getting a degree from old credit

[blackice222]

I have credit from 3 universities but it is all from 15 years or more ago. i have an AA degree but would like to finally get a Bachelors degree. I have tried to enroll at a few colleges but they do not accept tranferr credit older than 10 years. I have a total of 160 semester hours but is it all useless?

[Dennis Ruhl]

I have credit from 3 universities but it is all from 15 years or more ago. i have an AA degree but would like to finally get a Bachelors degree. I have tried to enroll at a few colleges but they do not accept tranferr credit older than 10 years. I have a total of 160 semester hours but is it all useless?


There are 3 regionally accredited schools that accept 100% of degree requirements by transfer. They are Charter Oak State College in Connecticut, Excelsior College in New York, and Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey. I think age of credit is a concern in a major subject in a technical area, but I could be wrong.

Spend a few bucks having evaluations done by all three schools and you may already have earned a degree or be a few courses short. Each one has slightly different general education requirements, major requirements, and mix of lower leverl/upper level courses.

All three schools also accept CLEP and DSST exams plus some other non-classwork methods of credit. If you are short a course, a quick exam may solve the problem.

[ShotoJuku]

www.excelsior.edu

You can't lose!

[PsyDWannaBe]

WOOT!!! Excelsior rules!

www.excelsior.edu

[blackice222]

Thanks for the Info, Someone told me about Excelsior a long time ago just couldn't remember it at all. Thanks for all your replies.

:)

[Baraban]

I remember when Excelsior was Regents College they had 10 year limit on the old credits.

Not sure if this is the case today.

I had credit from RA school - dated 1982 that that wasn't accepted due to then some 20 year old credit.

[perrik]

Excelsior has no limit on age of credits for students in the liberal arts program, or for fulfilling the general education (Arts & Sciences) requirements of business, tech, and nursing degrees. Credits to fulfill the other requirements for business, tech & nursing do have time limits - nursing is 5 years from time of enrollment, tech is 10 years, and business is 20 years.

When I enrolled (liberal arts) in 2007, Excelsior transferred in my 1982 AP scores and 1983-85 credits. They were a little dusty but still good as new!

EDIT: Just realized, a month later, that I typed the wrong enrollment year. Darn it, I wish I HAD enrolled at Excelsior back in 1997...

[jmorgan-at-AJU]

I have credit from 3 universities but it is all from 15 years or more ago. i have an AA degree but would like to finally get a Bachelors degree. I have tried to enroll at a few colleges but they do not accept tranferr credit older than 10 years. I have a total of 160 semester hours but is it all useless?

Hey BlackIce222 !

I would encourage you to call us at Andrew Jackson University. Not only should we be able to help you with your credits, but we offer one of the most affordable accredited programs around. If you aren't familiar with us, check out www.aju.edu (http://www.aju.edu) or www.sponsoredtuition.com (http://www.sponsoredtuition.com) .

How about I set you up with Tammy, one of our Admissions/Credit Transfer gurus? I'm sure she could help you. Email me at jmorgan@aju.edu

[2wj8dim02]

I have credit from 3 universities but it is all from 15 years or more ago. i have an AA degree but would like to finally get a Bachelors degree. I have tried to enroll at a few colleges but they do not accept tranferr credit older than 10 years. I have a total of 160 semester hours but is it all useless?

I was in a similar situation. From my experience, the age of credits will make a difference depending upon (a) the institution to which you are applying, (b) the subject of those credits, (c) the degree program to which you want them to apply.

To give specifics, I had over 60 credits of "old" credits from "brick and mortar" universities. I, too, decided to finally get my degree(s), and applied at both Western Governors University (http://www.wgu.edu) and Thomas Edison State College (http://www.tesc.edu). Both WGU and TESC evaluated my credits. At WGU, all of my "liberal arts" requirements were met, along with math. At TESC, the same was true, but also some of my technical classes applied. WGU offered credit for some of my IT certifications (they use IT certifications as the core of many of the IT subject areas), while TESC did not.

In the end, I decided to enroll at TESC, as they offered a certificate and AA as intermediates along the way to a BA. I did read that, for TESC, there is an "age limit" on prior credit in some degree programs (e.g., BSAST). For the BACS (which is a fairly "traditional" Computer Science curriculum, heavy on math and theory), there is no such limit.

I'd look at the degree programs online and compare your past credits to those required. In the end, a BA program may fit your old credits best.

I was very pleased with both WGU and TESC through the application and review process. I think anyone in the IT field would be happy with either institution - both are 100% online, are non-profit and comparatively inexpensive (WGU is a bit less expensive than TESC), and both are regionally accredited (WGU happens to have more than one regional accreditation, due to it serving more than one region, and is also nationally accredited - but the latter is, from my research, not really necessary, given the former).

I have nothing but good things to say about TESC, and have very positive experiences with its classes, instructors, and administrators.

Cheers,

[DLG]

Try these RA schools. They gave me some very good evaluations of older credits.

Harrison Middleton University
http://www.chumsci.edu/

Columbia Southern University (CSU)
http://www.colsouth.edu/

[cklapka]

Try these RA schools. They gave me some very good evaluations of older credits.

Harrison Middleton University
http://www.chumsci.edu/

Columbia Southern University (CSU)
http://www.colsouth.edu/

Both those schools are NA schools.

[DLG]

Both those schools are NA schools.

Sorry. My brain was thinking "N" but my finger came down on "R". It's almost impossible to find even an NA school that will accept old credit. I was actually impressed that so many DETC schools turned down my credit and suggested that I do PLAs instead. Contrary to what many forum members imply, they take their standards very seriously.

CSU seems to be a good school with a lot of RA affiliations. They gave me full credit for very old graduate credits. They specialize in business and management programs.

Harrison Middleton has a pretty unique program for students interested liberal arts. They weren't as generous as CSU but they didn't turn me down flat as most other schools did.

Either one is a good alternative for someone with a burning desire to finish a degree but doesn't want to start over.

[joesmith]

Don't have much idea about this. I am very keen if anybody can share his/her views.