RBA degree question

[Jennr2z]

Are there any RBA (Regents BA) programs that have easy residency requirements? Non WV resident. Such as the Pierpoint BOG AAS?

[rachel83az]

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.

[bjcheung77]

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.

[freeloader]

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.

[Jennr2z]

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.

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.

[rachel83az]

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.

[ss20ts]

If one resides outside of WV what's the point of an RBA? Why not just go for a BA?

[bjcheung77]

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/aca.../#Programs
There are differences between the RBA's at WV universities, Marshall just requires 15 UL, WVUP requires 39 UL.

[ss20ts]

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/aca.../#Programs
There are differences between the RBA's at WV universities, Marshall just requires 15 UL, WVUP requires 39 UL.

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.

[bjcheung77]

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.