STRAIGHTERLINE:
A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE
Want to save over 60% on college classes? Choose from over 60 courses that easily transfer to 2,000+ colleges nationwide. StraighterLine allows students to take college courses for just $59 each and a platform fee of $99 per month. These courses will mainly cover general education credits.
What is StraighterLine?
StraighterLine is a learning platform offering self-paced, online courses for college credit. It offers solutions for colleges and universities to enroll better-prepared students and attract, retain, and graduate more students. It was founded as a solution to the rising costs of a college education.
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The platform supports over 40,000 students a year, in partnership with more than 150 regionally accredited colleges and universities, they offer low-cost, low-risk online pathway programs for students to earn college credit and ultimately achieve their academic dreams.
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How does it work?
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Choose a Course. Every course saves you money, time, and counts for credit towards your degree.
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Make the payment for your course and monthly subscription.
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Start studying and get support. Your membership includes eTextbooks, tutoring, and live student support.
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Transfer & Complete Your Degree. 41% more students who went through StraighterLine before entering college were successful completing their degree than those who didn’t.
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Earn College Credit. All StraighterLine courses are recommended for credit by the American Council of Education (ACE).
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What Schools Accept StraighterLine?
StraighterLine has a list of partner institutions on their website, which encompasses some, but not all, of the schools that accept their credits. There are 150 partner institutions, but more schools have accepted StraighterLine credit.
The best way to figure out what credits your school accepts is to research their policies typically located on their website and/or within a transfer equivalency portal. Examples of transfer equivalency portals include the Transfer Evaluation System from CollegeSource and Transferology.
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What is the total cost?
The total cost of StraighterLine is $59 per course + $99 per month. There are no fees for textbooks. The cost of your StraighterLine credits will depend on how quickly you go through the courses. For students who need extra help, online tutoring is included at no additional cost.
Online College Courses for Credit
Enroll in StraighterLine’s online college courses for college credit and earn the pre-requisite qualifications needed to complete your degree. They offer online courses in math, English, science, humanities, language, social sciences, technology, business, and health science. Their classes allow students to conveniently earn college credits at their own pace. Most students complete their online college courses within 4-6 weeks, but many are able to finish them in less than 30 days.
Accreditation
All StraighterLine courses go through an intensive quality review process by American Council on Education Credit prior to being available to students. ACE Credit has evaluated and recommended all StraighterLine courses for credit.
What happens if I fail the Course?
If upon completion of a course a student has not achieved a satisfactory score (70% by default as per ACE), a student may retake their course by repurchasing and reattempting it in full. Students will wait a minimum of three (3) business days between attempts. After all the course re-take attempts, the highest final satisfactory score will be used for the transcript.
To retake a course, follow the steps below:
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Find the course you would like to retake in StraighterLine’s catalog
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Add the course to your cart and proceed through checkout
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Once you have paid for the course, you will receive an order invoice and a Support Request will be opened confirming receipt of the retake request
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A Student Advisor will process your retake (Please allow at least 3 business days)
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You will receive an email confirming that your course is ready to begin at which time you can login to your MyLine Dashboard and restart your course!
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What is the Grading System for StraighterLine?
Grading varies by course but typically includes a mixture of exams, quizzes, and essays. It's also common for courses to include a series of ungraded assignments.
StraighterLine provides a percentage score and letter grade for each course. A passing percentage is 70% or higher. Each college has policies with respect to grades for transferred coursework. You should check with the college you plan to attend to determine its specific grade-posting policies
Transcript Eligibility
In order for your course to be eligible for transfer, the course must be complete per our completion criteria and must have a final grade of a 70% or above. A grade of at least 70% is required for credit recognition at most StraighterLine partner colleges or ACE CREDIT recommendation. ACE transcripts reflect P/F (Pass/Fail) only.
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Expanded student access and opportunity
• StraighterLine partners with higher education institutions to create and operate tailored online pathway programs that help conquer enrollment and retention challenges.
• StraighterLine's high-quality, affordable courses and always-accessible student support help you reach and inspire your ever-changing, diverse student populations:
1. High school grads entering college
2. Current students wishing to pick up the pace
3. Adult learners starting or returning to school
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Habits that can boost your success when taking online college courses:
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Stick to a schedule
As a distance learner, you can turn on your computer and go to class any time you want. Although that is a great advantage, it can work against you too by leading to procrastination. (“I don’t have to study now. I will do it tomorrow.”). Successful online students stick to a schedule. You will do better if you set a routine and stick to it.
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Start projects early
This is a habit of all good students. When you are working on your own, it can be hard to remember that the earlier you start on a paper or start studying for an exam, the better you are going to do. In classrooms, students can pick up on cues from other students by asking questions like, “Have you started on your paper yet?” In contrast, remote learners have to work according to their own “internal clock.” And the best way to do that is to get into the habit of starting early.
Get organized
Classroom students use notebooks and folders to organize their coursework, online students use their phones, tablets, computers. The best online students have the habit of setting up well-organized folders that are accessible across all their devices for their projects and coursework and you will still have it when your course is over.
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Go beyond the basic requirements
In most cases, the instructors who designed and wrote your courses will have provided readings and supplemental materials that build a solid grounding in the subject you are studying. The best students have cultivated the habit of digging deeper, by looking for other materials to read and explore, and ask the hard questions themselves.
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Ask for help when you need it
All good students do this. But some remote learners hesitate too long before asking their online course instructors or tutors for advice or help. The result? They can fall behind in their work or fail to build a solid knowledge base in the earlier units or lessons of their classes.
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Talk about your plans and courses with other people.
Some distance learners fall into the pattern of keeping their studies to themselves. Strong online learners talk to their friends and family members about what they are studying and learning.
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Make your studies part of a bigger plan
Know how college fits into your life master plan, and know what you will do next. When your courses are part of a bigger plan, you are more motivated to follow through. That’s a recipe for success.
Conclusion
StraighterLine’s flexible course schedules, quality educational design, and first-class student support all combined will definitely bring success to each student as long as dedication and patience towards the final goal-to pass the course and get college credit- is clear.