Other than not receiving a grade and instead getting a satisfactory or non-satisfactory, what is the difference?

Hey Will,

I took the Rock Bass Class for non credit. I believe I got all of the attention and instruction that the for credit guys got and I was very happy with my Instructor Anthony Vitti. After starting the class I was thinking I might like to get a Bass Specialist Certificate and inquired about converting my class to a for credit class to use it towards the certificate, unfortunately you can not do that, HA HA! I should have asked first, my bad. As far as I can see that is the only difference between the for credit and no credit. I believe you receive the same attention and quality of instruction in either. I hope this is of some help?

Jack

With non-credit, either you pass or you fail. I don't think non-credit courses can count towards degree hours.

Actually, my situation is a little different. I taught music in the classroom for 5 years. After I moved here and buying a house, starting a family, etc., things went south with my last teaching job--totally unexpected. So I'm teaching piano lessons to at least TRY to earn a little bread. I haven't completely written off relocating and trying again, so I'll need to keep my teaching license. All I need is a 3-hour college course, and I'd like to put that towards a degree IF things go better for me in the future.

The non-credit route can award CEU's that can also be applied towards licensure and is somewhat less expensive. However, not all licensing agencies accept CEU's from just any school. Having actual college credit helps avoid any mixups at the state DOE.

I decided to take the Sound Design course initially for that reason. I already know a lot about using Absynth and analog synthesizers, so the work (so far) is fairly easy. I figured I'd start with a course I'm most comfortable with and maybe learn something I didn't know before. After I renew my license next year, I'll immediately be in the next renewal cycle, which means I can take another course and extend my license for a total of 10 years. I'm thinking about taking film scoring 101 for that. I want to really develop my skills as a sound designer and then build my composing chops before I take on film scoring.

So for-credit or non-credit, it just depends on what you need or want to do. I just personally feel that for-credit is overall the better way to go. At least it is for me

ok.
so now i have a question to further th original question, (lol)
do non-credit courses work the same as credit courses with employers?

As a guy who employs people (in a different field, but the general opinion stands), no, non-credit is not the same thing as for credit. Even if you are looking for a job in an unrelated field, it looks really good to have a completed program but a collection of non-credit coursework looks really casual.

Completion of a program shows goal orientation and the ability to follow projects through to successful completion and that looks good to employers in any field. While obviously not as attractive as a completed program, showing active participation in working toward completing a program is also good.

That's just from an employer's point of view, though.

ok. thanks.