Straighterline to Excelsior for My Disabled Friend. Any input?

My disabled friend told me today that he thinks he can afford the $99 a month from his meager disability check to go to Straighterline. His mother, who is also poor (works as a food-server), is going to try to help him too (I might kick in the money for books) He is hoping to be able to hack it through the accounting courses and then transfer right at the last to Excelsior. He has a few units from a stint at a CC he can transfer in as well.

The cool thing about this is the fact that, because he is legally disabled, the IRS might hire him into their hiring program for the disabled. He has to have a bachelors degree for this. If he can just pull this off, he might end up with an OK life. I pray it works for him.

Anyone with more experience at this kind of feat have any input? Do you think this might work for him?

 

Is Straighterline a better deal then CLEPs? I do not know much about Straighterline.

 

I don't understand Straighterline very well, but in glancing at the website, it looks like you can take a full load for $99 a month. So I guess that would be a really good deal. Maybe that might mean something like 15 units for $297, not sure. From what I see on the site, Liberty, Excelsior, Charter Oak and a few others will accept the units. I'd like to talk to someone who has done Straighterline though.

 

Concerning only whether it could be a good buy, that seems like it would depend at least partly on how quickly he finishes the courses.

One thing to note with the $99-per-month plan is that plan also requires $39 for each course.

If he just wants to take the accounting courses: Say he takes one a month for three months.
(3 months * $99) + (3 courses * $39) = $414

Straighterline has two other plans: 10 courses in a year for $999, or any one course with apparently unlimited duration at $399.

Compare that to, for example, Orange Coast College in California,
http://www.orangecoastcollege.edu/enrollment/registration/Fees.htm:
9 credits * $36 per unit enrollment fee = $324
Health fee, parking fee and college service charge: $61 per semester * 2 (for Accounting I and II) = $122
Total = $446

So, that would cost him $32 more than the three-month plan, but give more than twice the time, for better or worse.

(I don’t know whether the courses are all sequential, whether Accounting II is required before Managerial Accounting, in which case he’d need three semesters.)

 

I know a lot about Straighterline and I have a Straighterline t-shirt so I am the resident expert
TESC will accept these credits. Any school that accepts ACE will accept them.
CLEP is universally excepted so it is a better deal. Harvard will take CLEP but not SL.
That being said, SL is a great source of credit for courses that you cannot CLEP out of for whatever reason.

The thing about CLEP is that your friend can get started with 0 out of pocket costs. Some of the books are available at the library. He can read US History I REA book, take the practice tests, watch some videos online and then go test out of it for about $100. Yes he has to go to a testing center, which is a little more of a PITA.

Straighterline is an excellent value for someone who has a lot of drive. I finished 3 courses in one month. Accounting I&II and Business Communication were all finished last Christmas. Accounting took me about 1.5 weeks to finish with all of my days off. Bus Comm was about 2 weeks of work. The books are great and can all be bought online as slightly older versions for a fraction of the cost. I paid about $10 shipped from amazon for mine. I also finished anatomy and phys I&II in one month.

If he wants to learn math and get ACE math credits hook him up with a $20 monthly subscription to ALEKs. He can get credit for intermediate algebra, college algebra, precalc and statistics all online. Thats 12 credits of ACE credit which is just as good as Straighterline credit.

I have 12 credits on my TESC transcript from ALEKs.

 

24 in the hard science subjects and math. Also, AWESOME post.

 

Unlike some of my fellow board members, I don't love SL. I don't "hate" it, but it isn't cheaper than CLEP, it doesn't offer a grade, there are errors in the quizzes, it takes longer, and it's accepted at fewer schools. Everything is 100/200 level, and in addition to the monthly fee, you still have to buy the class AND the text book! You must complete every assignment, even if you exceed the required 70% for passing. *tick tock $ching $ching* My son's biology course set us back a lot- 3 months ($300) plus the fee ($40) plus the book ($20) plus the lab ($200) which we decided NOT to buy and they let us drop the lab and take the course-only. All that for a wish and a prayer. He's going to take the CLEP as a CYA. (add another $90)

Of course, you can rock out the instant response classes (anything NOT English or science lab) as fast as you can, and in that case, you can do ok financially if you don't miss a beat and you can find the texts for cheap. If for any reason "life gets in the way" and you have to slow down your pace or even want to take a holiday break, that $clock keeps ticking.

