Admission is open and rolling: apply, meet your program's GPA expectation, typically between 2.0 and 3.0, or enter provisionally, pay the application fee, and start at the next 5-or-10-week term, which arrive roughly monthly with short breaks between. No GRE or GMAT appears in the requirements. The structural fact worth respecting: ACE deliberately does not participate in federal Title IV aid, so students pay out of pocket, through employers, or via private financing, in exchange for some of the lowest per-credit prices in accredited online education. That trade is exactly why the pay-by-course math in the tuition manual deserves ten minutes before you enroll.
The enrollment sequence, optimized
Check your program's specific gate
GPA expectations vary by program, education and business run accessible, nursing checks licensure alongside, doctoral programs read prior graduate work. Provisional admission exists for near-misses and converts on early performance, which is one more reason the first term's grades matter double.
Run the transfer evaluation
ACE's Prior Credit Evaluation processes transfer through the MyACE portal. Per-credit pricing makes every accepted credit literal cash kept, so send transcripts before selecting courses.
Settle the payment plan before week one
Lump sum, pay-by-course, or monthly plan, with employer assistance the quiet majority route for ACE's teacher and nurse base. Decide before the term opens; the pay-by-course option is the cash-flow feature the low sticker was designed around.
Pick a start you can win
With roughly monthly entries, the next term is never far. Take the one whose first fortnight your classroom or unit calendar can actually hold, five-week terms grade from day one.
Who ACE actually serves, and what that means for you
The college grew out of educator preparation and it shows: the M.Ed., Ed.S., and Ed.D. catalog is the deepest, the calendar respects school-year rhythms, and the whole model assumes a working professional studying beside a full-time job. Nursing, healthcare, business, and leadership run on the same chassis. Practically, that means cohorts full of people exactly as busy as you, rubrics that reward real-practice application, and a support ecosystem, including ours, built around the truth that your day job does not pause for a five-week term.
Starting strong at a 3.0-floor college
- Graduate standing wants a cumulative 3.0 from the first grade onward, per the grading manual
- Provisional admits: the early terms are the audition, run them supported if the margin is thin
- Date the term's assessments on day one; monthly starts reward students who arrive with a system
- One course first term beats two if your season is heavy; the multi-course request will still be there, per the pacing guide
Enrolling for the next start
Send your program and transcript situation. The credit-sweep plan and first-term map come back free.
Sources and verification
Facts on this page come from official and independent sources, and anything that matters is worth checking against the originals:
- ace.edu: American College of Education's official site, the primary source for admissions, calendar, and payment-option facts
- www.hlcommission.org: Higher Learning Commission, the institutional accreditor
- www.ccneaccreditation.org: Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, the nursing accreditor
- apastyle.apa.org: APA Style, the official style authority behind the formatting rules