering taking business classes from Straighterline to fulfill my core requirement for an AS in Business at Excelsior, but as I was seeking out information I ran across this statement on their site:

[INDENT]Core Degree Requirements - Excelsior College does not accept outside coursework for transfer credit required for core degree requirements. Excelsior provides a listing of its core degree requirements in its degree program catalog provided on its website.[/INDENT]

Does this mean that any business courses I take through Straighterline would not count toward my degree (it does state in their catalog that the business courses are “core requirements” for an AS in Business) or is this talking only about the capstone course? Also, I had taken Intro to Statistics through Alecs... Would this not be transferred either being that it fits as a core business requirement?

Onto my second question... I read in Excelsior’s catalog that any course work that is older than 20 years will not apply toward the core requirement. I have both Macro and Microeconomics courses that I had taken about 18 years ago. Will Excelsior really not count that towards my core business requirement if I put off graduating in a couple years. Does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks in advance for any help or advice!

[UptonSinclair]

I can't address your specific questions, but I will share my experience with the Business and Technology College at Excelsior.

When I first applied to Excelsior, I applied to the Business and Technology College because I have a background in electrical technology. Out of 65 credits that are transcribed on my Community College of the Air Force transcipt and my brick and mortar community college, I was only awarded 24 credits. I was told that my technical credits did not meet Excelsior's requirements or they were too old at approximately 15 years out.

Several months later, I applied to the Liberal Arts program at Excelsior and all but 4 of the previously mentioned credits were accepted toward a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies. I was even awarded general education credits for some of the courses which I didn't expect.

Depending on your goals, the liberal arts college may be a better fit if you are seeking flexibility.

[Trod]

Thank you very much for sharing your experience. That’s pretty amazing... If they are that stringent, I don’t know if I have much of a chance of Excelsior taking my credits for a business major being that some of them are as old as they are. Liberal Arts would have been my next choice, so this is very good to know and will save me some time in trying to figure this all out. I guess whatever I do, I should probably hurry up and do it. I really do appreciate your feedback! Thanks again.

[UptonSinclair]

For me, it was worth the $80 application fee to get an idea of how my credits would apply.

Good luck

[JohnnyHeck]

Trod, if you are not a NY native and haven't paid to enroll at EC yet, I would suggest you apply to TESC and see how they evaluate your credits. These two schools look at things very differently (I say quirky), and you just can't tell which might be the best fit for your credit history without paying and applying for both evaluations. A quick look at the TESC website Associate in Science in Business Administration Degree Program seems to indicate that they don't have any restrictions on where you can obtain your "core" credits.

[Trod]

Trod, if you are not a NY native and haven't paid to enroll at EC yet, I would suggest you apply to TESC and see how they evaluate your credits. These two schools look at things very differently (I say quirky), and you just can't tell which might be the best fit for your credit history without paying and applying for both evaluations. A quick look at the TESC website Associate in Science in Business Administration Degree Program seems to indicate that they don't have any restrictions on where you can obtain your "core" credits.

This is one option I haven't really considered much due to cost, but seeing the hurdle now before me with with Excelsior not possibly accepting my credits, I really should do some more research. From checking out your link, it actually seems feasible being that many of business credits could be attained through Straighterline (at least from what I can tell). Thanks so much for your input!! It really seems like it's an option that I need to add to my list of considerations.

[Trod]

Just an update, for those who were possibly wondering. This is reply I received from Excelsior concerning the above question:

Good morning ____,

I believe that statement is referring to transferring credits from an institution that is not regionally accredited. We have a non-regional appeal process which allows some credits to transfer from schools that are not regionally accredited, but can not apply toward the Core requirements of a program.

This policy doesn't actually effect Straighterline though. Even though Straighterline is not regionally accredited, their course work is recommended for college credit by ACE, which we accept as equivalent to regional accreditation. So you could use Straighterline courses toward core requirements for a Business program.

That said, I can not give course approval at the Admissions stage, so you should really wait until you are enrolled to be approved by an Academic Advisor to take courses elsewhere. That is the only way to ensure something will transfer.

I hope this is helpful. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,
Bill Nettleton
Admissions Counselor

[JohnnyHeck]

Good job prying some info out of EC before you actually enrolled! They are usually not so helpful at this stage.

[Jonathan Whatley]

I am considering taking business classes from Straighterline to fulfill my core requirement for an AS in Business at Excelsior, but as I was seeking out information I ran across this statement on their site:

[INDENT]Core Degree Requirements - Excelsior College does not accept outside coursework for transfer credit required for core degree requirements. Excelsior provides a listing of its core degree requirements in its degree program catalog provided on its website.[/INDENT]

A overstatement of this Excelsior College School of Nursing policy, instituted last year, might also explain the statement:

Excelsior doesn't accept any transfer credit
• from noncollegiate training providers evaluated by ACE CREDIT or National CCRS
• toward core degree requirements
• for degrees from the School of Nursing alone

They also limit transfer of credit from ACE CREDIT or National CCRS providers to 7 sh of general education credit, for degrees from the School of Nursing alone.

These policies apply only to degrees in nursing from the School of Nursing, not to any other Excelsior College degree.

Source: School of Nursing General Education Credit Limitation (Excelsior College)

[Trod]

A overstatement of this Excelsior College School of Nursing policy, instituted last year, might also explain the statement:

Excelsior doesn't accept any transfer credit
• from noncollegiate training providers evaluated by ACE CREDIT or National CCRS
• toward core degree requirements
• for degrees from the School of Nursing alone

They also limit transfer of credit from ACE CREDIT or National CCRS providers to 7 sh of general education credit, for degrees from the School of Nursing alone.

These policies apply only to degrees in nursing from the School of Nursing, not to any other Excelsior College degree.

Source: School of Nursing General Education Credit Limitation (Excelsior College)

That makes sense... And I was kind of thinking that myself (seeing other posts specifying the same restrictions concerning the nursing degree). Wish it wasn't so darn ambiguous though. I guess if they make it confusing enough it forces one to fork out the application fee in order to figure out what's going on (maybe that was their original intent). I do appreciate the clarification! It helps me put more confidence in the answer that I received from EC. Thank you!