Sophia and SDC Courses Have Been Gutted By UMPI

[krush]

The fact this came without warning is very tragic. Hopefully UMPI will address the changes head on and make some exceptions or change their effective date from 4/30 to a later date and give people in process the chance to transfer what they have already completed.

There was a screenshot from an email Courtney Boma, Excutive Director, sent that stated there would be changes to transfer credits, and it was starting May 1st.

Did you get the e-mail? Because I didn't get it nor did anyone I know get the e-mail. Like I said this was NOT announced to students. If you got the e-mail please share it otherwise fall all the way back.

No I didn't get an email nor will I "fall all the way back". UMPI doesn't have to make an announcement every time they change something. But things have been noticed over the last few weeks/months including the shared email that another student got to give the sense something was in the works. Would it be nice that they let us know in advance? Sure, but they didn't.

[Duneranger]

UMPI was my first degree so that "fun" angle doesn't really work on me. I don't think you're trying to spread misinformation, but you are overreacting. You said it only affect 2 courses in your Psych major. My previous post shows that BBAs are still viable. This situation really sucks. However, there are numerous alternative credit sources. They might not be as easy as Sophia since you have to take proctored exams but they are available.

I was typing on my tablet and you caught a stray that "fun" comment wasn't meant for you. I fixed it.

I don't think its overreacting at all. The writing is on the wall when it comes to UMPI it seems they are not pleased with the Youtube videos and forums like this showing how easily these degrees are "hackable". So essentially they are going to require people to take more credits in house. I do see the residency requirement changing next. They don't want to be known as a degree mill. Not many people will be able to pay for SDC, Sophia, Saylor and Straightliner to get all the requirements for the BABA. UMPI is betting those individuals will likely just take the classes at UMPI.

The changes have not greatly impacted my path yet but with no official announcement it is safe to say they may not be done removing and changing equivalencies.

2.D GEC changing from Sophia's Visual Communication to the harder Critical Thinking tells me UMPI is intent on making it harder to "hack" their degrees.

You are being hysterical. The degree is still CBE and dirt cheap/faster/easier than 99% of state schools. They made changes, oh well, that's their prerogative.  Again,  you are being entitled. Is UMPI not able to change what credit-mill courses they accept?

A 4 year degree was reduced down to 3 months. Now it's what? 6...maybe 9 months? Get a hold of yourself and come back to reality, you are pissing and moanign while kicking a gift horse in the mouth.

[Mint Berry Crunch]

UMPI was my first degree so that "fun" angle doesn't really work on me. I don't think you're trying to spread misinformation, but you are overreacting. You said it only affect 2 courses in your Psych major. My previous post shows that BBAs are still viable. This situation really sucks. However, there are numerous alternative credit sources. They might not be as easy as Sophia since you have to take proctored exams but they are available.

I was typing on my tablet and you caught a stray that "fun" comment wasn't meant for you. I fixed it.

I don't think its overreacting at all. The writing is on the wall when it comes to UMPI it seems they are not pleased with the Youtube videos and forums like this showing how easily these degrees are "hackable". So essentially they are going to require people to take more credits in house. I do see the residency requirement changing next. They don't want to be known as a degree mill. Not many people will be able to pay for SDC, Sophia, Saylor and Straightliner to get all the requirements for the BABA. UMPI is betting those individuals will likely just take the classes at UMPI.

The changes have not greatly impacted my path yet but with no official announcement it is safe to say they may not be done removing and changing equivalencies.

2.D GEC changing from Sophia's Visual Communication to the harder Critical Thinking tells me UMPI is intent on making it harder to "hack" their degrees.

You are being hysterical. The degree is still CBE and dirt cheap/faster/easier than 99% of state schools. They made changes, oh well, that's their prerogative.  Again,  you are being entitled. Is UMPI not able to change what credit-mill courses they accept?

A 4 year degree was reduced down to 3 months. Now it's what? 6...maybe 9 months? Get a hold of yourself and come back to reality, you are pissing and moanign while kicking a gift horse in the mouth.

