Why does it seem to me that EC is all about the money?

[jkfuss]

I’m exasperated as I try to figure out if I want to pursue my studies at EC. The BS Liberal Studies program looks great as it would allow two, diverse Areas of Focus on my transcript. But, when I go through EC’s materials, I constantly feel like they are all about the money. One “requirement” after another keeps popping up, all involving more money from me. I know there are many happy EC students out there who no doubt disagree, and I really, really want your honest feedback so I don’t accidentally walk away from a good thing.

First of all, I’m fine that all of the “Big 3” have a matriculation fee. Otherwise, they could conceivably have to issue a degree without getting paid at all for it. Business is business. So I’m leaving the actual amount of the matriculation fee out of the discussion. It is what it is.

However, EC doesn’t give you an official evaluation until after you’ve paid the $900 matriculation fee. From what I’ve read on this forum, the official evaluation may vary greatly from the unofficial one. Suddenly, there are more credits that have to be taken. Transferred upper level classes are no longer considered upper level, so more upper level credits need to be taken. What I glean from this is that they could tell me one thing, I would pay $900 based on that, and then they could provide me with a new, more expensive, more time consuming degree program. To me that seems like institutional incompetence (Why would the two evals be so different? Or different at all?). Or, more cynically, deceptive advertising.

Next up is the written English requirement. My CLEP English Comp with Essay has been good enough for two semesters of college writing credit in every school I have ever attended or inquired about since I took it 11 years ago. But not for EC. Instead, they demand their own exam or an actual course taken or transferred in. Well, since I never needed to take a writing class due to my CLEP exam, I have no writing classes to show them. I guess it doesn’t matter that I have written lengthy research papers on schizophrenia in full APA format. My doctorate-holding instructors told me these papers were graduate-level writing. Since I don’t have any credits in a writing class, I have to go back to the drawing board.

So I breathed a big huff of exasperation and looked at my options. I could take a class for $900. Nope. I could take an exam. Well, the 3-credit College Writing exam for $205 looks OK. Oh, wait! They discontinued it last December. Now the only option they have is the 6-credit English Comp exam for $295. Since the CLEP is fine for every other regionally-accredited institution I have ever crossed paths with, but not for EC, I conclude that EC wants an extra $200--no, make that $300--from their new students.

Then we come to the 1-credit Information Literacy requirement. I have covered all 5 areas of that class--repeatedly--but not in one, neat class. I covered the requirements completely, but the work was spread over several classes. So, to quantify that appropriately, I must cough up another $300 to “earn” it.

And then $500 to graduate? I could, in all honestly, finish my degree and be unable to scrape together the money to graduate for several months. Why do they need that much after they’ve already (seemingly) looted you along the way?

I’m asking for any input that would keep EC on the table for me at this point. Just because I’m exasperated doesn’t mean I’ve come to the right conclusion, and I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Thanks for your help and input.

[cannoda]

You've identified aprroximately $2,000 in costs to earn a 4-year degree from EC, assuming that you are transferring in all of the other requirements.

I suggest that this is significantly less than you would pay for a four-year degree anywhere else, especially if we are looking beyond the Big 3.

Most schools have a 30-semester hour residency requirement. In-state tuition for those thirty hours at my institution would be approximately $11,000and we have nowhere near the highest tuition of the eleven state-supported universities in my state.

[peace123]

Do you qualify for any of Excelsior's partnership programs ?

Here is a link to one discussion on this site on one of their partnership programs that is helping me save on some of their fees. I almost went with a state school until I found this information.

http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...e+officers


Not sure of the specifics of others that had changes made to their evalutions but my official evaluation with Excelsior was exactly the same as my unofficial evaluation ( credit wise).


Peace123

[Katterina]

The Big Three schools are all for-profit institutions if I'm not mistaken. I guess I expected those kinds of fees in exchange for excellent customer service and the expedited path my degree took (things my previous non-profit school severely lacked!) Would I do it all over again? Oh yeah.

For what its worth: my official evaluation actually gave me more credits than the unofficial one. I submitted documentation and a few old papers to show the rigor of the courses I took, and both were bumped up from Electives to General Requirements because of it.

I have to say, Charter Oak's customer service and unofficial evaluation were also very impressive. I began looking into their programs for my husband's degree last year. Honestly, I think I would have been just as satisfied with COSC if I had chosen that route.

Go with the school that will suit your needs best. The financial aspects are just as important as the number of courses left to take, liking the degree and school names, good customer service, etc. etc. Good luck!

[jkfuss]

Let me provide some clarification. Due to a long illness, I have very limited financial means. I spend almost 40% of my net income on health care. So, every dollar makes a difference. Exams and most fees are not covered by financial aid. That means I need to cough it up in cash. $900 is a lot of money to me. The fact that some people's official evaluations changed significantly from their unofficial evaluations disturbs me. Having to spend several hundred dollars to re-quantify already quantified abilities discourages me.

Also, the idea of having my degree held hostage for $500 after I have finished all the work feels really bad. Not all of us can just put it on a credit card and worry about it later.

peace123, I will take a look into the partnership programs. Thank you.

[skyfall123]

Then we come to the 1-credit Information Literacy requirement. I have covered all 5 areas of that class--repeatedly--but not in one, neat class. I covered the requirements completely, but the work was spread over several classes. So, to quantify that appropriately, I must cough up another $300 to “earn” it

I took the Penn Foster ACE approved Information Literacy course for under $70 and transferred it into Excelsior with no problem. There are other ACE approved courses that can be taken to satisfy a variety of courses.

This is one small example of why it is important to spend time going through the threads and asking questions.

I don't blame Excelsior for trying to charge what they can....I do however blame myself if I don't take advantage of the resources available (this forum) to determine the most economical way to complete the degree.

For me Excelsior was the least expensive choice to earn a Business Degree in less than 6 months by transferring in 60 credits, testing out of another 72, while taking a grand total of two Excelsior exams and zero Excelsior courses.

[skyfall123]

So, every dollar makes a difference. Exams and most fees are not covered by financial aid.

Cookderossa and others have written about TESC, financial aid and how to best utilize financial aid to pay for eveything. Do some searches or PM her...she is a good one to ask.

BTW your test scores look outstanding

Good luck to you!

[jkfuss]

I appreciate all the comments so far. No matter how much I try to search these forums, it seems like I still manage to miss something. I guess I can't always figure out the best terms to search for. I either get tons of results or no results. :confused:

I probably just would have applied to EC, gotten my eval, and matriculated without another thought if the eval looked good, but when I saw some people had had changes in the official evaluation it kind of gave me the creeps. I think that made all the other costs look suspicious, too.

I will check into the Penn Foster course and search around a bit more. Has anyone handled the written English requirement for a low cost?

Thanks again!

[peace123]

I will check into the Penn Foster course and search around a bit more. Has anyone handled the written English requirement for a low cost?

Thanks again!

try this link I think it answers your WER question

http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...#post28254


Peaxe123

[jkfuss]

Thank you again. I should have been able to find that myself. But I thank you for taking pity on me....