DESIGN YOUR PLAN, PART 4 - EXCELSIOR COLLEGE
STANDARD DISCLAIMER: BEFORE FOLLOWING ANY DEGREE PLAN, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE COMPARED IT TO CURRENT DEGREE REQUIREMENTS THROUGH THE SCHOOL. HOMESCHOOL COLLEGE USA CANNOT GUARANTEE ANY PLAN WILL BE ACCEPTED. (Speaking with an Academic Advisor at your school of choice is ALWAYS recommended.)
Let's talk about Excelsior College.
I'll be perfectly honest here. EC is the school I'm least familiar with. I've generally found their website to be much less informative and less user-friendly than TESC's or COSC's, and that makes it more difficult to find what I'm looking for.
The first thing you need to know is that Excelsior College's per-credit-tuition rate is $425. And there's an enrollment fee of $395 if you're going to be taking at least 12 credit hours with them (unlikely, unless you really want to), or something called a "multi-source option fee" for anyone who needs less than 12 credits to complete his degree. That one is $1065. Ouch. Still, while the tuition is higher than TESC, the enrollment fee is lower. (But note that it's more expensive than COSC.) Also, Excelsior does have a payment plan option.
We're going to start by looking at this Degree Requirement Chart for a BA in Liberal Arts, which has the option of specialized majors.
The first credits we need are the standard Written English Requirement, 6 credits hours. And this is where we hit our first interesting snag. According to the Excelsior Exam guide, the following exams (and minimum scores) will work to meet this requirement:
ECE English Composition (C)
UExcel College Writing (C)
AP English Literature & Composition (3)
AP English Language & Composition (3)
Uh, huh. I'm sure you noticed right away what's missing here. The CLEP College Composition exam. Apparently, Excelsior won't accept that one for the written requirement. Strangely enough, it does list the exam later in the guide, but with the footnote that the CLEP:
I'll be perfectly honest here. EC is the school I'm least familiar with. I've generally found their website to be much less informative and less user-friendly than TESC's or COSC's, and that makes it more difficult to find what I'm looking for.
The first thing you need to know is that Excelsior College's per-credit-tuition rate is $425. And there's an enrollment fee of $395 if you're going to be taking at least 12 credit hours with them (unlikely, unless you really want to), or something called a "multi-source option fee" for anyone who needs less than 12 credits to complete his degree. That one is $1065. Ouch. Still, while the tuition is higher than TESC, the enrollment fee is lower. (But note that it's more expensive than COSC.) Also, Excelsior does have a payment plan option.
We're going to start by looking at this Degree Requirement Chart for a BA in Liberal Arts, which has the option of specialized majors.
The first credits we need are the standard Written English Requirement, 6 credits hours. And this is where we hit our first interesting snag. According to the Excelsior Exam guide, the following exams (and minimum scores) will work to meet this requirement:
ECE English Composition (C)
UExcel College Writing (C)
AP English Literature & Composition (3)
AP English Language & Composition (3)
Uh, huh. I'm sure you noticed right away what's missing here. The CLEP College Composition exam. Apparently, Excelsior won't accept that one for the written requirement. Strangely enough, it does list the exam later in the guide, but with the footnote that the CLEP:
Does not fulfill the written English requirement (WER). This policy applies to both versions, College Composition (mandatory essay component) and College Composition Modular (optional essay component that can be locally administered or scored by CLEP raters.)
In a nutshell? If you plan on enrolling at Excelsior, don't bother with the CLEP composition exam! And if that's not difficult enough, also note that the UExcel exam ($95) is only worth 3 credits, which leaves you needing the other 3. And the ECE English Composition exam costs $440 for the 6 credits. And only high school students can take the AP tests. (Yay, for you high schoolers. Yikes, for the rest of us.)
According to this page, Excelsior will accept StraighterLine's English courses, which is good, and of course, you can transfer in English 101 and 102 from another regionally accredited school, but bottom line is, it's most likely going to cost you more to knock out these 6 credits at EC than it would at the other two Big Three schools. Is that a deal breaker for you? That's something only you can decide.
Next up, we have the following requirement:
Humanities (9 credits needed) - Three credits are required in disciplines such as art, music, and philosophy.
*This should be confirmed with the school. Although the Saylor website has a notice that says this course will transfer to Excelsior, the notice states that you should check with your advisor to determine which specific requirement the course will fulfill.
