Options other than the Big 3 - Prestigious Name or Just RA / Special Accreditation

[bjcheung77]

What do you think about other state side colleges or universities? Several seem to be in the top 100 university in world ranking. And they offer online degrees too. Any information about how many credit we can transfer into them etc?

I checked ACE/NCCRS and other CBE's; it seems they added more college and universities that recognize their credits assessments to their lists. Do you know anything about those universities? With the TESU plans you shared, can we get all those credits via those providers and transfer to these universities? Do you have any idea if they can accept all those credits? And are these universities prestigious ones?

AP/IB, CLEP/DSST, UExcel/TECEPS, ACE/NCCRS and CSU Global CBE's are all recognized, but the amount of schools recognizing them are different. From the list, it ranges from 2000 to 3000 schools in the USA alone that recognize these type of credentials, it's going to be hard to decide which school out of those are the best to choose from, to enroll as each has different requirements and transfer limits, along with their reputation in the state or out of state.

Choosing colleges and universities within the same State isn't bad, I mean if you have the $ and 4 years, it's pretty good. Many don't accept ACE or CBE (credit by examination) credits unless you are part of the military; I think they may make recommendations when you inquire about it. Tuition generally is anywhere from the cheapest at about 5 thousand for the entire degree to more than $7500/term or semester. Many also at most only allow 90 credits transferred in. Like the Big 3, many are just RA and don't have specialized accreditation for several of their programs.

If you are looking at the Big 3, another option is APUS. All four were listed along with Harvard and MIT in Forbes, I was just reading and commenting on them earlier in this thread. My suggestion is to complete your Bachelors degree at one of the Big 3 or APUS/WGU and then decide on a Masters Degree within your state. http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...orbes.html

If you're an international student, you may want to decide on graduate school in your continent. For example, if you're in Africa, go for UNISA.
For people on the Australian Continent that includes New Zealand, there are a few distance based education providers there. The list goes on!
If you're in Europe and going for a Masters or DBA, Heriot-Watt offers them for individuals who pass exams, $15000USD and $27000USD.
There are no BA requirements for admission, I think it's competency based testing, once you pass, that's it!; they are a top 60 school in the world.
Schools are recognized differently country by country, and you can see which one in your area or closest to you would be best for studies.

Further to this, unless you are going for a Top 10/20 school in the country, no one will really know the name of your school unless it's a popular one in the state you reside, as many schools are still very traditional and don't have online based programs. Moreover, just in the country alone, there maybe a few thousand schools - 95% are unknown to the person hiring you or taking in your application for graduate school. They'll just do a valid background check to verify everything in regards to your transcripts and make sure it's accredited appropriately before admitting you or hiring you.

My advice is to get a degree from a school of your choosing first and then work on the Masters; if it is required for obtaining a license to practice for example, find your state/country requirements to get a license to practice teaching or nursing, pharmacy tech, etc. Do your due diligence in finding the requirements first and then decide your undergrad and finally work on that graduate degree if it's a full requirement to have that before certification. The school name is nothing to worry about.

Hope this helps, my regards.

[Leedeedee]

I think it's a good idea to try to get a local degree that is recognised. In the UK though, tuition fees are standardised and the Bachelor degrees are now set at £9000 per year and will be rising again soon. There's no culture in the UK of scholarships, because tuition fees are relatively new, and the ones that do exist are tiny, £1000 per year maximum. That's why I'm trying to spread the knowledge about US degrees, especially the big 3, to save the young people and their parents some cash. I hate seeing them get into severe debt and advise everyone that if they're not going to Oxford or Cambridge, or taking a professional degree such as medicine, law,nursing, physiotherapy etc, then they should look at their options.

It's 2016 and Bachelor's degree from any English speaking country will be recognised as equal to a UK one. Everyone I've spoken to has been shocked that no one, especially the school careers advisors, ever mentioned this option.

[KayV]

Those UK fees are shocking. :eek:

[bjcheung77]

It's 2016 and Bachelor's degree from any English speaking country will be recognised as equal to a UK one. Everyone I've spoken to has been shocked that no one, especially the school careers advisors, ever mentioned this option.

+1, I agree with Leedeedee's post, there are alternatives to the big name schools and the recognition is there for RA or equivalent. Especially if you are in state, I would go with a college or university that actually indicates it's a state college/university, as pretty much anyone in the state will know the school. If you are studying out of state because of specific specialized programs that really interest you and not offered anywhere nearby, then you can decide on that.

Furthermore, if you read the sister forum, there is a list for Top 50 colleges/universities in America - I don't know half of them existed!
Forbes Top 50

For international students, be wary of just any English Language institution unless you look into it's accreditation or registration info. There are many many fake universities out there that seem real. There's several threads on the other sister forum in regards to these operating in Asia and Europe for example.

China: Chinese Diploma Mill Busted
India: 22 Fake Universities
Russia: Russian Doctorates for Sale--Just Bring Plagiarized Thesis

[bluebooger]

..
Furthermore, if you read the sister forum, there is a list for Top 50 colleges/universities in America - I don't know half of them existed!
Forbes Top 50
..

wow
a 50 page slide show

[davewill]

wow
a 50 page slide show

That way they get to serve up 50 plus pages of ads as you read it.

[bjcheung77]

That way they get to serve up 50 plus pages of ads as you read it.

Haha, that's true though! Forbes has to make extra money some way or another, and the advertisements rake in a lot of extra cash.

[KayV]

Let's see if this works:
Forbes Welcome

[bjcheung77]

Let's see if this works:
Forbes Welcome

It works, much easier to just view the basics, I went up to the 600's and stopped...
I wonder how many there are in the list in total, many of these I have never heard of.