ACE vs NCCRS: Anyone know why a provider choose one over the other?

[studyingfortests]

I was bored and took a few minutes to read over some of the guidelines for ACE and NCCRS as far as becoming a provider and submitting courses for approval.

From my uninformed and uneducated perspective, I don't immediately see an enormous difference between the two in terms of academic rigor, approval difficulty, etc.  The main difference I see is that NCCRS was started by Excelsior (or at least by University of the State of New York, which used to own Excelsior), and seems to be a newer institution than ACE.

So why would an institution choose NCCRS over ACE, when so many more providers accept ACE over NCCRS?  Anyone have any idea?

Just curious.

[ss20ts]

Just to clarify. Excelsior College was created by the New State Board of Regents. Some believe it was part of the SUNY system which it wasn't. NCCRS was created by the University of the State of New York (man our state uses weirds names). It's still owned by them. The Board of Regents is part of the University of the State of New York but separate at the same time. This state is really wonky the way they do these things.

ACE is much larger than NCCRS. ACE has a Wiki page and NCCRS doesn't which is interesting. Since NCCRS is affiliated with a state and their crazy government, many schools and states may not want to deal with their bureaucracy. ACE is significantly older as it was created in 1918. Over the decades they've worked to improve access to education to everyone in the nation from those who didn't compete high school to military members. ACE has been politically involved in education as well. They've helped get laws like Title IX passed.

ACE just does more than NCCRS. Probably because it's its own entity and not a wonky branch of a government.

[rachel83az]

Why would anyone choose NCCRS over ACE? Probably because it costs less to go through the NCCRS process than through ACE. I'm not entirely sure of what the cost actually is, but I get the feeling that ACE is at least twice the cost. If you're only intending for your courses to be used at a couple specific schools, it doesn't make sense to go for the more expensive ACE option if NCCRS will work just as well.

[jsd]

It's been a while, but at one point I tried to compare the costs of getting a course approved by ACE or NCCRS (just out of curiosity -- I'm certainly not working on anything for which I would need this knowledge). I assumed ACE would be considerably more expensive.

From what I could determine, the costs were pretty comparable. However, both organizations are pretty good about obscuring costs and being vague about timeframes and such wich would drastically change total cost.

It would be interesting if someone from a place like saylor or study.com, which have been through both org's review processes, could share some insight, but they probably have better things to do than entertain my curiosity

[sanantone]

ACE is much older than NCCRS. NCCRS is not well-known outside of the Northeast. ACE evaluates military training, so it makes sense for colleges and universities to become ACE member institutions since they love those TA and GI Bill dollars. From my experience, NCCRS-recommended courses tend to be easier. I believe receiving NCCRS evaluations is cheaper and faster. New educational companies on a tight budget tend to go for NCCRS approval. Then, they switch to ACE when they're profitable.

[studyingfortests]

From what I could determine, the costs were pretty comparable. However, both organizations are pretty good about obscuring costs and being vague about timeframes and such wich would drastically change total cost.

It would be interesting if someone from a place like saylor or study.com, which have been through both org's review processes, could share some insight, but they probably have better things to do than entertain my curiosity

I did dig into that, and I came up with a similar perspective.  The costs are there, on both websites, but you have to wade through a bunch of stuff to read it.  If I remember correctly, it was something like 10-15K to have your institution apply, and something like 3-5K for each course. Plus, there is a renewal fee per-course that is spendy (2-3K).  These numbers are from memory, so ballpark.  But I came away with the idea that the costs were pretty close.  And if that's the case... it still isn't clear why anyone would go with NCCRS, unless, as suggested, they are less rigorous and the provider wants that.

And yes, it would be fun if we could get a real answer instead of conjecture. But I'm sure SDC and Saylor have more important things to do than answer questions out of idle curiosity. :

As for the University of the State of New York thing, I stand by what I originally said to an extent... before Exclsior was Excelsior, it was Regents College. And before it was Regents College it was called... The University of the State of New York, not to be confused with SUNY. It was when it was spun off and became a separate nonprofit that it took the Regents and then Excelsior name. (And yes, NY certainly has some odd names.)  But the school was not really USNY, it was the school that was a part of USNY, which as I understand it, is not actually a school at all, but "The Regents of the University of the State of New York"  And on the NCCRS page, right in their logo, it says "The University of the State of New York."

None of that remotely makes any sense to me.  But then, neither does going with NCCRS when ACE seems to cost a very similar amount.

[ss20ts]

As for the University of the State of New York thing, I stand by what I originally said to an extent... before Exclsior was Excelsior, it was Regents College. And before it was Regents College it was called... The University of the State of New York, not to be confused with SUNY. It was when it was spun off and became a separate nonprofit that it took the Regents and then Excelsior name. (And yes, NY certainly has some odd names.)  But the school was not really USNY, it was the school that was a part of USNY, which as I understand it, is not actually a school at all, but "The Regents of the University of the State of New York"  And on the NCCRS page, right in their logo, it says "The University of the State of New York."

I'm well aware of the history of Excelsior College and all of the intricacies with NYS. NYS is a governmental mess. Always has been. The Board of Regents also regulates high school diplomas. It's a very tangled web. I can see why no one would want to go with NCCRS because you'd be dealing with NYS which like I said is a governmental mess. 3 of the last 4 governors had issues - MAJOR issues. 2 resigned. 1 didn't run again because of his issues. Total mess. I miss the days where my governor just went off quietly to South America with his girlfriend. Yup. That was my governor when I lived in SC. At least the government there was functioning.