Category: Transfer Credit

Posted in financial aid, Scholarships, Transfer Credit, working

Saving and Shaving: Debt-Free College

Posted on by Jennifer Cook-DeRosa

Debt free college, is it possible?  It is- but it won’t be easy!  Debt-free college isn’t a matter of just having a huge bank account, rich uncle or perfect SAT scores.  Average parents with almost no college savings can send their (large) homeschool families to college debt-free, but it takes planning and exceptional motivation!

Who has time?  You have to make time.  As a homeschool parent, you’re in a prime position to dedicate an extra two or three hours per week to your new “job” as a high school guidance counselor and college financial aid planner.  If you need an extra nudge, know that those extra three hours per week (150 hours per year) can save you $50,000 or more per child! This might be the most important (and best-paying) part-time job you’ve ever had.

Important Steps to Debt-Free College

Make a commitment to avoid loans.   Not to be glossed over, some may be tempted to think “yeah, we’ll do what we can, but if we have to borrow, we will.” That approach almost always undermines your determination to go hard at a goal.  If you absolutely set a conviction to borrow ZERO dollars, you’ll be amazed at how resourceful you can become.  Plus, you need to know it’s possible – it is.

Calculate the tuition.  For a bachelor’s degree, your teen will earn 120 college credits.  Credits cost money, so figure out what the college expects you to pay per credit.  If it’s $200 per credit (x120) you’re looking at $24,000.  If it’s $500 per credit (x120) you’re looking at $60,000.  If it’s $2000 per credit, you’re looking at one of the most expensive colleges in the country- and there are about 50 in that price range!

Inexpensive tuition does not always equal an inexpensive degree. Saving the most money is usually dependent upon how many credits you can transfer in- keep reading.

Homeschool for college credit.  Homeschooling parents can align their teen’s high school courses with college credit opportunities, many of which are free or very low cost. College credit earned in high school costs about $35 per credit – roughly $100 per class.  There are more and less expensive options, but by paying for 1 college credit course each semester of high school, a family may pay only $200-$300 (cash) per year in tuition.  The average family who homeschools for college credit will graduate a teen with 1 year of college already complete.  A few very motivated families have graduated teens with 2 or more years, and a few have aligned their entire high school education to result in a bachelor’s degree at high school graduation.  Remember that homeschooling for college credit isn’t successful without a motivated student too.

Exploit transfer policy to the max.  Whether in high school or out, before your teen sets foot on their campus, be sure you’ve shaved off the maximum number of allowable transfer credits.  A good number of colleges (about 25% of them) allow you to transfer in 75% of your degree before you start!  The majority of colleges (about half) allow you to transfer in half your degree, and the remaining 25% of colleges have tight transfer criteria or don’t allow transfer at all.  Schools with tight / limited transfer policy will always require you to spend the most money.  While I would encourage you to reconsider your college choice, if you’re determined to attend a limited transfer school anyway, your teen will need to focus on earning everything through scholarships (see below).

Why transfer?  Because whatever the rack rate tuition is for your target college, you can find transfer credit for less money.  There are 30 ways to earn college credit on this website, and all are significantly less money than what your target college will charge for tuition.  Max out the transfer policy first!   If you want to see what this looks like, be sure to check out our Cost Maps – maximizing transfer credit is my superpower.  Before you write a single check, you should have the maximum allowable transfer- only then can you see what you *really* have to pay for.

Rack rate: $100,000 – max transfer (50%) = $50,000 left to pay

Rack rate: $80,000 – max transfer (30%) = $56,000 left to pay

As you can see, the rack rate is part of the math, but it’s not the full picture.  Assuming you will take advantage of max transfer (and pay a fraction of the cost) you can sometimes attend a more expensive college for less money.  This is before scholarships!

Rack rate:  $80,000 – max transfer (75%) = $20,000 left to pay

Rack rate:  $80,000 – max transfer (90%) = $8,000 left to pay

The trick is finding a way to earn college credit as early as possible (high school) for as cheaply as possible and max the transfer policy as fully as possible.  Remember that credit earned in high school averages about $35 per credit.  After high school, you can still keep earning transfer credit, and you can use the community college if necessary (averages about $100/credit).  No matter how you slice it, you want to get your “left to pay” amount as low as possible.

The amount you have left to pay is your starting point for funding!

Apply for scholarships.  Like any good extremist, I don’t mean applying for “a” scholarship, I mean applying for scholarships like it’s your job.  Every week. Every. Single. Week.  From now until your teen is walking across the stage and being handed their degree.  My good friend and scholarship guru Jocelyn Paonita Pearson is exceptionally skilled at teaching parents how to win with scholarships. She runs a company called The Scholarship System. If you’d like to hear what she’s all about, I highly recommend listening to her being interviewed on  Higher Ed Parthenon podcast (episode #22).  She has skills!! In short, no matter what your tuition balance after maxing out your transfer, you can probably cover it with scholarships.

Apply for financial aid.  I realize that this seems like it should happen “before” you apply for scholarships, but I want you to focus all of your effort on lowering your “left to pay” portion by getting it down to zero or close to it before you’ve ever filled out a single financial aid form.  Since high school students are not eligible for federal financial aid anyway, most of the credit earned toward your transfer max happens in high school or before enrollment.  In other words, Mom and Dad’s homework starts in high school!

