Confused about the change in TESU

[geissingert]

Help.  I have brain cancer and am feeling a bit better to help my daughter. We enrolled her to TESU on April 3, 2018 and she was approved for all the credits. This is the e-mail we received. Please help me to understand this better. What is on the test? How difficult is it? 

Unfortunately, those credits are all from ACE, and through the likes of ALEKS, CLEP, DSST, Straighterline, etc. which are not a regionally accredited institutions.
This does NOT mean we will no longer accept these credits, you’re fine. They will stay a part of your record, and still be on your evaluation and transferable towards your degree.
 
As the policy indicates, credits that are not from a regionally accredited institution (College or University) cannot be used as a basis for admission, and therefore you will need to take the Accuplacer exam..
You can find information on the Accuplacer exam here: https://accuplacer.collegeboard.org/educator/next-generation . It is an exam that is taken online, and can be done at your convenience. We receive the scores within 24 hours of you taking the exam.

Does she have to retake the following courses?

ALEKS Corporation (McGraw Hill)

College Algebra 

ALEKS Corporation (McGraw Hill)

ALEK-0003 Course 11/18/2014

Intermediate Algebra 

ALEKS Corporation (McGraw Hill)

ALEK-0002 Course 11/10/2014

Introduction to Statistics 

ALEKS Corporation (McGraw Hill)

ALEK-0007 Course 01/05/2015

PreCalculus 

ALEKS Corporation (McGraw Hill)

ALEK-0005 Course 11/19/2014

Trigonometry 

ALEKS Corporation (McGraw Hill)

ALEK-0006 Course 01/06/2015



College Board's College-Level Examination Program (CLEP)

Analyzing and Interpreting Literature 



College Board's College-Level Examination Program (CLEP)

CLEP-0011 Examination 10/03/2014



Introductory Sociology 

College Board's College-Level Examination Program (CLEP)

CLEP-0026 Examination 08/28/2014



DSST by Prometric

Business Ethics and Society 

DSST by Prometric

DANT-0052 Examination 01/28/2016



Lumerit Education

Comparative Worldviews 

Lumerit Education

COLP-0001 Course 07/02/2014



StraighterLine

Accounting I 

StraighterLine

OOSL-0009 Course 06/19/2015



Accounting II 

StraighterLine

OOSL-0010 Course 06/19/2015



Business Communication 

StraighterLine

OOSL-0014 Course 06/12/2015



Business Law 

StraighterLine

OOSL-0048 Course 05/11/2015



English Composition I 

StraighterLine

OOSL-0005 Course 07/29/2015



English Composition II 

StraighterLine

OOSL-0006 Course 08/29/2015



Financial Accounting 

StraighterLine

OOSL-0045 Course 04/20/2015



Introduction to Biology 

StraighterLine

OOSL-0017 Course 03/11/2015



Introduction to Biology Lab 

StraighterLine

OOSL-0018 Course 04/16/2015



Macroeconomics 

StraighterLine

OOSL-0007 Course 04/02/2015



Microbiology 

StraighterLine

OOSL-0047 Course 03/16/2015



Microeconomics 

StraighterLine

OOSL-0008 Course 04/02/2015



United States History I 

StraighterLine

OOSL-0039 Course 02/26/2015



United States History II 

StraighterLine

OOSL-0044 Course 02/20/2015



Western Civilization I 

StraighterLine

OOSL-0040 Course 02/12/2015



Western Civilization II 

StraighterLine

OOSL-0043 Course 02/15/2015



Texas Engineering Extension Service

Cyber Security for Business Professionals 

Texas Engineering Extension Service

TEEX-0252 Course 09/10/2015



Cyber Security for Everyone 

Texas Engineering Extension Service

TEEX-0250 Course 09/10/2015



Cyber Security for IT Professionals 

Texas Engineering Extension Service
TEEX-0251 Course 09/10/2015

[jsd]

From the letter:

This does NOT mean we will no longer accept these credits, you’re fine. They will stay a part of your record, and still be on your evaluation and transferable towards your degree.

She won't have to retake them.

The accuplacer I am not familiar with.

