Straighterline to Excelsior

[NAP]

Hi Marianne. Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead, lol.

A friend of mine who graduated at EC, says this will only work for the credit bank "one transcript" service? EC won't do this on the transcript one graduated from.

Just to make sure was this a credit bank "one transcript" or your original transcript?

ACE King - I believe what Marianne is describing is an option that EC offers to their graduates. Courses can be added to their transcripts "below the degree line" for a $25 fee. This means they are on the official transcript, but are not counted as part of the completed degree.

Since Marianne was given a grade for SL which were not a part of her degree, it may be an indicator of how the One Transcript service (credit bank with $270 fee and not needed for EC grads) would handle SL credits, too, but that is just speculation at this point.

[julia12389]

HELP!!! FRUSTRATED ALREADY!! I need advice ... suugestions etc. I am enrolled at Excelsior, I didn't have any prior credits to transfer.

I've passed one CELP test HG & D (without approval), I assume it will be accepted..... Does anyone know if I REALLY need to obtain approval for all of my CELP tests, I only have one. I could see if I had several that were potentially duplicates. Has anyone had this situation?

I requested approval for Straighterliner courses MAT101, College Algebra, Business Communications, and English Comp,. because I didn't have any prior college credit the advisor would only approve ENG 101. at this time and strongly suggested that I take their credit-bearing orientation course first. The course cost $750.00, that's not what I'm trying to do. I am trying to save money and only take the CAPSTONE and INL required classes at Excesior. To obtain the full benefit from Straighterline I need to take several at a month.

The advisor did, however, say that the other SL courses would fit into my degree requirements, but didn't actually approve them. What do I do, take the SL courses anyway?

This is my path... I want to do what works for me. Any advice?

[bluebooger]

these are the courses Excelsior accepts
Transfer College Credit for Online College Courses to Excelsior College - StraighterLine

my advice is to take any that would be found in any 2 year "real" college and would directly apply to your degree and don't worry about getting them approved

although Business Communications is on the list, I don't feel that it is something that is found at most colleges, so it is not a "standard" course

also, we don't know what degree you're applying for
if you're applying for a BS in Psychology then Business Communications just doesn't sound like the kind of course that fits with that
so Excelsior probably wouldn't approve it for that kind of degree

I've taken a bunch of CLEPs and a few DANTES exams and never got any of them approved first, but I only took exams that apply to a BS in Psychology or would be considered "normal" courses at any community college

[julia12389]

Thank you... bluebooger. My degree is BS Business Concentration in Human Resource Mgmt.

[NAP]

...... at this time and strongly suggested that I take their credit-bearing orientation course first. The course cost $750.00, that's not what I'm trying to do. I am trying to save money and only take the CAPSTONE and INL required classes at Excesior. ......

Can you tell us more about this orientation course? Do you have a link? The only orientation course that I am aware of is non-credit, free, and only takes a few hours to learn about the school and resources they offer to their students. It is called CCS 100: EC Student Experience. It is a good place to start.

Nevermind I think I found it - CCS 120 EC Student Success Seminar: https://www.excelsior.edu/undergraduate-...ientations

It looks like they are using the Student Seminar and the English requirement to make sure you and other new students have a good foundation.

Keep trying to work with your advisor. Since you have one, it is important to take advantage of all of the knowledge and safe-guards that you can. Maybe calling it "degree planning" and double-checking if a course/exam will satisfy a particular requirement will work instead.

[Ace_King]

Just to update. I emailed Excelsiors One Transcript system and they we're telling me Excelsior doesn't issue letter grades for alumni or even the one transcript system? I mentioned a board member did it and she was part of the alumni.

Here's the discussion we had...

