There are two Penn Foster students currently studying in my
house: I am taking the Associate of
Science in Marketing program, and my wife is studying catering through Penn
Foster Career School. After watching our progress for awhile, my
son announced he would like to finish high school through Penn Foster.
He has been having trouble at school for awhile now, and not
just with his studies. He is taking some
advanced courses, but he’s also having some personality clashes with some
former acquaintances at the school, too.
On top of this, we are moving out of the school district soon. He can still attend his current school, but
it means a 30 minute drive each morning.
My wife called Penn Foster and asked what we would need to
do to get my son enrolled. Since he has
only one semester left, he would have to take individual courses through Penn
Foster High School,
transfer the credits to his high school, and then receive his diploma. Simple, right? Not so fast.
The guidance counselor at my son’s school announced that
credits from a distance learning school are not acceptable, regardless of the
school’s accreditation. Penn
Foster High School
is regionally accredited, just like my son’s brick-and-mortar high school, but the
regular high school would not budge.
Distance learning courses are out.
My son will be forced to tough it out for one last semester.
This brings up a good point.
We in the distance learning community tend to get hung up over whether a
regionally accredited school will accept credits or degrees from nationally
accredited schools. However, even some
regionally accredited courses and programs taken at one school are not
acceptable to other regionally accredited schools. It’s not always about the accreditation.
Frankly, I’m perturbed by the closed-mindedness of the brick-and-mortar
high school toward distance learning courses.
Even the University of Oklahoma,
located 15 miles from my home, offers distance learning high school
courses. I doubt my son’s high school
would decline those credits, considering OU’s reputation in this area. I think the real issue is the school
accepting credits from a strictly “online” school like Penn Foster.
Now I understand why my son is frustrated with this
school.
Oh well, only one more semester.