Why No All Alt Credit Schools?

[bjcheung77]

Two decades ago, actually, closer to two dozen years ago... when I first looked at the Big 3, they weren't even on my list of "possible" college choice options as I didn't want to go to any college that would grant a college degree entirely through alternative or test-out credit! I wouldn't mind a small private college or public/state college as long as it had at least a few courses that you had to take at the college for GPA, graduation, learning purposes, etc.

I would recommend the Big 3 but wouldn't actually go to them as it felt weird - like I'm graduating from an RA college but having not taken a class ever. I looked back into them only because back in 2011/2012, they instituted the Capstone for some of their degree programs. That helped my decision and I knew it was because of ever changing accreditation requirements from the accreditation agencies. I looked at competency based degrees the same way...

TLDR: Basically before 2012, I thought the Big 3 were a bit "diploma mill'ish", but I know they're not... I somewhat thought competency based degree providers were a bit too easy going as well. Fast forward to now, I know institutions have to go through rigorous requirements and update their catalogs to conform to these requirements, it's not just for show nor just for monetary reasons. Changes are made (some for the better, others for the worse...)