ACE (American College of Education)

aridion
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ACE (American College of Education)

Post by aridion »

Hi guys,

I have been searching for 'good' online/distance masters in education degrees over the last number of weeks. I came across American College of Education (MEd curriculum and instruction), which seems very reasonable and is totally online.

Have any of you encountered or heard about this college. Good/bad?

Any better recommendations in MA/MEd education/curriculum/international education. Convenience (no weekend attendance etc.) and lack of hassle (summer schools) are my major concerns.

Thanks in advance,
Ari
PsyGuy
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Response

Post by PsyGuy »

There isnt anything "good" about ACE, they arent regionally accredited, the program doesnt provide a credential. Their program costs $8990. If cost is your concern you could do a MEd in Advance Teaching in IB from University of the People (UPe) which would cost you $2600 with similar characteristics, and provide all IB PD training requirements.
You could do a program in Ed.Ld from Uni. Portsmouth for slightly less than ACE (about USD$8900) and use that for obtaining a DC leadership credential, and Portsmouth is a full recognized Uni. You could do their MRes in Education and have a Education Masters for about USD$5800.
All programs are entirely online, the MRes is available full time or part time (1 or 2 years), the MEd from UPe is fully online and can be done part time, full time and accelerated.
If a K12/KS credential is your goal you could do Teach Now (DC) or Teach Ready (FL) to get your credential at a cost of about USD$6000 and the UPe program and it would still cost slightly less than ACE and youd have the IB PD, a teaching credential and a Masters.
aridion
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Re: ACE (American College of Education)

Post by aridion »

Hi PsyGuy,

Thanks for the response and suggestions.

According to their website they say ‘We are, and have always been, regionally accredited by The Higher Learning Commission— a federally-recognized accrediting agency. Regional accreditation ensures that an institution’s academic program meets or exceeds acceptable levels of quality and is the most recognized accreditation status for higher education entities.’

The course I am taking would also be accredited by TEAC ( according to their website).

Am I missing something?
Ari
PsyGuy
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Post by PsyGuy »

@aridion

Sorry PsyGuy write bad, I intended to write "they arent accredited by a regionally regulating authority, the program doesnt provide a credential" (stupid predictive text), my apologies. The HLC does have some accreditation issues involved with for-profit institutions (and ACE is for-profit) in tertiary education, but thats another story. The Uni, ACE is just an office in a building suite, and some regions prohibit or have restrictions regarding degrees earned by a Uni that exists solely online, they simply wont recognize them, and thus not grant a visa or work permit and there is no way to hide that, there is no F2F/B&M component to ACE. For less coin you could do the program at U. Portsmouth a fully recognized traditional Uni, for a lot less coin you could do the UPe program and get the IB PD as well (at least UPe is non-profit), but yes my error ACE is regionally accredited, again my apologies. Still theres nothing 'good' about ACE, its a for-profit business office with "college" in its name.

TEAC accreditation means nothing, its vanity accreditation. Its one of the major issues with the term accreditation, when organizations use it incorrectly. Much like CIS, TEAC doesnt accredit for anything, its just a club, you pay your fee, do their thing and you get to use their name on your marketing. You cant and wont be denied a credential because your program isnt TEAC accredited, if you want to transfer to another Uni lack of TEAC accreditation isnt going to interfere with that. Having it is nice but its doesnt mean anything, it doesnt even mean that a TEAC program is 'better' than a non TEAC programs.
aridion
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Location: United Kingdom

Re: ACE (American College of Education)

Post by aridion »

Thanks for the reply,

My major problem with the Portsmouth Masters is that it is in Leadership. I want a masters in Curriculum/ Teaching and learning.

The UotP masters looks okay, but I don't know how recognized it actually is.

My objective is:
1. To bump up my salary (masters incentive)
2. Have a masters that is recognized.
3. Learn something while doing it.

Ari.
sdakota

Re: ACE (American College of Education)

Post by sdakota »

I'm biased since I just finished the program. I really don't want to get into a long drawn out 20 post back and forth with Psyguy, so I will just post why I thought the program was especially good for international teachers and leave it at that.

1. Relatively cheap
2. Regionally accredited
3. Can do it in C&I (which is what I am doing mine in as well)
4. Asynchronistic
5. Good for that pay bump (but that's any masters)

Hope this helps!
PsyGuy
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Reply

Post by PsyGuy »

@aridion

ACE is a for-profit online Uni in a business park. UPe is a non-profit online Uni in a business park, they are equally recognized. UPe has the added IB benefit and recognition, ACE has regional accreditation. Youre goals dont include a doctorate in the near future, neither of them includes a credential or leads to a credential. What problems youre going to have your going to have from both programs being online programs. There are only a few scenarios that the ACE program accreditation is a stronger option, otherwise the UPe program is a less than a third of the cost and has the more general stronger benefit of the IB PD.

Both programs will generally get you a salary bump on an ISs scale, in the situations you wouldnt its going to apply to both programs because both of them are online programs.

They are both recognized, the ACE accreditation is stronger but it only has utility in a few niche applications. the UPe program will have more general utility with the IB PD

Doubt you will learn anything through either program, youd have to have a very limited expertise in professional education to really get anything out of either program.

ACE is relatively cheap compared to a £30K program, but its relatively expensive compared to UPe because thats ho relativism works. What is the more than triple cost of the ACE program buying you, I dont see the value add.

C&I and Advance Teaching are synonyms for essentially the same program.

Neither program employs a cohort model.

