Penn Foster Questions

[jayboy]

Ok so I see Penn Foster on here a lot. Am I correct in being concerned that they are only Nationally Accredited? I've applied at the Big 3 and leaning towards TESC so far. Looking at CJ or Liberal Studies. How do I ensure the courses I want to take at Penn Foster will be accepted. Do I just call TESC? Will they talk with me even though I'm not enrolled yet. My eval is done at all three. The reason I ask is because Excelsior has been short with me since I'm not enrolled in their classes.

So What are the pluses and minuses for Penn Foster? Can I transfer courses from their to the Big 3?

[UptonSinclair]

Some of their courses are ACE evaluated, but I only took information literacy through them, to save money.

[jayboy]

From what I'm reading, if they are not ACE Evaluated they will not be accepted since they are Nationally Accredited.

I want to take CJ Courses at Penn but I would hate to take them and they not be accepted by TESC or look bad on my transcripts. Once they are ACE Approved, can they approval be taken away or affect your degree?

[ironheadjack]

If they are currently ACE approved TESC will accept them. You have to try and match a Penn Foster course with a TESC course using the PLA database. I did this for a few courses, sent a detailed message to the registrar's office and they replied agreeing that the equivalencies I made were accurate. You need to either be applied or enrolled for the registrar to answer your emails.

Pros:
Quick courses
Not very difficult
Interesting courses

Cons:
I've read that if applying to grad school you need to send a PF transcript.
PF doesn't have the greatest reputation amongst regionally accredited schools.



A few people have trouble transferring certain PF courses to one of the big 3 because they don't check the dates beforehand. I've read that ACE approval is valid for 3 years; if a course is nearing the three year mark since it was first reviewed, either work quickly or wait for re-approval. PF sometimes chooses not to go through the process for courses that aren't popular.

[jayboy]

Are they proctored by a Penn Foster Instructor or Do you have to find a supervisor or someone else like that? I have never taken online courses so I wasn't sure how it works.

[jam123]

You have to be very careful taking courses with Penn Foster. You must make sure they are ACE approved. It doesn't matter what Penn Foster tells you. You must go to the ACE website and check the date ranges, credit granted, etc. You also need to hope a course doesn't lose ACE approval before you complete it.

My advice would be to use Aleks, Straighterline, CLEP and DSST first and foremost. If what you need isn't there then search the forum or ask questions about specific areas of study. There are a lot of online or independent study courses at regionally accredited places nowadays that are cheap.

If all else fails then explore Penn Foster.

[UptonSinclair]

I second the sentiment to avoid penn foster. Stick with exams or regional accreditation so that you don't limit transfer options. CSU-Peublo independent study has bunch of cj courses.

[defscarlett]

So I take it that it is true that you have to provide a transcript from Penn Foster for Graduate School admission even if you conferred your degree with a RA school? I'm curious how this can be possible if your transferring the credits as ACE credits not NA credits. How is this different from transferring ALEKS ACE credit etc.

[sanantone]

Penn Foster is a college, ALEKS is not. Graduate schools will want transcripts from every college attended.

[ironheadjack]

Are they proctored by a Penn Foster Instructor or Do you have to find a supervisor or someone else like that? I have never taken online courses so I wasn't sure how it works.

They are not proctored by Penn Foster, you need to setup your own proctor. I am using the librarian in my town. She is there from open til close and it's free. You have them fill out a form and fax it back to PF, PF approves the proctor and mails the final exams.

A proctor must have an Associate’s degree or higher to qualify. Your proctor cannot be related to you or live at the same address. You can use a friend, coworker, manager, librarian etc.

Proctor Exam F.A.Q. | Penn Foster Student Community



Most of Penn Foster's CJ courses were reviewed in 2012 which means they aren't due to expire until 2015. I really don't understand why people give PF such a hard time; I've been dealing with Ann Gardner and she has been awesome. As long as you do your homework and check the date on the ACE website before you sign up for the class, you will be fine. But again be sure you get the course approved by your college before you start.