StraighterLine Reviews
StraighterLine.com is a website that allows you to earn college credits at thousands of colleges with their online, self-paced college courses, with nearly 40 courses in Sciences, Humanities, English, Math and Business.
Members must first sign up to take courses from StraighterLine, then apply to a partner college where you will be able to transfer the course/courses for credit. StraighterLine has a list of partner colleges that will automatically accept transfers for full credit, or you can check into another college of interest to insure that credits will transfer.
The website states that courses are evaluated and recommended by The American Council on Education’s College credit recommendation service (ACE credit).
Membership at StraighterLine has 3 price options: $99/month plus $39 for every course started, $399 per course, or freshman year of college for $999. This includes free live, on demand instruction but students have to purchase books separately.
If you enroll in StraighterLine for $99/month you can take as many 3-4 credit hour classes that you want. You will be automatically billed once per month but can cancel at any time. If you chose the $399 option you will have six months to complete each course.
This is a great thing to use for people who want to save time and money at school. I have successfully transferred 4 Straighterline courses into my University and I am working on 4 others. I have recommended 6 people to take classes with Straighterline and they have all been accepted by their univeristies.
Straighterline is actually a Transfer Credit opportunity. I strongly advise students to take 30 transfer PROFESSOR DIRECT credits here to reduce college cost.
Straighterline has some partner colleges that accept most courses, but most students will want to transfer these ACE accredited courses to ACE colleges. The professor direct feature makes it more likely that the transfer will be successful and useful. For example if you're taking college algebra you want the college to accept the course in place of college algebra and not just throw it into their elective pile. So, overall, Straighterline is good as a source of inexpensive transfer credits with the proviso that you take the course with a real professor, preferably someone who already has a college affiliation.
It doesn't take much effort to realize that all of the poor reviews on this site are 100% fake.
StraighterLine is legitimate, has 40 regionally accredited college partners, handfuls of corporate partners, and leads to actual college credit.
Fast Company, The Chronicle, and Inside Higher Ed all praised StraighterLine in December, 2012. These are major publications.
Links:
Fast Company says StraighterLine is "democratizing higher education." - http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681058/an-ebay-for-professors-to-sell-college-courses-directly-to-students
The Chronicle says StraighterLine is leading the education revolution https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Chronicle-of-Higher-Education/115762938437732
Inside Higher Ed says the cost of college is being lowered by StraighterLine http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/12/14/two-companies-give-faculty-more-control-online-courses
Change is always disruptive.
Looking back over the last 15 years, distance education was not considered valid by mainstream academia, and now is accepted by such universities as Harvard and MIT. Times change, so don't get left behind.
Has anyone seen my typewriter?
I took a history course and it was fairly easy. The modules had little to do with the test, but the book followed right along. I finished it pretty quickly and it cost me $140 for 3 credits. It doesn't get any cheaper than that! Just remember, it's not a class at all. Think of it more like an easier way to get CLEP. I filled out an online form, and they sent my transcripts to my school for free.
i would not take a class with this low budget (not literally), unknown school. i was told this course was $99 a course. i was not told it was $99 a month. i took one course (college algebra) and it took longer than a month. i ended up paying $200 for the course and when it was time to request an official transcript, i was charged 40 additional dollars to receive my transcript. i have completed a degree at a 4 year university and also taken classes at a junior college and have never been charged for a transcript. i spent a total of $240 for a course with this unheard of school, when it would have cost $139 at a community college.
*************do not put yourself through the headace of dealing with these people**************
oh, and the most important occurance is when i put in a request for my transcript through straighterline, they failed to mention that it was not an official transcript and i would have to go through "ace" to receive an official transcript. i just so happen to received a call (the following semester) from my university stating that i had not graudated because they did not receive an official transcript from ace. so my graduation was postpond the following semester. after calling straighterline, i was told by a supervisor that they have no way of knowing which school requires an official transcript and which schools does not.