"1 - Penn Foster College - Penn Foster holds accreditation from the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) in addition to having some of their course work evaluated by American Council on Education (ACE). Per our policy, we will award credit for Penn Foster classes that hold both the DETC accreditation and have been evaluated for college-level credit by ACE. The grades we list depend on which transcript you submit for evaluation. If you submit the course work on an ACE transcript, they could be applied to your OneTranscript record or Excelsior degree with "P" grades and not letter grades. If you submit the course work on a Penn Foster transcript we award letter grades. So, if you earned a "D" or higher, they could be listed on a OneTranscript record and if you got a "C" or higher they may apply to an Excelsior degree. This is not our policy for only Penn Foster College it is our policy for all DETC accredited schools.

2 - Straigherline - Straighterline does not hold national or regional accreditation. We are able to accept college-level credit from Straighterline that has been evaluated by ACE for college-level credit. Per our conventions, course work that only holds ACE evaluation for credit are listed on both a OneTranscript record and an Excelsior degree as "P" grades. You are correct in your understanding that you can submit either an ACE transcript or Straighterline transcript for this credit. Regardless of which transcript route you choose, the course work would be listed as "P" grades. Please note, because there are grades on the Straigherline transcript, you would only have the potential for credit that is a "D" or higher for a OneTranscript record or "C" or higher for a degree program.

I can not speak to what happened in regards to the student you quoted in the previous message, I can only speak to our policy and conventions in regards to these two different types of credits. You have the potential for letter graded credit with Penn Foster course work and "P" graded credit for Straighterline course work. You would not be awarded letter grades for your Straigherline credits if you pursued a OneTranscript record or an enrolled degree program or were an alumni. "

So Excelsior is just mass confusion, not to offend anyone, but I really did wish Excelsior did letter grades for Straighterline. Maybe Excelsior just made an error on your transcript? Maybe call it a "lucky" error? Lol.

Ahh Edit. I just re read what Nap wrote. So basically, if I already did 120 credits completed with Excelsior in a degree plan, and I wanted to add let's say.. 40 more credits that will not be counted on the degree plan, just "below the degree line" than Exceslior will be nice of them to list letter grades on the Straighterline courses.... Ahh..?

[silvis]

Thank you for the update, Ace_King. I was actually considering asking Excelsior about their grading policies for SL credit before taking a few extra Straighterline courses, so your update is very useful.

Does anyone know when Excelsior became a partner college for SL? The policy may be unclear if they have started accepting SL credits relatively recently, or if they changed their grading criteria.

[SuZQ2]

Yes, you can take courses/exams before and after enrollment. Choose carefully so that you can be as sure as possible they will transfer.

Hi All...

I was very interested in learning more about the Straighterline topic as I was planning on fulfilling both the English Comp I and Comp II requirements with Straighterline. My plan has always been to accumulate as many credits as possible through testing, etc. prior to enrollment at EC, where I hope to apply for a BS/BA.

If I've read all the info here correctly, I'm "safe" to go ahead and use Straighterline for the above mentioned courses? Straighterline will hold the completed credits with a pass/fail grade and transfer them to EC when I enroll, and EC will accept them?

So sorry if my question is repetitive - I just would hate to get involved with the Straighterline courses just to find they would not be accepted...

Thanks so much!

2011-2012
CLEP
Introductory Psychology 75
Human Growth and Development 69
Introduction to Educational Psychology 72
American Literature 80
Analyzing and Interpreting Literature 75
English Literature 73


1991 AA Degree USNY Regents College (now Excelsior) all but three credits acquired from a traditional Community College.

[NAP]

SuZQ2 - Although this chart still has not been updated with all of the new ACE-approved courses, this chart says English I and II will transfer to EC from SL.

Transfer College Credit for Online College Courses to Excelsior College - StraighterLine

ACE King - Thanks for collecting all of that info. It looks like SL is not graded in any transfer situation. If for some reason this isn't true, I guess we'll have to hear from more EC students, who have been through the process. I'm glad it worked out so well for Marianne.

[julia12389]

FYI.. here is a current discount code for SL. BGS310 (one free course)