Last month I announced that 15 Studycom courses were set to have their college credit evaluation expire on 02/28/2023. Well I have some big news to report! Spoiler alert: all got new versions!
What Happened with this Set of Courses: these courses were given entirely new date ranges to start on 3/1/2023. That leads me to believe that the changes were significant enough as to not be extendable by ACE. Keep in mind that Studycom does not have to disclose or share changes, this is simply a case of observing and drawing an obvious conclusion as an outsider. The “old” versions are expiring on 02/28/2023 and being replaced by “new” versions starting 3/1/2023.
| Course | ID Number | Course | Date Approved | Expiration | Credits | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Science 114: Programming in R | SDCM-0227 | Computer Science 114 | 3 | NEW VERSION 03/01/2023- 02/28/2026 | ||
| Computer Science 331: Cybersecurity Risk Analysis Management | SDCM-0222 | Computer Science 331 | 3 | NEW VERSION 03/01/2023- 02/28/2026 | ||
| Computer Science 307: Software Engineering | SDCM-0220 | Computer Science 307 | 3 | NEW VERSION 03/01/2023- 02/28/2026 | ||
| Computer Science 108: Introduction to Networking | SDCM-0213 | Computer Science 108 | 3 | NEW VERSION 03/01/2023- 02/28/2026 | ||
| Geometry 101: Introduction to Geometry | SDCM-0091 | Geometry 101 | 3 | NEW VERSION 03/01/2023- 02/28/2026 | ||
| English 105: College Composition II | SDCM-0089 | English 105 | 3 | NEW VERSION 03/01/2023- 02/28/2026 | ||
| Economics 101: Principles of Microeconomics | SDCM-0069 | Economics 101 | 3 | NEW VERSION 03/01/2023- 02/28/2026 | ||
| Finance 102: Personal Finance | SDCM-0059 | Finance 102 | 3 | NEW VERSION 03/01/2023- 02/28/2026 | ||
| English 104: College Composition l | SDCM-0057 | English 104 | 3 | NEW VERSION 03/01/2023- 02/28/2026 | ||
| Business 308: Globalization and International Management | SDCM-0054 | Business 308 | 3 | NEW VERSION 03/01/2023- 02/28/2026 | ||
| Humanities 101: Intro to Humanities | SDCM-0047 | Humanities 101 | 3 | NEW VERSION 03/01/2023- 02/28/2026 | ||
| Business 106: Human Resource Management | SDCM-0026 | Business 106 | 3 | NEW VERSION 03/01/2023- 02/28/2026 | ||
| History 101: Western Civilization I | SDCM-0011 | History 101 | 3 | NEW VERSION 03/01/2023- 02/28/2026 | ||
| Business 104: Information Systems and Computer Applications | SDCM-0008 | Business 104 | 3 | NEW VERSION 03/01/2023- 02/28/2026 | ||
| Science 101: Intro to Natural Sciences | SDCM-0004 | Science 101 | 3 | NEW VERSION 03/01/2023- 02/28/2026 |
What is ACE Evaluation?
ACE (American Council on Education) is a third party credit evaluator that evaluates all types of learning that happens outside of a college.
Many companies use ACE to evaluate their courses or credit by exam. When a course or exam is evaluated by ACE for college credit, it only holds that evaluation for a period of time (usually 3 years). At the end of that period, the company must seek to have their courses or exam renewed.
Without ACE evaluation, the likelihood of the course or exam being worth college credit is nearly ZERO.
Why do I care?
When a course or exam expires, one of 3 things will happen.
- The course or exam may be discontinued.
- The course or exam may be revised.
- The course or exam will be renewed for another 3+ years.
The Most Important Thing
We can’t know which of the 3 things will happen until after it does. It is important, however, that consumers are aware of these dates. If a course or exam is discontinued, you must have finished it before the discontinuation date for it to be worth college credit. If a course or exam is revised, the scope of the content may change or even the credit value. If a course is renewed, you can continue on business as usual.
What Usually Happens
Usually, a course or exam is renewed and any possible gap in the date range is back-dated by ACE to cover the students who may have completed a course or exam during the gap. In companies that have been around for a very long time, renewal usually happens and the consumer is none the wiser.
What Happened with this Set of Courses: these courses were given entirely new date ranges to start on 3/1/2023. That leads me to believe that the changes were significant enough as to not be extendable by ACE. Keep in mind that Studycom does not have to disclose or share changes, this is simply a case of observing and drawing an obvious conclusion as an outsider. The “old” versions are expiring on 02/28/2023 and being replaced by “new” versions starting 3/1/2023.
Don’t Panic, But Be Aware
ACE evaluations always expire. Every course or exam that receives an ACE evaluation (CLEP, AP, DSST, Studycom, Sophia, Saylor Academy, Straighterline, ALEKS, etc.) are “worth” college credit because of this ACE evaluation. As such, any company in the business of selling college credit products will be HIGHLY MOTIVATED to make sure the course or exam gets renewed.
What to do?
- If you’re close to finishing the course or taking the exam on this list that had an expiration date of 2/28/23, do it before the expiration date.
- If you can’t finish by then, contact Studycom and confirm that your course will be the new version.