[saraholson]

the Accuplacer is a test that almost all community colleges require new students to take. it's to see if she has to take remedial classes in english, math or science. you can google it - there are study guides for it online and in book form.

Kids who have taken standardized tests like ACT and SAT don't have to take Accuplacer, normally. usually colleges let you submit those test scores instead of taking accuplacer.

Maybe you should apply to Charter Oak instead. It seems like TESU is making a lot of changes that are less friendly to non-traditional students like the ones in this forum. With all the new stuff happening, i am glad i am almost done. if i were only just starting out, i would choose a different school. it almost seems like TESU is trying to push us away

[geissingert]

the Accuplacer is a test that almost all community colleges require new students to take. it's to see if she has to take remedial classes in english, math or science. you can google it - there are study guides for it online and in book form.

Kids who have taken standardized tests like ACT and SAT don't have to take Accuplacer, normally. usually colleges let you submit those test scores instead of taking accuplacer.

Maybe you should apply to Charter Oak instead. It seems like TESU is making a lot of changes that are less friendly to non-traditional students like the ones in this forum. With all the new stuff happening, i am glad i am almost done. if i were only just starting out, i would choose a different school. it almost seems like TESU is trying to push us away

My whole family lives in Connecticut. I see the rates are a little less. What are your thoughts on WGU? I need the least expensive and fastest way to have her get a degree and my son. Does Charter oak accept the 2 English’s that don’t require the writing? Tia

[saraholson]

the Accuplacer is a test that almost all community colleges require new students to take. it's to see if she has to take remedial classes in english, math or science. you can google it - there are study guides for it online and in book form.

Kids who have taken standardized tests like ACT and SAT don't have to take Accuplacer, normally. usually colleges let you submit those test scores instead of taking accuplacer.

Maybe you should apply to Charter Oak instead. It seems like TESU is making a lot of changes that are less friendly to non-traditional students like the ones in this forum. With all the new stuff happening, i am glad i am almost done. if i were only just starting out, i would choose a different school. it almost seems like TESU is trying to push us away

My whole family lives in Connecticut. I see the rates are a little less. What are your thoughts on WGU? I need the least expensive and fastest way to have her get a degree and my son. Does Charter oak accept the 2 English’s that don’t require the writing? Tia

WGU will still make her take a placement test. they have their own version of it. And they also accept fewer ACE credits overall. I don't think that is going to be the best bet.
To find out about the English, i would post a new thread here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Forum-E...Discussion
and tell people exactly what english classes they are, and see if anyone knows what they transfer in as, to charter oak. title it something like 'Question for Charter Oak - English' so people know what you are asking about. there are a lot of knowledgeable people who can help on this forum

[walkingbyfaith]

It is probably due to her age, if she is 18-20 and her credits are not from an RA school. This was one of the unfortunate changes they made recently. Just one more hoop to jump through.

Here is a quote from the website regarding an age waiver....

Admission Waiver:
Applicants (degree seeking and nonmatriculated) who are 18-20 years and who do not meet the military criteria for admission may apply for special consideration by:

• If you possess a high school degree or GED equivalent, and have earned a minimum of 24 credits from a regionally accredited college/university with a grade point average of 2.0 or higher.
  
• Complete the Age Waiver Petition Request Form
  

Applicants who have earned less than 24 credits or have earned their credits from an approved University course provider who is not regionally accredited must take the Accuplacer, Next Generation examination within 30 days of applying and achieve scores of:

• Reading Comprehension: 236 or higher
  
• Sentence Skills: 241 or higher
  
• Arithmetic: 216 or higher
  

Students are limited to taking the University assessment examination to two times within a 12 month period.
To request that Accuplacer information be sent to you, please complete the Age Waiver Petition 

[dfrecore]

This is not about whether or not her credits will work, this is about admission into the school. If you are between the ages of 18-20, then TESU requires that you have 24cr from RA schools - so transfer credits from another college, not from ACE/NCCRS.

My question is, what do you mean by "We enrolled her to TESU on April 3, 2018 and she was approved for all the credits."? If she is already an enrolled student, then this shouldn't be an issue. If you APPLIED back in April last year, but then never enrolled (either by taking a course or taking a TECEP), then her enrollment may have lapsed, and now she has to reapply.

