Beyond Excelsior

[Jaba]

Hi gang,

This is my first post on IC and I hope to one day contribute as much as so many of you selfless folks do.

I am enrolled at Excelsior and I am a bit past the halfway point towards earning my bachelor's degree. My employer indicated an interest in endowing my MBA tuition should I decide to go that route. Until now, I have not researched post secondary opportunities beyond Excelsior. Having just begun exploring different universities I'm concerned that some of these institutions will not accept much of what will be the bulk of the content of my credit load - CLEP, Dantes etc.

Do I have this about right? I realize that most colleges and universities have differing policies regarding the acceptance of CLEP as transfer credits into their own undergrad programs but I can't seem to find any straight information about how these CLEP heavy Excelsior, TESC etc degrees are looked upon in the post-secondary degree world.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

[skyfall123]

Hi Jaba,
Welcome to the forum! The short answer is that there are plenty of forum members with Excelsior Business degrees, enrolled in MBA as well as other Masters programs. A good GMAT score, and a GPA above 3.0 give you more options, but you will find that there are literally hundreds of MBA programs out there. Here's one that doesn't even require an undergraduate Business degree, any leveling courses or a high GPA. Penn State | Online MBA Degree Program Online Master of Business Administration (iMBA)

Penn State | Online MBA Degree Program Online Master of Business Administration (iMBA)--Admission Requirements

[Jaba]

Geez,
Thanks for the 411 here. Interestingly enough, I took a peek at Penn State yesterday and it was their link on College Board that sparked some hopefulness. I'm still fuzzy on weather or not they will accept the incoming Excelsior degree as it is or if they relegate their own credit assessments towards the CLEPs etc? In other words, do I get to keep the number of credits that Excelsior awards me or does the post-secondary institution say that they make their own assessments of these exams and the 120 credits I though I had do not translate into their own model?

More than anything I'm trying to chart a simple, smooth and fast path that won't reveal itself as having been too simple when admission time rolls around for the MBA.

Thanks again for your helpful reply.

[cookderosa]

When you complete a regional degree- it's complete. So, that meets an admission requirement of having a regionally accredited degree. Like Geezer said, you need a solid GMAT score- and that's if you are going into a competitive program. There are still hundreds of MBAs that don't require anything beyond the completion of your degree and the formality of applying.

Now, one point to consider. Some MBA program may have prerequisites. In that case, they will choose if a CLEP was an acceptable way to fill that requirement. I would find this out while you are still a student so you could work this into your bachelor's degree.

I looked at Penn State before I chose TESC, and Penn does accept CLEP for their own undergrad online/on campus programs. I chose TESC, but thought about them again for my master's. I specifically emailed with them about 2 years ago asking if there were any issues I might have using exams to complete my BA degree that would be a problem when applying for my master's. They told me only that I needed a regionally accredited degree as the entrance requirement. (plus the rest of the requirements)

So, the short answer, is you should always ask where you are looking so you can plan now. It might mean a few classes tossed into the mix, then you have time to make that happen.

Good Luck!!

[SimonTam]

I agree with Jennifer. A regionally accredited degree is a regionally accredited degree. However, a particular MBA program, or a concentration in that program, will have some prerequisite requirements that may or may not be met by your undergraduate degree. In that case, there may be some courses that you would have to take in addition to your MBA program courses. That is not to say that you wouldn't be accepted. You can be accepted to a MBA program and the adviser will tell you if there are any additional courses that you need to take to complete the MBA. In other words, if the MBA program is 42 credit hours, but the adviser says you need three additional prerequisite courses, your MBA degree will be 51 credit hours. For example, assume you obtain a bachelor's degree in general business from Excelsior and then decided to pursue a MBA with a concentration in accounting. The requirements for the accounting concentration state that you must have intermediate accounting, business law and a few other courses. The school will probably accept you into the MBA program, but will require that you take the additional courses before starting any of the courses in the concentration.

BTW, I obtained my Bachelor's degree in Accounting from Excelsior earlier this year. I was accepted at Upper Iowa University into the MBA program with an accounting concentration. There were no problems with 50% of my degree being obtained through testing. In fact, because I had a 3.3 GPA, I did not have to take the GMAT. The GPA was obtained from the actual courses that I took at LSU and Adams State.

[Jaba]

Thanks so much for all of your quick responses. The IC community really fosters a spirit of peers guiding peers. Great to see!