TESU - Community College & RA Questions

[mt_1994]

Hello guys.  I have been taking majority of my classes at study.com for the computer science degree.  My original plan was to go to wgu but after reading about TESU and the ability to transfer all your credits from outside sources has really attracted me to the idea.  So what exactly is RA?  Does that mean I cannot take all my most of my credits at places like sophia, study.com, etc?  Are they not RA?

[rachel83az]

RA = Regionally Accredited. This is a college or university with the right accreditation. For TESU, Finnish schools like XAMK or Metropolia are inexpensive ways to meet the RA-equivalent credit requirement. Sophia and Study.com are alternate credit sources. They are businesses, not colleges or universities.

[davewill]

Most U.S. colleges and universities are accredited by one of several regional accrediting agencies hence the name Regional Accreditation. Some schools are accredited by other agencies. Since these agencies are approved by the US Dept of Education, these are called National Accreditation. The RA schools, either believing the national accreditors aren't stringent enough, or just wanting to keep the riff-raff out, mostly refuse to accept credits or degrees earned at NA schools.

Employers generally don't differentiate.

The alt credit sources like Sophia are not NA or RA. They are recommended as equivalent to college credit by ACE or NCCRS, or are accepted at partner schools who have agreements with the alt credit provider. Most schools accept little or no alt credit. This board highlights the schools that accept large amounts of alt credit, allowing people to earn degrees both cheaply and quickly.

Most of these schools have limits to the number of alt credits they will accept (typically 90), which results in needing at least some RA credits. In addition, they all require at least a few credits be earned at the school in question.

[dfrecore]

Most U.S. colleges and universities are accredited by one of four regional accrediting agencies hence the name Region Accreditation. Some schools are accredited by other agencies. Since these agencies are approved by the US Dept of Education, these are called National Accreditation. The RA schools, either believing the national accreditors aren't stringent enough, or just wanting to keep the riff-raff out, generally refuse to accept credits or degrees earned at NA schools.

Employers generally don't differentiate.

The alt credit sources like Sophia are not NA or RA. They are recommended as equivalent to college credit by ACE or NCCRS, or are accepted at partner schools who have agreements with the alt credit provider. Most schools accept little or no alt credit. This board highlights the schools that accept large amounts of alt credit, allowing people to earn degrees both cheaply and quickly.

Most of these schools have limits to the number of alt credits they will accept (typically 90), which results in needing at least some RA credits. In addition, they all require at least a few credits be earned at the school in question.

There are seven RA agencies, not 4.  But the rest of this info is spot on.

ACE/NCCRS credit is not RA (or NA), it's alt-credit, and won't count towards RA credit at TESU.

Excelsior does not require any RA credit, except the 7cr (3 courses) that you have to take there, so for those who are thinking of a degree that EU offers (especially the business or BLS degrees), and don't have any RA credit, EU is a good option.

[jsd]

For other confused by some of the acronyms and inside jargon we use around here, we've documented some of those here on the wiki (though this could use some more work):

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Common_Terms

[mt_1994]

Could I choose any classes from my Degree (Computer Science) to do at TESU as an RA or is it only specific ones?  I was planning to do most of my (easier) classes at TESU and the hard ones like Calculus and Descrete math at study dot com.

[jsd]

RA is done at the institution level, not class specific. The courses offered by TESU are all RA.

[mt_1994]

What is the process to check which credits will transfer over?  im taking some study dot com classes buy have also taken some community college courses.  is there anyway to check which classes will transfer over so i dont take those at study.com/sophia/ etc?

[Library2HospitalChaplain]

If you have questions, you can start a thread that lists your credits and what school they come from. We can make pretty good educated guesses as to what they'll come in as at TESU.

What is the process to check which credits will transfer over?  im taking some study dot com classes buy have also taken some community college courses.  is there anyway to check which classes will transfer over so i dont take those at study.com/sophia/ etc?

List the course names and the community college you took them from, and we can make some good educated guesses. Also, add what degree you want and the time and money you have to spend on getting a degree.

[davewill]

Also, you can always go ahead and enroll at TESU and send in your transcripts. There's no downside, and it's actually a good idea to get your catalog locked in.