Why does it seem to me that EC is all about the money?

[jkfuss]

I’m exasperated as I try to figure out if I want to pursue my studies at EC. The BS Liberal Studies program looks great as it would allow two, diverse Areas of Focus on my transcript. But, when I go through EC’s materials, I constantly feel like they are all about the money. One “requirement” after another keeps popping up, all involving more money from me. I know there are many happy EC students out there who no doubt disagree, and I really, really want your honest feedback so I don’t accidentally walk away from a good thing.

First of all, I’m fine that all of the “Big 3” have a matriculation fee. Otherwise, they could conceivably have to issue a degree without getting paid at all for it. Business is business. So I’m leaving the actual amount of the matriculation fee out of the discussion. It is what it is.

However, EC doesn’t give you an official evaluation until after you’ve paid the $900 matriculation fee. From what I’ve read on this forum, the official evaluation may vary greatly from the unofficial one. Suddenly, there are more credits that have to be taken. Transferred upper level classes are no longer considered upper level, so more upper level credits need to be taken. What I glean from this is that they could tell me one thing, I would pay $900 based on that, and then they could provide me with a new, more expensive, more time consuming degree program. To me that seems like institutional incompetence (Why would the two evals be so different? Or different at all?). Or, more cynically, deceptive advertising.

Next up is the written English requirement. My CLEP English Comp with Essay has been good enough for two semesters of college writing credit in every school I have ever attended or inquired about since I took it 11 years ago. But not for EC. Instead, they demand their own exam or an actual course taken or transferred in. Well, since I never needed to take a writing class due to my CLEP exam, I have no writing classes to show them. I guess it doesn’t matter that I have written lengthy research papers on schizophrenia in full APA format. My doctorate-holding instructors told me these papers were graduate-level writing. Since I don’t have any credits in a writing class, I have to go back to the drawing board.

So I breathed a big huff of exasperation and looked at my options. I could take a class for $900. Nope. I could take an exam. Well, the 3-credit College Writing exam for $205 looks OK. Oh, wait! They discontinued it last December. Now the only option they have is the 6-credit English Comp exam for $295. Since the CLEP is fine for every other regionally-accredited institution I have ever crossed paths with, but not for EC, I conclude that EC wants an extra $200--no, make that $300--from their new students.

Then we come to the 1-credit Information Literacy requirement. I have covered all 5 areas of that class--repeatedly--but not in one, neat class. I covered the requirements completely, but the work was spread over several classes. So, to quantify that appropriately, I must cough up another $300 to “earn” it.

And then $500 to graduate? I could, in all honestly, finish my degree and be unable to scrape together the money to graduate for several months. Why do they need that much after they’ve already (seemingly) looted you along the way?

I’m asking for any input that would keep EC on the table for me at this point. Just because I’m exasperated doesn’t mean I’ve come to the right conclusion, and I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Thanks for your help and input.