University Corner: Excelsior College
Q: Can you tell us about Excelsior College?
A: Excelsior College is a SOC member and long recognized for its special dedication to the education needs of those serving in the military. In 2006 the college was awarded the Institution Award from the Council of College and Military Educators [CCME]. The award—given only seven times in the 26-year history of the organization—is presented to an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution to advancing the cause of military education. We are a private, nonprofit institution and are accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
Q: Who are your students?
A: About one-quarter of our approximately 28,000 enrolled students are active duty or reserve military: enlisted and officer. Although Excelsior College is based in Albany, N.Y., more than 90 percent of our enrolled students are located outside the state.
Among our military graduates are the current MCPON and the adjutant general of the New York Army National Guard. And, on average, about one-third of the annual graduating class of the Sergeants Major Academy earns a degree from Excelsior College. Q: What benefits and services does your college provide to the student? A: Our programs are completed at a distance and online. We enable enlisted personnel, NCOs and officers to meet their goals by earning associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees through our 35 degree programs and to earn a specialized credential in any of our five certificate programs.
We provide a full range of support services to our students, from financial aid, including experts in military and veteran education benefits, to professional academic advising, to a variety of learning support services.
In addition to our courses that are delivered online and through other electronic media, Excelsior College also has 40 examinations in a variety of subjects that have been ACE evaluated and are available to military personnel worldwide via DANTES at no charge.
We offer several services designed to help students succeed academically, including online, interactive tutoring in a variety of subjects. And, we provide online access to the Excelsior College Virtual Library [ECVL] in collaboration with the Sheridan Libraries of Johns Hopkins University. This enables students to retrieve information from all sorts of resources including books, periodicals, professional journals, newspapers and a variety of specialized academic databases regardless of where they may be.
Q: What separates your school from others?
A: One of the distinguishing characteristics of Excelsior College is its acceptance of college- level credit earned from a variety of recognized sources. A prime illustration of this is training received in the military.
Based upon an enlisted servicemember’s rating in his or her career field, for example, we have developed a series of templates that show exactly how credit earned through military training will apply toward a number of our associate degree programs.
Our bachelor’s and master’s degree programs provide military personnel with the opportunity to broaden their education and to earn advanced academic credentials. Look at our Master of Arts in liberal studies degree. It is a 33-credit-hour interdisciplinary program, up to 15 of which may be transferred in from graduate-level credit earned elsewhere. This program allows the student, with faculty approval, to develop a capstone thesis [that] can be in a professional and/or personal area of interest.
Q: What advantages does your college offer to military customers?
A: The biggest benefit Excelsior College brings is our more than 30 years experience in helping servicemembers achieve their educational goals. We have an office dedicated solely to serving the needs of military personnel, many of whom are prior military themselves.
Our tuition and fees are discounted for the military, and most often servicemembers, using their education benefits, will have little or no out-of-pocket expense when completing a degree through Excelsior. As a distance learning institution, Excelsior College has no residency requirement so that military personnel can take our college with them wherever and whenever they are stationed or deployed.
Q: What are the newest developments within your school that you think a military audience should know about?
A: A primary mission of Excelsior College is to increase access to higher education. To make it easier for students to take courses at a distance, we offer courses online as well as via CD-ROM and MP3 formats. This means that wherever servicemembers may be, they can pursue their studies at a time that is convenient to them.
Q: What trends do you see for the future of advanced education—or distance education— in your area of expertise?
A: Learning can be and should be both intellectually stimulating and entertaining. It can also be adapted to an individual’s learning style.
Technology exists and is in use today that enables the instructor to identify a person’s particular learning style and then deliver instruction in means best suited to meet that student’s needs. For example, if someone is more of visual learner, the course material can be presented in ways that engage the student to a higher level than if it were available in only one mode. ♦
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