StraighterLine and Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) Launch New Partnership through the Department of Education’s EQUIP Pilot Initiative
Baltimore, MD (PRWEB) April 12, 2018 -- StraighterLine, the leading provider of low-cost, high-quality online courses that enable students to earn college credit, and the Texas-based Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) are accepting applications for their joint associate degree pathway programs at Brookhaven College. Classes start on Aug. 27, 2018.
The program is the first of eight selected by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) for its Educational Quality through Innovation Partnerships (EQUIP) initiative to launch to students.
Through EQUIP, StraighterLine and Brookhaven College will offer two associate degree programs in which students will be able to take more than 50 percent of their coursework through StraighterLine. They also will have access to federal financial aid.
This innovative program gives students an opportunity to earn an associate degree in either business or criminal justice and to take all of their classes online. Students will take their first year of courses through StraighterLine; they then will be awarded an associate degree from Brookhaven College when they complete the program. The StraighterLine-Brookhaven program also serves as an affordable pathway for students who then want to pursue a bachelor’s degree.
Announced in 2016, EQUIP is a DOE pilot program designed to accelerate and evaluate innovation through partnerships between colleges and universities and non-traditional providers of education. The EQUIP program allows students -- for the first time -- to have an opportunity to access federal financial aid for online courses taken with non-traditional course providers like StraighterLine.
“By participating in EQUIP, StraighterLine students who are seeking a degree are able to participate in the financial aid system while lowering the cost and risk of starting a degree. Through EQUIP and our partnership with Brookhaven College, students will be able to take StraighterLine’s general education courses as part of a pathway to earn their associate degree with a low-cost, high-quality academic experience,” said Burck Smith, StraighterLine CEO and founder.
“We look forward to launching and operating the EQUIP program with StraighterLine as a way to help students complete a college credential and then compete in the workforce for jobs that pay a living wage. In other words, they can finish college with an online degree and low-to-no debt, and in a convenient, online format that meets their needs,” said Dr. Joe May, DCCCD’s chancellor. “The partnership is a win-win for everyone.”
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) will serve as a Quality Assurance Entity, reviewing student outcomes and other information to assure the quality of the educational offerings.
Interested students can visit https://brookhaven.straighterline.com for more details on the program.
About StraighterLine
StraighterLine is an innovative higher education model that provides high quality online general education courses that colleges recognize for credit. StraighterLine’s low-cost online courses are offered to students for a $99-a-month subscription. StraighterLine has developed a network of over 130 leading adult-serving colleges and universities that guarantee acceptance of StraighterLine courses. StraighterLine’s courses have been evaluated and recommended by the American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT), and will be considered by more than 2,000 other colleges and universities for credit transfer. StraighterLine currently serves over 25,000 individual students a year. Visit https://www.straighterline.com or https://partners.straighterline.com for more information.
About Dallas County Community College District/DCCCD
The Dallas County Community College District serves more than 89,000 credit and 21,000 continuing education students during the fall and spring semesters. DCCCD comprises seven individually-accredited colleges: Brookhaven, Cedar Valley, Eastfield, El Centro, Mountain View, North Lake and Richland, and each college also offers online learning. DCCCD's focus on employee and student success -- plus a higher education network of partnerships that serve students, businesses and community members -- is led by Dr. Joe May, the district's chancellor, with the support of its board of trustees.
About the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)
A national advocate and institutional voice for academic quality through accreditation, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) is an association of 3,000 degree-granting colleges and universities and recognizes approximately 60 institutional and programmatic accrediting organizations.
Beth Dumbauld, StraighterLine, http://www.StraighterLine.com, +1 (443) 842-5833, [email protected]
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