Remember, the above list is not completely exhaustive. You have other options such as online courses and classes at your local community college, too.
Now we're on to:
Social Sciences & History (9 credits needed)
*This should be confirmed with the school. Although the Saylor website has a notice that says this course will transfer to Excelsior, the notice states that you should check with your advisor to determine which specific requirement the course will fulfill.
So... next?
Natural Sciences and Mathematics (9 credits needed) - A minimum of 2 credits in math and 2 credits in science required.
8/10/2013: Excelsior does accept ALEKS math. Which ALEKS math? That seems to be debatable. I've been researching, and I've read comments on forums from 2012 that say Excelsior will take Beginning Algebra and then comments that they won't. I will contact the school directly and see if I can get a straight answer, even though I'm not a student there. Meanwhile, because we know they will take at least some of the ACE approved ALEKS courses, for instance ALEKS Intermediate Algebra and ALEKS College Algebra, this could count as 6 of our 9 needed credits, and the other 3 would need to be a science exam/course.
** For reasons I can't begin to imagine, this exam costs $325. Eh? If you have an interest in this subject, I'd say go for the very similar DSST Physical Geology test instead.
Beyond what's listed above, we need the following:
Additional Arts & Sciences Credits (54 needed) - At least 30 of credits must be upper level.
Capstone course (3 credits)
Information Literacy (1 credit)
Additional Applied Professional Credits or Additional Arts & Sciences (29)
And within all this, for our area of study, we need:
Depth Requirment 1 & 2
For each depth requirement, there needs to be 12 credits minimum in a single arts and sciences discipline, with at least 3 credits upper level.
The first set of additional credits (54) can be chosen from any of the above courses/exams already listed. The capstone is a course you take directly through the school.
This is what the school has to say about Information Literacy:
According to this page, Excelsior will accept StraighterLine's English courses, which is good, and of course, you can transfer in English 101 and 102 from another regionally accredited school, but bottom line is, it's most likely going to cost you more to knock out these 6 credits at EC than it would at the other two Big Three schools. Is that a deal breaker for you? That's something only you can decide.
Next up, we have the following requirement:
Humanities (9 credits needed) - Three credits are required in disciplines such as art, music, and philosophy.
- CLEP American Literature (6)
- CLEP Analyzing & Interpreting Literature (6)
- CLEP French (6 - 12, depending on score)
- CLEP German (6 - 12, depending on score)
- CLEP Spanish (6 - 12, depending on score)
- CLEP English Literature (6)
- CLEP Humanities (6)
- DSST Art of the Western World (3)
- DSST Business Ethics & Society (3 U)
- DSST Ethics in America (3 U - Duplicates ECE Ethics: Theory & Practice)
- DSST Principles of Public Speaking (3)
- DSST Technical Writing (3)
- DSST Introduction to World Religions (3 U)
- ECE Interpersonal Communication (3)
- ECE Introduction to Music (3)
- ECE Introduction to Philosophy (3)
- ECE Bioethics: Philosophical Issues (3 U)
- ECE Ethics: Theory & Practice (3 U)
- UExcel Spanish Language (6)
- StraighterLine Business Communication (3)
- Saylor Corporate Communication (3)*
- Saylor Business Law & Ethics (3)*
*This should be confirmed with the school. Although the Saylor website has a notice that says this course will transfer to Excelsior, the notice states that you should check with your advisor to determine which specific requirement the course will fulfill.
Remember, the above list is not completely exhaustive. You have other options such as online courses and classes at your local community college, too.
