New SL partner school - LETTER GRADES!

[cookderosa]

SL's email to me today identifies Albany State (GA) as a new partner. When you go down the list, you'll see they don't accept everything, but they do offer letter grades like crazy! P.S. Just so any of you don't get any crazy ideas about completing a degree with them, they charge $900 per credit ;p Yes, that's $108,000 BEFORE room and textbooks. At about $100 per class for books, that's another 4ish grand, plus they charge $3500 per SEMESTER for housing... (times eight, carry the one.....) holy smokes that's expensive. $140,000 for an undergrad degree.

They have only 1 undergrad fully online program (business).

Transfer College Credit to Albany State University | Earn College Credit at Albany State University for StraighterLine Courses - StraighterLine

[durandtheman]

Any idea if we can transfer SL grades through them to one of the Big 3?

Looking at the online application (i got to the end and haven't submitted) There is NO CHARGE to apply, but I'm still hesitant if they will even accept transcripts like Fort Hays did in the past and allow me to have them sent to Excelsior.

[Ace_King]

Good question! I asked your question to an ad visor hopefully get an email back today. I'll reply once I get an answer from SL.

[jackbanta]

Wow, I hope that they will work like Fort Hayes... this would give me a great option instead of the graded DSSTs I was thinking of taking.

Hmm, interesting that several of the graded courses aren't even active at Straighterline yet... Western Civ I, US History I, and Intro to Sociology. Wonder if that means that straighterline is adding them very soon.

[cookderosa]

Any idea if we can transfer SL grades through them to one of the Big 3?

Looking at the online application (i got to the end and haven't submitted) There is NO CHARGE to apply, but I'm still hesitant if they will even accept transcripts like Fort Hays did in the past and allow me to have them sent to Excelsior.

I don't know EC's transfer policy, but for TESC you don't have to launder grades- TESC will take them directly from SL. Also, at TESC (and most schools) letter grades do not transfer in as letter grades, they come in as "transfer" or "credit" or similar.

There are other good reasons for needing letter grades but going to TESC isn't one of them. For TESC you can't get letter grades for any of the SL courses, even if they are not a transfer from another school.
When I applied to nursing school and considered med school, letter grades were weighted higher than pass/fail- so that's an instance of not needing for the degree, but for a specific reason. Also, this might be a really really good alternative to a credit bank for military people. It appears as if they also have a nice CLEP policy, so for our military (and police too I believe) who need a transcript that documents X credits (not a degree) this seems like a nearly free (?) way to do so.

I'm still just speculating since they announced this partnership today, but I think this will end up being a solid resource for many specific situations.

[Ace_King]

SL new courses should be out in two weeks from what an adviser told me last week. All I'm interested is if the new university takes the courses like how FHSU did. Credit launder. I know I'm going to TESC at the end of the day but would like all my transcripts from everywhere I attended at the end. More RA credit on my part.. Just in case I have to send unofficial transcripts to a grad school, so I can gather everything I have and explain my dilemma, lol.

[cookderosa]

SL new courses should be out in two weeks from what an adviser told me last week. All I'm interested is if the new university takes the courses like how FHSU did. Credit launder. I know I'm going to TESC at the end of the day but would like all my transcripts from everywhere I attended at the end. More RA credit on my part.. Just in case I have to send unofficial transcripts to a grad school, so I can gather everything I have and explain my dilemma, lol.

Yes, this is an EXCELLENT point and I missed it all together lol, but shouldn't have It's worth really really emphasizing. If you are attending a college that doesn't take ACE courses, you could take SL courses from Albany's list and then you can launder them back into your home university. A lot of community colleges do NOT take ACE, not sure why, but this is a nice go-around, especially helpful for our career /trade / AOS/ AAS degree seekers.

[durandtheman]

SL new courses should be out in two weeks from what an adviser told me last week. All I'm interested is if the new university takes the courses like how FHSU did. Credit launder. I know I'm going to TESC at the end of the day but would like all my transcripts from everywhere I attended at the end. More RA credit on my part.. Just in case I have to send unofficial transcripts to a grad school, so I can gather everything I have and explain my dilemma, lol.

2 Weeks! Finally! I love SL, and I swear, every time I got an email from SL I would go straight to the website and to ACE's website to see if there is any info on anything there.

Great to hear that the courses are almost complete. I wish they would give a book list for all the courses, so we can order and be prepared to start almost immediately. Has anyone asked for one yet?

[IgnazSemmelweis]

Where are you seeing $900/ch? I see $8700 for 15+ch if you are a non-resident off campus student.

[Ace_King]

Alright guys I got a response, but it's not anything bad or good.. just not what we we're hoping for. We have to contact Albany State University and ask them directly I guess. This is what Straighterline said.

"Hi *****,

I am not familiar with what they do. I understand that students want somewhere that will transfer their credits in and then back out but honestly, Fort Hayes did that and they stopped doing it. I really do believe they were the only ones that did that. I do not think that any other partner colleges will do that. Just because they do not have an admission fee does not mean that they will allow a student to transfer credits in and then transfer them back out but have them stating that they took them at Albany State. The admission fee doesn't have anything to do with that process. I would suggest using ACE. ACE is the only other option to transferring credit to another university who may not accept it directly from us.

We always notify students that if your school will only accept credits from a college or university then they may not accept from us. We are new and we understand that higher education has not changed the way we have. Many universities will make their own decision on whether or not they want to accept credits from us. It is always in a student's best interest to first check with their school and then take courses with us. ACE is always a great option so I would suggest going that route. I do not think that any other partner college will do what Fort Hayes did. You can ask them or talk with them if you want to find out the end answer because I cannot guarantee either way. Please let me know if you have anymore questions. Thanks."



I'm trying to get a hold of Albany State University admissions office, but I get a busy tone. The phone number is 229-430-4646 if anyone else wants to try and ask as well.