Are FEMA courses worth it?

[nthydro]

I don't understand why Excelsior students would take FEMA courses now that the TESC credit bank transcript method is not accepted by Excelsior anymore. From what I know, Excelsior only accept FEMA course transcripts from one or two schools. I know FEMA courses are free but since those schools charge a per credit fee ($60 per credit I believe?) for the FEMA courses to be transcripted, why would any Excelsior student choose FEMA over the cheaper and more convenient credit sources like CLEPs or DSSTs (3 credit for approx $70)? I mean there's plenty of CLEP and DSST exams to fill your elective requirements with, what's the need for FEMA courses? Perhaps someone could explain or point out some advantages of using FEMA? Thanks!

[rmroberts]

Maybe because its quicker/easier? I'm a TESC student so it was completely free for me.

[marylynh]

I noticed on my eval with TESC that the Liberal Arts degree is only allowing for 15 FEMA credits as free electives. Can anyone else confirm this, or might this be a glitch? I have yet to enroll.

[creative]

Are you going for a BA or an AA? I think I saw a thread on here that if you are going for an AA they take less fema credits.

[marylynh]

I'm going for a BA and they allowed for only 15 credits. My remainder FEMA credits were listed unused. I made sure to take FEMA credits that were recognized and given credit by TESC BTW.

[creative]

This does not sound good at all I have not enrolled at TESC yet but I was counting on being able to use 20 Fema credits in free electives. I hope this is a glitch. Now you have me scared! Is there anyway you can find out if it was a glitch on your eval? Was it an unofficial eval with the $75 application fee or are you enrolled and they gave you the official eval?

[marylynh]

Sorry to scare you, but it saddened me a bit as well. I did pay the $75 for the unofficial eval. I do plan on enrolling very soon, but was disheartened to see that.

There are a few qualifying 'blurbs' on my eval, but they seem general in nature and not specific to my degree (Liberal Studies.)

2 specific comments include:

"2 semester hours has been excluded from the Free Elective area of your degree program to comply with the FEMA Independent credit limit requirement of your degree program."

"FEMA Independent Study Program credits TESC limits the number of credits that are accepted from the FEMA Independent Study Program to a maximum of 25 semester hours (s.h.) dependent on the degree and area of study."

The above comments were on my eval. I cannot find where the limit of FEMA credits is 15 for a BA in Liberal Studies in the TESC catalog, but that appears to be the limit judging by my eval.

Anyone else know more about this?

[creative]

I planned on enrolling in a few months as I am close to the finish line. I am going for the BA in Liberal Studies as well. This will really throw off my plans as far as testing if this is true. Maybe I should go ahead and do the $75 application unofficial eval. (I kind of forgot about that I needed to do that as I "thought" I had all my ducks in a row as far as tests.) I am curious what they would say about mine. However, it will take weeks probably to get that back-- doesn't it??

[rmroberts]

My degree is in psychology and I did 21 FEMAs, but they allow 25.

[Elinor]

What do FEMA credits count towards? Are they always free electives, or can they be in area of study... depending on what that area is of course. I like the sound of "free," but I don't understand how they work. I read about them on another thread, and it sounded like you just take them online. Is that correct?

Thanks!