Is excelsior still the quickest and cheapest?

[mikehart82]

Hi everyone,

My original plan was to bang out a liberal studies degree using Sophia and uExcel and then transfer the 113 credits to Excelsior.  Unfortunately Excelsior no longer takes uExcel so I'm being told UMPI is the way to go in terms of price and speed.  

Here's what I've knocked out so far (All Sophia)...


Intro to Business
American History 1
Macro Economics
Micro Economics
Conflict Resolution
American History 2
Foundation of Stat
Environmental Science
Business Law
Visual Communication
Intro To College Math
College Algebra

Any recommendations on how I should proceed?  My degree can be in anything.  

Thanks!  

[rachel83az]

At minimum, for UMPI, you're also going to need a foreign language and a lab science. If you're not fluent in anything, Sophia Spanish is the best way right now. If you are fluent in something, take an ACTFL. Biology 101L from SDC is recommended for the lab science.

Check out https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:UMPI for possible degrees and degree plans.

[mikehart82]

At minimum, for UMPI, you're also going to need a foreign language and a lab science. If you're not fluent in anything, Sophia Spanish is the best way right now. If you are fluent in something, take an ACTFL. Biology 101L from SDC is recommended for the lab science.

Check out https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:UMPI for possible degrees and degree plans.

Is UMPI a "better" option then Excelsior right now?

[rachel83az]

If you're okay with writing essays, UMPI is both cheaper and faster than Excelsior. If you're ambivalent about writing essays (you can do them, but you wanted to avoid them), Excelsior can still be slight faster & cheaper, but it's almost even. If you want to avoid essays as much as possible , you can take Coopersmith courses instead of UExcels and finish of your degree at Excelsior that way.

Right now, you still don't have a lot of Sophia credits, relatively speaking, so "better" is going to be defined by how you feel about papers/projects. Almost all UMPI courses are finished with a single paper or project. Those that are not, they have exams. There are very few exams.

[mikehart82]

If you're okay with writing essays, UMPI is both cheaper and faster than Excelsior. If you're ambivalent about writing essays (you can do them, but you wanted to avoid them), Excelsior can still be slight faster & cheaper, but it's almost even. If you want to avoid essays as much as possible , you can take Coopersmith courses instead of UExcels and finish of your degree at Excelsior that way.

Right now, you still don't have a lot of Sophia credits, relatively speaking, so "better" is going to be defined by how you feel about papers/projects. Almost all UMPI courses are finished with a single paper or project. Those that are not, they have exams. There are very few exams.

I'd be willing to pay slightly more to avoid writing papers, provided I can still bang everything out pretty quickly.

[dfrecore]

I'm not sure why UExcel's were chosen as a better option than Coopersmith and/or Study.com? But UExcel's not being available doesn't change the price of a degree at Excelsior, since they were the most expensive of the 3 options.

UMPI is competency-based, meaning you pay for time rather than per course; if you can go fast, then it will be your fastest and cheapest option. If you aren't sure if you want to commit to it, or you want to go at a slower pace, then EU is good too.

EU - tuition & fees for 7cr $4031 (+ cost for 113cr)
UMPI - tuition & fees for 30cr in 1 term $1400; in 2 terms $2800; in 3 terms #4200 (+ cost for 90cr including lab science)

[mikehart82]

I'm not sure why UExcel's were chosen as a better option than Coopersmith and/or Study.com?  But UExcel's not being available doesn't change the price of a degree at Excelsior, since they were the most expensive of the 3 options.

UMPI is competency-based, meaning you pay for time rather than per course; if you can go fast, then it will be your fastest and cheapest option.  If you aren't sure if you want to commit to it, or you want to go at a slower pace, then EU is good too.

EU - tuition & fees for 7cr $4031 (+ cost for 113cr)
UMPI - tuition & fees for 30cr in 1 term $1400; in 2 terms $2800; in 3 terms #4200 (+ cost for 90cr including lab science)

I'm not familiar with Coopersmith.

[dfrecore]

I'm not sure why UExcel's were chosen as a better option than Coopersmith and/or Study.com?  But UExcel's not being available doesn't change the price of a degree at Excelsior, since they were the most expensive of the 3 options.

UMPI is competency-based, meaning you pay for time rather than per course; if you can go fast, then it will be your fastest and cheapest option.  If you aren't sure if you want to commit to it, or you want to go at a slower pace, then EU is good too.

EU - tuition & fees for 7cr $4031 (+ cost for 113cr)
UMPI - tuition & fees for 30cr in 1 term $1400; in 2 terms $2800; in 3 terms #4200 (+ cost for 90cr including lab science)

I'm not familiar with Coopersmith.

https://www.coopersmithcc.net/

Figuring out what EU will accept and give as UL credit is a bit tricky since there are fewer people using them - but they are definitely a favorite method of some people.

[rachel83az]

You can see some of what Excelsior has accepted from Coopersmith, as what, here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Co...Consulting

[mikehart82]

You can see some of what Excelsior has accepted from Coopersmith, as what, here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Co...Consulting

Ok so it sounds like Excelsior is still the way to go.  Just keep knocking out Sophia courses for now?