Even then those are still projected completion dates. It's not unheard of for members to transfer 90 credits and knock out the 10+ courses in 1, even 2 terms. I felt as though many of the UMPI courses were just like Sophia. I think that this is a good thing to some degree -- no pun intended. The courses that you do take are RA and hold more weight in comparison to the Sophia courses if you choose to transfer outside of UMPI. Plus, some of the courses have to be completed at UMPI to transfer towards the MAOL. We have plenty of ways of transferring in courses towards UMPI through alternative methods such as ASU, Dine, Clackamas, and Clover for example for some of the tougher courses if members so wish to use. Is it inconvenient and a little more expensive, sure, but the price and speed offered by UMPI is still great. When I first started, I was at WGU, and I hated it. I transferred to UMPI and I loved everything about it. The initial price for the first degree for me was $1400 in 2023. It's gone up a bit, but I will definitely return to UMPI since the culture there, courses, and pricing are hard to beat elsewhere. I agree with what you say Duneranger, and I do understand Swiss Cognac's view too. I will say though, Swiss, that it's still a good thing that UMPI even accepts ACE recommended credits. So even though there is some difficulty completing the business courses, there's still a silver lining to this. I sample all kinds of colleges and many have outright denied transferring in ACE courses. In all honesty, I don't foresee UMPI ever barring 3rd party organizations outright such as Sophia or Study.com as they'll lose a lot of students.

[Pikachu]

Don't these changes essentially mean the BS in CS program is DOA? Study.com had quite a few transferable courses for CS.

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LOL I got the degree for fun, and it has nothing to do with my current and established career (healthcare). I also already hold a masters in the field of history, regardless.

I am sorry reality ruffles your jimmies (mod even had to edit your comment HAHAHAHAH), just calling a spade a spade.

No, I didn't benefit from any system; my first BS was 4.5 years in-person and extremely expensive. Try again. It behooves UMPI to up standards so their degree isn't seen as a joke. It requires a bit more work now (oh well),  stop being dramatic. Sorry, you can't get 2 four-year degrees in 6 months anymore...too bad. The entitlement is astounding.

It's not just the time issue - this change essentially means that several options are unviable. It's not viable to do multiple concentrations in BABA anymore. BA in Accounting is likewise unviable. BABA concentrations other than PM&IS are much harder, like Supply Chain Management. Even PM&IS only remains viable because of Coursera transfers. If they gut credits from Coursera next...

And if you're against the very concept of quick degrees (the only reason UMPI became popular on here) then why even post here? Isn't that the whole point of this forum?

[LevelUP]

Don't these changes essentially mean the BS in CS program is DOA? Study.com had quite a few transferable courses for CS.

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LOL I got the degree for fun, and it has nothing to do with my current and established career (healthcare). I also already hold a masters in the field of history, regardless.

I am sorry reality ruffles your jimmies (mod even had to edit your comment HAHAHAHAH), just calling a spade a spade.

No, I didn't benefit from any system; my first BS was 4.5 years in-person and extremely expensive. Try again. It behooves UMPI to up standards so their degree isn't seen as a joke. It requires a bit more work now (oh well),  stop being dramatic. Sorry, you can't get 2 four-year degrees in 6 months anymore...too bad. The entitlement is astounding.

It's not just the time issue - this change essentially means that several options are unviable. It's not viable to do multiple concentrations in BABA anymore. BA in Accounting is likewise unviable. BABA concentrations other than PM&IS are much harder, like Supply Chain Management. Even PM&IS only remains viable because of Coursera transfers. If they gut credits from Coursera next...

And if you're against the very concept of quick degrees (the only reason UMPI became popular on here) then why even post here? Isn't that the whole point of this forum?

For CS, I guess we will have to wait and see. Maybe Coursera will offer enough transfer credit for that program.

For BLS and all the non-business majors, everything is pretty much the same.

For the business majors, you can still get it down to as few as 45 credits needed at UMPI by using only Sophia and Study.com. CLEP exams are easier than Saylor. StraighterLine starts costing a lot of money if you take many courses through them, but it might save you money if it helps you finish in fewer terms at UMPI.  If money isn't a factor, you would probably be best just to do the courses at UMPI as you don't save much time transferring credits beyond what can be done at Sophia/Study.com. 

UMPI is still a viable option for business majors, but it is no longer the easiest or cheapest choice it once was. It narrowed the gap between doing a degree at TESU, WGU, PUG or other options.

[Mint Berry Crunch]

Don't these changes essentially mean the BS in CS program is DOA? Study.com had quite a few transferable courses for CS.

---

LOL I got the degree for fun, and it has nothing to do with my current and established career (healthcare). I also already hold a masters in the field of history, regardless.

I am sorry reality ruffles your jimmies (mod even had to edit your comment HAHAHAHAH), just calling a spade a spade.

No, I didn't benefit from any system; my first BS was 4.5 years in-person and extremely expensive. Try again. It behooves UMPI to up standards so their degree isn't seen as a joke. It requires a bit more work now (oh well),  stop being dramatic. Sorry, you can't get 2 four-year degrees in 6 months anymore...too bad. The entitlement is astounding.