The typical time to apply is October of their senior (12th grade) year.  You’ll begin by filling out the FAFSA. It’s an online form that everyone fills out and is used by all colleges.  The application is then sent to your selected colleges (assuming you have selected colleges) and a “package” is created by each college.  The package may include scholarships issued by the college based on SAT scores or other academic merits, and it may include a Pell Grant (up to $6,000) based on financial need – but the rest of the “package” is loans!  So when people say they don’t qualify for financial aid, they’re wrong- everyone qualifies for student loans (short of having a criminal history).

Refuse the loans.  Believe it or not, student loans are so common, that your college will create a “budget” for your student that not only includes tuition, but also their “living expenses” for the year.  When they’ve computed this (inflated) total, they’ll happily provide an opportunity to take a student loan to cover all the costs (real or imagined).  Refuse the loans! Debt free means no acquiring debt to pay for college, and if you accept the loans, you are taking on debt.  You can, however, accept any grants or scholarships that the college has to offer- these do not need to be repaid, they are gifts. You can also participate in a work-study or college-sponsored internship program (instead of a paycheck, the wage goes toward tuition or college credit).

Working, it’s what adults do.  If you’ve resourcefully planned your teen’s high school years, and you’ve maxed out their transfer credit allowance, and are applying for scholarships every week, I hope your balance left to pay is zero, but if it’s not, it’s time to go to work.  Work isn’t a punishment, it’s the entire point of earning a degree- to launch a career!

If your teen is studying to become a chef, they should work weekends in a restaurant.  Future nurses should work weekends as a CNA.  Computer specialists should work the help desk, and future anythings can work weekends as temporary anythings.  In short, working is for everyone.  If you can find a way to tie it into a future career, all the better.  If not, do it anyway.  A teen working weekends (15 hours) at minimum wage can contribute almost $5,000 per year toward tuition.  A summer working full time (at minimum wage) can generate another $3,000.  If your teen chooses carefully, some employers will pay a portion of their tuition too! 

recipeRecipe for Debt Free College

From the kitchen of Chef Jennifer Cook-DeRosa
Amount Ingredient
5 minutes Commitment
5 minutes Tuition calculation
3 years Homeschool for College Credit
   
   
Method of Preparation

 1.  Blend your commitment and tuition calculation in a large bowl.

2.  Homeschool for college credit while resourcefully planning and correcting for time, talent, and temperament.

3.  Bake for 3 years.

4.  During the final year of baking, apply for scholarships and financial aid.  Be sure to refuse the loans, or they’ll ruin your recipe!

5.  Adjust for seasoning to taste with a little bit of hard work.

 

 

Posted in ACE, Free Tuition, Self-Paced Learning, Sophia, Transfer Credit

Sources of Free College Credits

Posted on by Jennifer Cook-DeRosa

This fantastic list was put together by a couple members of the InstantCert forum community.  I encourage you to visit the forum if you’re considering distance learning boy1colleges for your teen- it’s the single best resource on the web.

As a homeschooler of high school students, here’s what you should know before you read on:

ALL (but one) of these freebies awards ACE credit.  As such, their transfer is very limited.  If your teen is several years away from high school graduation and selecting a target college, you may want to use these just for fun, and if he gets credit later- that’s a bonus.  You can bundle these together into high school electives too.  But, if you’re getting close to enrollment or you’ve already selected a target college, you’ll want to confirm that they accept ACE credit before investing too much time in these.

See my previous posts on colleges that accept ACE courses for college credit and setting up your teen’s ACE account.

Understanding expiration dates:  whenever a course or exam is evaluated for college credit by ACE, they set a date range of usually a few years.  During that time, completing the course or exam allows you to earn college credit.  When a course or exam has “expired” that means the window for college credit has closed.  Frequently, a course or exam is renewed, and the dates will extend out another few years, but occasionally we have seen courses permanently expire.  AS LONG AS you complete a course and get it onto your ACE transcript before an expiration date, the credit is good and you can use it at any point in the future.

The Institutes (2 college credits)

The American Institute For Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters (commonly referred to as “The Institutes”) offer a free ethics course that is ACE recommended for 2 credits. (deadline to participate 1/31/2019)

Course consists of reading modules followed by an online exam.  Approximate time needed to complete the course and exam:  less than 1 day

  • 312N-H Ethics and the CPCU Code of Professional Conduct (2 credits) – an upper-level ethics/philosophy course that meets TESU‘s General Education “ethics” requirement. (it meets 2 of the 3 credit requirement – you might have to ask for an exception to be made for the last credit, but typically this is automatically granted. The 3rd credit can be made up as a general ed elective).

To signup, use the following link: http://www.theinstitutes.org/comet/learning_modules/cpcu_ethics.htm

Select the FREE option. You should not do the $5 option. The paid option is for “Continuing Education credit,” which is different than college credit. The free version is ACE approved for college credit.

