Charter Oak Requiring 80% Study.com Course Grades

[Pats20]

I think the big three are getting greedy. They think they will corner people into taking their own courses instead. Their  allure is the fact that they accept these kinds of credit. They are slowly driving away many of their customers to regular state schools. Because at the end of the day. Without study.com , excell exams . Sophia , ect ect. What’s the point in going to tesu or charter oaks if there isn’t going to be an advantage over everyone else. Because god knows their pricing isn’t any cheaper.

Everyone isn't worried about pricing. How do you think private schools exist? I mean University of Phoenix milked people out of millions. It's not like it's a degree from Harvard.

I understand that. My point was at $5-$600 per credit hour. A person may as well go to their own state school if the big three are going to eliminate the reason a lot of people choose them to begin with.

State schools rarely accept ACE credits. State schools charge an arm and a leg in fees quite often. Sometimes as much or more than tuition. That's always fun. State schools are far more competitive. Tuition in my state is over $400 p/c for in state tuition. Even state schools have a minimum GPA requirement. And 80 really isn't that high of a grade to achieve. I mean for grad school most won't accept someone who has below a 3.0. There are grad programs that won't even look at your application if it's not a 3.5 or above. An 80 is barely above average. These courses on a college campus tend to take longer, have far more assignments, and be more difficult. I personally haven't found any of the ACE courses I took to be more difficult than an on campus course. All of them were significantly easier with the exception of Sophia's Eng Comp2 which has horrible grading and takes weeks to be graded.  

I'm on a few social media groups for Sophia and I'm constantly surprised by how many people struggle with many of their courses. I've seen people complain that Visual Communications was too challenging. If that course is challenging then quite frankly that person is going to really struggle in college and college may not be for them. I'm on several WGU group and I'm amazed at the courses people struggle with. I'm not talking about the ULs. I'm talking about the LL gen eds that should be very easy for someone in college. I'm not talking about math or science which many people do struggle with. I'm seeing many students take their exam 3,4 times. You wouldn't get those multiple chances at a state school. If you fail then you fail. There's no do over.

I think you’re missing my point. The big three keep raising the bar on alt credit. It’s almost like an attack on it. Every year the options get slimmer and slimmer. It appears that their objective is to eventually eliminate most of it. IMO.

[bjcheung77]

Oh snap! I hope Excelsior and TESU or other players in the market don't follow suit... I mean, first it was the 30 RA credits, then the approved provider list, and now the % on ACE courses need to be above the recommended. I think everyone is right, they're trying to lessen the ability to use alternative credit towards their degree programs... This will drive more people from the Big 3 to competency based degree providers, I just hope Excelsior/TESU doesn't follow.

[studyingfortests]

July 1st strikes again.

This makes it harder to recommend CharterOak.

It seems to me that Charter Oak, based on the policies they've been steadily implementing for the past few years, are doing all but standing on the rooftops and going "PLEASE GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!" to anyone doing alt-credit.  Which is a shame, because it was at one time a really good option. Just seems like they keep adding a million little roadblocks to make things more difficult than they need to be.

Realistically, the difference between 70% and 80% on SDC isn't much for most of those courses. It's more the philosophy that's disappointing.

[ss20ts]

I think you’re missing my point. The big three keep raising the bar on alt credit. It’s almost like an attack on it. Every year the options get slimmer and slimmer. It appears that their objective is to eventually eliminate most of it. IMO.

I didn't miss anything. You forget that the accreditation bodies have a great deal of requirements. Quite frankly much of the alt credit is inferior to actual college courses. ACE isn't going anywhere. It definitely needs work. Part of it is also thanks to Covid remote learning became far more mainstream and the standards have been raised.

[origamishuttle]

Quite frankly much of the alt credit is inferior to actual college courses.

This comparison mainly applies to traditionally structured courses, both online and brick & mortar, with multiple assignments/homework/quizzes. There are many examples of actual college courses that are easier than their alternative credit course counterparts. In fact, many of them are recommended on a regular basis.

