Confused about 2nd Bach. degree...

[anne1456]

I recieved an engineering degree 20 years ago from a university. I'd like to start working on a business degree now, maybe in accounting. Will a college like Excelsior let me use credits from my first degree to cover general education requirements or not? Does it matter that the credits have already been used to grant a Bachelor's degree? thanks,
Anne

[barcotta]

I've never been 100% clear on this myself--although If I were a betting man I would say that at least Excelsior would let you use all applicable (and unexpired--20 yrs is the cutoff for at least one type of credit) credits toward another degree--despite the fact that they were already used towards your existing degree at the previous university.

What makes the question interesting to me is--what would stop you from marching around from university to university and collecting degrees using the very same credits? They likely don't check to SEE what other degrees you may have, right?

I think the answer is that there would be no real benefit to having identical or very similar degrees from different institutions. This could be one of the main reasons most of the B&M schools only let you transfer in 30 credits. Also, it would be pretty costly to the degree collector--again with minimal benefit. I understand what you're doing--acquiring a degree in another discipline--which is different than what I described.

My somewhat-educated understanding is that Excelsior is as generous as possible transferring in credits and I would not expect they would discriminate against "used" credits. Let's see what others have to say. Calling or emailing Excelsior and reading through their publications would likely get you an answer in short order as well.

[skyfall123]

From what I understand, you can get a 2nd degree even within Excelsior and apply a majority of credits, just as long as it is in a different field. In other words, you can't go from a Business Major in Accounting to another college or within Excelsior and get another Business Degree in Marketing. You can however go from a Business degree to a Liberal Arts degree, even within Excelsior providing that you apply no more than 90 credits (none in the previous major) and you earn an additional 30 new credits that pertain to the major.

I'm taking the GRE Psychology test in October for the hell of it. You can earn up to 30 credits (18 lower,12 upper) for that one test. If I do well, then when I finish the Excelsior BGB, I'll transfer in the Psych credits and get that 2nd degree. In reality, I'll probably tank on the GRE, but I figure its worth the $135 gamble since there are so many useful InstaCert Psychology subject flashcards to study with.

[yutzyj]

What makes the question interesting to me is--what would stop you from marching around from university to university and collecting degrees using the very same credits? They likely don't check to SEE what other degrees you may have, right?

I thought about that same question myself. Most colleges and universities require a 30 credit residency with them. I would imagine for the reason you were wondering about. The difference with The Big Three is that they don't require that residency. If someone else has a better answer, please chime in as I am unsure this is the correct answer.

[bawhitsett]

You could always submit your application and previous transcripts and get an unofficial evaluation done. Seems to me that with the advanced math and other subjects your engineering degree covered you would at least be good for the general ed stuff... the CBK and subject matter would be all that remained, and the CBK stuff could be covered largely by CLEP and DSST exams.