Straighter Line is essentially an online community college. It's part of the
education revolution that is sweeping America. The cost of education is
soaring, and an inevitable shift to online college or distance learning courses is happening right now. But
traditional schools are charging the same for online classes as they are for
traditional coursework, even though it costs much less to deliver.
The Washington Post said startups like Straighter Line are "Discovering a
way around that monopoly, by inventing credentials that 'graduates'
can take directly to employers instead of university
degrees." (Story here.) StraighterLine is a new business model, charging a monthly $99 per month, $39
per course. There's no professors, no group work, no forum posts. It's
essentially independent study. You can accelerate or take as much time as you
need. Straighter Line is a lot like Western Governors University.
Straighter Line was founded in 2008. It primarily uses McGraw-Hill course content.
Straighter Line doesn't offer degrees. Instead it focuses on offering
general education courses that can be transferred to other universities. Instead of trying to get accredidation (current law prevents any school from becoming accredited unless they offer a degree) they have guaranteed transfer policies with partner schools like Kaplan, WGU, Excelsior, etc. Credit has been accepted at over 250 institutions.
Straighter Line was mentioned by Jim Boyle on Fox News on June 4, 2012 as one of the best options to graduate within 4 years and decrease college debt: http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/1673031047001/
Online college math courses are becoming increasingly popular for colleges. (Who wants to sit in class listening to lectures when you can just pass the test right?) Straighter Line has online college algebra, precalculus, calculus, and business statistics. Students aren't signing up to get an online math degree from Straighter Line but some just want some online algebra practice.
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