National Fire Academy (1 college credit)

EXPIRED ON 9/30/2018

  • Q0118 Self-Study Course for Community Safety Educators  (1 credit)

The National Emergency Training Center/National Fire Academy (NFA) offers one free course that is ACE-recommended for 1 credit. To signup, use the following link and find Q0118 on the list: National Fire Academy Course List

After you are enrolled, use this login URL to take the classes: NFA Login

Sophia – (2 college credits)

Sophia offers a number of paid ACE-approved courses that are fairly expensive. team2However, they do offer 2 free 1 credit courses:

  • Developing Effective Teams (1 credit)
  • Essentials of Managing Conflict (1 credit)

You can sign up for the courses at Sophia.org

Course consists of video-based modules and short quizzes followed by an online exam.  Approximate time needed to complete one course and exam:  less than 1 day

TEEX Cybersecurity (6 college credits)

Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) offers three ACE-approved courses recommended for 2 credits each. These are DHS/FEMA funded and therefore free for the general public to take.  (POTENTIAL EXPIRATION ON 1/31/2019.  Check HERE before proceeding)  

  • Cyber 101 – Cybersecurity for Everyone (2 credits)
    • Must complete all 3:
      • Cyber Law and White Collar Crime
      • Cyber Ethics
      • Information Security for Everyone
  • Cyber 201 – Cybersecurity for IT Professionals (2 credits)
    • Must complete all 4:
      • Network Assurance
      • Digital Forensics Basics
      • Information Security Basics
      • Secure Software
  • Cyber 301 – Cybersecurity for Business Professionals (2 credits)
    • Must complete all 3:
      • Cyber Incident Analysis and Response
      • Disaster Recovery for Information Systems
      • Information Risk Management

To signup, use the following link and make sure you complete each mini-class in each main class before submitting to ACE.   https://teex.org/Pages/Program.aspx?catID=607 

After you are enrolled, use this login URL to take the classes: https://my.teex.org

Course consists of reading long modules and taking many quizzes.  Approximate time needed to complete EACH course:  1 day-3 days.

 

FEMA Independent Study (over 40 college credits)

  • NOTE: FEMA is NOT ACE evaluated for credit.  As such, FEMA IS courses are only acceptable as transfer credit at Charter Oak State College and two other small 2-year colleges.  IF you’re planning to attend COSC, you can still apply some FEMA courses to your degree, but COSC hasn’t set a limit. I’m hearing between 3 and 9.  Cost:  $0 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency operates an online Independent Study program offering approximately 197 courses online for free. Anyone can take FEMA courses for high school credit or for fun, but only the following courses are approved for college credit:

The current list of  FEMA courses worth college credit can be found here.

Course consists of reading modules followed by an online exam.  Approximate time needed to complete each course and exam:  1 day

Saylor Academy (over 100 college credits)

Saylor is 100% free if you can find a local proctor to administer your final exam. If you have to use Saylor’s online proctoring service, the cost is $25 per course.

More about Saylor Academy

Course consists of optional reading modules and links to videos and a final exam (proctored).  Approximate time needed to complete the course: NA

 

Posted in Transfer Credit

Will it transfer? That’s the wrong question.

Posted on by Jennifer Cook-DeRosa

I’m sure you’ve heard stories about students whose credit didn’t transfer for some reason or another. We’re going to look at “some reason or another” in this post!

road closed

This post is for parents worried about earning college credit while their teen is in high school.  If your teen is already out of high school and enrolled in college somewhere, planning transfer is easy:  call your college advisor.  They’ll tell you, and help you plan.

For high school parents, I know you want to ask “Will it transfer?” The problem is that for high school planning that’s the wrong question.  A high school student is years away from enrollment, thus it is impossible to “lock” your teen into a college policy in advance of them being a college student! In short, you can’t get any promises from a college until after your teen has enrolled at the college.  Once they are enrolled, they’re “locked” into that college’s academic catalog, and you can make decisions within that catalog’s policies.

Homeschooled high school students are earning college credit 2, 3, 4, or more years before it intends to be used!  This means you have to know how to spot the issues that derail successful transfer and avoid them with your teen.

Planning for future college admissions isn’t as hard when you think like a college employee instead of thinking like a homeschool parent!

Colleges differ widely in their acceptance of credit, but they’re predictably and boringly similar in how they disqualify credit from being transferred. The best question you must ask and the right approach to use as plan your teen’s homeschool for college credit journey is:

“Will this class be disqualified from transfer?”

By knowing and then avoiding classes that are commonly disqualified, you improve the likelihood of successful transfer a zillion-fold.  (Maybe not a zillion-fold, but a lot!)  I’m not going to tell you which courses are disqualifiable, I’m going to teach you how to assess this yourself and your family!

Use these 6 tests to see if the course is a good risk or a poor risk. If you can answer “yes” to each, you’re probably going to have a successful transfer. If you hit a “no” anywhere on this list…disqualification is likely.

1. Is the class offered through a university or college? If yes, proceed to #2.

WHY? Many businesses offer classes “for college credit,” through partnerships with specific colleges and the American Council of Education (ACE). Examples of these businesses include Straighterline, ALEKS, CollegePlus, Lumerit, Sophia, Coursera, Study.com, etc. If you’re not planning to attend a college on that business’ partnership list, stop now. These courses rarely, if ever, transfer elsewhere.

