In this post I want to introduce you to Straighterline, a fast, cheap, and sometimes easy alternative for college credit. They offer a ton of courses, courses that cannot be tested out through CLEP and DSST exams, and are a popular alternative for people like me who have completed accelerated degrees.
Cost
I, myself, have never taken a Straighterline course. Although a little more expensive, it was faster for me to test out of my liberal arts degree with CLEP and DSST exams. But it might be worthwhile for some of you to choose Straighterline. Let me explain:
To sign up with Straighterline and begin taking courses, you must pay a $99 a month subscription fee. On top of the monthly fee, you pay for each course; most are $49. Many courses include a class e-book; for those that don’t, or if you don’t like ebooks, I recommend half.com. But a good thing about using ebooks is that you can use the Ctrl F (find) function to easily find answers to questions on quizzes. The exams are open book.
Those Who Straighterline is Perfect for
For those who have the time to complete multiple courses a month, using Straighterline is cheaper than testing out with CLEPs and DSSTs. Awesome value if you move fast. Many report completing a course a day. This person completed 12 courses in 30 days! Course material is almost entirely reading based, and most tests are multiple choice. The final exam is proctored through ProctorU.
Another thing, not all of us live near a testing center. Sometimes I get emails from people outside of America asking if they too can earn an accelerated degree. They’re often far from a testing center and would have to shell out a ton of money on round-trip airfare tickets to a city that has one. For these people I recommend Straighterline.
Straighterline isn’t lacking in course options. Course categories include: Business, English, Health Science, Humanities, Sciences, English, Languages, Mathematics, College Prep, Technology, Social Science. They guarantee their courses will be received for credit at one of their 100 accredited partner colleges.
For those who want to be a nurse, if your nursing school is a Straighterline partner, Straighterline offers nursing prerequisite courses. At an additional cost, their science courses include a lab.
Final Note
Alternatives to Straighterline include Saylor.org and Study.com, though Straighterline is considered to be faster than those two. Of course, not all exams are equally sped through. Micro and Macroeconomics are known to be quiz intensive, and some others are known to be equally tedious. I still think studying with Instant Cert and testing out with CLEP and DSST exams is the best method, but I understand it isn’t practical for everyone, and some of you must supplement your degrees with courses that can’t be tested out of. Regardless, Straighterline is worth considering.
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