Onlinedegree.com

[jsd]

The likelihood of ACE going away as an institution is slim. The likelihood of an individual course provider, be it ACE approved or NCCRS approved, is very very high. We've seen a bunch of them disappear just over the past few years. When this happens to an ACE reviewed provider, you're covered if you've already added it to your ACE transcript. As far as I can tell, NCCRS has no backup plan in this situation.

[Merlin]

The likelihood of ACE going away as an institution is slim. The likelihood of an individual course provider, be it ACE approved or NCCRS approved, is very very high. We've seen a bunch of them disappear just over the past few years. When this happens to an ACE reviewed provider, you're covered if you've already added it to your ACE transcript. As far as I can tell, NCCRS has no backup plan in this situation.

Agreed that ACE going away is much less of a risk, but as an illustration, both are possible.

My point is that if you need the credits now, it doesn't really matter if they're ACE or NCCRS. The problem is only if you need a transcript in the future, in which case you never know what the future may hold in terms of the longevity of any of these providers or institutions.

[dfrecore]

The likelihood of ACE going away as an institution is slim. The likelihood of an individual course provider, be it ACE approved or NCCRS approved, is very very high. We've seen a bunch of them disappear just over the past few years. When this happens to an ACE reviewed provider, you're covered if you've already added it to your ACE transcript. As far as I can tell, NCCRS has no backup plan in this situation.

I agree.  There doesn't seem to be any sort of plan for if a provider goes down the tubes at some point.  

JavaOnline.org went under, and they were NCCRS.  Now, they're just gone (no website), and I don't imagine you can get a transcript - and they were 9cr, some UL I think, as well as fairly expensive (at least as far as most courses on here - but decently priced for what you got).  If you'd spent the time and money to take those courses, it would be heartbreaking to lose the credits (although obviously you don't lose the knowledge).

I've actually seen a few come and go like AlignDegree and JumpCourse; luckily they were both ACE, so if you had any of their courses on your ACE transcript, you'd be fine.

[cookderosa]

So I was browsing the NCCRS website when I came across onlinedegree.com
Apparently it is brand new: "OnlineDegree.com, an NCCRS member since February 2018, is making higher education more accessible and affordable for everyone"
Browsing the site it only let me sign up for an invite only beta program that it says will be launching soon within the next 30 days. The site says it intends to be completely free as well which is quite intriguing. There are 13 courses that already have NCCRS approval.

Has anyone seen or heard of this program before? Does it seem legit?

I just rec'd an email about them today from a member who follows my blog.

[bluebooger]

How It Works
https://www.onlinedegree.com/how-it-works/

and scroll a little past 1/2 way down the page to
Frequently Asked Questions

Are There Any 3rd-Party Fees?
No, there are no mandatory 3rd-party fees to either take courses, purchase textbooks, or generate your transcript. However, we do recommend that you pay a one-time fee of $40 with our partner Excelsior College to produce your official transcript when you’re finished taking courses. Through our partnership with them and the NCCRS, they will produce your formal transcript for the courses you complete at OnlineDegree.com through their official documents and letterhead. This is optional, but well worth the money!

and a 1/2 way implemented course page (you can see some details, but clicking on "Take the Free Course" still takes you to the "sign up .. coming soon" oage)

https://www.onlinedegree.com/free-courses/

[MNomadic]

Wow they just changed that in last few hours cuz I definitely scoured the whole site again this morning while I was waiting for an appointment. Thanks for finding this.

[dfrecore]

How It Works
https://www.onlinedegree.com/how-it-works/

and scroll a little past 1/2 way down the page to
Frequently Asked Questions

Are There Any 3rd-Party Fees?
No, there are no mandatory 3rd-party fees to either take courses, purchase textbooks, or generate your transcript.  However, we do recommend that you pay a one-time fee of $40 with our partner Excelsior College to produce your official transcript when you’re finished taking courses. Through our partnership with them and the NCCRS, they will produce your formal transcript for the courses you complete at OnlineDegree.com through their official documents and letterhead.  This is optional, but well worth the money!

and a 1/2 way implemented course page (you can see some details, but clicking on "Take the Free Course" still takes you to the "sign up .. coming soon" oage)

https://www.onlinedegree.com/free-courses/

TESU will not take an EC transcript for these, they will only take directly from the course provider (for NCCRS) or ACE (if it's ACE), or directly if it's a course provider they have a partnership agreement with like SL or Study.com.

So, luckily, it looks like you can just get the Transcript for free using their "transcript wizard" and it will be sent directly to the school of your choice: https://www.onlinedegree.com/full-transfer-guide/ (then scroll down about 1/3 of the page):

Recommended To-Do List: Steps You Should Take
4. Taking the Courses

• Complete our Transcript Request wizard to send your transcript to universities where you’re applying
  

[xjarhead1999]

How It Works
https://www.onlinedegree.com/how-it-works/

and scroll a little past 1/2 way down the page to
Frequently Asked Questions

Are There Any 3rd-Party Fees?
No, there are no mandatory 3rd-party fees to either take courses, purchase textbooks, or generate your transcript.  However, we do recommend that you pay a one-time fee of $40 with our partner Excelsior College to produce your official transcript when you’re finished taking courses. Through our partnership with them and the NCCRS, they will produce your formal transcript for the courses you complete at OnlineDegree.com through their official documents and letterhead.  This is optional, but well worth the money!

and a 1/2 way implemented course page (you can see some details, but clicking on "Take the Free Course" still takes you to the "sign up .. coming soon" oage)

https://www.onlinedegree.com/free-courses/

TESU will not take an EC transcript for these, they will only take directly from the course provider (for NCCRS) or ACE (if it's ACE), or directly if it's a course provider they have a partnership agreement with like SL or Study.com.

So, luckily, it looks like you can just get the Transcript for free using their "transcript wizard" and it will be sent directly to the school of your choice: https://www.onlinedegree.com/full-transfer-guide/ (then scroll down about 1/3 of the page):

Recommended To-Do List: Steps You Should Take
4. Taking the Courses

• Complete our Transcript Request wizard to send your transcript to universities where you’re applying
  

TESU may not take them, but I wonder about schools that don't generally take NCCRS might consider them. May be a way to "launder" them.

[mudball]

I also noticed you have to be at least 18 years old.

[MNomadic]

No one said tesu won't take them. Each of those credits is NCCRS approved and so tesu will probably take them. Dfrecore was just saying that tesu may not accept them through the EC transcript.

The truth is, we don't yet know until someone takes the classes and submits them to tesu.