12-11-2012, 01:38 PM
If you are considering Straighterline then today is the day to do it. Tomorrow they are going to have a big price increase.
Initially Straighterline did not require proctored exams, but they have recently added this requirement to their finals. This was probably a stipulation mandated by the numerous colleges with which Straighterline is partnered. In any event, Straighterline now requires that students take their finals with ProctorU looking over their virtual shoulder, and ProctorU charges $30 an exam. Any course purchased after Nov.1 requires a proctored exam.
However, Straighterline also has a package deal that costs $999 and allows the student to take 10 courses over the span of a year. Straighterline still requires a proctored exam for courses started after Nov. 1, but Straighterline eats the cost of these proctored exams. However, tomorrow the price of this program goes up by $300 --- i.e. Straighterline is going to start passing along the cost of those ProctorU exams.
I had planned on taking a couple of courses from Straighterline, but with the price increase I decided to just bite the bullet and pay for a year. The cost per class still works out to about the same as the cost of a CLEP test with sitting fee, but I have the convenience of not going to a testing center.
Straighterline is also adding a bunch more courses tomorrow. If you buy their $999 package today you will be asked to select the 10 courses for which you want to enroll. The list of courses doesn't include the new courses they are adding tomorrow. However, I called and spoke with one of their representatives and was told I could select just one or two courses from the list and then select the Enroll button at the top of the screen (the enroll hyperlink at the bottom of the screen doesn't work), and I could select the rest of the courses later, which would include their new courses.
Sorry for being so long winded, but hopefully this helps someone.
Initially Straighterline did not require proctored exams, but they have recently added this requirement to their finals. This was probably a stipulation mandated by the numerous colleges with which Straighterline is partnered. In any event, Straighterline now requires that students take their finals with ProctorU looking over their virtual shoulder, and ProctorU charges $30 an exam. Any course purchased after Nov.1 requires a proctored exam.
However, Straighterline also has a package deal that costs $999 and allows the student to take 10 courses over the span of a year. Straighterline still requires a proctored exam for courses started after Nov. 1, but Straighterline eats the cost of these proctored exams. However, tomorrow the price of this program goes up by $300 --- i.e. Straighterline is going to start passing along the cost of those ProctorU exams.
I had planned on taking a couple of courses from Straighterline, but with the price increase I decided to just bite the bullet and pay for a year. The cost per class still works out to about the same as the cost of a CLEP test with sitting fee, but I have the convenience of not going to a testing center.
Straighterline is also adding a bunch more courses tomorrow. If you buy their $999 package today you will be asked to select the 10 courses for which you want to enroll. The list of courses doesn't include the new courses they are adding tomorrow. However, I called and spoke with one of their representatives and was told I could select just one or two courses from the list and then select the Enroll button at the top of the screen (the enroll hyperlink at the bottom of the screen doesn't work), and I could select the rest of the courses later, which would include their new courses.
Sorry for being so long winded, but hopefully this helps someone.