Sophia, only 2 courses active at one time

[alab21]

We’ve been grateful for whatever we can accomplish during the freebie! My hubby won’t likely finish all the courses he needs before end of the month. We had planned to grab the rest at the end of July. That’s out. If the price going forward is comparable to the alternatives, we will just buy them.

The smartest thing Sophia could do after the freebies are over, is lower their prices to the neighborhood of Study and SL courses, or hit us all with coupons that end up $100/course again. Some may only need 1-2 courses though, so I hope it’s not a buy 5 deal. They have a good bit of momentum from this. People like their courses. Roll with it!

FWIW, I recommended hubby do self paced Eng 101 and *maybe* 102 via ASU’s $99 courses, rather than tie up his Sophia account waiting on grades to be returned. And if he ends up anywhere that doesn’t accept Sophia, he’s done forever with English - no need to redo them. Or we may pay for the English courses after, if he settles on a school that takes them. . He will snag the maths at the end of July to work on those longer. Everything else seems faster to get through.


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[ctcarl]

The smartest thing Sophia could do after the freebies are over, is lower their prices to the neighborhood of Study and SL courses, or hit us all with coupons that end up $100/course again. Some may only need 1-2 courses though, so I hope it’s not a buy 5 deal. They have a good bit of momentum from this. People like their courses. Roll with it!

That might be what's best for you as a student, but I doubt it would make much sense for Sophia.  You don't establish yourself as a purveyor of high-quality goods or services by price-matching your competition, especially when your product throws rocks at theirs.

Sophia offers a more tightly-integrated, student-friendly, transparent, and overall higher-quality experience than either SDC or SL.  I doubt that happens by accident, I suspect that they have substantial and ongoing costs in excess of those other providers.  That's probably one reason their course selection is limited.  They likely don't release a new course until it's been properly audited and the integration is smooth.  Contrast that to all the "the tests weren't aligned with the course materials" complaints you see from SDC students.

Personally, I think that while SDC does have some advantages, such as wider course selection, course-for-course, they don't compare favorably to Sophia.  Likewise, I don't care for SDC's business model.  Their marketing focus seems to be on confusing the customer with a low, come-on rate and locking them in with a monthly charge.  I'm confident that if you were to audit study.com, you would find dozens if not hundreds of accounts with no activity for months or even years, because relatives, benefactors, employers, scholarships or government agencies continue to pay the monthly fees even though the student has lost interest or graduated.  While that's a great business model from a profit standpoint, as a consumer, I find it to be loathsome.

I don't think Sophia is likely to "hit us all with coupons" when the current promotion is over.  I've never seen any indication of a "shotgun" approach with their discounts.  What I've seen seems to indicate a careful marketing strategy, where they offer discounts to specific groups; for example, students of partner schools, homeschooling websites, and even, in at least one case, members of the Airline Owners and Pilots Association.  With that said, I can tell you that, at least in my experience, there have always been discount codes if you know where to look, and they have displayed a flexible and reasonable approach to the application of those discounts, even offering to combine accounts when a student has created multiple logins with different partner schools in order to minimize course fees.

I completed a number of Sophia courses prior to the start of the current promotion, and (not including the two historically free 1-credit courses on offer) my average cost was around $30 per credit.  The most I ever paid for one three-credit course was $112.50.  When you consider the quality of their product, and the fact that they're a private enterprise that exists to turn a profit, I find that very reasonable.  If you need only one or two classes and can't find what you need at your target cost per credit, you might want to consider Davar Academy.  They have a number of 3-credit online courses for $80 plus proctoring cost, as well as a $99 monthly program for two business classes.  Those are bargain-basement per-credit costs, but if you're used to Sophia, you may not like it...they're the Hyundai to Sophia's Lexus.

[ss20ts]

Sophia is owned by the parent company of Capella University and Strayer University. They have a massive online learning presence and have for years.

[cerich67]

I would like to see one or both of Sophia's university parent company Universities offer an associate degree general studies AA capstone for those that did enough credits during the free period. I am chasing a BSBA but would be happy to pay under 1k to get an associate degree as a way of saying of saying thanks to Sophia and their parent company for this. Others that may not have the money to pursue or get a bachelor degree would be well served.

[Jobe112]

Sophia is owned by the parent company of Capella University and Strayer University. They have a massive online learning presence and have for years.

Sophia being owned by Capella University and Strayer University, I did not know. Thanks for the info.

[monchevy]

This is my first experience with Sophia, and if they add UL courses later on down the line at their regular price, I'll be happy to pay it.

[MNomadic]

Does anyone know what happens if you drop a course? Can you still take it later or do you have to "re buy" it?

[Cofffeee]

Does anyone know what happens if you drop a course? Can you still take it later or do you have to "re buy" it?

You can drop it and reenroll for free before offfer end.

[MNomadic]

Does anyone know what happens if you drop a course? Can you still take it later or do you have to "re buy" it?

You can drop it and reenroll for free before offfer end.

But I can't reenroll if I still have 2 courses still active...

[Cofffeee]

By dropping course you dont change policy. You still have only 2 active courses. But when you are done with 1 of them you are allowed to reenroll in previously dropped course ( as long as you have only 1 active course at that time)