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I just received an email from SL. Yearly tuition will go from $999 to $1299. The $999 is good until Dec. 11, 2012.
Thought I'd post this for anyone considering it. I'm on the $99/mo. plan, but I'm sure that will be going up soon, as well. $99 X 12 mos. is less than $1299.
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Pjbarney Wrote:Thought I'd post this for anyone considering it. I'm on the $99/mo. plan, but I'm sure that will be going up soon, as well. $99 X 12 mos. is less than $1299.
Yes, but if you take, say a minimum of 4 courses w/ the $99 month deal, that's $1118 ($99x12) and $196 ($49x4), for a total of $1314.
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12-06-2012, 02:10 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-06-2012, 02:14 PM by Pjbarney.)
You are assuming the $99 deal will not go up. My bet is on the $99 going up 30-40% to keep it in line with the current $99 vs. $999. Something like $129.99 vs. $1299.
SL responded to a post on Facebook about this. They say the $99 will not go up.
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Quote:SL responded to a post on Facebook about this. They say the $99 will not go up.
If you need to see it, check out the post by Trixie Rufus here
https://www.facebook.com/Str8erLine?ref=ts&fref=ts. There's a post above Trixie's by Micheal Neufeld concerning the price increase. The details discussed by the SL rep leave me with more questions than answers. Does anyone have any additional information concerning the price increase for annual subscribers?
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If it helps, here is the first email I received 12/6:
Hi ,
This is one of those “good news, bad news” emails. Let’s start with the bad news.
The Bad News
The best deal in for-credit online college courses is about to cost a little more. Starting Dec. 11th, “Freshman Year for $999” will now be “Freshman Year for $1299.” (That’s still up to 37 credit courses for as little as $35.10 per credit.)
The Good News
You’ve still got time to lock in an entire year of up to ten courses at the current price of $999!
Savings Good until Dec 11th
This is a great way to save money on your college degree. With more partner schools and new courses being added all the time, you’re sure to take more courses from us. (We’ve got over 40 courses now, with a dozen more going live in a few weeks, and foreign languages added early next year.)
And the more courses you take with StraighterLine, the more money you save.
Think it over. Take your time. Add it all up. See how much you can save.
Just don’t wait too long.
“Freshman Year for $999” pricing is only available until Dec. 11th.
The second email about 4 hours later:
Our new StraighterLine website with additional offerings and improved functionality is almost here. We promised to keep you posted on what's coming with the bigger and better StraighterLine so here are some great changes coming soon that will save you money and make your life easier.
More pricing options with more value:
• $99 per month plus $49 per course
• $349 for a four-month subscription (a 12% savings) plus $49 per course
• $899 for a year-long subscription (a 24% savings) plus $49 per course
Beginning with your January payment we are simplifying your billing to once a month instead of every 28 days.
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Unfortunately, still with the increase. Straighterline is the best option to take courses online even with the proctoring.
While I am almost finished with them; I understand their side that to grow they were required to use proctoring in order
to increase the amount of courses that they offer.
Still if a person does not want to use them. You can try to see if other options are suitable for you like: Clovis Community
College, CLEP exams, DSST exams, ALEKS, KCTCS or other options mentioned on this forum.
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Thank you Pjbarney!
The SL price of the annual subscription will increase by $300. Included in that price increase will be proctoring and a few other small perks. Annual subscribers can take up to 10 classes or 37 credits. If you take 10 classes and if they all have finals, you will need proctorU at least 10 times (not including any mid-terms which may or may not require proctoring - clarifications welcome). ProctorU charges $30 per proctoring session which of course is $300 for 10 proctoring sessions. So, if SL's price increase now covers proctoring, then it's a wash is it not? Am I missing something here? I'm on an info collecting mission so I can determine if I should register by Dec 11. If I'm missing some details, please let me know.
One thing I'm very confused about is from the 2nd email PJ received. It says "$899 for a year-long subscription (a 24% savings) plus $49 per course". If haven't seen a $899 (not $999) option anywhere on SL's website. PJ or anyone else know what this is?
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rvm Wrote:One thing I'm very confused about is from the 2nd email PJ received. It says "$899 for a year-long subscription (a 24% savings) plus $49 per course". If haven't seen a $899 (not $999) option anywhere on SL's website. PJ or anyone else know what this is?
It will likely appear on their redesigned and updated website in a couple days. It sounds like instead of purchasing a one month subscription, you can now purchase a 4 month subscription or yearly (keep in mind it's still $49 per course on top of the subscription). I actually think the 4 month isn't a bad idea. It's long enough where one can complete several courses, short enough to not cost as much.
One question I would have is if one signs up for the something like the 4 month subscription, can they continues after the 4 months with a monthly plan without disrupting their progress? It would be pretty nice if SL allowed that.
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The way I understand it, the 'Freshman year for $1299' includes stuff, the 12 months for $899 is ala carte (you also pay per class, proctor fee, etc.) I couldn't find this info anywhere on the SL website either, just in the two emails.
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Publius: thanks for the info! Your 4 month suggestion is a good one. Also, good question concerning continuing at $99 p/month if needed. I don't see why that wouldn't be allowed. But best to ask every question you can possibly think of upfront and by email (and save the email).
PJ: thanks for the additional info!
One thing I dislike: SL has posted the price increase on their FB page and emailed those already enrolled. SL has not announced the price increase on their website (that I can locate). Folks who may be considering enrolling but aren't following them on FB (or any other venue) are likely to have a shocker when they go to the SL website after today. Que sera, sera...
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