Straighterline added classes with labs!

[irnbru]

Thank *you* for posting it on the Straighterline Facebook page!

Is your team giving any thought to offering physics? There seems to be a gaping hole in the alternative learning market for freshmen looking for Physics I/II, with labs especially...

Uexcel offer a 6cr exam in Physics. More information here: UExcel - Exams

Straighterline's new offerings will be a great extension to an already fantastic opportunity depending on the ACE/partner college confirmation.

[Jeff2243]

But, seriously what you guys think are the chances of these new courses being approved by ACE. What if they aren't.
It's a big risk taking the classes and later finding out that they can't be used for credit.

[Yenisei]

They got their earlier course offerings approved, which suggests to me that they know how to develop courses that will garner ACE approval.

[Levi]

I'm guessing that the new Staighterline Business Communications course will be accepted for Managerial Communications at Thomas Edison (MAN-373). This would be a great low-cost alternative to the guided study or online TESC course.

[Jeff2243]

So, there is a 2 step process. First ACE has to approve and then partner college has to approve. I want to take Bio and Chemistry but don't know if I should take with lab or w/o lab and which one of them will be accepted by EC.
I really like straighterline course format. There is no one shot final and you take exams as you progress.

[irnbru]

While we wait and see how this progresses, ACE's 'National Guide' is teasing for speculation:

Entry added for 'General Calculus I (Spanish Version)'; no course number or description, yet. Sounds quite hard.

[Jeff2243]

I just spoke with advisor for a masters degree and she told me that they'll need trascripts directly from the institute for any courses taken for undergraduate degree. Which means that though courses taken at Straighterline are acceptable by partner colleges , they may not be acceptable by non partener colleges. So, be careful especially if you are planning on going to advance degrees. They are fine with CLEP and DANTES. Has anyone applied for masters and run into any such issues?

[Yenisei]

Jeff, there are lots of schools offering grad programs and so many programs that it simply doesn't make sense to paint this issue with such a broad and absolute brush. Even if one grad program has a problem with a Straighterline course or two, there will be plenty of others that are more concerned with the degree you earned and the overall difficulty of the courses/exams you took.

[cookderosa]

I just spoke with advisor for a masters degree and she told me that they'll need transcripts directly from the institute for any courses taken for undergraduate degree. Which means that though courses taken at Straighterline are acceptable by partner colleges , they may not be acceptable by non partner colleges. So, be careful especially if you are planning on going to advance degrees. They are fine with CLEP and DANTES. Has anyone applied for masters and run into any such issues?

I agree with Yenisei, and also want to point out that what any grad school wants will be dependent on how it's listed on your undergrad transcript. For instance, if you have a CLEP credit, a grad school will likely requires an official CLEP transcript too. If you have a transfer course on there from years ago, the grad school will ask you to request a transcript from the original college. This is common and normal. Expect it.

Straighterline MAY not fall into this category depending on how your undergrad school puts it on your transcript. If it comes in as a home college course, there won't be a request for a transcript because there wasn't any credit laundering. OTOH if it comes in as credit earned or transfer then it likely requires a transcript because the credit is recorded as not originating from the college. It's entirely possible that some partner colleges may be issuing credit for SL as if the credit was earned in house. Time will tell.

For those who are also a little unsure about how grad applications work, your grad school DOES NOT evaluate your courses inside your degree, they do not "accept/deny" undergrad credit unless they have spelled out certain prereqs (many DO have prereqs, so check) When you apply to grad school you apply as a degree holder, period, box checked. *which isn't to say that all degrees meet all grad school requirements for all people. I think you were VERY WISE by calling the school directly and finding out exactly what was/wasn't going to be accepted for this specific school. If you know ahead of time, that's a great plan. For those that don't, I would simply say not to worry. It's a buyer's market- grad schools are BEGGING for students in education/business especially. BEGGING. It's not "if" you'd get in, it's choosing where to go.