Straighterline now offers Financial Aid

[Cheeseburrito]

Got an email saying that SL now offers Financial aid. You just have to call them and set up things with them and FAFSA.

This is huge. Call and talk to a financial advisor and independent study could be aided? Wow!!

I'm done in a few classes or I would have done this in January!

[Murdockb]

Got an email saying that SL now offers Financial aid. You just have to call them and set up things with them and FAFSA.

This is huge. Call and talk to a financial advisor and independent study could be aided? Wow!!

I'm done in a few classes or I would have done this in January!

Would you mind posting the text from the email? I'm interested to see the details.

They still list the following in the Q&A section fo their website:

Q: Can I apply for financial aid?

A: No, StraighterLine doesn't offer financial aid. You can, however, apply for financial aid at the college of your choice when you complete your StraighterLine experience.

[Cheeseburrito]

Hi Cheeseburrito,

If you're interested in using financial aid for your online courses we have some exciting news!
StraighterLine has been selected by the U.S. Department of Education to take part in a new program allowing students to access federal financial aid for 12 of our most popular courses.

Due to limited space and the unique nature of this program, you will need to speak to one of our of our Enrollment Counselors. To learn more, get access to the prerequisite course, or to start the application process, give us a call at 877-989-7396.

[allvia]

Better than an email from SL here it is from the U.S. Department of Education - https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/e...experiment

BUT (you knew that "but" was coming),  It's not exactly Straighterline where the offer of Financial Aid is handled, it is Brookhaven College (CC) that is allowing you to earn credits through SL with your financial aid.   Which may not be a bad thing - I don't know what the requirements involved with going through Brookhaven College are, and I can't seem to easily locate the information on their site.  

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktake...ip-program

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2018/04/prweb15398698.htm

https://brookhaven.straighterline.com/about/brookhaven/

https://www.brookhavencollege.edu

[cookderosa]

Ughh. I wish policy makers could digest the bigger picture. "Opportunities" like this (and the expansion of financial aid funds in general) is a problem that encourages borrowing at the 100/200 level which in turn means that (a) students are taking on debt during their gen eds at a time when they have not even started training for their job - thus have not significantly "improved" their employability...yet and (b) are going into a path that has only a 13-50% completion rate - thus leaving college with potential debt without an increased ability to repay it.
My opinion is my own obviously the students and SL think this is great. I'm sure zillions of people believe that there is no other conceivable way to pay $50/credit without financial aid. Frankly, if someone can't crack that nut BEFORE signing up, adding AA to their resume isn't going to give them a decent ROI anyway.
Programs like these are, in my opinion, the gateway to debt and exceptionally enticing. I didn't use the word predatory, but it's about as close as you can get.

[Murdockb]

Ughh.  I wish policy makers could digest the bigger picture.  "Opportunities" like this (and the expansion of financial aid funds in general) is a problem that encourages borrowing at the 100/200 level which in turn means that (a) students are taking on debt during their gen eds at a time when they have not even started training for their job - thus have not significantly "improved" their employability...yet and (b) are going into a path that has only a 13-50% completion rate - thus leaving college with potential debt without an increased ability to repay it.  
My opinion is my own obviously the students and SL think this is great.  I'm sure zillions of people believe that there is no other conceivable way to pay $50/credit without financial aid.   Frankly, if someone can't crack that nut BEFORE signing up, adding AA to their resume isn't going to give them a decent ROI anyway.  
Programs like these are, in my opinion, the gateway to debt and exceptionally enticing.  I didn't use the word predatory, but it's about as close as you can get.

Agree. And with financial aid in the picture, there is no incentive to keep the costs down because students can now "afford" it.

[dfrecore]

Ughh.  I wish policy makers could digest the bigger picture.  "Opportunities" like this (and the expansion of financial aid funds in general) is a problem that encourages borrowing at the 100/200 level which in turn means that (a) students are taking on debt during their gen eds at a time when they have not even started training for their job - thus have not significantly "improved" their employability...yet and (b) are going into a path that has only a 13-50% completion rate - thus leaving college with potential debt without an increased ability to repay it.  
My opinion is my own obviously the students and SL think this is great.  I'm sure zillions of people believe that there is no other conceivable way to pay $50/credit without financial aid.   Frankly, if someone can't crack that nut BEFORE signing up, adding AA to their resume isn't going to give them a decent ROI anyway.  
Programs like these are, in my opinion, the gateway to debt and exceptionally enticing.  I didn't use the word predatory, but it's about as close as you can get.

Agree. And with financial aid in the picture, there is no incentive to keep the costs down because students can now "afford" it.

Agree with both.  The more the government gets involved to "help" students, the worse things get.  Tuition costs have climbed exponentially since the advent of the federally subsidized student loans, and it's not getting any cheaper.

[sanantone]

100/200-level courses aren't only used for associate's degrees. You need them for a bachelor's degree. Most people will take out financial aid to pay for much more expensive 100/200-level courses whether it be at a 2-year or 4-year school. If it weren't for leftover Pell Grant money, I wouldn't have been able to afford all these alternative sources of credit.

Financial aid "may" have caused an increase in tuition (the truth is that state funding has gone down), but financial aid also made college more accessible. My generation is the first generation in my family to have gone to college. There has been a huge increase in the number of black people, especially black females, attending and completing college. I strongly believe this wouldn't have happened without financial aid. Most of those who get themselves into unmanageable amounts of debt are those who spend financial aid money on non-school-related things.

I've seen people get nostalgic about their state school costing $1,000 per semester in 1980. When you're only making $3 an hour, that's a lot of money.

[cookderosa]

100/200-level courses aren't only used for associate's degrees. You need them for a bachelor's degree. Most people will take out financial aid to pay for much more expensive 100/200-level courses whether it be at a 2-year or 4-year school. If it weren't for leftover Pell Grant money, I wouldn't have been able to afford all these alternative sources of credit.

Financial aid "may" have caused an increase in tuition (the truth is that state funding has gone down), but financial aid also made college more accessible. My generation is the first generation in my family to have gone to college. There has been a huge increase in the number of black people, especially black females, attending and completing college. I strongly believe this wouldn't have happened without financial aid. Most of those who get themselves into unmanageable amounts of debt are those who spend financial aid money on non-school-related things.

I've seen people get nostalgic about their state school costing $1,000 per semester in 1980. When you're only making $3 an hour, that's a lot of money.

Welcome back The financial aid program with SL is through the community college, so while they ultimately may end up at a 4-year school, Brookhaven is $59/credit and if the student DOES plan to go to a 4-year college, all the more reason to grind during years 1 and 2. If a family is poor enough to qualify for a Pell, it pays full tuition at Brookhaven anyway.

[Cheeseburrito]

Awww man. I thought I was a hero for finding this, lol.