Again, a salary increase would be with any masters, why pay more for the same pay increase.
cms989
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Re: ACE (American College of Education)

Post by cms989 »

I advise OP does his/her own research on the importance of regional accreditation as you are getting some false information here about programs being equivalent. If you are teaching in the United States, more than one state requires regional accreditation for purposes of salary scale. If this is a possibility in your future you may consider it worth the extra cost to complete a program with regional accreditation.

ACE also conveniently checks a lot of boxes for things like DoDEA or New York's state requirements or other things that may be of interest, if you select your program carefully.
PsyGuy
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Post by PsyGuy »

@aridion

There is no false information as @cms989 claims, as posted in earlier replies there are some niche benefits that could apply and be important, but for the goals you described in your earlier post in reference to IE, regional accreditation doesnt apply and doesnt provide a benefit, for more than triple the cost. There are states that require regional accreditation for salary or recognition, but neither of these programs provide a credential which you will need to obtain a credential in those states, to have those salary scale requirements apply.
Both UPe and ACE for purposes of IE will meet requirements for salary band and are recognized within IE, your not going to learn significantly more in one program than the other. UPe provides IB PD which is more valuable in IE than some esoteric niche benefit. ACE and UPe dont have equivalent accreditation, I never claimed they did, but DEAC (which is UPe accreditation) isnt a diploma mill. Within IE the issue your most likely to have is that these are both online Unis, and those issues are going to be the same for the ACE and the UPe degree.
aridion
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Re: ACE (American College of Education)

Post by aridion »

Thanks for the detailed and informative replies. I have done quite a lot of ib workshops already, however I am not currently at an ib school.

The cost is certainly a factor. UotP seems like a good fit, but a very unfortunate name...
PsyGuy
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Post by PsyGuy »

@aridion

Then the only factor I see based on your priorities is cost, why pay three times the price?
Lastly, I know you stated you specifically wanted a C&I program, the M.Res in Education at U. Portsmouth can be tailored to include a selective number of units of study in curriculum and instruction, its research and writing heavy though, but its a third less than ACE (about USD$6K) is full recognized and accredited, non-profit is a brick and mortar Uni, and offered online/distance learning.

The name is a bit unfortunate.
SparkleMotion
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Re: ACE (American College of Education)

Post by SparkleMotion »

For the money, I’d be sure I was pursuing a respected degree program. There is something in a name and top
schools are going to notice / suspect you’ve gone to an all-online paper mill. Generally, when it comes to education I’ve found that online programs offered through brick and mortar institutions are much more respected and valued. I earned one M.S. from Northeastern University and I’m earning my M.Ed. Curriculum and Instruction from the University of South Florida - all without setting foot in a classroom. The M.Ed. will cost me about 13k out the door.

Look into the state schools where you may be able to claim residence (if you have a license there and are registered to vote, etc.) - it may surprise you how affordable it can be to do an online program through your “local” brick and mortar.
PsyGuy
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Post by PsyGuy »

@SparkleMotion

I dont disagree but were talking cost vs. name branding and theres nothing about ACE thats noteworthy for an all online virtual Uni. The rule in IE is that a Masters is a Masters is a Masters, assuming its not at a global ivy and the Uni is truly accredited. Neither North Eastern nor USF are worth anything more than any other Masters, and that $13K is quite a bit more than other programs. The lowest graduate programs in the USA are around USD$8K, and the lowest in the UK around £4K. There are EU regions with costs that are around zero (but have limitations and restrictions).
UPe isnt going to grab anyones attention, but at under USD$3K its the least expensive of individually funded degree programs. USD$13K for an M.Ed neither shocks nor impresses me. For about £16K you could do the blended learning M.Sc T.Ed from Oxford and that would matter. If your paying more than USD$10K from a US Uni or not paying less than £6K from the UK and your degree isnt from Harvard, Yale, OxBridge, etc. than your just over paying.
SparkleMotion
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Re: ACE (American College of Education)

Post by SparkleMotion »

@PsyGuy

I suppose it depends what your full career path will entail, but Northeastern is a very respected university in the states and has been worth every penny that I paid to them in my career thus far (in international business). If you only plan to work in places that want to see the M.S. / M.Ed. and don’t care where it came from, then I don’t think you’re aiming very high.

Just an observation, but the narrative of your reply showed the type of errors that one wouldn’t normally see in a serious teacher or professional. We may be seeking out two very different career paths.

I do believe that a state US school is favorable to an online-only organization when it comes to seeking out credentials for teaching in international schools. Remember, your co-workers and administration (key decision-makers) are oftentimes also Americans at legitimate international schools. They certainly know the difference between ACE and a recognized state school.
PsyGuy
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Post by PsyGuy »

@SparkleMotion

It means nothing in IE, none of those "respected" Unis USF, Northeastern cause parent sin Asia or elsewhere to get excited. All of those ISs in IE are just looking to tick the box if your Uni isnt something they can market to parents, and its the Global Ivys that do that not respected state Unis.
Your believe is wrong, its vanity. Parents are the key decision makers, not leadership, if a degree isnt something parents will pay or pay more for, than its in-distinctive from any other degree (as long s its valid).
Actually no, the current trend in IE leadership is doctorates, and many of them are getting them from online Unis like Capella, etc.
Its very culturally centric to claim that recruiters and leadership are often Americans, there are just as many Brits and other nationalities in leadership.

A masters is a masters is masters, your Northeastern and USF degrees arent any more marketable than anyone elses who isnt from a global ivy.
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