University of the People

[IrishJohn]

I heard the news that UotP now has DETC accreditation and was just curious if credits from them could be transferred to one of the Big 3? I don't need this myself since I'm still working on my grad degree, but thought this might be another option for folks in transferring classes over. There isn't any tuition costs for UotP, but there are some fees: $10-50 application fee and $100 end-of-course exam fee. Many of their courses can be tested out of via CLEP or UExcel, but there are some that a few might be interested in. There's Greek & Roman Civilization for one (link is for GenEd courses, G&R at bottom of page)!

Courses for Business Admin: Business Administration Course catalog

Courses for Computer Sci: Computer science course catalog

[sanantone]

They won't be accepted by TESC or COSC. Excelsior might accept them on a case-by-case basis. I think Excelsior also has a limit on how many NA credits it'll accept. Someone else will know more about that.

UotP's accreditation prompted me to create test out plans at TESC several months ago that are around $4,000 or less, but I only did this for liberal studies and business administration. The price I got for liberal studies could possibly apply to social science, psychology, and humanities.

Edit: I found Excelsior's policy. Credits from non-regionally accredited schools can make up to 25% of your degree. Here is some more info.

Excelsior College students may file an appeal to use degree-level work completed at non-regionally accredited institutions prior to their enrollment toward degree programs at Excelsior College. Such a request will prompt a faculty review of the course work. Prospective students will be charged a nonrefundable fee for the service. Courses completed at non-regionally accredited institutions after a student has enrolled in Excelsior College will not be applied to degree requirements; thus, course approval will not be considered.

http://www.excelsior.edu/transferring-cr...ed-schools

[UptonSinclair]

My credits from Gratham where denied at Excelsior. I wouldn't count on NA credits with them.

[bricabrac]

My credits from Gratham where denied at Excelsior. I wouldn't count on NA credits with them.

Forgive me in advance, I don't really understand DETC vs NA designations. If the currently discussed source is NA, wouldn't the credit be transferrable through ACE? How would this source differ from Penn Foster? Or even Straighterline, NFA? I find this subject very confusing.

[TMW2010]

Forgive me in advance, I don't really understand DETC vs NA designations. If the currently discussed source is NA, wouldn't the credit be transferrable through ACE? How would this source differ from Penn Foster? Or even Straighterline, NFA? I find this subject very confusing.

DETC is part of the National Accreditor associations umbrella. They actually grant schools accreditation to offer degrees as being nationally accredited and accepted. ACE is a separate agency that makes credit recommendations at the regionally accredited level. Non-regionally accredited institutions must pay ACE to evaluate their course offerings, which is why only some of Penn Foster's offerings are have ACE recommendations; the same with ALEKs & Saylor. NCCRS is another such accreditor.

The process to get accredited through national accreditors and regional accreditors is different. The regional accreditors tend to be much more strict in their requirements. Either way it can be a very time, money, and resource consuming endeavor. For example, for the schools I've worked at, HLC requires a program to be in operation for five years before they'll consider accrediting it; National accreditors do not have the same requirement. It was much easier to bring in new programs to the NA schools and near impossible at the RA school at which I've taught.

[sanantone]

Short Answer: ACE and NCCRS are not accreditors. They are not recognized by CHEA and/or the U.S. Department of Education as accreditors, which is required for validity. A few nationally accredited and unaccredited schools have gotten some of their courses recommended for credit by ACE or NCCRS to increase transferability. ACE and/or NCCRS recommendations do not automatically come with national accreditation or any accreditation. This is an elective add-on.

Long Answer: ACE and NCCRS are credit recommendation services. Regionally and nationally accredited schools can opt to recognize ACE/NCCRS recommendations. They are not for one or the other. ACE and NCCRS are not accrediting agencies recognized by CHEA and/or the U.S. Department of Education. Their focus is on recommending training/learning outside the collegiate setting for college credit. Nationally accredited schools like Penn Foster and Sanford Brown have sought ACE recommendations to improve transferability because many regionally accredited colleges refuse to accept credits from nationally accredited schools. Unaccredited schools also sometimes seek ACE or NCCRS recommendations; it can take awhile to earn national or regional accreditation. The whole system is illogical. One can argue that national accrediting agencies aren't as strict as regional accrediting agencies, but they are still stricter than ACE and NCCRS. The fact that many regionally accredited schools will consider ACE recommendations over national accreditation is rather idiotic.

Anyway, the federal government treats national and regional accreditation the same for employment and licensing purposes. The same can't be said for state and local governments. I have seen a few cases where state and local agencies do not recognize national accreditation. Generally, but not always, credits from regionally accredited schools will transfer everywhere. Of course, you have your various rules such as credits being too old or programmatic accreditation being required, but you generally want to attend a regionally accredited school in order to avoid most credit transfer issues. Some foreign governments won't even recognize the United States' national accrediting agencies.

Accreditation from a national or regional accrediting body is required to participate in Title IV Funding (federal financial aid). National and regional accreditation serve this purpose even though many DETC schools choose not to participate due to the administrative costs that ultimately raise tuition. ACE and NCCRS do not serve this purpose because they are not accreditors recognized by CHEA and/or the U.S. Department of Education.

Your most common national accreditors are DETC, ACCSC, and ACICS. DETC focuses on accrediting schools that specialize in distance education. ACCSC and ACICS mostly accredit vocational/technical schools and colleges that offer degrees in applied subjects. National accreditors will accredit a school regardless of region. Regional accreditors serve specific regions in the U.S. (and sometimes Canada in the case of Athabasca). There are six of them: Southern Association, New England Association, North Central Association, Western Association of Schools and Colleges, WASC Senior College and University Commission, and Middle States Commission. These are CHEA classifications. There is at least one state accrediting agency that is classified by USDoE as a regional accrediting agency. States, however, normally don't accredit schools; they just approve them for operation and, sometimes, state financial aid.

National and regional accrediting agencies accredit whole institutions. Programmatic accreditors accredit degree programs or specific schools/departments within a college or university (AACSB for the school of business). This is usually elective and for additional quality control, but some licensing boards might require programmatic accreditation for certain fields (CSWE for social work). A programmatic accreditor can act as an institutional/national accreditor in cases where an institution of higher learning only offer programs in a specific field. For example, there are standalone law schools that are only accredited by ABA. ABA serves as their national accreditor even though ABA normally acts as a programmatic accreditor for law schools within colleges and universities. ACE and NCCRS recommend (they do not accredit) individual courses, licenses, certifications, and training programs for college credit.

[SteveFoerster]

If RA is the ultimate goal, then another approach would be to complete a Bachelor's through UotP and then do a Master's at an RA school that accepts NA grads.

[bricabrac]

Thank you for the clarifying explanation.

[perriquit]

Excelsior has a special provision for DETC coursework that is reviewed by ACE. In such a case they treat classes the same as RA schools. That is why I was able to have so many Penn Foster classes with letter grades on my EC transcript.

I think University of the People is a great option for people that want cheap transfer credit for colleges that will accept a generous amount of DETC credit like Liberty, Southwestern College, APUS, Bevellue etc etc