*************do not put yourself through the headace of dealing with these people**************
Their website pretty clearly states that their courses are $99 per month and that you should check with the school that you want to attend. Also, they don't charge anything for transcripts. The $40 is charged by the American Council on Education, not StraighterLine. Apparently, you didn't actually pay $40 because your school didn't receive your ACE transcript. Frankly, the inconsistencies in this review make it more than a little suspicious.
agreed....he obviously did not read the details
The whole point of you not taking the course at the community college was because of what? usually its because you need the flexibility of online. So quit crying about how you paid $200 to take it. They are very up front and visible about it being $99/month, not per course..and they do not make any promise that it will only take you a month to complete the course..it will take lazy people like you much longer, although, Im not sure why, because you obviously dont take the time to read things through before you sing the dotted line. You are doing yourself a huge disservice. And I hate to break it to you, but every college and university charges you for official transcripts...EVERY COLLEGE...and if they dont charge it separate from the tuition, then it is charged in the increased graduation fee. Stop complaining and be thankful that such an option exists for your convenience.
In addition to Melissa's comment, I highly doubt you paid 139 per course through a community college. You probably paid 139 per credit hour. That would equal 417 for one course. So you paid half and you are whining? It's hard for me to believe that if you did indeed go to college you didn't know the difference. Also, the 40 they charged is to open an account with ACE - which is actually paid to ACE - Straighterline has nothing to do with that - so that you could have your credits transfer. It's a one-time charge so that if you took another course you wouldn't had to pay again. Or if you went to one of their partner schools the credits would have gone straight to the college and you wouldn't have had to pay for the credits to transfer. This information is all on their website. Perhaps a refresher of English 101 would help you.
Even if you paid $139 at a community college for the class, think about the gas that it will cost to drive to the college and the time that you have to spend to drive to the college, walk to the classroom, back to your car and then drive home. Straighterline is an accredited college and has flexibility that can save you time and money. When I went through college I had to arrange my job schedule many times to be flecible to the classes that I needed to graduate. Spending the extra money and to be able to stay home to complete the course would have been a great plan for me. Also, when I went to Grad school, I had to pay for my transcripts, so for you to get your transcripts for free is a true blessing. Hopefully people will see your complaints a minor and take advantage of a good program.
What college are you going to and why are they so cheap, now you stop all that nonsense and check your college and read the information on the site as you should have in the first place!!
I agree, you should have read all the information before you pay for something. If the company is new to you, you should have asked all the information before, including about the transcripts.
Judging by your post: the university you recieved a four year degree from has failed you miserably.
Hey you always get charged for your transcripts if it is over so many. Also CC is $75 $80 an hour so it would have cost you more than $300 plus your book at your CC
I was unfortunate enough to come across straighterline.com in a search for cheap online courses. Western Civilization I sounds like an easy class to take online right? WRONG! i read the entire book, did all practice exercises, and took notes on the online courses yet when it came time to take the test only 6/25 questions were covered in ALL of the material. Even the ones i could answer were so abstract that they didn't even make it into my notes (ex. Aristotle's family consisted of...). I failed the first test and could only pass the other 5 tests by copying and pasting the question into google. If the quality of online courses was measured in condiments, i would rate it "ketchup packet". I may as well have been reading Dr. Seuss books because then at least i would have studied something almost applicable to my life. Awful program, dont make the same mistake I did
A pain in the ass - Yes
Awful - Yes
Cheap - Yes
Gives College Credits - Yes
All you need to know
Oh thank God I thought I was becoming prematurely senile! I consider myself a somewhat intelligent person (the Mensa plaque on my wall attests to this) but after squeaking by the first test in Western Civilization with a 72....well, let's just say life at my house was uncomfortable for a bit! The Learning Presentation for each chapter is trivial at best and the online Study Aids are a waste of time in prepping for the test. The textbook is very well written, and the textbook's (ungraded) online quiz is somewhat helpful. However ALMOST NONE OF IT aligns with the actual test! It's like three completely different -- and strictly incommunicado -- groups of people were involved: one wrote the straighterline lesson presentation and study aids aimed at an audience of 6th graders, the second group wrote the textbook aimed at college freshmen, and the last wrote the graded test, aimed at making you question your sanity and ability to perform the simplest tasks. Aaargh!!!!!
