How has degree planning changed over the years?

[Sunny21]

What do people think?  Has degree planning and alternative credits become easier or harder over the years?

[ss20ts]

Yes. Degree planning has become much easier due to the free help and resources provided on forums such as this one. Alternative credits are easier to come by nowadays at a lower cost but colleges change what they accept like the tides.

[Mint Berry Crunch]

What do people think?  Has degree planning and alternative credits become easier or harder over the years?

Significantly easier. You'll see people reflect on the narratives of John Bear who was undoubtedly the mogul of distance learning and alternative sources of credits (i.e., PLAs). And this was well before the internet kicked off. Prominent members on DegreeInfo would have more to say on this in regards to alt credits and degree planning. Now that distance learning has been championed by the internet (before that, mail-in courses), we definitely have more access to more information on what's currently available while other educational institutions are congruently developing programs that aim to assist working professional and other students looking to leverage their knowledge in expediting their time in college. I was in college for 6 years before I graduated with my first associates since I was hindered due to the lack of available online courses at the time. Now that alt credits have become more visible, it has substantially improved my route through education.

[Sunny21]

It seems to me whilst the top notch players like study and Sophia have grown that choice has reduced. Over the last few years Excelsior got out of challenge exams, players like Penn Foster gave up ace accreditation and RA credit requirements have grown that choice may have diminished.

I do worry these types of things have made in harder in the last 7 or 8 years unless you are happy with the big two players for alternative credits and taking the final year all at final college or university.

[Mint Berry Crunch]

It seems to me whilst the top notch players like study and Sophia have grown that choice has reduced. Over the last few years Excelsior got out of challenge exams, players like Penn Foster gave up ace accreditation and RA credit requirements have grown that choice may have diminished.

I do worry these types of things have made in harder in the last 7 or 8 years unless you are happy with the big two players for alternative credits and taking the final year all at final college or university.

Ebb and flows. As sources for credits have grown a bit more abundant, previous sources have been scrapped. For example, since you mentioned Excelsior, they remain in the big 3 simply because of max credit transfers, not because its easy to transfer all credits to them. In the past, they use to take FEMA certs for alt credits with a great deal of pain and difficulty. Now, not anymore. But for as many things as they "crack down" on, people discover equally new ways around it. Back then, Excelsior, COSC, and TESU were the top ones (TESU probably being the best of them all) as they accepted a bunch of different ways to complete Gen Eds, Electives, and courses satisfying program Majors. The shift in that challenge has changed in that we now have more ways to bring in credits then ever before, but these institutions have limited what courses come from where and what they come in as. Then again, there has been a rise in the amount of institutions that we have discovered that enable savings in both cost and speed. In sum, Alt sources have grown, Schools/Programs have grown, and the challenge has grown to coincide with the change. It's equally easier and harder at the same time.

Schools like UMPI, WGU, HAU, ENEB, and others have grown.

[Sunny21]

It seems to me whilst the top notch players like study and Sophia have grown that choice has reduced. Over the last few years Excelsior got out of challenge exams, players like Penn Foster gave up ace accreditation and RA credit requirements have grown that choice may have diminished.

I do worry these types of things have made in harder in the last 7 or 8 years unless you are happy with the big two players for alternative credits and taking the final year all at final college or university.

Ebb and flows. As sources for credits have grown a bit more abundant, previous sources have been scrapped. For example, since you mentioned Excelsior, they remain in the big 3 simply because of max credit transfers, not because its easy to transfer all credits to them. In the past, they use to take FEMA certs for alt credits with a great deal of pain and difficulty. Now, not anymore. But for as many things as they "crack down" on, people discover equally new ways around it. Back then, Excelsior, COSC, and TESU were the top ones (TESU probably being the best of them all) as they accepted a bunch of different ways to complete Gen Eds, Electives, and courses satisfying program Majors. The shift in that challenge has changed in that we now have more ways to bring in credits then ever before, but these institutions have limited what courses come from where and what they come in as. Then again, there has been a rise in the amount of institutions that we have discovered that enable savings in both cost and speed. In sum, Alt sources have grown, Schools/Programs have grown, and the challenge has grown to coincide with the change. It's equally easier and harder at the same time.

Schools like UMPI, WGU, HAU, ENEB, and others have grown.

I for one hopes UMPI stays in the game for a few more years to come as they are very affordable. However, the risk is they really have underpriced themselves.

[Mint Berry Crunch]

It seems to me whilst the top notch players like study and Sophia have grown that choice has reduced. Over the last few years Excelsior got out of challenge exams, players like Penn Foster gave up ace accreditation and RA credit requirements have grown that choice may have diminished.

I do worry these types of things have made in harder in the last 7 or 8 years unless you are happy with the big two players for alternative credits and taking the final year all at final college or university.

