Big 3

[chasey11442]

What are these "big 3" that everyone keeps referring to?

[bjcheung77]

Haha, you're posting in that sub category - Excelsior, Thomas Edison, Charter Oak discussion.
If you have the time, read the Beginners Guide to get a grip on everything (a crash course).

[chasey11442]

Haha, you're posting in that sub category - Excelsior, Thomas Edison, Charter Oak discussion.
If you have the time, read the Beginners Guide to get a grip on everything (a crash course).

I posted in the sub category so I could get the answer I am looking for. Let me rephrase my question, what makes these three "big" over other online colleges?

[dfrecore]

Haha, you're posting in that sub category - Excelsior, Thomas Edison, Charter Oak discussion.
If you have the time, read the Beginners Guide to get a grip on everything (a crash course).

I posted in the sub category so I could get the answer I am looking for. Let me rephrase my question, what makes these three "big" over other online colleges?

They aren't "big", we just call them that.  They are the 3 main colleges that accept 114-117 credits transferred in.

With Charter Oak (COSC), you can transfer in 114cr, and take the Cornerstone and Capstone courses there.
With Excelsior (EC), you can transfer in 117cr, and take the Capstone course.
With Thomas Edison (TESU), you can transfer in 117cr, and take the Capstone course.

Then, you can take all of the courses you need with different course providers (Straighterline, Study.com, CLEP, DSST, etc.) for MUCH less than the cost of a Community College course.  It can make a bachelor's degree from one of these schools $6k-$7k, start to finish.

[Ideas]

They accept a lot of transfer credits including DSST, ACE, NCCRS. ACE has many options like Straighterline, Study.com, Shmoop, free TEEX courses, and Saylor. They give credit for many professional certifications and don't have as much residency requirements.

TESU has a residency waiver option.

[bjcheung77]

There's nothing Big about the Big 3, they're just your average sized university or college. The only main difference is that they accept alternative credits more than many/most schools. The Big 4 would include WGU as they're a very popular one as well.

If you want to know the numbers - EC has 160,000+ alumni, TESU/WGU has 50,000+ and COSC has about 12,000+ grads.
The schools started about the same time, since 1973 I think or about there... WGU was the first competency school, 1997.

The main reason people would choose these over other schools is because they're geared for Adults who are working. They allow up to 114/117 credits vs the majority out there who would accept 90 credit transfer (at most, some accept 60).

[sanantone]

I wouldn't even include WGU with the Big 3. It's really no different from the dozen or so other schools that offer competency-based programs. If you include WGU, you would also have to include Brandman, Capella, Walden, Hodges, Northern Arizona University, Patten, University of Wisconsin, Southern New Hampshire University, and any other school that offers competency-based programs. Honestly, I believe WGU is less flexible than the other competency-based programs because they won't let you transfer in credits after you enroll. In reality, these schools are nothing like the Big 3. The transfer credit limits are still pretty traditional. In my opinion, there is no Big 4.

The Big 3 are the original competency-based schools, but they are designed on an entirely different system from the modern incarnation of competency-based programs.

[Life Long Learning]

I wouldn't even include WGU with the Big 3. It's really no different from the dozen or so other schools that offer competency-based programs. If you include WGU, you would also have to include Brandman, Capella, Walden, Hodges, Northern Arizona University, Patten, University of Wisconsin, Southern New Hampshire University, and any other school that offers competency-based programs. Honestly, I believe WGU is less flexible than the other competency-based programs because they won't let you transfer in credits after you enroll. In reality, these schools are nothing like the Big 3. The transfer credit limits are still pretty traditional. In my opinion, there is no Big 4.

The Big 3 are the original competency-based schools, but they are designed on an entirely different system from the modern incarnation of competency-based programs.

I 100% agree!  There really is no close #4.

1971 Excelsior College (USNY)
1972 TESU
1973 COSC

All three founded within years of each other.

[dfrecore]

I wouldn't even include WGU with the Big 3. It's really no different from the dozen or so other schools that offer competency-based programs. If you include WGU, you would also have to include Brandman, Capella, Walden, Hodges, Northern Arizona University, Patten, University of Wisconsin, Southern New Hampshire University, and any other school that offers competency-based programs. Honestly, I believe WGU is less flexible than the other competency-based programs because they won't let you transfer in credits after you enroll. In reality, these schools are nothing like the Big 3. The transfer credit limits are still pretty traditional. In my opinion, there is no Big 4.

The Big 3 are the original competency-based schools, but they are designed on an entirely different system from the modern incarnation of competency-based programs.

I agree, in that the competency-based models are a completely different beast than the Big 3.

BUT, some of the CB schools will take a lot of ACE/NCCRS credits (WGU & Hodges for certain), so any of those are above the others in that category.

[sanantone]

I wouldn't even include WGU with the Big 3. It's really no different from the dozen or so other schools that offer competency-based programs. If you include WGU, you would also have to include Brandman, Capella, Walden, Hodges, Northern Arizona University, Patten, University of Wisconsin, Southern New Hampshire University, and any other school that offers competency-based programs. Honestly, I believe WGU is less flexible than the other competency-based programs because they won't let you transfer in credits after you enroll. In reality, these schools are nothing like the Big 3. The transfer credit limits are still pretty traditional. In my opinion, there is no Big 4.

The Big 3 are the original competency-based schools, but they are designed on an entirely different system from the modern incarnation of competency-based programs.

I agree, in that the competency-based models are a completely different beast than the Big 3.

BUT, some of the CB schools will take a lot of ACE/NCCRS credits (WGU & Hodges for certain), so any of those are above the others in that category.

Capella and Patten also accept ACE credits. I'm pretty sure Brandman accepts ACE credits since they had a partnership with Saylor, and I still think they have a partnership with Straighterline. I forgot that APUS has a few new competency-based programs, and they accept ACE credits (I don't know if the 30-credit limit applies to their CB programs). Walden would accept ACE credits if they had undergraduate, competency-based programs, but they only have graduate ones. I haven't really looked into what NAU, UW, and SNHU College of America accept.