2. Is the university or college regionally accredited? If yes, proceed to #3.

WHY? Colleges that are NOT regionally accredited (RA) almost never transfer into colleges that ARE regionally accredited. Public community colleges and universities ARE always regionally accredited, so the likelihood that they’d accept an NON-RA credit in transfer is tiny. Non RA colleges can be legitimate schools with different accreditation, but strictly in the question of future transfer, only choose RA courses in high school. Check accreditation for any college here:  U.S. Department of Accreditation Database  If you find that the college is not regionally accredited, stop now.

3. Can regular college students pay for this course using federal financial aid? If yes, proceed to #4.

WHY? Though you won’t be using financial aid with your high school student, courses that don’t qualify for financial aid are probably professional development or continuing education programs, which almost never transfer. Dig deeper.  If the course doesn’t qualify, my advice is to stop now.  

4. Locate the name of the department offering the course. Is this course part of a degree program that leads to an award with the letters AA, BA, AS, or BS? If yes, proceed to #5.

WHY?  Those degrees/awards contain courses intended for transfer, specifically general education courses.  If this course is not part of a degree program, or it is part of a credential with a different name like Certificate, Diploma, Associate of Applied Science, Associate Occupational Science, or any degree with the word “Technology” in the title, transfer is unlikely.  The course you’re considering is possibly for career training, not college transfer.  If your teen’s ultimate goal is an Associate of Applied Science degree from the school you’re considering for dual enrollment, you’re probably ok.  If a transfer is planned, either into a different Associate of Applied Science degree program or a 4-year school, stop now. 

5. Is the course’s alpha-numerical 100 or higher? For instance, the number in ENG101 is 101.  ENG101 has an alpha-numeric higher than 100. If yes, proceed to #6.

WHY? The majority of colleges use 100-400 numbers to indicate level. Courses under 100 level (085, 060, etc.) are possibly “developmental” and not eligible for college credit. If the college uses this system, and the course is not at least 100 level, stop now.  A handful of colleges have their own system that looks nothing like this one.  If that’s the case, call and ask.  

100 and 200 are freshman/sophomore lower level. 300 and 400 are junior / senior upper level.  Community college courses generally have a good selection of remedial (under 100) courses but do not go higher than 200. Universities don’t always offer courses under 100-level, but can offer courses all the way through 600 (masters/doctorate).  

6. Does this course appear in the college’s list of approved general education courses?

If yes, congratulations! You’re as close to a sure thing as you can get. You’ve passed the test of 6 key dis-qualifiers.

jump

What now?  Proceed!   You’re as solid as you can be at this point.  I do have one final warning to those of you with very young teens who are taking college courses very early. Occasionally, some colleges (NOT the majority) will put “expiration dates” on hard sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, etc.) and technology (computer science, etc.).  It’s unlikely that you already have your teen’s target college selected at this point, so best bet is to choose non-science and technology courses now (English, social science, humanities, math) and wait for the 11th grade to take the hard sciences or computer courses.

 

Posted in ACE, Transfer Credit

The “REAL” ACE College List

Posted on by Jennifer Cook-DeRosa

Non-college-issued credit comes from many places:  Straighterline, ALEKS, Sophia, EdX, Saylor, Study.com, Lumerit/College Plus, Advanced Placement, CLEP, military training, licenses, certifications, and many, many others.  They are “worth” college credit because their curriculum or exam has been evaluated by a third party called ACE (American Council on Education) and has been determined to be worth a certain number of credits. As an example, ACE determined completion of Military Bootcamp is worth 6 college credits! Though other third party credit evaluators exist, ACE is the largest and oldest- frankly, they are the primary trusted evaluator in the United States.

Some colleges will accept “all ACE credit” – that is to say, if your credit appears on an ACE transcript, they will give you college credit.  The number of colleges in this category is very small.  My estimation is that it is fewer than 50.

Some colleges will accept “ACE credit” but don’t go so far as to say “all” and will consider, but not guarantee, acceptance. My estimation is fewer than 250 fall into this category.

2,000 colleges are part of the “ACE Network” which ACE publishes the list of colleges who will “consider” your work for college credit.  In no way, shape, or form, do 2,000 colleges award credit for ACE.  Being in the network does not mean they award credit.

What does it mean to be part of the ACE Network?

As I found out with my oldest son in 2013, it does NOT mean that the college will consider ACE credit for you- it might mean that they teach it!  Our local community college is on the list, so imagine my surprise when they denied 27 of my son’s ACE credits in transfer (ALEKS math and Straighterline).  I decided to probe deeper (they were on the list, after all!) and found that our local community college offered a carpentry course through the continuing education (non-credit) department, and successful completion of that course led to 3 ACE credits in carpentry.  In other words, our community college was on the list because they taught a course that generated ACE credit, not because they awarded credit for ACE work.  Yes, I appealed.  No, he didn’t receive credit. Ouch.

RULE 1:  Don’t assume colleges on the ACE Network list will award your teen college credit for their ACE courses.

As I appealed my son’s credit decision, I grew frustrated by advisor after advisor who didn’t know what ACE was, or what kind of credit he’d earned.  I shouldn’t have been too frustrated because I remember myself having advised students at the community college for about 10 years before I knew what CLEP was….or that we were a testing center.  Eventually, when I found someone (the Registrar) who knew what ACE credit was, she was able to explain to me why our community college was on the list and told me all about the carpentry course.   Scenarios have played out like this have played out dozens of times among our membership.  I frequently hear of parents being bounced around to 4-5 people just trying to find out if the college accepts Straighterline credit!

