My Experience with Lumerit

[TheAccountant]

Hello all, 

Long time reader but first time poster here. Let me say first that this forum and the super helpful people on it are the main reason that I'll finally be graduating from TESU soon. I've found answers to all my questions just by digging through past threads. 

Now that I'm officially done with Lumerit I thought I would share my final thoughts. I know that Lumerit\ CollegePLus isn't popular around here, so let me preface this by saying that I'm not a fan of Lumerit, consider it a huge waste of money, and generally speaking wouldn't recommend them. BUT in certain situations it may be a viable option. First let me share my thoughts about the company as a whole. 

In 2016 I reached out to College Plus for more info after a friend recommended them to me. I had already completed several CLEP's in high school but hadn't heard of this forum and had literally no idea what to do next. The guy I spoke with was super nice and convinced me to join for $1900 down and $200 per month plus the cost of courses. What I wasn't told was that the company was in the process of re-branding as Lumerit and all the enrollment plans would soon be changing. I can't remember what Lumerit's initial pricing was, but I did the math at the time and discovered that I'd been screwed over. Not a happy camper. 

Overall I would say that College Plus/Lumerit staff and coaches were great. Super nice, helpful, and answered most my questions. I say most my questions because my coach told me that he was instructed by Lumerit to not discuss Straighterline, Study.com or any other course provider that may be a competitor to Lumerit. Because I was paying per month and per course things were getting really expensive. It was in the process of searching for other options that I found this forum. Needless to say it was only a short while later that I quit Lumerit. 

The Courses: Basically each course is made up of 12 to 15 modules. Included is a complete PDF textbook and set of slides to review for each module. There is a graded quiz at the end of each module, a graded test every three modules plus the final. All tests and quizzes are open book, timed, and unproctored. The final only makes up 20% of the final grade. For the most part these courses are quite easy and can be breezed through rather quickly. Honestly, the courses were fine and I have no complaints. 

I haven't got around to adding up how much I paid Lumerit for the 10 or so courses I completed. I'm sure it would make me sick. The only benefit here is that TESU waived the Cornerstone and Residency waiver because of a now expired affiliation agreement with Lumerit. This helped to at least somewhat to offset the exorbitant price that I paid per course. 

Is there any situation in which Lumerit makes sense? Maybe. 

1) If you need courses with RA. Lumerit offers courses with regional accreditation through Waldorf University. 

The standard plan is $5400 for eight courses. That's $225 per credit hour. BUT, getting the RA transcript added to a course was $100 per course.  I have no idea what it may cost now. 

2) You're super motivated. The unlimited plan is $7500 for unlimited courses in a 12 month period. If you happen to be super motivated and completed around a course a week this could be a cost effective option. Because the courses are open book and unproctored, they are seriously easy and could easily be completed in a week once you figure out how they work. I have no doubt that I could go back and complete at least some of them in a single day. 

The bottom line: my experience with Lumerit is made up of some good, much bad, and at least a little ugly. Sorry this is so long! I just got off work and am too tired to proof read the jumble of random thoughts I just jotted down. Hopefully its helpful to someone!

[MNomadic]

Thank you for sharing. I'm sorry you had a bad experience with them.

I will say that I don't personally think there's any situation that lumerit would be worth it. They offer almost exactly the same LL courses as most other providers but at a higher cost. Even if one did every class they offered in a year(~50 classes) it would still be more expensive than taking the equivalent amount of classes through SL, SDC and others. Also, programs like WGU and some other competency based RA schools offer a year of all you take classes for the same or less money.

[TexasTink]

I'm sorry they screwed you over! I had a pretty negative experience with them too, but that was back in 2007/8. I did get some good things out of the experience itself, but overall, it was a huge bust. I almost went back to them too because they're all I knew to get a degree cheaper and faster. But looking on their website just didn't make me feel like they were any more honest than before. Fortunately, someone directed me to this forum, for which I am incredibly grateful!!

