Associate's in Early Childhood Education - options?

[l8989v]

Penn Foster has a Associate's degree in Early Childhood Education. It is Nationally Accredited though and not Regionally. But there are courses (if not all) ACE recommended, so you can always transfer them to the big three.
https://www.pennfoster.edu/programs-and-...ate-degree

[dfrecore]

There are about 16 courses in ECE from PF ($300 each) that are ACE-recommended. Only 1 is UL.

There are also courses from CLEP, DSST, UExcel (and Study.com courses as well) that might work.

Study.com has some new courses not tied to CLEP/DSST/UExcel that might work - all LL.

[videogamesrock]

One thing about Ashworth you can test out of 5 courses for $20 a 3 credit exam. These courses can all be in your major. If you decide to complete a BS there you can test out of 5 more courses.

An Ashworth course should take you a week to complete. You should be able to do the entire degree in less than 6 months and block transfer to WGU.

[Stanislav]

One thing about Ashworth you can test out of 5 courses for $20 a 3 credit exam. These courses can all be in your major. If you decide to complete a BS there you can test out of 5 more courses.

An Ashworth course should take you a week to complete. You should be able to do the entire degree in less than 6 months and block transfer to WGU.

Yep, my friend #1 knows and had used all these things. In the end, she was the first person to register with CECE with NA degree, and probably the last. They changed rules because of our effort.
So I really want to know which of the Big Three can give me the closest possible thing in the most efficient possible way.

[KayV]

I learned something new today.

According to page 13 of the Excelsior School of Liberal Arts catalog, you can earn an Area of Focus in a subject with 15 hours in that subject for an associate degree and 21 hours for a bachelor's degree.

The Excelsior AS in Liberal Arts is extremely flexible. Your friend could complete the 15 hours with UExcel Literacy Instruction in the Elementary School for 6 hours and 9 hours of education credits from Study.com.

Have her sign up here to take advantage of the Study.com special for DegreeForum members.

[Stanislav]

For more specific questions:
1) Can COSC's AA have an "area of focus" or some such?
2) For Excelsior or TESU, can Early Childhood be considered a "Human Service"?
3) At either of the three, will NCCRS credit like this: FCCPC | Florida Child Care Professional Credential Certificate Online be accepted/satisfy a concentration in Human Services/ECE?

Thanks in advance!

[Stanislav]

I learned something new today.

According to page 13 of the Excelsior School of Liberal Arts catalog, you can earn an Area of Focus in a subject with 15 hours in that subject for an associate degree and 21 hours for a bachelor's degree.

The Excelsior AS in Liberal Arts is extremely flexible. Your friend could complete the 15 hours with UExcel Literacy Instruction in the Elementary School for 6 hours and 9 hours of education credits from Study.com.

Have her sign up here to take advantage of the Study.com special for DegreeForum members.

Oh wow, thanks! This sounds like a solid plan. I'd pick more ECE-specific courses though. What do you think about these:
Online CDA, Director Credential, Renewal, State Child Care Certificates & more
Courses - Online Continuing Education Courses for Teachers - CEUs, PLUs, Undergraduate, Graduate, Distance Learning for Educators - VESi

[KayV]

Vesi are good. Go through Southern Utah University for the credits.
https://www.suu.edu/siel/k12/

[Stanislav]

Vesi are good. Go through Southern Utah University for the credits.
https://www.suu.edu/siel/k12/

Yes, VESi is excellent. Probably the first choice.

Just out of curiosity: what does Excelsior do with a course with NCCRS recommendation "12 credit hours in Early Childhod Education", like these:
ChildCare Education Institute | NCCRS

Is it listed as one 12-hour course on transcript, or divvied up to 4 3-credit classes? What about at TESU?

[swalke321]

For the BS degree TESU considers child development services as human services courses. It might be the same since the AS and BS are designed to be similar. A student does the AS and then pursues the BS. ECE courses that deal more towards child development might be considered qualifying as human services. You'd check with TESU. One thing that TESU does that might be different then other schools is that TESU lists every course you transfer to them on your transcript. For example if a student earns 90 credits then TESU would most likely list all 90 credits on the transcript even if the courses were not applied towards the degree. I believe TESU has awarded credit for vesi courses in the past so it would be listed on the transcript even if it did not apply towards the degree.