Education

Study.Com: The Anywhere, Anytime Option For Earning A College Degree


A new pathway to a college degree is opening up at several U.S. institutions, and it may pave the way for dramatically more adults accessing and completing an affordable college education. This pathway involves partnerships between Study.com, an online learning platform, and an increasing number of universities who recognize Study.com courses for transfer.

Study.com introduced its first on-line course in 2010. Since then it has grown dramatically and now provides more than 4,500 on-line courses at all levels – high school, college, adult education and professional licensure. It’s used by more than 30 million students and teachers each month. Included on its menu are more than 200 on-line credit-bearing courses accepted for transfer by over 1500 colleges and universities.

The Courses

The content of these courses are transmitted through Study.com’s unique video lessons, which students can access through their laptops, tablets or cell phones. These videos are about 5-10 minutes in length and are developed by well-credentialed subject matter experts who build the content from the ground up and later review it for accuracy and relevance. The courses are subsequently reviewed by independent evaluators, such as the American Council on Education or the National College Credit Recommendation Service, who certify them for college credit.

Although the video format is the most popular medium, students can also access the same content either by reading it or listening to a transcription. As they proceed through courses at their own pace, students can call upon “success coaches” who answer substantive questions and urge students to stay focused on course lessons and completion.

Here’s an example you can watch. It’s one of the 142 video lessons for Business 107: Organizational Behavior. This three-credit course, consisting of 22 chapters, requires students to complete periodic quizzes over the lessons and then pass a final exam which is proctored by a third-party through visual identification and verification. Its requirements and structure are similar to the other Study.com college courses. Often, depending on the subject matter, courses require the completion of additional written assignments or labs. There are no required textbooks.

The Cost

Students pay a flat rate of $199 a month. This amount allows them to complete up to two proctored exams during that period. In other words, assuming they stay on track and satisfy course requirements, students can complete two three-credit courses for $99 a piece, or $33 per credit hour. Compare that to the credit hour cost at public colleges, where the per-credit charge will typically run $300 dollars or more.

University Partnerships

Study.com has entered into partnerships with numerous universities that forge a much deeper integration of its on-line courses with the institutions’ degree requirements. As a result, at partnering universities like Thomas Edison State University, Colorado State University, and Purdue University Global as much as 75% of an undergraduate degree program can be satisfied by Study.com courses and prior credit. The remaining courses are taken at the degree-awarding institution, guided by the university’s advisors.

The exact number of credits that can be credited toward a given school’s degree varies, depending on the program of study. So far, the most popular majors are business administration, computer science, nursing, data analytics, information technology,and cybersecurity.

A major outcome of the Study.com approach is that the most formidable obstacles to college completion facing working adults are reduced, if not overcome. Overall costs are slashed – it’s possible at some partner universities that a student transferring the maximum number of Study.com credits could obtain a baccalaureate degree for a total of $10,000 – $12,000. The technology also makes flexibility both a priority and a reality. And finally, personalized learning is built into the curriculum- depending on a student’s progress, courses can be compacted or adapted to promote eventual mastery of the material.

Adrian Ridner, Study.com’s CEO and co-founder, explained that the driving force behind the company was to make higher education accessible to everyone, particularly working adults: “Our innovative degree pathway uses competency-based, on-demand micro lessons to address the three main barriers to higher education: cost, flexibility and lack of support. We leverage technology to not just dramatically reduce the cost of college, but drastically increase the flexibility and personalization so busy students can juggle college with their work and family — which our research shows is the biggest barrier of all.”

How much might this model transform higher education? As with most technological innovations, that remains to be seen, but Study.com’s trifecta of affordability, personalization and accessibility are the ingredients cited by adult students in particular, as keys to their success in college.

 

 



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