[cookderosa]

I really appreciate your openness about your experience. (They've rebranded again, they are now called Unbound)

I am confused about *exactly* how their relationship with Waldorf University works. I can see their ACE approved courses in the catalog. They are:
SOC240: Community Service Learning
BUS201: Introduction to Entrepreneurship
ENG131: Composition and Reading I
ENG131: Composition and Reading II
PHIL113: Comparative Worldviews
PSI131: Earth Science, Earth Science with Lab
COMM396: Leadership and Management Com (not upper level)
COMM394: Leadership Theory and Practice (not upper level)
SOSCI280: Social Justice from a Biblical Perspective

So, is there a *different* catalog of courses that they are offering for that price? If so, are they LITERALLY offered through the university and LITERALLY on a university's transcript? Or is this a case of what onlinedegree is doing where the credit is simply being ACCEPTED by a college (Excelsior in their case) which generates a transcript? I'm curious if you know - if you don't that's ok. But, when you say "unlimited" courses, does that list extend beyond the classes I've listed above??? Thank you again, I have a few more questions, I really apprecate your help!

[MNomadic]

I really appreciate your openness about your experience.  (They've rebranded again, they are now called Unbound)

I am confused about *exactly* how their relationship with Waldorf University works.  I can see their ACE approved courses in the catalog. They are:
SOC240: Community Service Learning
BUS201: Introduction to Entrepreneurship
ENG131: Composition and Reading I
ENG131: Composition and Reading II
PHIL113: Comparative Worldviews
PSI131: Earth Science, Earth Science with Lab
COMM396: Leadership and Management Com (not upper level)
COMM394: Leadership Theory and Practice (not upper level)
SOSCI280: Social Justice from a Biblical Perspective

So, is there a *different* catalog of courses that they are offering for that price?  If so, are they LITERALLY offered through the university and LITERALLY on a university's transcript? Or is this a case of what onlinedegree is doing where the credit is simply being ACCEPTED by a college (Excelsior in their case) which generates a transcript?  I'm curious if you know - if you don't that's ok.  But, when you say "unlimited" courses, does that list extend beyond the classes I've listed above???  Thank you again, I have a few more questions, I really apprecate your help!

Yeah I saw that very few of their courses had ACE recommendation.
The lumerit site shows about 50 or so "courses" https://lumerit.com/courses
But without ACE, RA or specific college partnerships, those courses would probably be useless. And paying $100 EXTRA(to already overpriced courses) to have them RA transcripted and maybe still not usable, just seems like an extreme ripoff.

[triforce828]

Thanks for posting your experience TheAccountant!

So many of my friends in the homeschool group ask me about CollegePlus/Lumerit/Unbound. They think they need to have an advisor to guide them through this process or they are under the impression CP/L/U is the only way for their high school student to earn a degree. And this is even AFTER I tell them my kids earned their degrees without their help. Argh.

[mysonx3]

Well they're right about needing an advisor, but isn't that what dfrecore is here for?

[jsd]

 (They've rebranded again, they are now called Unbound)

 
Thanks for pointing this out. I missed this when it happened. It's infuriating.

It's also an extremely common tactic that shady companies use to try to outrun their past and keep un-savvy consumers in the dark.

[dfrecore]

Well they're right about needing an advisor, but isn't that what dfrecore is here for?

I'd be happy to do it for like 1/2 the cost!! 

---

I really appreciate your openness about your experience.  (They've rebranded again, they are now called Unbound)

I am confused about *exactly* how their relationship with Waldorf University works.  I can see their ACE approved courses in the catalog. They are:
...

So, is there a *different* catalog of courses that they are offering for that price?  If so, are they LITERALLY offered through the university and LITERALLY on a university's transcript? Or is this a case of what onlinedegree is doing where the credit is simply being ACCEPTED by a college (Excelsior in their case) which generates a transcript?  I'm curious if you know - if you don't that's ok.  But, when you say "unlimited" courses, does that list extend beyond the classes I've listed above???  Thank you again, I have a few more questions, I really apprecate your help!

I wonder how Westcott works as well.  Sounds similar, except the pricing (Westcott is much more open about their pricing, and their courses automatically come on an RA transcript).

[sanantone]

Unbound takes advantage of naive, homeschooling families looking to shelter their kids, especially their daughters, from the world. It's much cheaper to go to a community college.