Help With Excelsior.

[sedailey]

I just received my Degree At Excelsior in Associate in Applied Science and Technical Studies.  I am 50 years old.  I have been in the Network/Cyber Security area for 20 years and I currently work for DOE/NNSA as a Network Engineer/Cyber Security Auditor.  I have my MCSE, CCNA, CCSP, Secuirty+, A+, Cisco Firewall, Cisco VPN, ETC.  All in all around 30 certifications in IT and Cyber.  Fixing to complete my CEH next month.  I decided to go ahead and do my BA with Excelsior and boy did I get the runaround.  All my certifications they put as FREE or EXCESSIVE Credit and would not use them on the BA though they accepted them on my AAS?????????  Then ontop of all of that they are requiring me to take basic Operating systems, computer systems architecture, data communications, (OH I HAVE A CERT FROM CISCO ON VOIP TOO), Database concepts and system administration.  A few more computer or network design class.  I called them and said hey that's what my MCSE, and CISCO, and A+ and Security +, and all the computer CLEP test I took and tested out of are for to prove I can do all of that.  I said to take classes like you are requesting would be foolish and nonproductive.  I all ready do all that stuff in my job for over 20 years.  I said look just take me out of a BA in Informational systems and cybersecurity then and just give me a liberal arts degree.  Then I can just test out with my CLEP and other programs.  They want me to take an additional 80 credits when I already have 64?????  I told them if they could not come up with something within a week I will move my degree to Thomas Edison.  Not heard back.  I am 50 years old I just need the paper at this point.  Anyone got any ideas?  Should I stay and fight with Excelsior and just force them to let me do a general liberal arts degree?  or move on?  FRUSTRATED at this point...

[jsd]

The application fee is still being waived at WGU right now, and they're pretty generous with the credit they award for certs. Might be worth applying for free and sending transcripts/certs to them just to see if they treat you better

[sedailey]

The application fee is still being waived at WGU right now, and they're pretty generous with the credit they award for certs. Might be worth applying for free and sending transcripts/certs to them just to see if they treat you better

Thank's I live in Tennessee and I think they are out of Nashville or they have a Nashville site.

[bjcheung77]

If Excelsior is going to be a pain in the you know where, take your business to Hodges or WGU for their competency based degree offerings. WGU is much more popular than Hodges and has a better/larger Alumni network. The cost is roughly the same as well for 6 months of self paced learning. You just need to decide on which program would fit you better.

If it was for an Associates, Hodges is my recommendation as WGU doesn't offer Associates. Because this is a Bachelors, I would recommend applying to BOTH - WGU for "free application" and Hodges because of lesser requirements (their program is "cheap/easy/fast"). For a typical degree at the Bachelors level, it requires 120 or so credits (roughly 40 - 3 credit courses), but not at WGU or Hodges.

Now let's do a little comparison - WGU BS IT requires 35 courses, not the 40 you would expect as some courses are 4 credits. They prepare you for industry certifications which you already have, so you should be able to get credit for those courses. Make sure to enroll AFTER you transfer the MAX amount of credits and try to finish the entire degree in 1 term.

Hodges is a little different, they require 30 courses in total, each of their undergraduate courses are 4 credits. And the kicker here is, pretty much any 3 credit course you transfer over, they will allow it into your degree and transfer as a 4 credit course! You essentially need to complete their required 32 credits - 8 courses as residency requirements. And all 8 are required - 5 Core, 3 CIT requirements (Capstone included).

[bluebooger]

WGU 
accepts all these certs
https://www.wgu.edu/popup/transbsnos 
for the
B.S. Network Operations and Security  
https://www.wgu.edu/online-it-degrees/in...rs-program

[Life Long Learning]

I am an Excelsior College and Big 3 fan. TESU and COSC also have IT degrees. I applied to all three and they are all different. Only then will you really know who will really do what for you.

[jsd]

I am an Excelsior College and Big 3 fan.

You're definitely an Excelsior fan, but I've never seen you say anything nice about the other two, haha...

[sanantone]

I am an Excelsior College and Big 3 fan.

You're definitely an Excelsior fan, but I've never seen you say anything nice about the other two, haha...

He kinda sorta has. He's still mad at TESU for not accepting his FEMA credits. It's been a year or two now.

[jsd]

Meh, to each their own. I don't care if anyone likes or doesn't like a particular school. I'm guilty of it too with bashing Patten all of the time. Excelsior seems fine, but expensive compared to the other two. I think I know the least about COSC though.

[dfrecore]

I would not stay and fight with EC when you have other options available. They are not the cheapest of the Big 3 any longer either, so it's not like you need them.

TESU will not take your certs, so they are most likely out of the running.

COSC may or may not take them, so it's worth applying.

WGU may be your best bet if your certs are current (within 5 years). They take tons, and would also bring your AAS in to fulfill your Gen Ed's, so there's another hurdle done. You sound like the kind of person this type of competency-based degree would be perfect for - you can test out of almost everything quickly. So you could get done in a single term. They also have a bunch of good choices for IT degrees - more than that others, and something that will probably fit you very well.

If I were you, I would apply to WGU, including sending through all of your certs. They will do an eval for you very quickly (a few days). Then, DO NOT ENROLL!! Come here, post your eval, and let us see what you have. At that point, we can offer some ideas on how to get through your degree as quickly as possible. You can test out of some additional credits with a variety of methods/providers, enroll, and hopefully have minimal credits to finish up.

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I am an Excelsior College and Big 3 fan.  TESU and COSC also have IT degrees.  I applied to all three and they are all different.  Only then will you really know who will really do what for you.

I am a fan of any school that lets you get your degree quickly and cheaply!!!  That means the Big 3, plus competency-based programs - for most people.

The only reason I push TESU is because I understand their degrees better, and can easily make a plan.  But I would certainly tell someone to go somewhere else if there was a better fit.