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I’m currently enrolled in a residential MPA program in the Midwest. You can transfer in up to 9 credits. The program director appears fairly flexible in accepting coursework from related fields (e.g., Sociology, Criminal Justice, Business).
Like many graduate programs, this one offers minimal scholarship funding — which I expected. While the per-credit cost isn’t outrageous, it’s also not the most affordable. I’m looking for recommendations on where I could earn some Public Administration or closely related graduate credits at a lower cost to transfer in. Ideally, I would like to take courses as a non-degree-seeking student to avoid a full application process, if that’s even an option. Thanks in advance.
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You might verify your school will accept credit now. My Masters program would only accept transfer credit when a student first started taking classes at that university. But once your first semester actually started, transfer credits were no longer accepted.
So, you might verify with your university registrar before you spend money on classes from another school.
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(11-02-2025, 11:18 PM)FireMedic_Philosopher Wrote: You might verify your school will accept credit now. My Masters program would only accept transfer credit when a student first started taking classes at that university. But once your first semester actually started, transfer credits were no longer accepted.
So, you might verify with your university registrar before you spend money on classes from another school.
Thanks for the response. The school I attend allows transfer credit prior to or after matriculation to the School of Graduate Studies.
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(10-29-2025, 01:36 PM)jayhawk1756 Wrote: I’m currently enrolled in a residential MPA program in the Midwest. You can transfer in up to 9 credits. The program director appears fairly flexible in accepting coursework from related fields (e.g., Sociology, Criminal Justice, Business).
Like many graduate programs, this one offers minimal scholarship funding — which I expected. While the per-credit cost isn’t outrageous, it’s also not the most affordable. I’m looking for recommendations on where I could earn some Public Administration or closely related graduate credits at a lower cost to transfer in. Ideally, I would like to take courses as a non-degree-seeking student to avoid a full application process, if that’s even an option. Thanks in advance.
Finding graduate-level credits to transfer is hard. You could see if there are courses that will transfer from one of the edX MicroMasters programs (https://www.edx.org/masters/micromasters). The cost varies for each program, but can be as low as $150 per course. Once you've found one you might be interested in, go down to "Courses in this program," then click the link to "View course." Keep scrolling down, and you should find the package cost.
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11-29-2025, 11:41 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-29-2025, 11:55 AM by FireMedic_Philosopher.
Edit Reason: link added
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You might consider enrolling in a graduate certificate in public administration or policy from a school like Missouri State, Indiana... or a cheaper state school. It would earn you a formal credential and you could transfer the classes back to your MPA program.
There was someone, perhaps Sanatone or BJ that mentioned an online and asynchronous program at Idaho or another western University. It was oriented toward high school teachers, but allowed anyone to enroll. The idea was you can enroll in online graduate courses at a discount and then receive a transcript from the university. (but none of the classes you did at a discount would count towards a degree at that university)... The idea was that by taking extra grad level classes, it would give teachers a pay bump.
Sociology was one topic in which courses were offered.
https://www.isu.edu/onlinepd/
Found the link ...
Associates in: EMS, History, and Philosophy
Certificates in: Military History and Quality Assurance
B.S. in: Emergency Management and Healthcare Admin
M.S. in: Public Safety Administration
Graduate Certificate in: National Security
In Progress: MA in Religion, DSc in Public Safety & Emergency Management
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American College of Education transcribes Teaching Channel courses. A 9 credit bundle is $1260
https://ace.edu/strategic-partners/teaching-channel/
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(11-29-2025, 11:41 AM)FireMedic_Philosopher Wrote: https://www.isu.edu/onlinepd/
Found the link ...
Here's the initial thread: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ty-Courses
Study.com Offer https://bit.ly/3RTJ3I9
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(11-29-2025, 10:53 PM)runningdegree Wrote: American College of Education transcribes Teaching Channel courses. A 9 credit bundle is $1260
https://ace.edu/strategic-partners/teaching-channel/
Is $1260 the fee for transcripting the courses? Or just for taking them?
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(11-30-2025, 08:33 AM)wow Wrote: (11-29-2025, 10:53 PM)runningdegree Wrote: American College of Education transcribes Teaching Channel courses. A 9 credit bundle is $1260
https://ace.edu/strategic-partners/teaching-channel/
Is $1260 the fee for transcripting the courses? Or just for taking them?
That's the cost for 3 courses from the Teaching Channel. I'm not sure about the transcription fee from ACE.
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11-30-2025, 12:21 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-30-2025, 12:48 PM by eriehiker.)
I think that the American College of Education is not the best option for transcripting these credits.
Concordia University - St. Paul uses subject area prefixes for many courses. This would be preferable to and education-related prefix. For example, the following course gets an MATX prefix rather than EDU:
https://courses.teachingchannel.com/cour...2Z99_aT74J
Just click on the "University Partner Codes" to see the prefixes.
They will have a Cyber Monday sale. The Black Friday sale was $130 off a 3 credit graduate course.
I would pick courses with subject area prefixes and those without "teaching" or "education" in the title.
BTW, I think that the best course of action is to get one of the Fresno Pacific subject area "teaching certificates." These are actual credentials. If you already have a master's degree, think of it as a modular Lego brick that can be attached.
https://ce.fresno.edu/certificates/
$2300 for 15 graduate credits and a "Graduate Certificate in Mathematics Teaching" from Fresno Pacific University would be a pretty good value.
Oh, and the fee is for both the class and transcription. I have taken three courses in the past.
https://lases.uccs.edu/programs-a-l/dive...-offerings
These are SOC subject area credits from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs.
The OP could get 12 graduate credit hours in SOC for $2440 and transfer these into the master's as well as get a graduate certificate in diversity, social justice and inclusion.
https://www.federalreserveeducation.org/graduate-credit
Federal Reserve of St. Louis ECON prefix classes at Wichita State University.
https://lases.uccs.edu/programs-a-l/fte
ECON prefix classes at $120 per graduate credit hour at UCCS.
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