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"The Big 2....?"
#1
Ive been lurking here for awhile and finally started earning some credits to work towards degrees.

But there is something I am wondering about. Has Excelsior priced theirselves out of "our" market? Even with the modest price increase of COSC (not to mention TESC becoming TESU), they still get some mentions. But it almost seems as though it is almost always TESU that is advised to new people. Reading through the years, it seemed to almost be divided between cosc and tesu, now it seems the vast majority of posts are about tesu.

What could COSC do to change this, and what about excelsior?

When I was reading through old threads, I decided between tesu and cosc. But after reading more current info, TESU seems to be the only choice.

Anyways, maybe Im way off base, but the "big 3" seems to be the "big tesu and the others.....oh and excelsior too".

Myself, waiting on my application to TESU and it looks like my school of choice.
We are all on the same side here, trying to better our lives....so let's get along and help each other out. 

Learn a trade. Gain technical skills. Make money, then use this money to get a degree...if you have the desire. 


#2
As an alumni of Excelsior College, I will say that compared to the other schools in the "Big 3" Excelsior College is more expensive. However, Excelsior College has the largest student population out of all the schools in the "Big 3". This forum is not a determining factor of these schools and their popularity. When I attended Excelsior College the majority of the students in the courses I enrolled in were majority military who were using specific benefits to finish their degrees. Cost was not a concern for them. For me personally, I used a student discount which placed the amount I payed not to far from the amount of tuition that TESC/COSC was asking for at the time.

One thing thats not mentioned a lot on this forum, is that things have always ran in cycles. Once upon a time Excelsior College was the most talked about school on this forum, and pretty much on the net when it came to testing out of a degree. With policy changes such as no longer allowing GRE credit ect students made moves to more applicable schools that would accept their credit.

While completing credits by testing is popular on this forum, it is not what the vast majority of students at Excelsior College are seeking to do. Who ever has the best policies in regard to credit acceptance at particular times is generally where those on this forum has always headed. For a long period of time that was Excelsior College, in the past couple of years that move has been made to TESU.

However, at the end of the day all of these schools are all unranked, largely unknown, regionally accredited schools. Smile
#3
I think that Excelsior has gotten less attention lately because of the 6-hour capstone for the non-BPS business degrees. However, Excelsior also has a lot of great partnership pricing discounts and programs, and the cost is comparable if you take a 3-hour capstone.

The BSLA program is a great way to make a degree out of a bunch of college credits, especially if you can put together an area of focus (21 hours, 6 upper level) in a particular subject.
BA, MA, EdS, MMT, etc.
83 hours of ACE-worthy credits
#4
TESU get the most love on this site, but the other two have their markets.

Excelsior 160,000+ grads (mostly military and nurses)
TESU 50,000+ grads
COSC 12,000+ grads
Non-Traditional Undergraduate College Credits (634 SH): *FTCC Noncourse Credits (156 SH) *DSST (78 SH) *CPL (64 SH) *JST Military/ACE (48 SH) *CBA (44 SH) *CLEP (42 SH) *FEMA IS (40 SH) *FEMA EM (38 SH) *ECE/UExcel (30 SH) *PLA Portfolio (28 SH) *EMI/ACE (19 SH) *TEEX/ACE (16 SH) *CWE (11 SH) *NFA/ACE (10 SH) *Kaplan/ACE (3 SH) *CPC (2 SH) *AICP/ACE (2 SH) *Sophia/ACE (2 SH) and *FRTI-UM/ACE (1 SH).
Non-Traditional Graduate College Credits (14 SH): AMU (6 SH); NFHS (5 SH); and JSU (3 SH).
 





#5
TESU also has an easier way for those of us who don't want to test (DSST specifically, plus UExcel) to get UL credits. They count many things UL that are ACE-recommended LL.

They also only require 12cr of UL for BSBA's, and 18cr of UL for other degrees, which is much easier to get to than EC and COSC's 30cr of UL required. And TESU only requires UL credits in the AOS, whereas EC/COSC require UL in the AOS and also throughout the degree. For those who transfer with an AA and already have 60cr LL, getting 50% of your remaining credits as UL can be a little difficult, and require you taking a bunch of courses/exams that you don't want/need.