It's not just the time issue - this change essentially means that several options are unviable. It's not viable to do multiple concentrations in BABA anymore. BA in Accounting is likewise unviable. BABA concentrations other than PM&IS are much harder, like Supply Chain Management. Even PM&IS only remains viable because of Coursera transfers. If they gut credits from Coursera next...

And if you're against the very concept of quick degrees (the only reason UMPI became popular on here) then why even post here? Isn't that the whole point of this forum?

I wouldn't discount what Duneranger is saying. Basically, UMPI has remained relatively hidden for years but grew in popularity from 2020 and onward. A lot of this was due in part to this forum and the degree hacks YouTube channel. I remember when I interviewed at UMPI to be a YourPace academic advisor/specialist, one of their questions was about the popularity of this forum -- it's crazy how much attention they have gotten from us. There's a couple of things to consider here and you can't just view this from the perspective of the prospective student if we are being fair here. The student side of this would love to make courses as fast as possible and to cut out all the "unnecessary fat" that's in the way of them being able to obtain a degree. I would love to do the same thing in another world, but that would detract from the overall value and academic rigor that goes behind the YourPace program and other programs at UMPI. Duneranger - I believe - isn't against the concept of a "quick degree", but rather everyone that comes from this forum or seeks info based on this forum in creating a stigma towards UMPI in that they're a diploma-mill... they are not. It's important that UMPI shields itself from this. If this were to happen, UMPI would probably start cracking the whip heavily on its transfer-friendly policy and turn itself into something more like WGU where there is not a single free elective and all 120 credits have their respective courses per program, a huge headache of a proctoring service through there contract with Examity, their process for grading papers, being assigned a mentor who babysits you and you have to talk/meet with every week instead of being treated like an adult who is self-sufficient... I don't want UMPI to become WGU and UMPI doesn't want to do that either as that would be the death of the YourPace program, its principles, and educational philosophies in providing working adults opportunities to set themselves up for future success. Plus, this would hurt UMPI in such a way that it would harm the nearby community of Presque Isle if you consider the stigma associated with diploma-mills. No one would want to go there both in-person and via online; they are already a really small school. WGU is popular for its own reasons, but I think many students would move from WGU to UMPI if they knew about the school. Could you imagine if those 150,000+ students knew about UMPI? The YourPace program already has a hard time handling the relatively small number of students it currently has, but if more students knew about how "hackable" UMPI was, for those who know about UMPI, it would deflate the value of the degrees earned from there. 


UMPI is quite aware of degree forums' and degree info's existence as we are they're biggest marketing entity for those outside the state of Maine. Some people like to do multiple concentrations, but I doubt that there's any real benefit from doing that other than for personal edification and enrichment. Even still, UMPI is far more affordable than pretty much any other RA college/university in the U.S. by a landslide on top of being one of the most user-friendly CBE programs around, with WGU and TAMUC coming as a close second. With the amount that you can transfer in, a 1 time residency requirement for your first bachelors and unlimited transfers to the next after, an increase in high-demand programs, significantly lower costs, and a full course of courses that you can knock out relatively quickly in such a short time span... UMPI isn't going anywhere. I doubt that the forum will exhibit an Osborne Effect with this change. UMPI is just too good to pass on.

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Don't these changes essentially mean the BS in CS program is DOA? Study.com had quite a few transferable courses for CS.

---

LOL I got the degree for fun, and it has nothing to do with my current and established career (healthcare). I also already hold a masters in the field of history, regardless.

I am sorry reality ruffles your jimmies (mod even had to edit your comment HAHAHAHAH), just calling a spade a spade.

No, I didn't benefit from any system; my first BS was 4.5 years in-person and extremely expensive. Try again. It behooves UMPI to up standards so their degree isn't seen as a joke. It requires a bit more work now (oh well),  stop being dramatic. Sorry, you can't get 2 four-year degrees in 6 months anymore...too bad. The entitlement is astounding.

It's not just the time issue - this change essentially means that several options are unviable. It's not viable to do multiple concentrations in BABA anymore. BA in Accounting is likewise unviable. BABA concentrations other than PM&IS are much harder, like Supply Chain Management. Even PM&IS only remains viable because of Coursera transfers. If they gut credits from Coursera next...

And if you're against the very concept of quick degrees (the only reason UMPI became popular on here) then why even post here? Isn't that the whole point of this forum?

For CS, I guess we will have to wait and see. Maybe Coursera will offer enough transfer credit for that program.