Now we're on to:
Social Sciences & History (9 credits needed)
- CLEP American Government (3)
- CLEP Introduction to Educational Psychology (3)
- CLEP History of the United States 1 (3)
- CLEP History of the United States 2 (3)
- CLEP Human Growth and Development (3)
- CLEP Principles of Macroeconomics (3)
- CLEP Principles of Microeconomics (3)
- CLEP Introductory Psychology (3)
- CLEP Social Sciences and History (6)
- CLEP Introductory Sociology (3)
- CLEP Western Civilization 1 (3)
- CLEP Western Civilizarion 2 (3)
- DSST General Anthropolgy (3)
- DSST The Civil War and Reconstruction (3 U)
- DSST The Fundamentals of Counseling (3)
- DSST Western Europe Since 1945 (3)
- DSST Criminal Justice (3 U)
- DSST Foundations of Education (3)
- DSST Human/Cultural Geography (3)
- DSST Lifespan Developmental Psychology (3)
- DSST Introduction to the Modern Middle East (3)
- DSST Money and Banking (3 U)
- DSST Organizational Behavior (3)
- DSST Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union (3 U)
- DSST A History of the Vietnam War (3)
- ECE Abnormal Psychology (3 U)
- ECE Cultural Diversity (3 U)
- ECE Foundations of Gerontology (3 U)
- ECE Introduction to Macroeconomics (3)
- ECE Introduction to Microeconomics (3)
- ECE Juvenile Delinquency (3 U)
- ECE Life Span Developmental Psychology (3)
- ECE Organizational Behavior (3 U)
- ECE Psychology of Adulthood & Aging (3 U)
- ECE Research Methods in Psychology (3 U)
- ECE Social Psychology (3 U)
- ECE World Conflicts Since 1900 (3 U)
- ECE World Population (3 U)
- UExcel Introduction to Psychology (3)
- UExcel Introduction to Sociology (3)
- UExcel Political Science (3)
- Saylor Introduction to Western Political Thought (3)*
- StraighterLine Western Civilization 1 (3)
- StraighterLine Western Civilization 2 (3)
- StraighterLine Introduction to Criminal Justice (3)
- StraighterLine Macroeconomics (3)
- StraighterLine Microeconomics (3)
- StraighterLine Introduction to Psychology (3)
- StraighterLine US History 1 (3)
- StraighterLine US History 2 (3)
- StraighterLine Introduction to Sociology (3)
- StraighterLine Cultural Anthropology (3)
*This should be confirmed with the school. Although the Saylor website has a notice that says this course will transfer to Excelsior, the notice states that you should check with your advisor to determine which specific requirement the course will fulfill.
So... next?
Natural Sciences and Mathematics (9 credits needed) - A minimum of 2 credits in math and 2 credits in science required.
8/10/2013: Excelsior does accept ALEKS math. Which ALEKS math? That seems to be debatable. I've been researching, and I've read comments on forums from 2012 that say Excelsior will take Beginning Algebra and then comments that they won't. I will contact the school directly and see if I can get a straight answer, even though I'm not a student there. Meanwhile, because we know they will take at least some of the ACE approved ALEKS courses, for instance ALEKS Intermediate Algebra and ALEKS College Algebra, this could count as 6 of our 9 needed credits, and the other 3 would need to be a science exam/course.
- CLEP Biology (6)
- CLEP Calculus (3)
- CLEP Chemistry (6)
- CLEP College Algebra (3)
- CLEP College Mathematics (6)
- CLEP Natural Sciences (6)
- CLEP Precalculus (3)
- DSST Astronomy (3)
- DSST Fundamentals of College Algebra (3)
- DSST Environment and Humanity (3)
- DSST Physical Geology (3)
- DSST Principles of Physical Science 1 (3)
- DSST Principles of Statistics (3)
- ECE Anatomy & Physiology (6)
- ECE Earth Science (3)**
- ECE Microbiology (3)
- ECE Pathophysiology (3)
- UExcel Calculus (4)
- UExcel Physics (6)
- UExcel Statistics (3)
- Udacity Introduction to Physics (3)
- Udacity Introduction to Statistics (3)
- StraighterLine Introduction to Biology (3)
- StraighterLine Introduction to Biology with Lab (4)
- StraighterLine Anatomy & Physiology 1 (3)
- StraighterLine Anatomy & Physiology 1 with Lab (4)
- StraighterLine Anatomy & Physiology 2 (3)
- StraighterLine Anatomy & Physiology 2 with Lab (4)
- StraighterLine General Chemistry (3)
- StraighterLine General Chemistry with Lab (4)
- StraighterLine College Algebra (3)
- StraighterLine Business Statistics (3)
- StraighterLine Precalculus (3)
- StraighterLine General Calculus 1 (3)
- StraighterLine General Calculus 2 (3)
- StraighterLine General Physics 1 (3)
- StraighterLine General Physics 1 with Lab (4)
- StraighterLine General Physics 2 (3)
- StraighterLine General Physics 2 with Lab (4)
** For reasons I can't begin to imagine, this exam costs $325. Eh? If you have an interest in this subject, I'd say go for the very similar DSST Physical Geology test instead.
Beyond what's listed above, we need the following:
Additional Arts & Sciences Credits (54 needed) - At least 30 of credits must be upper level.
