RBA degree question - Printable Version +- Online Degrees and CLEP and DSST Exam Prep Discussion (https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb) +-- Forum: Main Category (https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Forum-Main-Category) +--- Forum: General Education-Related Discussion (https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Forum-General-Education-Related-Discussion) +--- Thread: RBA degree question (/Thread-RBA-degree-question) Pages:
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RBA degree question - Jennr2z - 08-20-2022 Are there any RBA (Regents BA) programs that have easy residency requirements? Non WV resident. Such as the Pierpoint BOG AAS? RE: RBA degree question - rachel83az - 08-20-2022 I don't think there are any that are as easy/cheap as getting a regular degree (Liberal Studies or otherwise) from UMPI, Excelsior, or even TESU. RE: RBA degree question - bjcheung77 - 08-20-2022 That's right, the RBA degrees require 24 residency credits at the university you plan to finish at. These are "generic degrees" just like the AAS, they may have a concentration or minor, but still not recommended over any of the current options we have. The alternative credit transfer is also limited, not as max as the 113/114 from Excelsior or TESU. RE: RBA degree question - freeloader - 08-20-2022 RBA requires 24 hours of credits to be completed in a West Virginia university or community college. Each of the universities has a requirement which is a subset of these 24. West Virginia University requires 6 hours to be completed there; Marshall requires 3 hours be completed there. There are other participating universities; these are just the two I have researched. If you were starting from 0 credit hours, the best thing would probably be to do a semester at a WV community college. Last I checked, Southern West Virginia Comm & Tech College had the lowest out of state tuition. http://archive.southernwv.edu/index.php?q=node/12815 If you did a semester there and took a heavy but not unreasonable load, say 18 hours, that would cost around $2,500 (depending on the courses selected and course fees). I can’t remember if West Virginia Rocks courses count for the university-specific requirement or the more general 24-hour requirement. Regardless, they are $250 per hour. So, if you needed 6 hours to get to the 24, that would be another $1,500, so your total to meet the residency requirement would be $4,000. Marshall’s online tuition with fees is $308.50, so a 3 credit course is $925.50. If WV ricks wouldn’t meet the 3-hour requirement, the cheapest way to meet the Marshall 24-hour residency requirement would be: $2,500 (community college) $750 (WV Rocks 3-hour course) $925.50 (Marshall 3-hour course) $4,175.50 Total for Marshall residency requirement For someone who doesn’t have any college credits (or only community college credits), the biggest hurdle would likely be the 39 hour upper-division requirement. Community college credits are automatically lower level. The schools accept CLEP and DSST exams; CLEP is automatically lower level. DSSTs for Cybersecurity, History of Soviet Union, Money and Banking, and Substance Abuse are upper level. If you passed those, and assuming the 6 hours above from WV Rocks/Marshall were upper level, you would need 21 additional upper-level hours. If we assume those will cost you around $200 per hour, that is another $4,200. Added to $4,175.50 above, that gets us to $8,375.50 plus the cost of the DSST exams. Presumably, you could knock out most of the remaining requirement with free/Modern States CLEP exams, but starting from nothing as a non-West Virginian, I don’t see how you earn that degree for less than $8,000.00, and that would require transferring in the remaining 21 UL hours at less that $200 per hour. Beyond the cost, this is also not a degree that can be done super quickly. For that alone, I think I would prefer a Big 3 or UMPI degree. They also would be the same price or cheaper that the Regents BA AND the Regents BA actually says “Regents BA” on your diploma and transcript. I would much rather have a “regular” degree, but you may have a different opinion. One final point—there are a number of certifications that are eligible for RBA credit and there is a portfolio available. To get credit for your cert, you have to pay a fee $300 per cert, if I read it correctly) and who knows how successful/difficult the portfolio would be. Neat program if you are in WV, have attended a WV public college or university, or have a bunch of UL credit. In those cases, it probably is competitive with Big 3/UMPI from a cost standpoint or potentially even cheaper, but almost certainly slower. RE: RBA degree question - Jennr2z - 08-21-2022 (08-20-2022, 07:36 PM)freeloader Wrote: RBA requires 24 hours of credits to be completed in a West Virginia university or community college. Each of the universities has a requirement which is a subset of these 24. West Virginia University requires 6 hours to be completed there; Marshall requires 3 hours be completed there. There are other participating universities; these are just the two I have researched.Thank you for the research! I will let my friend know that this isn’t an easy route, unless of course you are a WV resident, then it’s less complicated. RE: RBA degree question - rachel83az - 08-21-2022 Definitely tell your friend that they're better off getting a Liberal Studies degree from one of the schools we recommend here. It'lll be easier, cheaper, and faster in 99.9% of cases. RE: RBA degree question - ss20ts - 08-21-2022 If one resides outside of WV what's the point of an RBA? Why not just go for a BA? RE: RBA degree question - bjcheung77 - 08-21-2022 ss20ts Wrote:If one resides outside of WV what's the point of an RBA? Why not just go for a BA? Just like the BOG AAS, these are supposed to be terminal degrees. These allow people who have the BOG AAS to ladder into a Bachelors, the reason a BA/BS might not be suitable are the requirements for that degree, this allows the full or max use of "non RA" credits. I think it's still a good idea to review what options are available before going the RBA route. The ROI/Value of the Regent BA isn't as good as the Big 3 or CBE. An example is from Marshall University: https://www.marshall.edu/rba/ Here's another example at WVUP: https://www.wvup.edu/future-students/academics/non-traditional-programs/rba/#Programs There are differences between the RBA's at WV universities, Marshall just requires 15 UL, WVUP requires 39 UL. RE: RBA degree question - ss20ts - 08-21-2022 (08-21-2022, 12:28 PM)bjcheung77 Wrote:ss20ts Wrote:If one resides outside of WV what's the point of an RBA? Why not just go for a BA? Terminal degrees is a meaningless phrase. I have a terminal degree. My BLS from UMPI is a terminal degree. Means nothing! I went to grad school with it. No one outsides of WV has any idea what a Regents Bachelor of Arts is! There are plenty of programs on this forum where one with a BOG AAS can transfer to. We see people do it every day. RE: RBA degree question - bjcheung77 - 08-21-2022 Yup, that's why I mentioned it's "supposed" to be. Each university you transfer to will look at courses differently. Again, I don't think the RBA has the ROI/Value as the 3 or CBE programs that are currently available. It won't be nearly as cheap, easy, or fast to complete the remaining credits available or transfer them in. |