Ebb and flows. As sources for credits have grown a bit more abundant, previous sources have been scrapped. For example, since you mentioned Excelsior, they remain in the big 3 simply because of max credit transfers, not because its easy to transfer all credits to them. In the past, they use to take FEMA certs for alt credits with a great deal of pain and difficulty. Now, not anymore. But for as many things as they "crack down" on, people discover equally new ways around it. Back then, Excelsior, COSC, and TESU were the top ones (TESU probably being the best of them all) as they accepted a bunch of different ways to complete Gen Eds, Electives, and courses satisfying program Majors. The shift in that challenge has changed in that we now have more ways to bring in credits then ever before, but these institutions have limited what courses come from where and what they come in as. Then again, there has been a rise in the amount of institutions that we have discovered that enable savings in both cost and speed. In sum, Alt sources have grown, Schools/Programs have grown, and the challenge has grown to coincide with the change. It's equally easier and harder at the same time.

Schools like UMPI, WGU, HAU, ENEB, and others have grown.

I for one hopes UMPI stays in the game for a few more years to come as they are very affordable. However, the risk is they really have underpriced themselves.

The degree hacking community is a niche within a much larger community of students looking to do the same thing, but they are completely unaware. I actually stumbled into this community several years ago while I was at WGU (enrolled before I was here) and found other CBE schools directly from here. We actually provide pretty good business for schools such as UMPI, and they know that. I remember when I interviewed there to be an academic success coach, they directly mentioned DegreeForum during the interview as being a source for a huge influx of students. I don't think they will make any changes that will completely hobble the student as they would then be hobbling themselves. It's a small school, and over half of the students there are YourPace students. The program is so great that when I went to UMPI in person, I spoke with the brick and mortar students there who all pretty much wish they were eligible for YourPace. The point you make on "underpricing" is the lynchpin of the program and their marketing. They are in direct competition with other in-network CBE schools, such as WGU for example which has the largest student enrollment in the US. If they "overpriced" or price-matched their programs, they would quickly lose students. I remember when I was at UMPI, a degree cost $1,400 a pop and you only had to do a 1-time 30 credit residency. It has changed a bit with the pricing now being $1,800, making a lot of direct transfers now electives/gen eds, and introducing a recurrent 30 credit residency. Even with these changes, I don't feel as though it has greatly impacted UMPI enough considering the pace in which you can complete courses, its "all-you-can-quaff" assortment of courses per 7 weeks, and the pricing compared to other major institutions that are out there. It's even cheaper than your local community college if you consider lab fees, tech fees, and service fees. Just 2 or 3 courses at your local CC is already close enough to 1 term at UMPI. So UMPI is still way ahead of the game compared to most and I dont see them disappearing from our discussions anytime soon. If you look around the forum, a lot of other RA credits that people try to gain, for example, from ASU, cost roughly $400 a course to have it transcribed. Do roughly 4-5 courses at UMPI in a single term and you already matched it while also progressing towards a degree.

[bjcheung77]

Degrees from COSC, Excelsior, TESU, UofPeople, HAU, and the CBE options such as ETAMU, PUG, Walden, WGU, UMPI, etc can all be had for a very affordable price point. The main thing is to max the transfer credit with alternative credits before finishing the final requirements at the institution you decide to get the degree from. You want to look at all the degree offerings and find which one fits you best (cost, ease, speed to finish), I like the ones that provide a trifecta of certs, degree, experience on route to accumulating those alternative credits...

[Sunny21]

Degrees from COSC, Excelsior, TESU, UofPeople, HAU, and the CBE options such as ETAMU, PUG, Walden, WGU, UMPI, etc can all be had for a very affordable price point.  The main thing is to max the transfer credit with alternative credits before finishing the final requirements at the institution you decide to get the degree from.   You want to look at all the degree offerings and find which one fits you best (cost, ease, speed to finish), I like the ones that provide a trifecta of certs, degree, experience on route to accumulating those alternative credits...

It seems very out of fashion these days to have 113 or 114 credits and to finish the last two courses at Tesu. I think the best you can do currently is 90 ace, 15 tecep, then 15 normal classes.

[bjcheung77]

90 alternative credit is the max, it can be ACE/NCCRS, etc - You need 30 RA credits, you can take them through community colleges or using the TECEPs that TESU offers, up to 24 credits if you're paying the Edison Accelerate fee, thus 114 max transfer credit. If you're doing the 15 RA credits using TECEPs, that leaves you with 15 credits for the flat rate term at TESU. Thus, if you're doing 90 ACE and 15 through TECEPs, these are not real classes, they're alternative credit, it just happens to be 15 RA credits using TECEPs, your max transfer becomes 105 credits.