Capstone course (3 credits)
Information Literacy (1 credit)
Additional Applied Professional Credits or Additional Arts & Sciences (29)
And within all this, for our area of study, we need:
Depth Requirment 1 & 2
For each depth requirement, there needs to be 12 credits minimum in a single arts and sciences discipline, with at least 3 credits upper level.
The first set of additional credits (54) can be chosen from any of the above courses/exams already listed. The capstone is a course you take directly through the school.
This is what the school has to say about Information Literacy:
In this age of information proliferation, students must acquire the necessary skills to understand and discern the wide range of content across all mediums. Students must be able to determine where to locate and effectively access information, critically evaluate the source and use the information within legal and ethical parameters. For these reasons, Excelsior College graduates will demonstrate competency in information literacy as part of the general education curriculum for an undergraduate degree.
Students must successfully complete the minimum of a one semester-hour course or examination in information literacy with a grade of C or better to satisfy this requirement. Because of the rapid evolution of information literacy, the course needs to have been taken within five years prior to the date of the current enrollment at Excelsior College to satisfy the requirement.
The information literacy requirement may be satisfied by passing the Excelsior College INL 102 Information Literacy online course, by passing the Excelsior College MLS 500 Graduate Research and Writing online course, by passing an approved, comparable course, or in the case of special populations, by taking INL 103. If a transfer course is not on the approved list of comparable courses in the Student Information System (SIS) course library, its syllabus must be submitted to the Excelsior College librarians for review. Read more information about Information Literacy courses INL 102 and INL 103 (PDF), and review the MLS 500 syllabus(PDF).
Information literacy is a foundation requirement for upper level courses and it is required that students take it before all others. The information literacy requirement must be completed within the first 13 Excelsior College credits attempted, or earlier, as determined within the individual schools. Students enrolled prior December 31, 2012 must complete the information literacy requirement before May 1, 2014.
Yeah. That's not meaning much to me, either. What's an "approved, comparable course"? I'm going to have to ask the school directly on that one. My research online so far isn't very encouraging. It's looking a lot like you would need to take this course through the school. (Think of it as the cornerstone requirement at COSC.) Frankly, this course seems about as lame as when I was in college in the early 90s and it was required for all students to take a 1-credit course where we learned how to use the library. Yes. I paid to take a class where I "learned" how to use a card catalog and find the shelf with the encyclopedias - you know, what every elementary student learns somewhere around 2nd grade. As you can see, I'm still a bit miffed about that and it's been 20 years.
So, for now, we're going to tentatively say that along with the capstone course, we need the information literacy course straight from EC. And we're calling this our second interesting snag.
This leaves us with additional applied professional credits or additional arts and sciences. We've covered those arts and sciences above, so let's look at this last category.
So, for now, we're going to tentatively say that along with the capstone course, we need the information literacy course straight from EC. And we're calling this our second interesting snag.
This leaves us with additional applied professional credits or additional arts and sciences. We've covered those arts and sciences above, so let's look at this last category.
- CLEP Introductory Business Law (3)
- CLEP Financial Accounting (3)
- CLEP Information Systems and Computer Applications (3)
- CLEP Principles of Management (3)
- CLEP Principles of Marketing (3)
- DSST Introduction to Business (3)
- DSST Business Law 2 (3 U)
- DSST Business Mathematics (3)
- DSST Introduction to Computing (3)
- DSST Substance Abuse (3 U)
- DSST Principles of Finance (3 U)
- DSST Principles of Financial Accounting (3)
- DSST Here's to Your Health (3 U)
- DSST Human Resource Management (3)
- DSST Introduction to Law Enforcement (3)
- DSST Management Information Systems (3 U)
- DSST Personal Finance (3)
- DSST Principles of Supervision (3)
- Udacity Introduction to Computer Science (3)
- Udacity Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (3)
- StraighterLine Accounting 1 (3)
- StraighterLine Accounting 2 (3)
- StraighterLine Managerial Accounting (3)
Based on what we know, now we're going to build a BA in LIBERAL ARTS example plan.
