O/t Anyone Know About Old College Credit& Transfer

I have 2 years of college from 92-94. Mostly general classes like English, history, social sciences, biology, business and a few others. Probably about 60? credits in all. Colleges I have looked at online don't seem to accept anything this old. However, a teacher told me to try and negotiate to get some of these things applied? Is this possible? A local college has been experiencing decreased enrollment, and this person suggested trying to bargain and receive credit for some of these classes.

I have never heard of such a thing, anyone know if this could be possible?

Also, I have heard about life experience credit. Anyone know how that works? The life experience I have isn't really relevant to the program I am interested in (graphic design.) My life/work experience is mostly business management, marketing, sales and massage therapy including nutrition anatomy and physiology.

Sorry for the O/T, but though someone here might have some input. I'm willing to start from scratch, but if I could apply anything at all, that would be fantastic.

Thanks in advance for any input.
Atlas:

I am not sure about the length of time of which college credits do not transfer. I thought there was no time limit. What I would do is get in touch with the University where you took those classes and ask for a copy of your transcripts. That way you will know exactly what you would want to transfer. When I went back to school, I had some previous credits, very few, however, I had to retake a class because I had gotten a "C" and didn't want that calculated in my GPA. I think that is awesome you are going back to school. When I went back I started with one class and then just kept adding one per semester. I finally graduated in 1994, slowly but surely. I would hate to see if you have 60 units accumulated (which sounds like your General Ed. is pretty much taken care of) that you would not get credit for having completed that. Especially, since you are half way there. You probably have achieved an AA degree and may not know it :-)

~Rachel
Atlas,

Ask about clepping. When you clep you just take the final exam for the course. Unfortunately, most colleges demand that you pay for the full course, not just the exam. My daughter is doing this in Florida and luckily it is a state that pays for cleps. The exam is to show that you remember all you were taught before and specifically the knowledge in that course by the independent school. (In other words, you have to make sure you know what their particular curriculum entails. Usually you have to see the prof for the course you wish to clep and they will furnish you with a detailed description of their particular course and suggest the books you might read to "catch up". There should be an advisor for each curriculum and you should try to speak or write to him/her.

You'll probably be ok in most of your general courses, but need to take the courses that make up the curriculum for that degree. Good luck honey. I do know a bit more than general about this since I worked in a college for 13 years and a school of nursing for another 5 years.

If the course is on line, perhaps you can correspond by email.

Good luck.

Cybermom
Atlas - I went back to school in the late 80's - it was a large, very well known Big Ten University (rated as one of the top public universities in the country - only say this because they would be super strict). I ended up getting an undergradate and graduate degree in business by the time I was done.

I had college credits that were 12-14 YEARS old (from the mid-70's) at the time, and they accepted almost all of them - it was at least 45 credits.

So now you know I'm an "old f@art"..... (really, I'm 50).

The only requirement was the last year (either 30-45 credits, so it might have been a year and a half, if full time) had to be completed at THEIR institution, in order for your degree to be from their institution, which makes sense - you couldn't just transfer in with 117 credits, take one course, and have your bachelors degree from there.

I would say you have a very good chance of having many if not most of those earlier courses recognized and credits transferred.

The hard thing (and you need to see a guidance counselor type person for this, the subject area where you want your major or degree) is to "map the old courses over" to the courses required for the degree you want.

Although most of my earlier credits TRANSFERRED and counted, many counted as "general degree credits" and I still needed to take specific courses, so I ended up with more than the required number of credits when I graduated.

I would say - go for it - and there are lots of life experience credits (mentioned above) also, and things you can just take a test for and get credit.

Many colleges now offer online courses (reputable schools, not just degree mills) and there are so many ways to get a new degree or finish an old one.

Good luck!

Love
Sue/Enester

Atlas, some of my credits were 10 years old. Last year the guidance counselor told me that they don't expire anymore; that people get busy and come back later and they recognize that.

I did have to retake and English and Math exam; and place where I left off or retake the class.

Go for it!!
Yes you can bargain with a schoo. It doesnt matter how long ago you took the classes as well. I am in the MBA program for Finance. I had to take stats. I took that 10 years ago and it carried over.

So yes you can carry some not all~

Merry Christmas
OMG...You guys are a plethora of information! I'm so happy to hear all this. All my classes, with a few exceptions, are general ed. requirements that would apply towards any degree. I could probably enter with about 1.5 years complete, and mainly focus on classes related to the degree I want. I especially would HATE to take any science w/ lab type courses again. Or Thank you all so much, I never knew! I thought it would all be wasted.

I'll write more later, must go brave the grocery store! Wish me luck.

Have a Merry Christmas, everyone!