Which online degree programs accept credit from standard colleges?

Do most online degree programs accept transfer credits from standard colleges?  What would you recommend the best course of action being for someone that does have a significant amount of college credits from a standard, private university (ie. 3+ years worth) but is not interested in paying the large sum of money to finish their degree there and would like to do it online?

Hi Josh,

I love the three questions that you have posted on here. Unfortunately, I am not an expert in these areas. However, I am sure that if I can't find the answer soon that someone else will.

Just from my gut instinct (and by no means a well researched answer), I think you have to evaluate how many courses you have left in your standard, private university. I cannot speak for the online universities at this point, but I know many standard colleges do not accept more than a few courses from another college. I have a feeling that each college will have a slightly different outlook on the issue so that is something you would want to ask the online college. You may end up having to do the math. Which is cheaper? Taking the rest of the courses at a standard university or possibly taking a longer time with your degree and taking more classes at a potentially cheaper online university.

I hope to have more information for you at a later time, but I hope that information helps you at least with your thought process for now.

-Elizabeth

Hi Josh,

I agree with Elizabeth that there is going to be a limitation on how much will be accepted. From what I have seen the number of credits that will be accepted are very few and often will only satisfy pre-reqs for the course. This is even more likely when dealing with a for-profit online school that has a clear disincentive to provide credit for courses from another university. There are some situations when a reciprocal agreement has been made between one school and another but you would have to do some research with the school that the credits are from to see if any agreement exists. In each circumstance the power is in the hands of the registrar who can decide to accept certain courses for credit. That brings in the requirements of accreditation and the amount of flexibility the registrar's office has. It's unlikely that they will go out on a limb for fear of being audited and losing accreditation.

Jeimzu

Josh-

How many credits will transfer all depends on the program and/or college you would like to transfer to. One example is Empire State College. You need 128 credits to graduate with a Bachelors Degree and only 32 of those credits must have been earned at Empire State College. The rest of the 92 credits could have been earned through college level classes, work experience, and life experience. All colleges will allow some level of credits to be transferred if not all credits...you just have to ensure that the classes and credits you are transferring can apply to the degree you are going for. For instance if you are going for amarketing degree then more likely than not business classes will transfer. If you change from business to teaching though, the businesses classes may not be able to be applied towards your degree requirements...but look carefully because they may be able to be transferred as electives! Good Luck!

jacquie