1. Written English Requirement (6):
StraighterLine English 101 (3) and English 102 (3)
2. Humanities (9):
CLEP Humanities (6)
DSST Art of the Western World (3)
3. Social Sciences & History (9):
CLEP Social Sciences and History (6)
DSST Human/Cultural Anthropology (3)
4. Natural Sciences & Mathematics (9):
ALEKS Intermediate Algebra (3)
ALEKS College Algebra (3)
DSST Environment and Humanity (3)
5. Additional Arts & Sciences credits (54 - 30 must be upper level; 2 categories must fulfill depth requirements)
Depth requirement 1 - Psychology (12 minimum, at least 3 upper level)
CLEP Introduction to Psychology (3)
ECE Abnormal Psychology (3 U)***
ECE Psychology of Adulthood and Aging (3 U)
ECE Social Psychology (3 U)
ECE Research Methods in Psychology (3 U)
Depth requirement 2 - History (12 minimum, at least 3 upper level)
DSST The Civil War and Reconstruction (3 U)
DSST Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union (3 U)
CLEP Western Civilization 1 (3)
CLEP Western Civilization 2 (3)
Other upper level credits
DSST Introduction to World Religions (3 U)
DSST Organizational Behavior (3 U)
ECE World Population (3 U)
ECE World Conflicts Since 1900 (3 U)***
*** This exam costs $325. For some reason. Search me.
Remaining Arts & Sciences credits
CLEP Introduction to Sociology (3)
CLEP Natural Sciences (6)
CLEP Analyzing & Interpreting Literature (6)
6. Capstone & Information Literacy (4)
EC Capstone Course (3)
EC Information Literacy (1)
7. Additional Applied Professional Credits or Additional Arts & Sciences (29)
StraighterLine Biology with Lab (4)
StraighterLine Chemistry with Lab (4)
Saylor Introduction to Western Political Thought (3)
Saylor Business Law & Ethics (3)
Saylor Corporate Communication (3)
CLEP Foreign Language (6 - 12)
CLEP American Literature (6)****
****Only if needed, depending on foreign language score.
And there we have it. An example of an Excelsior plan. Don't forget this is only an example. There are other options and choices out there, both in terms of other sources of credits, such as online courses and prior learning assessments, and other degree programs.
1. Written English Requirement (6):
StraighterLine English 101 (3) and English 102 (3)
2. Humanities (9):
CLEP Humanities (6)
DSST Art of the Western World (3)
3. Social Sciences & History (9):
CLEP Social Sciences and History (6)
DSST Human/Cultural Anthropology (3)
4. Natural Sciences & Mathematics (9):
ALEKS Intermediate Algebra (3)
ALEKS College Algebra (3)
DSST Environment and Humanity (3)
5. Additional Arts & Sciences credits (54 - 30 must be upper level; 2 categories must fulfill depth requirements)
Depth requirement 1 - Psychology (12 minimum, at least 3 upper level)
CLEP Introduction to Psychology (3)
ECE Abnormal Psychology (3 U)***
ECE Psychology of Adulthood and Aging (3 U)
ECE Social Psychology (3 U)
ECE Research Methods in Psychology (3 U)
Depth requirement 2 - History (12 minimum, at least 3 upper level)
DSST The Civil War and Reconstruction (3 U)
DSST Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union (3 U)
CLEP Western Civilization 1 (3)
CLEP Western Civilization 2 (3)
Other upper level credits
DSST Introduction to World Religions (3 U)
DSST Organizational Behavior (3 U)
ECE World Population (3 U)
ECE World Conflicts Since 1900 (3 U)***
*** This exam costs $325. For some reason. Search me.
Remaining Arts & Sciences credits
CLEP Introduction to Sociology (3)
CLEP Natural Sciences (6)
CLEP Analyzing & Interpreting Literature (6)
6. Capstone & Information Literacy (4)
EC Capstone Course (3)
EC Information Literacy (1)
7. Additional Applied Professional Credits or Additional Arts & Sciences (29)
StraighterLine Biology with Lab (4)
StraighterLine Chemistry with Lab (4)
Saylor Introduction to Western Political Thought (3)
Saylor Business Law & Ethics (3)
Saylor Corporate Communication (3)
CLEP Foreign Language (6 - 12)
CLEP American Literature (6)****
****Only if needed, depending on foreign language score.
And there we have it. An example of an Excelsior plan. Don't forget this is only an example. There are other options and choices out there, both in terms of other sources of credits, such as online courses and prior learning assessments, and other degree programs.
So can you believe it? We've made it through degree planning for all three of the Big Three schools. Yay, us! I think we deserve at least a half pint of Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Therapy for that! But before you run off and binge on some chocolatey goodness, there's one more step to finish. (Don't worry. This one is short.)