If you’re constantly told that they don’t know what ACE credit is, or if they accept it, or want you to “submit your transcripts first” before giving you information, you can ask if they award credit for military training.  Military training usually appears on an ACE transcript, so even though your teen won’t have military training for evaluation, this could be a “clue” that ACE credit may be awarded.  Again, we’re trying to predict based on an incomplete picture, but how colleges behave in one situation is usually a good indication of how they’ll do other things – so it’s worth asking if you’re out of options.

RULE 2:  Don’t assume that college personnel are familiar with ACE credit. ACE credit is probably the least frequent type of credit they encounter.  You’ll have to be patient and persistent.

As someone constantly tracking this type of information, I am so frustrated when I can’t share a “list” with our membership.  Asking for a list is a frequent question, and frankly, there isn’t one.  So, instead, I’ll share what I know- and you can work from there.  I have found, that several ACE credit sources have credit transfer partnerships with specific colleges.  For example, Saylor Academy has partnership agreements with 20 colleges.  Those 20 colleges have agreed (in writing) to accept Saylor’s courses for college credit.  That list is a great list to use as a starting point- which is to say that if those 20 colleges accept Saylor courses, they probably will accept other ACE evaluated course provider’s courses! The Alternative Credit Project partnered with 40 schools, and Straighterline another 100+.

RULE 3:  When one ACE credit source has a partnership agreement with a college, it is reasonable to infer that the same college will also accept other ACE credit sources.  

If you visit each ACE provider’s website, you can find their partnership agreements. Here is a small sample of ACE providers:

Study.com partnership colleges

edX partnership colleges (includes graduate level partnerships)

Saylor Academy partnership colleges

Straighterline partnership colleges

As you browse the lists, you’ll see that there is some overlap of schools, but there are many listings that appear on only one list.  It is my observation, that if a college appears on any list above, you’ll have an excellent shot at getting them to accept your other sources of ACE credit- at the very least, you should try.

So, the following list is the list I created by merging all known partner college relationships with ACE credit providers I could find.  In other words- this list, not the ACE Network list, is probably as close to any “real ACE list” as you’ll ever find, and it contains about 145 colleges (not 2,000).   

