UoPeople going for regional accreditation

[allvia]

This is good news.  Do we know if they take ACE/NCCRS credits?

[bjcheung77]

For the time being, they do not accept NCCRS, they do accept AP/CLEP/ACE credits though.
And of course, they will accept RA/NA credits, including verified foreign credits...
Link: https://www.uopeople.edu/become-student/...he-people/

[harrypotter]

Exciting news!

[wow]

I thinks it sound good to have that accreditation I check the cost and it seems good you can transfer 90 credits to the school as maximum and paying around $1500,- you can have a bachelor degree.

The charge is $17 per transferred course, not credit. So 90 credits would usually be 30 courses x $17 = $510.

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For the time being, they do not accept NCCRS, they do accept AP/CLEP/ACE credits though.
And of course, they will accept RA/NA credits, including verified foreign credits...
Link: https://www.uopeople.edu/become-student/...he-people/

This is accurate information from their materials, but I have had no luck getting them to accept CLEP credits. I've appealed and the CLEP credits still weren't accepted, with no reasoning given as to why. (As has been discussed on other threads, personal communication is where this university is weakest.)

In fact, I had way more than 90 credits that look like they are transfer-eligible looking at the course plans, but a little less than 60 credits were accepted. When I appealed, they reassigned the category of one of the courses that had been accepted (I think they changed it from "general elective" to "humanities"—something like that) but accepted no additional credits and, again, did/would not discuss/explain their reasoning to me.

[bjcheung77]

Ouch, they're so slow, I assume and guess that is because their process or system in place for doing the transfers isn't up to par just yet. They need to streamline everything better, it also seems their communications to students aren't as transparent as I was thinking, they should work on that customer service area as well. I would give them some time if you're not in a rush, but if push comes to shove and you're on a time crunch, you might want to check out similar priced RA alternatives...

[wow]

Ouch, they're so slow, I assume and guess that is because their process or system in place for doing the transfers isn't up to par just yet.  They need to streamline everything better, it also seems their communications to students aren't as transparent as I was thinking, they should work on that customer service area as well.  I would give them some time if you're not in a rush, but if push comes to shove and you're on a time crunch, you might want to check out similar priced RA alternatives...

I'm not in a rush at all. I'm a little concerned they might automatically enroll me in classes this April even though I need to wait until summer to take anything, as I have heard of this happening to other students. Obviously this wouldn't oblige me to pay tuition since fees are paid at the end of the course, I'm just wondering if I get enrolled and can't unenroll and don't take the exam, will it be held against me (as a failed course)? If I'd understood the extent of communication issues, I would have waited to apply until summer or fall.

[SweetSecret]

The communication issues are really horrible, and yes, they do auto-enroll people in their first classes. Which is how I ended up in two classes and then could not get the reasonable information regarding dropping. They also did not put me in the classes I wanted to take, which was a problem because I had no intention of taking one of the classes they put me in. Now I'm going to have to keep my fingers crossed that my transfer school allows me to use it as an elective. Definitely do not sign up for their system until you are ready to actually start classes, and be very clear about how many classes you want to take, but do not expect to get to choose your classes during the first term. Out of all the students that I've spoken to, I am the only graduate student that they've put into two classes in one term during the first term. I think that only happened because I was not aware that the school is on 8-week terms. I had told them I wanted to take accounting and financial management, but instead they signed me up for accounting and organizational behavior. On the upside, the organizational behavior professor was absolutely amazing! However, in the last few weeks I was not able to do any work to earn money because I was so bogged down with the group projects. The biggest issue with their group projects is people not participating. I really think they should just do away with the group projects, and encourage people to form networking friendships in a different way.

[wow]

The communication issues are really horrible, and yes, they do auto-enroll people in their first classes. Which is how I ended up in two classes and then could not get the reasonable information regarding dropping. They also did not put me in the classes I wanted to take, which was a problem because I had no intention of taking one of the classes they put me in. Now I'm going to have to keep my fingers crossed that my transfer school allows me to use it as an elective. Definitely do not sign up for their system until you are ready to actually start classes, and be very clear about how many classes you want to take, but do not expect to get to choose your classes during the first term. Out of all the students that I've spoken to, I am the only graduate student that they've put into two classes in one term during the first term. I think that only happened because I was not aware that the school is on 8-week terms. I had told them I wanted to take accounting and financial management, but instead they signed me up for accounting and organizational behavior. On the upside, the organizational behavior professor was absolutely amazing! However, in the last few weeks I was not able to do any work to earn money because I was so bogged down with the group projects. The biggest issue with their group projects is people not participating. I really think they should just do away with the group projects, and encourage people to form networking friendships in a different way.

Thanks, SweetSecret. Your posts about your UofPeople experience have been very helpful to me in understanding what's going on in my (mis)communications with them, and their process as a whole.

[warriortaupou]

The below according to their website. Opinions? Do you think they will go for the RA, and would it be retroactive to their posting?



In addition, UoPeople received WASC accreditation eligibility!
 
What does WASC Accreditation Eligibility mean?
 
The WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) is a regional accrediting agency. University of the People has applied for Eligibility to become accredited by their commission. WSCUC reviewed UoPeople’s eligibility application and determined that the institution is eligible to proceed with an Application for Accreditation.
 
A determination of Eligibility is not a formal status with the WASC Senior College and University Commission, nor does it ensure eventual accreditation. It is a preliminary finding that the institution is potentially accreditable and can proceed within five years of its Eligibility determination to be reviewed for Candidacy or Initial Accreditation status with the Commission. Questions about Eligibility may be directed to the institution or to WSCUC at https://www.wscuc.org/contact or (510) 748-9001.

[StoicJ]

I guess the big deal would be that if they were RA, one could complete UL courses for $120 each, and they could be transferred to other RA programs. Is that what you are thinking?

Right now costs are the $60 application fee, and you have to pass the 8-week Online Education Strategies course ($120). From that point you could take other courses. A lot of the UL courses have lower-level prerequisites. You would have to complete those before moving up. I suppose you could transfer in the lower-level prerequisites if you have them ($17 transfer fee for each).

I don't know if UotP would be a good source of UL transfer credits. Mainly because of the costs (in money, but mostly time) just to get to where you can start taking UL's.

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Another big thing about RA would be:

You have 90 credits (the max that supposedly COULD be transferred in) via other schools, CLEP, ACE-recommended, or whatever. Say you have the 90, or you could get them fast and cheap.

That leaves costs of $60 application, plus $510 credit transfer fees (30 x $17), and 10 courses left to complete at UotP- $1200 (10 x $120). There are some courses that require proctored finals, let's say there are 4, so $100 (4 x $25). Cost is whatever it took to earn 90 credits elsewhere, plus about $1870. There are no textbooks to buy, and there is no graduation fee. It would be an option that would make sense for some.

You can take 2 courses per term, and there are 5 terms in an academic year, so you could do this in a year. Actually, I think you can qualify to take up to 3 courses per term.

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Oh, and you ask if it would be retroactive? There's retroactive RA status as far as credit transfer, and employer recognition of regional versus national versus none, depending on when you were awarded the degree. I have no idea, but I'm sure others here do.

As far as most private-sector employment goes, I imagine you could have earned a degree at UotP before they even had national accreditation, and nearly all employers would see it as whatever it was when you applied for the job.