Upper level vs. Lower level credit

[The_Professor]

Okay, kind of a basic question in which I remain somewhat unclear about… What is the real difference/significance of upper level vs. lower level credit from an overall credit accumulation perspective? The reason I ask is that when I apply to have my various IT and professional certifications reviewed for transfer credit, depending on the institution, I am sometimes told that certain certs qualify for lower level credit but not upper. Not sure how the distinction really matters all that much, as a credit is a credit is a credit in pursuit of the grand total of 120 credits in the typical undergrad program. Any enlightenment in this regard would be greatly appreciated. Thank you…

[perrik]

Okay, kind of a basic question in which I remain somewhat unclear about… What is the real difference/significance of upper level vs. lower level credit from an overall credit accumulation perspective? The reason I ask is that when I apply to have my various IT and professional certifications reviewed for transfer credit, depending on the institution, I am sometimes told that certain certs qualify for lower level credit but not upper. Not sure how the distinction really matters all that much, as a credit is a credit is a credit in pursuit of the grand total of 120 credits in the typical undergrad program. Any enlightenment in this regard would be greatly appreciated. Thank you…

Depends on the school and your individual program... at Excelsior's School of Liberal Arts, anyone pursuing a BA or BS must take at least 30 credits as upper level. University of Georgia's arts & sciences students must complete at least 39 credits at the upper level. Arizona State requires at least 45 UL credits. So a credit is not necessarily a credit! You can have all the UL credits you want over the minimum, but you have to meet that minimum.

[Chebasaz]

The way I've always understood it to be was that the upper level credits are the Junior/Senior level classes that directly apply to your degree path. As Perrik mentioned however, what those classes are tends to change from college to college.

Incidentally, let me know if you find a home for that PMP cert. Since PMI evidently refuses to get the thing ACE reviewed, I have yet to find anyone that will give me undergrad credit for it.

[The_Professor]

Depends on the school and your individual program... at Excelsior's School of Liberal Arts, anyone pursuing a BA or BS must take at least 30 credits as upper level. University of Georgia's arts & sciences students must complete at least 39 credits at the upper level. Arizona State requires at least 45 UL credits. So a credit is not necessarily a credit! You can have all the UL credits you want over the minimum, but you have to meet that minimum.

I need 15 Upper level credits in the COSC BSBA program, all of which I can achieve thru a combination of CLEP/DANTES/ECE exams. This being the case I woudn't need to be concerned if the transfer credits are applied at the Lower level, unless perhaps if the Upper level exams are that much more difficult than the Lower level exams. Any experience one way or the other in this regard, and would there be any other issues/constraints/concerns I might want to be aware of? Thanks...

[The_Professor]

Incidentally, let me know if you find a home for that PMP cert. Since PMI evidently refuses to get the thing ACE reviewed, I have yet to find anyone that will give me undergrad credit for it.

I did find that I could occasionally squeeze a begrudging 3 transfer credits for my PMP if I was persistent enough, which is fairly paltry considering the dedication, effort, and expense it takes to achieve and maintain such a highly-regarded certification. That said, there are a number of very good online institutions that are registered with the PMI in their GAC (Global Accreditation Center) program that are much more generous with the transfer credits. Capella University, in particular, offers 48 credits for the PMP in their 180 credit BSBA/Project Management specialization program. I could test out of seven more courses, I believe it was, however their CLEP/DANTES limitations still had me needing to take 14 out of the 30 courses in the program for a cost of over $25K. A good program indeed, but being a 50-year-old geezer who’s “married with children” means I have very little discretionary time and even less money, so this is kind of commitment is simply out of the question for me.

[Chebasaz]

unless perhaps if the Upper level exams are that much more difficult than the Lower level exams.

Most UL exams are more difficult than their LL counterparts. ECE's in particular are my personal bane. I've yet to fail one, but I leave feeling drained. There are quite a few Dantes as well that count for UL and are completely passable with a bit of extra study.

I did find that I could occasionally squeeze a begrudging 3 transfer credits for my PMP if I was persistent enough, which is fairly paltry considering the dedication, effort, and expense it takes to achieve and maintain such a highly-regarded certification. That said, there are a number of very good online institutions that are registered with the PMI in their GAC (Global Accreditation Center) program that are much more generous with the transfer credits. Capella University, in particular, offers 48 credits for the PMP in their 180 credit BSBA/Project Management specialization program.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who finds it frustrating, and thanks for pointing me towards the GAC. I've come across a few graduate programs that recognize the effort, but no undergrad as of yet. Excelsior refuses to budge, and likewise considers my CISSP to be worth nothing as well. I haven't pointed out the irony of awarding credits for the Sec+ but not the CISSP yet, but I'm getting close.

On the upside, it seems Cisco has their act together when it comes to academic partners. No problems there I'd imagine?

[The_Professor]

Glad to see I'm not the only one who finds it frustrating, and thanks for pointing me towards the GAC. I've come across a few graduate programs that recognize the effort, but no undergrad as of yet. Excelsior refuses to budge, and likewise considers my CISSP to be worth nothing as well. I haven't pointed out the irony of awarding credits for the Sec+ but not the CISSP yet, but I'm getting close.

On the upside, it seems Cisco has their act together when it comes to academic partners. No problems there I'd imagine?

Cisco's CCNA is worthy of Xfr credit at most institutions, however, the CISS (Cisco Information Security Specialist) is not. The CISS cert is even recognized by the NSA (National Security Agency) and CNSS (Committee on National Security Systems), but not good old academia. It is ironic that the mostly entry-level CompTIA certs such as A+ and Sec+ garner more Xfr credit than the prestigious Cisco and PMP certs. Go figure... It is even more ironic that the premiere security certification in the IT sector, CISSP, does not garner any Xfr credit that I am aware of...