For BLS and all the non-business majors, everything is pretty much the same.

For the business majors, you can still get it down to as few as 45 credits needed at UMPI by using only Sophia and Study.com. CLEP exams are easier than Saylor. StraighterLine starts costing a lot of money if you take many courses through them, but it might save you money if it helps you finish in fewer terms at UMPI.  If money isn't a factor, you would probably be best just to do the courses at UMPI as you don't save much time transferring credits beyond what can be done at Sophia/Study.com. 

UMPI is still a viable option for business majors, but it is no longer the easiest or cheapest choice it once was. It narrowed the gap between doing a degree at TESU, WGU, PUG or other options.

Exactly! Sophia and Study.com are simply the easiest and quickest ways for knocking out courses at a ridiculous price. We have plenty of other ways that we can get around the Sophia and Study.com method with the other alternative sources that we have. Even Coursera's professional certs can be done quickly, for near free, and can be considered for credits worth 1 - 18 credits. Sure, the price has increased, but it's still quite viable. I wouldn't say UMPI is part of the "Big 3" level of difficult, but I recognize it has become a tad more difficult. Though, the courses at UMPI aren't incredibly difficult either, but more so an RA variant of Sophia.

[bjcheung77]

+1, I agree, Yes... Sophia.org and Study.com combo would work wonders in getting the max transfer of credits, it really doesn't matter if it's not going towards the major, as you want to take the max transfer for your general education and electives, and hope it'll get up to the 90 credit mark. The rest you need for residency purposes anyways...

[Swiss Cognac]

Don't these changes essentially mean the BS in CS program is DOA? Study.com had quite a few transferable courses for CS.

---

LOL I got the degree for fun, and it has nothing to do with my current and established career (healthcare). I also already hold a masters in the field of history, regardless.

I am sorry reality ruffles your jimmies (mod even had to edit your comment HAHAHAHAH), just calling a spade a spade.

No, I didn't benefit from any system; my first BS was 4.5 years in-person and extremely expensive. Try again. It behooves UMPI to up standards so their degree isn't seen as a joke. It requires a bit more work now (oh well),  stop being dramatic. Sorry, you can't get 2 four-year degrees in 6 months anymore...too bad. The entitlement is astounding.

It's not just the time issue - this change essentially means that several options are unviable. It's not viable to do multiple concentrations in BABA anymore. BA in Accounting is likewise unviable. BABA concentrations other than PM&IS are much harder, like Supply Chain Management. Even PM&IS only remains viable because of Coursera transfers. If they gut credits from Coursera next...

And if you're against the very concept of quick degrees (the only reason UMPI became popular on here) then why even post here? Isn't that the whole point of this forum?

You are absolutely correct. The changes impact the BABA degree the most (and Accounting). Not to mention some of the classes that were a bit easier to complete on Sophia and Study are no longer an option.

People like myself who planned to come back after my BA Psych and do a BABA it is not really worth it anymore.

I never said UMPI wasn't still a good option or wasn't still a good deal--I said the pathway had been gutted for many non-traditional and second degree seeking students. My major hasn't really been impacted at all by this.

People on Discord have posted communication where the staff at UMPI said that the change was unfair and that they will still consider people who are in the process of finishing up and transferring over under the old regimen on a case-by-case basis.

UMPI has acknowledged that they need to take a piece out of their own "change management" course and reevaluate how they change requirements. This impacted a lot of people.

[Hami8665]

I wouldn't be surprised if those also change in the coming days.

I believe this is a money grab.

UMPI is realizing they are losing money with their degrees being so hackable.

These Youtube videos calling their degrees "hackable" might be hurting their reputation as well.

I wouldn't be shocked if next the 10 course residency is raised from 30 credits to 60 credits.

This is the nail in the coffin for BABA degrees.

So far only 2 classes are affected for my BA Psych.

We will see what happens in the coming months.

MAT 101 is not longer accepted through Sophia (Basic Statistics). It is still showing for StraightLiner and SDC but that can change in the coming weeks.

This is a sad day for UMPI Yourpace students!

I am really disappointed. So much for my 2nd degree BABA after this BA in Psych.

Intro to Statistics from Sophia is now Math 201 (Probability and Statistics 1) at UMPI. I believe that's a much better deal. Only a few Business courses were affected and the degree is still hackable through Saylor and Straighterline.

[Alim83]

What if I got a BLS with a minor in Management and want to go back for BABA Management and Leadership? Will my previous business credits that were accepted from Study.com and Sophia for the first degree be accepted for my second degree?