Okay, now that i have gotten the hang of studying for their exams, I wanted to give an update. I still find their tests enough of a challenge to make me feel the need to study, but not so much that I feel overwhelmed, and certainly not enough to cheat; speaking with the perspective of nearly half a century of living, there ain't enough challenge anywhere to make me take that Loser route. One thing to keep in mind is the proctored Final. Their set-up on this alone is good -- and maybe even more strict than those taken in a classroom setting. You are watched closely. Your computer is watched closely (they remote view your desktop). Your visual and auditory surroundings are watched closely. If you can still find a way to cheat your way past this, then congratulations for being a Loser with a few college credits. I still think the "study aids" provided by SL are a bit of a joke, and stopped wasting my time even looking at them after the first couple of lessons. To summarize: at my own pace and inexpensively, I learned. I passed. I got credits. Yay!
How long does a typical three credit class take to complete?
I just completed Anatomy and Physiology 1 with lab. I found this course very challenging. I am usually an A student, so getting a B was sad, but goes to show that this course is legit. The labs were very time consuming, but enabled me to learn the content much more with the practical components.
The only thing I did not like, is that the exams are suppose to be open book, but since they do not provide enough time for the exams, it's impossible to use the book for more than a few questions. I suppose this is to ensure that you really take time to read the chapters prior to taking the exams.
One thing to change is to extend the time of the exams and the 28 day billing cycle should be 30 days.
All of the positive reviews are from the company itself. Just search the internet. They are not accredited. Ask any college if credits from this company will transfer to their institution and they will tell you no.
Where I am transferring to, the enrollment counselor told me yes, as long as the final exam is proctored. So basically you have to ask the university you are transferring to if they accepted it.
This is my review of straighterline.com
At first I was excited to hear about Straighterline.com. Cheap online classes is exactly what I was looking for. Seven hundred dollars later, I've finally completed my first class and my opinion of the company has deeply soured due to the following issues....
One dimensional:
I took their Economics course (ECON 101 - Macroeconomics). Here's what the course entailed. 1) Read 19 chapters. 2) Take 21 multiple choice tests. I could have received the same education by simply purchasing the textbook for $5 off ebay and answering the multiple choice questions at the end of each chapter.
Easy to cheat:
Eventually I got curious and, after I was finished with a test, I googled some of the questions and nearly every one of the searches ended with a link to the exact question coinciding with the correct answer. And because all you need to do to get an A in a class is to correctly answer multiple choice questions from the comfort of your couch; it's insanely easy to cheat and not get caught.
(For the record: I was taking the class to learn and not for the grade, so I didn't actually cheat.) But I doubt it will take long for people to start taking advantage of this system and straighterline classes will soon be discredited nation wide.
28 day billing cycle:
I found this to be very tricky. The average month has 30.4 days. That's about 2 and a half days every month they jip you of. 2.4 x 12 months = 28.8 days. So over a year, they sneak an extra monthly charge out of you.
If you do decide to take a class...
Prepare to
1) be completely on your own,
2) spend A LOT of time reading. I mean A LOT.
3) pay much more than you expected
4) live with the serious possibility that their classes will be discredited eventually.
It took you several months to complete one course? An Economics course could be knocked out in 1 - 1.5 months if you're saying all you need to do is read 19 chapters and take 21 multiple choice tests.
I agree. I look at Straighterline as an efficient CLEP/DSST alternative. I actually completed this same course as well as ECON102-Microeconomics within less than two months without "cheating." So I paid considerably less for two classes than I would have paid for just one in an online format. Bottom line is that you get out what you put in. Straighterline is approved by ACE, so they must be doing something right. I'm serving in the military overseas, with limited college resources other than attending costly online schools, so this really was a blessing for me. If it's not for you, then simply stay away from it. Otherwise, please do not post bad reviews like this that can potentially affect the view of others. Thanks.
He Speaks The Truth
The history course took me two weeks of actual work, but I paid for 6 because I procrastinated. If it took you that long to do, that's your fault - not SL. As a side note, I wasn't a huge fan because all the online activities won't give you the info you need for the tests.
