How to Get Near Free College Credit with Straighterline

If you’re a fan of Sophia Learning courses, you’re going to love StraighterLine too.

Back in 2008, an education entrepreneur and consultant named Burck Smith wanted to find a way to lower college prices. He was upset that even though education technology was improving, education itself was becoming more expensive.

If technology was making it easier to educate, why was it harder for people to get educated? 

It was this problem that spurred his idea for StraighterLine.

StraighterLine’s format allows you to sign up for a specific course, such as College Algebra. From there, you can watch videos and read the textbook. You’ll eventually complete exams and some written assignments, and if you end up with a grade of 70% or higher, StraighterLine will give you college credit.

Now, I realize that doesn’t sound unique. In fact, it describes most online college courses.

But StraighterLine is a big deal for a few reasons:

1. StraighterLine courses are completely self-paced, so there are no deadlines. If you have a busy week at work, you can just do the homework next week. 

2. Many colleges accept StraighterLine. They don’t necessarily accept all of them, but plenty of colleges accept lots of them. This includes all of the colleges I mention in my top online colleges video. Plus, StraighterLine has more dedicated partners than other third-party course providers like Sophia Learning, so these credits have a higher chance of being used.

3. StraighterLine has over 60 courses. That’s a better selection than both Sophia Learning and CLEP (credit-based exams).

4. StraighterLine doesn’t affect your GPA. These credits are pass/fail, so as long as you earn a 70%, your GPA is fine. 

5. StraighterLine courses are quick. StraighterLine estimates 75 hours a piece to go through, or 33 days. But, in reality, plenty of people finish StraighterLine courses in under a week easily (and while working!), which is a lot better than a full 16-week college course.

6. Finally–and best of all–StraighterLine is inexpensive. You pay $99/month for a membership and then each individual course is usually only $78 more. If you finish 30 credits at StraighterLine in 20 weeks, it would cost you ~$1,176. Earning those same credits at an online college would cost you over $12,000! That’s an insane deal.

So we highly recommend StraighterLine and hope you’ll make use of their offerings. 

And if you want to save tens of thousands of dollars more and years of time on your degree, you can sign up for a consultation with us. We’ll help you decide where to earn every credit, help you pick the right degree, and give you a step-by-step action plan to graduate in as little as 12 months and for as little as $2,000.