That said, anyone looking at anything accounting-related might want to be sure that a CPA isn't EVER part of a future goal, as I'm sure you'll find threads here discussing the restrictions using pass/fail or exams.

I'm still in the CLEP camp. Use any books you want, study when you want, hold the score for 20 years, and accepted by almost half the colleges in the country. You can use CLEP almost anywhere at any time. CLEP is a great way to hit all the gen eds and then you can be more "traditional" for your remaining credits if you choose. I love CLEP.

 

Good info, MC. Thanks so much. To be honest, my friend is not a very diligent worker, so Straighterline might get very expensive for him and turn out to be somewhat of a trap. He's a great young man, but his work ethic is somewhat low and he may get stuck there.

Thank you for that Jennifer. Now I'm thinking that Straighterline might not be such a good thing for this guy. I don't think he is diligent enough to make it through with CLEP's though. Maybe a CC would be a better choice for him.

 

Given your friend's dire financial situation, surely he would receive some Pell grant funding that may well cover all costs at the local CC.

 

I agree with the claims that SL can get expensive. Its perfect for people like me with some time on their hands and a lot of drive to finish quickly. If I had no job I could probably finish a class in 3 days and do up to 10 classes or 30 credits in a month with Straighterline.
I know this because I finished two accounting courses in about 10 days over Christmas break. Anatomy and physiology took me two weeks but I was on vacation for part of it.
I also value my time a little more than my money so not having to go to the testing center is valuable to me.
CLEP credit is superior to ACE credit though.
If your friend is not very motivated then I would suggest he get a CLEP book at the library and see how long it takes him to read the entire book and take all three practice tests scoring in the 90% range. If this takes him a week, then he is a good Straighterline candidate. If it takes him 3 months, then it does not bode well for college graduation at any point.

 

I would agree. The thing is, that our group (luv ya all) wants faster-cheaper-instant credit. Ok, not everyone, but you get the idea. I think that a motivated person can use the kind of info on our board and knock a degree out of the park in half the time for half the price. That said, not everyone is as assertive. A CC is a great idea. I'd second that suggestion for a number of reasons.

First, if he can pay $99 per month, he can pay for a CC class. He can save $99 for November and $99 for December, register at his local CC for January and pay the last $99 in January when classes start.

Secondly, since he doesn't have an undergrad degree, and you indicated a financial strain, I'd bet you ten cents that he can get a Pell Grant. If he can, that will pay for all the CC classes he can handle, at least for a semester or two before he decides a final game plan.

Third, an instructor to help him is not to be under appreciated. MOST people are not good self teachers. MOST people need teachers. As a CC teacher for 18 years, a distance ed learner and a homeschool parent, I'm reminded EVERY DAY how unusual it is to be a good self-teacher. I require it of my kids, and I enjoy it for myself, but I watch other children & adults learn without a teacher to "talk it through" to them. If your friend finds out he can do it on his own, then more power to him- we can direct him to a million resources!

Lastly, a CC class is 16 weeks. I teach those suckers, and that's a looooonnnnnggggg friggin time. Even when I was a student at TESC I was sick of classes in my 12 week semesters. I'm an accelerated semester kind of gal, I'd rather go all out for 5-6 weeks than drag on....BUT, ask my husband and you'll get a different answer. He's a slow and steady pacer. Your friend might do well to know that having an off week or two won't tank his grade. So, if he can't get to the CC classroom due to his disability, he can try one of the hybrid options. They meet 1/week or 1/month. It's much more user friendly than jumping right into online learning.

Seriously, after 1 semester, your friend will be able to tell you a lot about what he likes/dislikes and move forward from there. The only suggestion I'd have is to maybe guide him toward an arts and science division course instead of an applied technology course just for ease of transfer later.

You're a great friend, he's lucky to have you!