|
|
Adult learners have special needs and particular concerns which are quite different from traditional college-age students. You need all the resources and support you can get! One such resource is the
academic advisor. Academic advisors guide students in defining their intellectual interests and career goals, as well as help plan an appropriate degree or course of study.
Su Flickinger holds a Ed.D. in Education and has advised thousands of adults returning to college. Read more for advice, tips, and suggestions!
-
eLearners Talks to an Advisor
And Gets the Answers You Need to Have!
eLearners:
"A lot of adults are searching for 'Degree Completion Programs.' Can
you talk about those a bit? What are they? Who do they work for? When
aren't they the right thing? How do you find the right one?"
Su:
"Degree completion programs are offered at the bachelor's level and are
usually set up to help the student finish the BS or BA fairly
quickly. They almost always have a requirement that the student
will come up with a specific number of acceptable transfer credit or,
in some instances, with an associate's degree. The minimum number
of credits is usually 60 semester hours (equal to 90 quarter hours) and
in most cases those 60 semester credits (90 quarter credits) must have
fulfilled most or all of the general education requirements (these are
courses in English composition, humanities, social sciences, math, and
science). The program is often focused on the major requirements
and is largely upper level (junior/senior level for traditional
students) courses.
Each school that offers a degree completion program sets it up a little
differently, with more or less flexibility in terms of the courses
accepted and required. Some programs will accept an associate's
degree as the equivalent of all the general education requirements,
even if there is not a one to one match of the courses. Others
require a list of specific courses that one must have in order to be
accepted into the program. The kinds of majors I have seen
offered through degree completion are largely in the business and
computer fields.
These programs can be great for people who already have an associate's
degree or have a lot of credits (60+ semester hours or 90+ quarter
hours) in the arts & sciences fields (humanities, social sciences,
math, science). If you have fewer credits than that, but are
interested in a particular degree completion program, talk with the
school to see what else you would need to be able to get into the
program and focus on getting those courses at a community college and
then transferring. If you have a lot more than 60 semester hours or 90
quarter hours, watch out! Some degree completion programs won’t accept
more than that in transfer. So, you may lose credit relative to
enrolling in a “regular” bachelors program that may accept a lot more
than 60 or 90 transfer hours.
Degree completion programs can often help you finish up your bachelor's
degree more quickly than a traditional route. So, if you fit the
general profile, be sure to check them out. Figuring out which is best
gets complicated, though, so, once again, the Credit Calculator
we’ve developed may be a very useful tool if you’re in this situation.
If you asked me to give you an answer to whether a Degree Completion
program is best for you, I couldn’t possibly give you an answer without
using the Credit Calculator
to run through the possible scenarios for your specific credits earned.
It will show us exactly which Degree Completion programs will match
best with your prior learning. And, if we can find a regular program
that will accept more credit and enable you to finish faster…well,
that’s the goal in the first place. So, you may have a better
alternative. You won’t know, though, until you crunch the numbers.
Good luck!"
About Su
Su Flickinger is the Chief Academic Officer at Learningforce, Inc.,
where she helped create the unique self-help tools for adults returning
to college you’ll find at www.DegreeSeeker.com Check them out! Su has a
Ed.D. in Education, has advised thousands of prospective adult students
like yourself, and just completed an additional Masters Degree (in
Conflict Resolution) as an adult learner herself! Su and Learningforce,
Inc, are independent and are not affiliated with any particular
colleges or universities.
|
-
eLearners Talks to an Advisor
And Gets the Answers You Need to Have!
eLearners:
"Transfer credit is a big issue for adults returning to college, so here's a two-part question for you.
What kinds of things can you earn transfer credit for (I'm thinking of
things like workplace training, exams, things like that) and how can
you figure out which college is going to give you the most credit for
what you already know? I mean, I can't imagine anything more
frustrating than having to sit in a classroom and "learn" something you
already know!"
Su:
"There are multiple types of transfer credit that many schools will
consider and also ways of earning credit for what you already know that
can help you save time and money. Many schools will consider accepting
credit from other (regionally accredited) schools, military training
and experience, workplace training that has already been evaluated for
credit (if you have certificates from the training, it's worth checking
out), some licenses, some certifications, and exams you may have taken
- such as AP, CLEP, DANTES. If you think something you have learned
might be worth credit, be sure to talk with an advisor from your school
- it can't hurt to ask. Even if the school won't accept whatever you
have as transfer credit, they may offer the possibility of taking an
exam or letting you create a portfolio as a way of earning credit for
what you already know.
Figuring out what school might award the most transfer credit is
difficult because every school has its own policies and most schools
will not do a credit evaluation for you before you apply. You should
always ask if they will; if you have lots of potential credit, it's
worth knowing whether you are going to a place that will take a lot of
it and that it fits with your degree requirements.
We've got a really unique tool at www.DegreeSeeker.com
- the " Credit Calculator." [Click here for a quick demo!] All you have to do is plug in your prior
learning - all the kinds of things I mentioned - and in a couple of
moments you'll get an unofficial - but very, very close - analysis of
how your credit might transfer. It helps you can compare the colleges
you're thinking about to see what credit they might accept, how many
courses you'll have remaining, how much the degree will cost, etc. And,
even though the analysis is unofficial, we base it on the schools
precise degree requirements and we research over 15 key transfer credit
policies. So you'll really know what you're talking about when you have
a discussion with an advisor from those colleges."