Can you give more info about the situation so we can try to help.

[Merlin]

WGU will still make her take a placement test. they have their own version of it. And they also accept fewer ACE credits overall. I don't think that is going to be the best bet.

As far as I know, for WGU you can get around the placement test by transferring in ACE credits. I've seen people discuss that option in other forums anyway. This would also apply to the new WGU Academy courses (which appears to be a white label version of Straighterline courses with a lower price tag).

As for WGU accepting fewer ACE credits, I don't believe that is correct. WGU is about as open with accepting ACE credits as TESU (they both disallow Shmoop but accept just about everything else). The problem is that WGU has fewer GenEd credits, so you have less wiggle room with taking random GE courses to meet degree requirements like you can for TESU. So you have to look for alt. ed courses (or certificates) that will cover the appropriate requirements in your degree plan. That can be a little challenging for some degrees, though WGU does help by providing transfer guidelines for most degrees. Those outline the types of courses that should apply to a degree plan as well as the courses that cannot be transferred in.

Of course, if by accepting fewer ACE credits you mean WGU has a higher residency requirement, then that is correct. WGU only allows students to transfer in 90 of the 120 credits required for graduation, but it doesn't matter where those courses come from. That is really the main advantage of the big 3, they have low residency requirements (or you can just pay to waive them). But completing the last 30 credits in one 6-month term is very achievable for most people. Heck, there are people who have completed more than 70 credits in 30 days at WGU (though those are not the norm, of course). Most people find that they can generally complete courses at WGU at about the same speed as courses at Straighterline or Study.com.

[geissingert]

This is not about whether or not her credits will work, this is about admission into the school.  If you are between the ages of 18-20, then TESU requires that you have 24cr from RA schools - so transfer credits from another college, not from ACE/NCCRS.

My question is, what do you mean by "We enrolled her to TESU on April 3, 2018 and she was approved for all the credits."?  If she is already an enrolled student, then this shouldn't be an issue.  If you APPLIED back in April last year, but then never enrolled (either by taking a course or taking a TECEP), then her enrollment may have lapsed, and now she has to reapply.

Can you give more info about the situation so we can try to help.

My daughter stopped attending classes for credits. I have brain cancer. If she would have taken more classes before 4/3/2019 it would have been fine, as she had close to 80 credits for TESU. Super sad, as I don't have medical insurance. I am looking for the LEAST expensive way for our 2 kids to get degrees. I hope this makes sense.

[saraholson]

WGU will still make her take a placement test. they have their own version of it. And they also accept fewer ACE credits overall. I don't think that is going to be the best bet.

As far as I know, for WGU you can get around the placement test by transferring in ACE credits. I've seen people discuss that option in other forums anyway. This would also apply to the new WGU Academy courses (which appears to be a white label version of Straighterline courses with a lower price tag).

As for WGU accepting fewer ACE credits, I don't believe that is correct. WGU is about as open with accepting ACE credits as TESU (they both disallow Shmoop but accept just about everything else). The problem is that WGU has fewer GenEd credits, so you have less wiggle room with taking random GE courses to meet degree requirements like you can for TESU. So you have to look for alt. ed courses (or certificates) that will cover the appropriate requirements in your degree plan. That can be a little challenging for some degrees, though WGU does help by providing transfer guidelines for most degrees. Those outline the types of courses that should apply to a degree plan as well as the courses that cannot be transferred in.

Of course, if by accepting fewer ACE credits you mean WGU has a higher residency requirement, then that is correct. WGU only allows students to transfer in 90 of the 120 credits required for graduation, but it doesn't matter where those courses come from. That is really the main advantage of the big 3, they have low residency requirements (or you can just pay to waive them). But completing the last 30 credits in one 6-month term is very achievable for most people. Heck, there are people who have completed more than 70 credits in 30 days at WGU (though those are not the norm, of course). Most people find that they can generally complete courses at WGU at about the same speed as courses at Straighterline or Study.com.

When I applied at WGU in 2017, they told me i had to take the placement test AND transfer in some Straighterline credits to be eligible to enroll. But their policy may have changed, and also the advisor i spoke to could have been wrong