I agree with Exfactor; when I first came on this forum, EC seemed more popular, and the pricing was similar to TESU. Now, they've priced themselves very high and added a 6cr capstone, making them not as palatable as TESU/COSC. But that could all change in the next "cycle" of changes the schools make.
TESU BSBA/HR 2018 - WVNCC BOG AAS 2017 - GGU Cert in Mgmt 2000
EXAMS: TECEP Tech Wrtg, Comp II, LA Math, PR, Computers  DSST Computers, Pers Fin  CLEP Mgmt, Mktg
COURSES: TESU Capstone  Study.com Pers Fin, Microecon, Stats  Ed4Credit Acct 2  PF Fin Mgmt  ALEKS Int & Coll Alg  Sophia Proj Mgmt The Institutes - Ins Ethics  Kaplan PLA
#6
Great answers! That explains a lot.
We are all on the same side here, trying to better our lives....so let's get along and help each other out. 

Learn a trade. Gain technical skills. Make money, then use this money to get a degree...if you have the desire. 


#7
I didn't read every reply, so sorry if this is repetitive. Couple of things though...

Excelsior, all three actually, have specialties that the others do not. particularly EC has a transitional RN program unlike anything else in the whole country. Basically qualified folks like Paramedics and LPN's can transition to RN via testing out...it's one of the biggest programs in NY and unlike anything else you can find (in fact if you know of anything significantly like it please tell me).

Next...testing out of a degree is hard for some folks to fathom. It doesn't seem real to many so these capstone's and cornerstone's and such add to the legitimacy in the minds of some. COSC is good at this.

COSC does a terrific job of hand holding and guiding the more traditional student. I wish TESU was more like them in that way...heck, if TESC had an actual person answering their phone I would probably have graduated there.
MBA, Western Governors University February 2014
BS Charter Oak State College November 2011
AS in EMS August 2010

I'm always happy to complete the free application waiver for those applying to WGU (I get a free gift from WGU for this).  Just PM me your first/last name and a valid email so I can complete their form.

Thread; COSC AS using FEMA http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...total.html
#8
I don't really get why people prefer TESU over COSC so much. I think COSC is soooooo much easier to create paths with. They publish charts for their credit acceptance, they answer questions pretty quickly, they take the free FEMA credits, they have lists on how they accept industry certs and things like GRE subject exams, and while they do require more upper levels... only a portion have to be in the degree area (and the required capstone counts as one). For people who have poor gpa issues from previous college attempts, your COSC gpa will only include work done with them (which, in effect, allows a fresh start). For homeschoolers or young college starters, you can apply at 16 without the age waivers required by TESU. I dunno... just seems so much more flexible to me.
#9
Well my completely shallow first deciding factor was going to the two websites. COSC seemed (to me, just my opinion) like a very small community college, pretty poor website, looked like it was made 10 years ago, disorganized, non user-friendly. Then I go to TESU's website and it looks like a REAL college/university. Very professional-looking. Everything about it seemed more legit. If I had found COSC without ever previously having heard of them (excuse the grammar, still excited from election results), I would have thought it was a non-legit diploma mill if I solely went off of their website and did not research. I know that's shallow, but it really turned me off to COSC. Then I thought about a future hiring manger or HR person doing a google search and going to COSC's website and having a bad taste in their mouth also. Again, this is shallow and probably doesn't mean anything, but it means something to me. I realize they're all accredited and legit, but I just can't get over the website and limited degree availability. Then, after more research, decided on TESU anyways. Mostly because of the breadth of degrees offered, COSC is pretty limited...I do not want a "general studies" degree with a concentration.

Now their business degree seems maybe quicker to do than TESU.
We are all on the same side here, trying to better our lives....so let's get along and help each other out. 

Learn a trade. Gain technical skills. Make money, then use this money to get a degree...if you have the desire. 


#10
As long as their transfer policies are liberal, they belong. If WGU and others didn't require 30 resident credits they'd be in, too. What Excelsior and COSC need to be more popular here are more people here that really understand their programs and how to navigate them.
NanoDegree: Intro to Self-Driving Cars (2019)
Coursera: Stanford Machine Learning (2019)
TESU: BA in Comp Sci (2016)
TECEP:Env Ethics (2015); TESU PLA:Software Eng, Computer Arch, C++, Advanced C++, Data Struct (2015); TESU Courses:Capstone, Database Mngmnt Sys, Op Sys, Artificial Intel, Discrete Math, Intro to Portfolio Dev, Intro PLA (2014-16); DSST:Anthro, Pers Fin, Astronomy (2014); CLEP:Intro to Soc (2014); Saylor.org:Intro to Computers (2014); CC: 69 units (1980-88)

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