I cannot tell if the psychology programs at California Coast University are accredited. I want to make sure before I consider them for further study.

No, California Coast University (CCU) is not accredited and their wares will not meet your needs or requirements. I wish they�d make that up-front-clear on their website.

CALCOAST CREDITS AND AWARDS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED BY ANY OF THE BIG THREE ASSESSMENT INSTITUTIONS FEATURED IN BA IN 4 WEEKS.

CCU is however, in my view, a serious effort. They were earnestly pursuing DETC accreditation last I looked, but I believe DETC postponed or deferred their decision. Not sure of the detail.

CalCoast are the only unaccredited institution whose ads play here (bain4weeks.com - though they do not feature in BA in 4 Weeks). That on the basis of their serious intent and their pursuit of legitimate accreditation. Should they in the end fail to gain DETC sanction, there would be no longer reason to take their ads. I hope they are successful.

However, even if they do achieve DETC accreditation, their credits and awards (degrees / diplomas / certificates) will still find no acceptance at any of the big three on the basis of that accreditation. If it is the case that a CCU award or credit has been evaluated for equivalency by ACE, it may, in that case, be accepted, but the basis for acceptance will be the ACE recommendation, not CCU�s DETC accreditation (if it is indeed attained) .

As a general point, none of the Big Three will accept the credits or awards of any institution on the basis of that institution�s DETC accreditation. Indeed, none but a handful or so of the 3,000+ regionally accredited institutions in the US will as policy accept any credit or award on the basis of the awarding or conferring institution�s DETC accreditation.

As stated early and often in the pages of BA in 4 Weeks, most learners are most of the time, best served by confining consideration to the wares of regionally accredited institutions or the foreign equivalent thereof.

Lawrie

 I have 16 graduate level credits from a accredited State University in Computer Science. However, they will not admit me to their MS program since I do not have a 4-year Bachelor's degree. I am planning to use these credits and my MCSE to earn the BS-CIS degree from Excelsior.

My question is whether, after getting my Excelsior BS, I can go back to my State university and complete the remaining credits to get my MS. In essence, will my 16 graduate credits get "used-up" by the Excelsior BS, making them unacceptable towards my future MS ?

Well, vis-�-vis graduate school, the general policy is that if credit has been used in consideration of some other conferred degree, you cannot use it again.

When, after you have earned your BS in CIS from Excelsior, you submit your transcripts in application to your state university graduate school, the admissions officer inspecting that record will I believe, bar that credit used in fulfillment of requirements for your bachelor degree.

However, were you to be more flexible in terms of which graduate schools you are prepared to consider, there is a way, certain.

As a general rule, it is my experience that graduate schools in other English-speaking countries, require applicants submit certified copies of their degree diploma, not the transcript. Indeed, in the case of one program in Australia, I pleaded with the university to let me have Excelsior just send them the degree transcripts direct, rather than the palaver of having some �citizen of standing in the community�, attest to the veracity of my academic wares. I knew no one of any standing. I explained that most all the people I know are of suspect character and dubious pedigree, and that in that respect they and I have much in common. I could not convince the school to accept the secure college-to-college transmission of the transcript.

It will be clear to you that if you are not asked for transcripts, then the use to which certain credit may have been put, is not an issue. I would never suggest that you lie or conceal a material fact. What I am recommending is that you so order your affairs such that you may realize your aspirations unencumbered by nitpicking bureaucracy

Should you resolve to pursue a master�s at a foreign school, one that will accept up to say, half the degree credit in transfer from another institution, I recommend the offerings from the University of Southern Queensland (USQ). I�ll be publishing a review detailing my experience in their graduate courses, soon. You might think the University of Derby�s, Master�s in Information Technology, a fair bet. My advice would be to eat your first born before considering applying there. I�ll be publishing a review detailing my experience in their IT master�s, soon.

Take a look at the bain4weeks.com master�s degree listing.

Lawrie