Competency based AS computer science - Broward College

[koenigtv]

Broward College is offering a competency based, accelerated online AS degree - Computer Systems Specialist and a couple of computer science technical certificates. According to their webpage "As low as $21.00 per course when competency can be proven through assessment."

Broward College - Accelerated Competency-based Computer Science Programs

http://www.broward.edu/academics/program.../2149C.pdf

[Drakemoore]

If you can completely test out of the entire thing, it's not too bad. It won't transfer very well to a bachelor's degree except at a flexible school like the big three.

The other thing is:

"No, the CGS1060 Computer Literacy Course does not offer the opportunity to test out, all of the other courses offers the student the opportunity to demonstrate mastery and competency by passing a series of exams."

CLEP test for information systems might fulfill that course, not positive. But otherwise you're looking at around $360ish I think per credit for that three credit course if you're out of state. For me it'd be around $110 / credit for that course.

Also the program has a strict course sequence and has pre-reqs apparently:

http://www.broward.edu/academics/program.../2149C.pdf

If you look at the pdf for example, you cannot take Introduction to computer science / c++ programming without having College Algebra. Most schools in Florida require minimum of College Algebra or College Math to participate in those courses. You'd have to CLEP out of them or test out via Broward.edu, you cannot use ALEKs.

[sanantone]

Where could one find the tuition rate if you can't pass the course and unit evaluations without accessing the course content? Would one have to pay the regular tuition rate if the course content has to be accessed? Where are the plans for the competency-based certificates?

[Drakemoore]

My guess Sanatone, is that if you cannot pass it, then you would have to pay the standard tuition rate. Now the question there is, if you can't complete the course via competency, can you complete it at all? The reason I say that is, some of the courses in the traditional sense are probably not fully online. I'm actually a little interested in this myself so I may have to contact them for more information.

Regular tuition is linked here, though again I don't know if that would be required or not if you couldn't complete via competency. I also don't know all of the extra fees involved for completing a certificate or the program at the moment.

[sanantone]

The other competency-based programs don't make you pay extra to access course materials. The point of competency-based education isn't just that you get to skip over things you already know, but that you can progress through topics when you are competent in them instead of having to spend a specific number of hours in a course.

[Drakemoore]

I found the cyber adviser's email and I'll send him an email with some questions if you'd like.

I was going to ask him the following so far:


Would the CLEP - Information Systems or DSST Introduction to Computing fulfill the Computer Literacy requirement?

What would the fees be if a student were to take the accelerated program and finish completely with challenge exams?

What fees are involved to access the course material if the competency challenge exam cannot be met?

Are there any extra fees for out of state residents?

Do students need to take tests at a testing center / proctored environment?

What articulating agreements, if any are in place for this program?

Can courses taken in the accelerated program be used in other degree programs at Broward?

edited for more questions:
Industry Certifications

What is the role of the industry certifications in regards to the accelerated competency Associates of Science program? On the main webpage it doesn't list any information specifically about them, nor does it include them as being part of the degree program itself.

Does the school offer an attempt at these certifications, or are they simply discounted?

[sanantone]

There are also the certificate programs, which are supposed to be earned while completing the associates; but, they don't list which courses make up the certificates. I hate when colleges don't provide detailed information. I'm assuming the industry certification programs include courses that are supposed to prepare you for the test. It would be cool if they were like WGU and included the certifications in the programs.

[Drakemoore]

I'm really not sure.

Broward College - Computer Science

You can see that they have some certificate programs listed on the CS home page for Broward. However, none of the certificates listed match the courses in the Accelerated program exactly.


At the local CCs where I live in florida, they don't cover the cost of the industry certs. At most they provide around 50% discount on a few selective tests because you're classified as a student. The programs at the CCs just prepare you for them. But, if Broward does cover the industry cert fees on the first attempt, that would be quite a bargain.

[sanantone]

Yeah, I tried looking at the computer science page, but it does not list the accelerated certificates. I'll just send them an email.

[Drakemoore]

So far I've been passed around via email to several different advisers and none of them can really answer my questions as of yet. I think this program is sort of out of the norm for this college that most of their staff isn't very familiar with it.