ASU credit for $99 until 08-17-2020!

[MNomadic]

I definitely would like cheaper classes just as much as everyone else, but consider this: the ASU EA(universal learner?) Courses are already deeply discounted from their normal tuition. They're open enrollment for everyone. They're free to audit. They're low risk(just a $25 initial fee), if you fail, don't get as high a grade as you want, or don't need/want the class anymore for any reason at all, you can just choose not to pay the $400 and there's no paper trail of a fail/withdrawn course(in fact there's no way to have anything less than a C on your transcript). That alone is quite Innovative in my mind.

I only did a few courses but they were way higher quality than other online courses I've completed from other online schools(who charge more) and light years ahead of any alternative credit providers I've taken classes with.

My son is taking College Algebra, which is an ALEKS course - ALEKS charges $20/mo for the same course.  So I'm not seeing how that course in particular (nor Precalc) should be priced at $425.

The English 101 course he's taking is self-paced and not great.  No instructor comments or feedback on his papers.  Again, I'm not seeing huge value in the course.

So, just from our perspective, the quality is not nearly what I would expect from a regular online course.  Not sure what courses are better, I'm sure there are some, but I've just not been impressed at this point.

I do agree that the ability to take the course without any consequences is fantastic though.

To be fair, I knew the Aleks thing would come up and I agree that paying $425 for something that's probably 99% identical to a $20/month class is obviously not a good deal. I wasn't familiar with the english classes either. I suppose it will depend on what specific classes you go for. I didn't bother with those classes since I already had them via community college and alt credits. 

I suppose the main value of the ASU classes is for the more unique courses that can't easily be found elsewhere.

I hope the ability to start classes without consequences catches on with other schools since I think that could really benefit the flawed education system.