StraighterLine Participating in Initiative to Help Nontraditional Learners Gain College Degrees and Credentials
Baltimore, MD (PRWEB) October 21, 2015 -- StraighterLine and the American Council on Education (ACE) today announced the pool of courses selected as part of ACE’s Alternative Credit Project,™ a groundbreaking initiative to boost the ability of millions of nontraditional learners to gain a college degree.
The 111 low- or no-cost, lower-division general education online courses were submitted by a group of non-accredited course providers, including StraighterLine, chosen to participate in the Alternative Credit Project. Forty colleges, universities and systems are taking part in the project and have agreed to grant credit for a large number of these courses, which include disciplines such as business, critical thinking and writing, foreign language, humanities, mathematics and natural and physical sciences.
Click here to see the list of the courses offered by StraighterLine.
Says Burck Smith, StraighterLine’s founder and CEO, “Without the infrastructure of a college, nontraditional providers like StraighterLine are able to offer online college courses that are more affordable than the same courses offered by colleges. As the fastest growing, independent provider of academic credit, StraighterLine is pleased to play a major role in the ACP project.”
“This is an important step for an initiative that already has significantly increased our body of knowledge about the most effective ways to increase the number of Americans able to earn a college degree or credential by using education, training and life experiences gained outside a formal classroom,” said ACE President Molly Corbett Broad.
“Nontraditional students who often are balancing multiple family and career demands now know where they can turn to take courses that will help them reduce the time and expense required to gain a postsecondary degree or credential at a number of outstanding institutions,” said Deborah Seymour, ACE assistant vice president for education attainment and innovation.
ACE will be collecting anonymized data from participating institutions regarding the number of credits each institution accepts through this project as well as progress and success rates of students who transfer in consortium-approved courses.
The project is made possible by a $1.89 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
About ACE
Founded in 1918, ACE is the major coordinating body for all the nation's higher education institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents and related associations. It provides leadership on key higher education issues and influences public policy through advocacy. For more information, please visit http://www.acenet.edu or follow ACE on Twitter @ACEducation.
About StraighterLine
StraighterLine solves the number one issue facing students today – the skyrocketing cost of college – with low-cost, high-quality online courses that prepare students for success. Serving over 15,000 students a year, StraighterLine combines a $99 a month college course subscription with guaranteed credit pathways to accredited degree programs to save up to 60 percent on the total cost of a degree.
StraighterLine takes the worry out of transfer with a College Savings Network of nearly 100 accredited colleges that guarantee credit acceptance of StraighterLine courses.
Having been evaluated and recommended by the American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT), StraighterLine courses will also be considered by more than 2,000 other colleges and universities for transfer to their degree programs upon request. Visit http://www.straighterline.com for more information or follow StraighterLine on Twitter @StraighterLine.
StraighterLine Contact: Beth Dumbauld
(443) 712-7132
bdumbauld(at)straighterline(dot)com
ACE Contact: Jon Riskind
(202) 939-9453
(202) 697-0741 (cell)
JRiskind(at)acenet(dot)edu
Beth Dumbauld, StraighterLine, http://www.StraighterLine.com, +1 (443) 842-5826, [email protected]
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