Quote:and do they or don't they take FEMA credits? If they do, do I have to go through something called ACE? Don't know what that is either.
Excelsior does indeed take fema credits. In fact, they accept more fema than TESC does, and so does COSC. The thing is, TESC takes them raw directly from fema, but EC and COSC require that they be transcripted through another school that has evaluated the courses for credit, since the fema credits are NOT ACE approved and EC hasn't done an independent evaluation of these courses. They used to accept them through a TESC credit bank transcript, but they stopped doing that when they realized that TESC had not done an evaluation of the courses, either.
In my personal opinion, the fema courses are a waste of time unless you actually plan to major or minor in disaster management, or if you have a particular interest in it. Don't use up almost a year's worth of credits on something you don't enjoy or that you won't use. But if you do go with TESC, the fema credits are the only thing that will bring down the cost to the level of EC, and you will feel like you have to use them to save money even if they are completely irrelevant to anything you want to study.
LatinTea Wrote:I now have both of their catalogs. I keep going back to TESC because their degree plans seem so much easier to understand (and they have an ART major).
Don't go with TESC just because they have idiot-proofed their catalog.
EC allows a great deal of flexibility within their degree programs. I do agree that maybe you should cross them off your list because they do not offer the major you want, though. That is a good reason. Don't get a degree in something you won't enjoy or find useful. Have you looked at COSC's art degree?
Quote:Also, EC has that pesky 1 credit literacy course (PF for that one, I guess)
I'd say that the Penn Foster Information Literacy course is easier than any exam I have taken, and it can be completed in a few hours. It's kinda like doing one fema course.
Quote:My son and I should probably go through the same college, keeping it simpler that way, so I need to figure this out for both of us (the art degree can always be Liberal Arts instead). He wants an English degree which can be done with either. He has done the CLEP English Comp w/Essay so he's not too excited about the possibility of having to do a course for this at EC.
But then MANY people here seem to like EC better.
Can you tell that I'm on overload here?
Your son could take the AP English exam, or many other online English comp courses that are less expensive than EC's. Not to mention, EC DOES offer an exam for English Composition if he is not thrilled with taking an online course. COSC does accept the CLEP English Comp. exam, and they offer an English major, too! [Edit to add]: Also, he will still get three humanities credits for the CLEP English Composition even though it won't fulfill the Written English Requirement, so taking that exam won't be a total waste at EC. [/End Edit]
perrik Wrote:(someone really ought to be speaking up for COSC, which too often gets overlooked as an option!)
I'll try. I enrolled before they added this new capstone course requirement, so I don't know much about that. But it can be seen as a positive or a negative. A negative if you are just looking for the easiest degree possible, or a positive if you see that it will be an affirmation of all the learning you received in the process. This requirement will--in my opinion only
-- add to COSC's reputation for turning out well-qualified, well-educated graduates.
COSC also gives letter grades to prior coursework that has been graded, as well as DSST exams under the old scoring system. They have stricter grading requirements as well, my DSST Business Law II score got me a "B" at EC, but a "C" at COSC. If you plan to hold yourself to higher grading standards anyway, COSC's grades will help motivate that.
COSC has EXCELLENT customer service, 5 stars. All of my emails have been answered within two days, although if it's during business hours, they have been answered in
minutes.
With the CPS and the general education requirements spelled out on the website, they have also idiot-proofed their degree programs. :p It would be easy to come up with a degree plan for them. I have come up with several in no time.
COSC--State College with an agreeable name for those who give a shite.
COSC--Many people point out that they only offer concentrations, not specific majors, but I doubt this will be a problem. Human resource people who care enough about it will quickly see that the concentration is the exact same thing as a major, although many won't care so long as you have a degree, and many popular graduate schools also offer their Master's degrees in this exact same format. COSC is not the only one.
Unlike EC, COSC has stricter gen ed requirements, but they only require 15 upper level credits, which must be in your concentration. This is a nice split between EC's higher upper level requirements (30 UL credits), and TESC's lower requirements. COSC is a middle way.
[Edit to add]: COSC also graduates students every other month, like EC.[/End Edit]
Overall, I vote for EC first, it was the best one
for me, but you really have to evaluate the schools side by side as best you can and choose which one is best
for you, not which one is best for someone else. Yes, it is confusing and a pain to do it, but it is the best way to make an informed choice you will not regret later. No matter which one you choose, I will do what I can to help you. If TESC will work best for you and your son, by all means, go with them. You are earning a legitimate degree no matter which of the three you choose. A degree is a degree is a degree.
Hope this helps!
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