RA = Regionally Accredited

NA= Nationally Accredited

COLLEGE NAME COLLEGE ADDRESS COLLEGE WEBSITE
Alderson Broaddus University 101 College Hill Drive, Philippi WV 26416 http://ab.edu
American Business and Technology University 1018 West St. Maartens Drive, St. Joseph, Missouri 64506 http://abtu.edu/online/
American College of Education 101 West Ohio St., Suite 1200, Indianapolis, IN 46204 http://www.ace.edu/
American Intercontinental University 231 N. Martingale Road, 6th Floor, Schaumburg, IL 60173 http://www.aiuniv.edu/
American Military University (RA) 111 West Congress Street, Charles Town, WV 25414 http://www.amu.apus.edu/
American Public University (RA) 111 West Congress Street, Charles Town, WV 25414 http://www.apus.edu/
American Sentinel University 2260 South Xanadu Way, Suite 310, Aurora, CO 80014 http://www.americansentinel.edu/
Antioch University Midwest 900 Dayton Street, Yellow Springs, OH 45387 https://www.antioch.edu/midwest/
Antioch University Online https://www.antioch.edu/auonline/
Antioch University Santa Barbara 602 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 https://www.antioch.edu/santa-barbara/
Antioch University Seattle 2400 3rd Avenue, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98121 https://www.antioch.edu/seattle/
Arapahoe Community College (RA) 5900 S. Santa Fe Drive, Littleton, CO 80120-1801 https://www.arapahoe.edu/
Argosy University (RA) 601 South Lewis Street, Orange, CA 92868 https://www.argosy.edu/
Ashford University 8620 Spectrum Center Blvd, San Diego, CA 92123 https://www.ashford.edu/
Baker College https://www.baker.edu/
Bastyr University (RA) 14500 Juanita Dr NE, Kenmore, WA 98028 bastyr.edu/
Bay State College 122 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02116 http://www.baystate.edu/
Bellevue University (RA) 1000 Galvin Road South, Bellevue, Nebraska 68005 http://www.bellevue.edu/
Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology 41 Berkeley Street Boston, MA 02116 http://www.bfit.edu/
Berkeley College Box 440, Little Falls, NJ 07424 http://berkeleycollege.edu/
Bethel College of Indiana 1001 Bethel Circle, Mishawaka, IN 46545 http://www.bethelcollege.edu/
Bethel University 3900 Bethel Drive, St. Paul, MN 55112 https://www.bethel.edu/
Brandman University  16355 Laguna Canyon Road, Irvine, CA 92618 https://www.brandman.edu/
California Southern University (NA) 3330 Harbor Blvd, Costa Mesa, California 92626 https://www.calsouthern.edu/
Capella University RA) 225 South 6th Street, 9th Floor, Minneapolis, MN 55402 https://www.capella.edu/
Capitol Technology University 11301 Springfield Road, Laurel, MD 20708 http://www.captechu.edu/
Cecil College One Seahawk Drive, North East, MD 21901 http://www.cecil.edu
Cedar Valley College 3030 N. Dallas Ave., Lancaster, TX 75134 https://www.cedarvalleycollege.edu/
Central Michigan University  1200 S. Franklin St., Mount Pleasant, Mich. 48859 www.cmich.edu
Central Penn College 600 Valley Rd., P.O. Box 309, Summerdale, PA 17093-0309 http://www.centralpenn.edu/
Charter Oak State College (RA) 55 Paul Manafort Dr, New Britain, CT 06053 https://www.charteroak.edu/
City University of Seattle 521 Wall Street, Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98121 http://www.cityu.edu/
City Vision University 3101 Troost Ave. Suite 200, Kansas City MO 64109-1845 http://www.cityvision.edu/
College of St. Josephs 71 Clement Road, Rutland, VT 05701 https://www.csj.edu/
Colorado Northwestern Community College (RA) https://www.cncc.edu/
Colorado State University Global Campus (RA) 7800 East Orchard Road, Suite 200 , Greenwood Village, CO 80111 https://csuglobal.edu/
Colorado Technical University 231 N. Martingale Road, 7th Floor, Schaumburg, IL 60173 http://www.coloradotech.edu/
Community College of Aurora (RA) 16000 East CentreTech Parkway, Aurora, Colorado 80011-9036 https://www.ccaurora.edu/
Community College of Denver (RA) 1111 W. Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO 80204 https://www.ccd.edu/
Concordia University Irvine 1530 Concordia West, Irvine, CA 92612 http://www.cui.edu/en-us
Concordia University St. Paul 1282 Concordia Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55104 https://www.csp.edu/
CUNY City University of New York (RA) 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031 https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/
Davenport University Grand Rapids, Michigan https://www.davenport.edu/
DeVry University 1200 East Diehl Road, Naperville, IL 60563 https://www.devry.edu/
Excelsior College (RA) 7 Columbia Circle, Albany, NY 12203-5159 http://www.excelsior.edu/
Fayetteville State University (RA) 1200 Murchison Road, Fayetteville, NC 28301 http://www.uncfsu.edu/
Fisher College 118 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02116 http://www.fisher.edu/
Franklin Pierce University 40 University Drive, Rindge, NH 03461-0060 http://www.franklinpierce.edu/
Franklin University (RA) 201 S. Grant Ave., Columbus, OH 43215 http://www.franklin.edu/
Front Range Community College 2190 Miller Drive, Longmont, CO 80501 https://www.frontrange.edu/
Goodwin College One Riverside Drive, East Hartford, CT 06118 http://www.goodwin.edu/
Grace College 200 Seminary Drive Winona Lake, Indiana 46590 http://www.grace.edu/
Grambling State University 403 Main Street, Grambling, Louisiana 71245 http://www.gram.edu/
Granite State University 25 Hall Street, Concord, NH 03301 https://www.granite.edu/
Great Bay Community College (RA) 320 Corporate Drive, Portsmouth NH 03801 http://greatbay.edu/
Harrisburg University of Science and Tech.  326 Market St, Harrisburg, PA 17101 http://harrisburgu.edu/
Herzing University W140N8917 Lilly Road, Menomonee Falls, WI 53051 https://www.herzing.edu/
Indiana Tech  1600 E. Washington Blvd., Fort Wayne, IN 46803 https://www.indianatech.edu/
Indiana Wesleyan University 4201 S. Washington St.,Marion, IN 46953 https://www.indwes.edu/
Jefferson Community and Technical College (RA) 109 East Broadway, Louisville, KY 40202 https://jefferson.kctcs.edu/
John F. Kennedy University 100 Ellinwood Way, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523-4817 https://www.jfku.edu/
Kaplan University (RA) http://www.kaplanuniversity.edu/
Kendall College 900 N. North Branch Street, Chicago, IL 60642 https://www.kendall.edu/
Lakeland University W3718 South Drive, Plymouth, WI 53073-4878 https://lakeland.edu/
Lamar Community College (RA) 2401 South Main Street, Lamar, Colorado 81052 https://lamarcc.edu/
Liberty University (RA) 1971 University Blvd, Lynchburg, Va. 24515 http://www.liberty.edu/
Life Pacific College 1100 West Covina Boulevard, San Dimas, California 91773 http://lifepacific.edu/
Lipscomb University One University Park Drive, Nashville, TN 37204-3951 http://www.lipscomb.edu/
Lynn University 3601 N. Military Trail, Boca Raton, FL 33431 https://www.lynn.edu/
Martinsburg College 341 Aikens Center, Martinsburg, WV 25404 http://martinsburgcollege.edu/
