Question for TESC students

[studyhard]

Hi all,

I got my BA from TESC but it's been a few years. I am going as "Exhibit A" to a workshop on distance education and expect to be peppered with questions. Can you all remind me of the requirements for TESC students, since things may have changed since I was there?

1. Is there a minimum number of credits you are required to earn through TESC?
2. Do you have to write a bachelor's thesis (I heard that rumor somewhere)?
3. Are there any CLEPs or DSSTs that are not accepted?
4. What is the current scoring method for CLEP and DSST? They were just starting to switch when I finished up. What is the current passing score for either of them?

Any other feedback would be great!

Thanks!

[ironheadjack]

Hi all,

I got my BA from TESC but it's been a few years. I am going as "Exhibit A" to a workshop on distance education and expect to be peppered with questions. Can you all remind me of the requirements for TESC students, since things may have changed since I was there?

1. Is there a minimum number of credits you are required to earn through TESC?
2. Do you have to write a bachelor's thesis (I heard that rumor somewhere)?
3. Are there any CLEPs or DSSTs that are not accepted?
4. What is the current scoring method for CLEP and DSST? They were just starting to switch when I finished up. What is the current passing score for either of them?

Any other feedback would be great!

Thanks!

1. I don't believe so. If you could transfer in every single course needed to complete a degree plan for a subject, TESC would transfer in the equivalencies for a complete degree, not including the capstone course(more on this in #2).

2. TESC started requiring a "Capstone" course for all BA degrees. From what I've read it is a 12 week course that culminates in a ~15page research paper/thesis. As of now this is NOT required for Business Degrees(BSBA) and only applies to BA degrees, and I've read but have not confirmed that it is also applies to AAs.

3. To my knowledge TESC accepts every CLEP or DSST that is offered. They might not all fit into a degree plan but they will always count as free electives otherwise.

4. The minimum passing score for a CLEP exam is 50. To earn 12 credits for a foreign language the scores go up slightly. For French you need 59, for German you need 60, and for Spanish you need a 63. DSST scores vary based upon what grading scales is being used for the version of the test. I will link both credit equivalencies below with their passing grade.

CLEP - College-Level Exam Program

DANTES

[Lindagerr]

The only comment I can add is to question #3. Remember some DSST's are considered the same course number as some CLEP so you can not get credit for both. Also don't forget to mention other exams like Excelsior exams (I think they are called UEXCEL now) and TECEP's.

[Westerner]

Cool, Studyhard! I always enjoy fielding questions on distance learning/testing out Ironheadjack's post was right on the money

[IrishJohn]

I'd add that some CLEP/DSST exams have very similar content to certain TESC courses. This is important if you need more UL credits in a subject (18 now required in Area of Study on degree plan) and/or want a GPA, since TESC only gives grades for courses taken through them. So for example, when I completed my BA in 2010 I had taken DSST Introduction to the Modern Middle East which TESC credited as being equivalent of their HIS-309 Middle East. I then took the HIS-310 Middle East course through TESC and found the material virtually the same, so if you knew it to pass one you could pass the other. The best part is that since this is the only course I took at TESC, the "A" I earned for that course gave me a 4.0 GPA at graduation!

Other things you can mention are free FEMA & now TEEX courses, cheap Coursera courses approved by ACE now accepted at TESC, Straighterline, Penn Foster, Independent Study for UL credits especially through BYU or U. of Idaho. There is so much more and you might want to take a look here: Degree Forum Wiki

[cookderosa]

One other change, is TESC no longer considers 200 upper level, and now all CC courses are considered LL. This has been a hot topic around here, you could probably search to get better info, but in a nutshell, a course that is "on the line" of being upper or lower (organic chemistry for instance) will be LL if taken at your CC but UL if taken at a 4-year school.

[studyhard]

4. The minimum passing score for a CLEP exam is 50. To earn 12 credits for a foreign language the scores go up slightly. For French you need 59, for German you need 60, and for Spanish you need a 63. DSST scores vary based upon what grading scales is being used for the version of the test. I will link both credit equivalencies below with their passing grade.

So they aren't scoring things in hundreds? I thought I had heard that rumor.....like a perfect score was a 400 or something......

[ironheadjack]

So they aren't scoring things in hundreds? I thought I had heard that rumor.....like a perfect score was a 400 or something......

Some of Dantes tests are scored with the 200-500 point system. Did you click on the links I posted? The second link shows which DSST tests are using the 3 digit score system.


This link explains the changes in scoring DSST.
http://getcollegecredit.com/assets/pdf/D...coring.pdf

[Lyanne]

Also note that the capstone paper is 25 pages minimum, not 15.
Congrats on being chosen as Exhibit A! Good luck with your speech/presentation.

[studyhard]

Also note that the capstone paper is 25 pages minimum, not 15.
Congrats on being chosen as Exhibit A! Good luck with your speech/presentation.

Is the 25 page requirement for a double-spaced or single-spaced paper?