About Su
Su Flickinger is the Chief Academic Officer at Learningforce, Inc.,
where she helped create the unique self-help tools for adults returning
to college you’ll find at www.DegreeSeeker.com Check them out! Su has a
Ed.D. in Education, has advised thousands of prospective adult students
like yourself, and just completed an additional Masters Degree (in
Conflict Resolution) as an adult learner herself! Su and Learningforce,
Inc, are independent and are not affiliated with any particular
colleges or universities.
|
-
eLearners Talks to an Advisor
And Gets the Answers You Need to Have!
eLearners:
"Talking about selecting a school, I've often wondered, and I guess
this question is for both undergraduate
degrees and graduate
degrees. Is an
expensive school really that much better than an inexpensive school?
And just how do you value a program anyway?"
Su:
"This last question is tough because there are a number of different
things to consider and each one may carry different weight for
different people. As for the first question, there is no direct
connection between cost and quality. In a large sense (therefore
not always true), cost is connected with public vs private schools -
since public colleges and universities get state funding, the cost to
the student is lower; private schools don't get that kind of funding
and so the students need to pick up more of the cost.
But other criteria go into thinking about how good a school is:
- How good are the professors at teaching? This one of the most
important but also one of the hardest to know ahead of time. If you can
find current or previous students, talking with them is a good way to
get a sense of this.
- How well do the administrative aspects of the institution work -
Is it easy to find information you need? Is it easy to figure out
who to talk with? Are your questions answered in a reasonable
amount of time? This is particularly important if you are doing
the courses via distance learning. Since you can't walk into an
office and ask everyone there for help, you need to be able to get what
you need easily and quickly by phone or computer.
- How friendly is the school to students who are working part-or
full-time? Are advising or administrative services offered in the
evenings? Are class schedules flexible in offereing evening or
weekend or online courses?
There is a lot to think about, but you will be putting your money and
time toward this so it's worth spending time considering all aspects."
About Su
Su Flickinger is the Chief Academic Officer at Learningforce, Inc.,
where she helped create the unique self-help tools for adults returning
to college you’ll find at www.DegreeSeeker.com Check them out! Su has a
Ed.D. in Education, has advised thousands of prospective adult students
like yourself, and just completed an additional Masters Degree (in
Conflict Resolution) as an adult learner herself! Su and Learningforce,
Inc, are independent and are not affiliated with any particular
colleges or universities.
|
-
eLearners Talks to an Advisor
And Gets the Answers You Need to Have!
eLearners:
"I think I understand the undergraduate situation. If you have previous
credits, you better shop around to see where they’ll best fit or you
could be a big loser. But you didn’t include adults seeking a graduate
degree in that answer. Why not? Is your recommendation for how to
select the best graduate degree different from a bachelor’s or
associate’s?"
Su:
"Some of the issues for looking at graduate schools are similar to
undergraduate - what program do you want, do the courses look
interesting, how much does it cost, etc. All of those are
important to consider whether you are thinking about an undergraduate
degree or a graduate degree. But there is a significant
difference in terms of how graduate schools deal with previous
credit. In general, graduate schools really don't like to take
transfer credit - they want you taking *their* courses - and so really
limit how much previous credit they might take. I think the most
I've seen is 12 credits - four courses - and that is rare. Six
credits is the more usual number. The courses also need to be an
almost exact match and taken fairly recently or the school isn't
interested. My advice is that if you've begun a graduate program
at one school - and still want that kind of degree - do your best to
finish at that school. There's a good chance you'll lose some
credit if you try to switch schools."
About Su
Su Flickinger is the Chief Academic Officer at Learningforce, Inc.,
where she helped create the unique self-help tools for adults returning
to college you’ll find at www.DegreeSeeker.com Check them out! Su has a
Ed.D. in Education, has advised thousands of prospective adult students
like yourself, and just completed an additional Masters Degree (in
Conflict Resolution) as an adult learner herself! Su and Learningforce,
Inc, are independent and are not affiliated with any particular
colleges or universities.
|
-
eLearners Talks to an Advisor
And Gets the Answers You Need to Have!
eLearners:"Su, you’ve advised thousands of adults returning to
college, you have an Ed.D. in Education, you just finished another
Master’s Degree while working full-time (we’ve got a lot of questions
for you about that one later). But where we’d like to start for our
visitors is really at the very beginning for an adult learner. With all
the online degree programs out there now, how can adults figure out
which is the best one for them?" Su:"Each person is going
to have a slightly different set of criteria that is most important in
his or her life. So the key is, first, understanding what’s most
important to you and then finding the colleges and degree programs that
meet those criteria. Cost is usually one of the main things
people think about. A wide variation exists in terms of how much
a degree might cost - I've seen cost ranging from $30 per credit to
$700 per credit for a first-year, online English Composition
course. So be sure to check out a number of options. If
you are thinking about an associate's or bachelor's degree and you have
previous credit - from a college, the military, exams, etc. - then
another key issue is how the school might accept that credit in
transfer. Every school has specific policies regarding transfer
credit and every degree program has specific courses it requires.
If you have transfer credit, you might be much closer to finishing a
degree at one school than at another or even between two degrees at the
same school. Why go backwards if you can keep moving forward gaining
more credit? One of the self-help tools we have at DegreeSeeker
is a way to compare how your previous credit might transfer to the kind
of degree program you’re interested in at different colleges. You’d be
amazed at how many credits difference there can sometimes be between
one school and the next. Since courses mean time and money, it’s
definitely worth seeing if you can hang on to the credit you’ve already
earned."
About Su
Su Flickinger is the Chief Academic Officer at Learningforce, Inc.,
where she helped create the unique self-help tools for adults returning
to college you’ll find at www.DegreeSeeker.com Check them out! Su has a
Ed.D. in Education, has advised thousands of prospective adult students
like yourself, and just completed an additional Masters Degree (in
Conflict Resolution) as an adult learner herself! Su and Learningforce,
Inc, are independent and are not affiliated with any particular
colleges or universities.
|
|
|
|