McNeese State University 4205 Ryan Street, Lake Charles, LA http://www.mcneese.edu/
Mercy College 555 Broadway, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522 https://www.mercy.edu/
Monroe College 2501 Jerome Avenue, Bronx, NY 10468 https://www.monroecollege.edu/
Monroe Community College (RA) 1000 East Henrietta Road, Rochester, New York 14623 http://www.monroecc.edu/
Morgan Community College (RA) 920 Barlow Rd., Fort Morgan, CO 80701 http://www.morgancc.edu/
Mount Vernon Nazarene University 800 Martinsburg Road, Mount Vernon, Ohio, 43050 http://mvnu.edu/
National Louis University 122 S. MICHIGAN AVENUE, CHICAGO, IL 60603 https://www.nl.edu/
New England College 98 Bridge Street, Henniker, NH 03242 http://www.nec.edu/
New England College of Business 10 High St., Ste. 204, Boston, MA 02110-1605 https://www.necb.edu/
New York Chiropractic College 2360 State Rte. 89 Seneca Falls, New York 13148 http://www.nycc.edu/
Nichols College 129 Center Road, Dudley MA 01571 http://www.nichols.edu/
Northcentral University 2488 Historic Decatur Rd, Suite 100, San Diego, CA 92106 https://www.ncu.edu/
Northeastern Junior College 100 College Avenue, Sterling, Colorado 80751 http://www.njc.edu/
Northwestern Health Sciences University 2501 W. 84th St., Bloomington, MN 55431 https://www.nwhealth.edu/
Northwestern State University 175 Sam Sibley Dr, Natchitoches, LA 71497 https://www.nsula.edu/
Norwich University 158 Harmon Drive, Northfield, VT 05663 http://www.norwich.edu/
Notre Dame College 4545 College Road, South Euclid, Ohio 44121-4293 http://www.notredamecollege.edu/
Olivet Nazarene University One University Avenue, Bourbonnais, Illinois 60914-2345 http://www.olivet.edu/
Otero Junior College 1802 Colorado Ave. , La Junta, CO 81050 http://www.ojc.edu/
Pacific Oaks College 55 W Eureka St. Pasadena, CA 91103 https://www.pacificoaks.edu/
Patten University 2100 Franklin Street, Suite 350, Oakland, CA  94612 http://patten.edu/
Paul Smith’s College 7833 New York 30, Paul Smiths, NY 12970 http://www.paulsmiths.edu/
Pikes Peak Community College (RA) 5675 S Academy Blvd, Colorado Springs, CO 80906 https://www.ppcc.edu/
Pillar College 60 Park Place, Suite 701, Newark, NJ 07102 http://www.pillar.edu/
Pine Manor College 400 Heath Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 http://www.pmc.edu/
Rasmussen College 1415 West 22nd Street, Suite 400, Oak Brook, IL 60523 https://www.rasmussen.edu/
Red Rocks Community College (RA) 13300 W. 6th Ave, Lakewood, CO 80228 http://www.rrcc.edu/
Regis University 3333 Regis Boulevard, Denver, Colorado 80221-1099 http://www.regis.edu/
Rio Salado College 2323 West 14th Street, Tempe, AZ 85281 http://www.riosalado.edu
Saint Joseph’s College PO Box 870, Rensselaer, IN 47978 http://www.saintjoe.edu/
Seward County Community College (RA) 1801 N Kansas, PO Box 1137, Liberal, Kansas, 67905 http://www.sccc.edu
Simpson University 2211 College View Drive, Redding, CA 96003 http://simpsonu.edu/
Sinclair College 444 West Third Street, Dayton, Ohio 45402 http://www.sinclair.edu/
St. Catherine University 2004 Randolph Avenue , St. Paul, MN 55105 https://www.stkate.edu/
Strayer University (RA) http://www.strayer.edu/
Sullivan University 3101 Bardstown Road, Louisville, KY 40205 https://sullivan.edu/
SUNY Empire State College (RA) Two Union Avenue, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 https://www.esc.edu/
Tennessee State University (RA) 3500 John A. Merritt Boulevard, Nashville, TN 37209 http://www.tnstate.edu/
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology 325 N Wells, Chicago, IL 60654-1822 https://www.thechicagoschool.edu/
Thomas Edison State University (RA) 111 W. STATE ST. TRENTON, NJ 08608 http://www.tesu.edu/
Tiffin University 155 Miami St, Tiffin, OH 44883 http://www.tiffin.edu/
Touro University Worldwide 10601 Calle Lee, Suite 179, Los Alamitos, CA 90720 http://www.tuw.edu/
Trident University International 5757 Plaza Drive, Suite 100, Cypress, CA 90630 https://www.trident.edu
Trinidad State Junior College 600 Prospect Street, Trinidad, CO 81082 http://www.trinidadstate.edu/
Truckee Meadows Community College (RA) 7000 Dandini Boulevard, Reno, NV 89512 http://www.tmcc.edu/
Union College 807 UNION STREET SCHENECTADY, NY 12308 https://www.union.edu/
Union Institute & University (RA) 440 East McMillan Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45206 https://myunion.edu/
United States Sports Academy One Academy Drive, Daphne, Alabama 36526 https://ussa.edu/
University of Baltimore 1420 N. Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21201 http://www.ubalt.edu
University of Bridgeport 126 Park Avenue, Bridgeport, CT 06604 http://www.bridgeport.edu/
University of Louisiana at Monroe 700 University Avenue, Monroe, LA 71209 http://ulm.edu/
The University of Maine, Presque Isle (RA) Presque Isle, ME 04769   http://www.umpi.edu/
University of Maryland University College (RA) 3501 University Blvd. East, Adelphi, MD 20783 http://www.umuc.edu/
University of Memphis Memphis, TN 38152 http://www.memphis.edu/
University of Phoenix (RA) 1625 W. Fountainhead Pkwy, Tempe, AZ 85282-2371 http://www.phoenix.edu/
University of the Incarnate Word 4301 Broadway, San Antonio, Texas 78209 http://www.uiw.edu/
University of the Potomac 2070 Chain Bridge Rd, Suite G100, Vienna, Virginia 22182 https://potomac.edu
University of Western States  2900 NE 132nd Avenue Portland, Oregon 97230 https://www.uws.edu/
Upper Iowa University (RA) 605 Washington Street | P.O. Box 1857, Fayette, Iowa 52142 http://www.uiu.edu/
Urban College of Boston 178 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02111 http://www.urbancollege.edu/
Utica College 1600 Burrstone Road | Utica, NY 13502 http://www.utica.edu/
Walden University (RA) 100 Washington Avenue South, Suite 900, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401 https://www.waldenu.edu/
Western Governors University (RA) 4001 South 700 East, Suite 700,  Salt Lake City, UT 84107 https://www.wgu.edu/
Western Governors University-Indiana (RA) 4001 South 700 East, Suite 700,  Salt Lake City, UT 84107 http://indiana.wgu.edu/
Western Governors University-Missouri (RA) 4001 South 700 East, Suite 700,  Salt Lake City, UT 84107 http://missouri.wgu.edu/
Western Governors University-Nevada (RA) 4001 South 700 East, Suite 700,  Salt Lake City, UT 84107 http://nevada.wgu.edu/
Western Governors University-Tennessee (RA) 4001 South 700 East, Suite 700,  Salt Lake City, UT 84107 http://tennessee.wgu.edu/
Western Governors University-Texas (RA) 4001 South 700 East, Suite 700,  Salt Lake City, UT 84107 http://texas.wgu.edu/
Western Governors University-Washington (RA) 4001 South 700 East, Suite 700,  Salt Lake City, UT 84107 http://washington.wgu.edu/
Wilmington University 320 N. DuPont Hwy, New Castle, DE 19720 http://www.wilmu.edu/
Wisconsin Lutheran College 8800 West Bluemound Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226 http://www.wlc.edu/