[ss20ts]

Quite frankly much of the alt credit is inferior to actual college courses.

This comparison mainly applies to traditionally structured courses, both online and brick & mortar, with multiple assignments/homework/quizzes. There are many examples of actual college courses that are easier than their alternative credit course counterparts. In fact, many of them are recommended on a regular basis.

Based on my experience with Sophia's courses, I can say none of the classes I took on that platform were anywhere near the same level of content as a course at a college. I had to repeat several courses due to their age so I have experience with both. They didn't even cover anywhere near the same amount of information. There's a reason you can finish a Sophia course in a day and you can't finish a college course in a day. Notice Sophia has been adding Touchstones to new and old courses? There's a reason. It's not to provide jobs to the graders.

[origamishuttle]

Based on my experience with Sophia's courses, I can say none of the classes I took on that platform were anywhere near the same level of content as a course at a college. I had to repeat several courses due to their age so I have experience with both. They didn't even cover anywhere near the same amount of information. There's a reason you can finish a Sophia course in a day and you can't finish a college course in a day. Notice Sophia has been adding Touchstones to new and old courses? There's a reason. It's not to provide jobs to the graders.

I am somewhat confident that for every Sophia course there exists somewhere at least one, and probably multiple, actual RA college course(s) that is/are easier. Well-known examples are English Comp I & II. While Sophia is certainly not a shining example of academic rigor, it is effective in both teaching and demonstrating competency at a minimum level. And even the minimum level will earn a degree, which is what we're here to do.

[Pats20]

Quite frankly much of the alt credit is inferior to actual college courses.

This comparison mainly applies to traditionally structured courses, both online and brick & mortar, with multiple assignments/homework/quizzes. There are many examples of actual college courses that are easier than their alternative credit course counterparts. In fact, many of them are recommended on a regular basis.

Based on my experience with Sophia's courses, I can say none of the classes I took on that platform were anywhere near the same level of content as a course at a college. I had to repeat several courses due to their age so I have experience with both. They didn't even cover anywhere near the same amount of information. There's a reason you can finish a Sophia course in a day and you can't finish a college course in a day. Notice Sophia has been adding Touchstones to new and old courses? There's a reason. It's not to provide jobs to the graders.

Ah. I’m curious how many inferior credits from Sophia that you used toward your undergrad ?
Since you appear to be a critic and 
Seem to have expertise in what people should and should not struggle with.

[ss20ts]

Ah. I’m curious how many inferior credits from Sophia that you used toward your undergrad ?
Since you appear to be a critic and 
Seem to have expertise in what people should and should not struggle with.

Econ - both
Eng Comp 2 
College Algebra
Stats

I had to repeat some classes for CSU Global because of their age. Only 1 was actually transferred and applied towards my bachelor's degree at UMPI. These courses were not even close to what I studied in college. I didn't say anything about anyone struggling with anything.

[tallpilot]

Nobody likes the concept of 'pulling up the ladder behind you.' It feels unfair on a visceral level. Labor markets react to supply and demand. The professions with salaries that have outstripped inflation have continually increased the entry requirements. Those that have not have seen wages on a real basis steadily decline.

What these schools are doing protects the value of the degree of the alumni. It absolutely sucks for those still working toward that goal.

This forum has done a phenomenal job showing an ever growing subset of college students how to complete a degree in a cheaper and less onerous way than the traditional method. Sadly, we are now a victim of our own success. I sound like a broken record always preaching that it WILL NOT get cheaper, easier or faster to complete a degree over the next few years. If you want/need one, doing it now and doing it as fast as possible is the best advice to save money and effort.

I hope the whole rotten edifice of post secondary education (especially in the U.S.) collapses and I think it will eventually from its own bloated dead weight. However I don't think it will happen on a timeline that helps anyone old enough to be worried about a degree right now.

This is an excellent forum (pun intended) to get together and complain about these types of decisions but expect more of them. Finish your degree!