*note- it may not seem like it, but this project took quite a bit of work – most providers used only college logos- not text (how crafty of them) so I had to hand write the list here for you.   Remember, there is no incentive for businesses to “share” or “merge” lists because it is in their best interest for you to use their products and NOT those of their competitor!  

UPDATE:  My deepest gratitude to Amy B. for generously and painstakingly looking up all of these college’s addresses and websites!! I know how long projects like this take, and I am so thankful!!!!

 

Posted in Credit Laundering, Transfer Credit

Credit Laundering

Posted on by Jennifer Cook-DeRosa

Colleges are highly predictable in how they handle incoming credit, but people are exceptionally creative, and it doesn’t take long before a bright student tries to find a credit acceptance loophole.

The question is usually something like this “ABC College doesn’t accept CLEP credit, but XYZ College does.  Can I enroll at XYZ college, get CLEP credit on my transcript, and then just transfer over to ABC College with all my CLEP credit?”

or, another variation…

“ABC College doesn’t accept Straighterline credit. How does Straighterline credit appear on a transcript from XYZ?  Does it say ‘Straighterline’ on it?”

and still…

“My college doesn’t accept ACE credit, but if I can get it on a transcript from another college first, will I be able to use it then?”

These are all variations of the same idea:  credit laundering.  Credit laundering is a crafty term (if I do say so myself) I started using in 2008 to explain the concept of “washing” credit from one institution and presenting it as “new” credit to a different institution.  The short answer:  you can’t do it.

Since colleges are predictable, it pays to understand the concept of how transfer credit (especially non-traditional transfer credit) is evaluated for use.  Imagine every location you’ve earned credit from gives you an Easter egg. CLEP eggs are red, DSST eggs are blue, ABC Community College eggs are green, etc.

You can put your eggs into a basket and take them to any college. That college will look at each egg, accept/deny each egg individually, and put together a list of acceptable eggs on a transcript. The color of the egg never changes.

Every time you pick up your eggs and take them to a new school, they’re all in a basket together, but they retain their original colors, so the transcript each college writes for you is irrelevant.  Each new college decides which eggs will be accepted or denied, no matter how many times you’ve put them into a new basket.  Egg color never changes.  Except when…

The single exception is when an articulation agreement exists between one college (usually a community college) and a second college (usually a university). Upon completion of your degree at college 1, your eggs are all painted gold. The degree changed the color of the eggs.  College 2 now receives a basket of golden eggs, and they accept that basket as payment in full for your first 60 credits, no questions asked.

I’m sure you’re going to ask, so let me help you.   If college 2 isn’t in an articulation agreement with college 1, the paint washes off and you’re back to a basket of individually colored eggs.  (this is why “any AA” degree doesn’t transfer into “every” college or university)  In addition, if you didn’t complete the requirements of the agreement (leaving college a few credits short….) then you’re eggs haven’t been painted and you’re back where you started.  Finish your articulation agreement!

GoldenEgg