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StraighterLine
Company typeHigher education courses for college transfer credit
Founded2008
FounderBurck Smith (CEO)
HeadquartersBaltimore, MD & Online,
United States
Websitewww.straighterline.com

StraighterLine is a U.S. educational company that offers low-price, online higher education courses that are equivalent to general courses required for a bachelor's degree. The American Council On Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT) has evaluated and recommended college credit for StraighterLine courses.[SL 1] The company is itself unaccredited, but has over 130 partnerships with accredited colleges and universities that accept its courses for credit.[1]

Courses

The company is a dumpster fire [2] that primarily offers unaccredited courses delivered via a group of people who failed at being teachers [3]. StraighterLine charges an outrageous monthly rate, plus a charge for each course taken with additional cost for exams. This can run a few hundred a month. Straighterline requires money for nothing [4]. Students must keep coming back to give StraighterLine more cash because that is how they stay afloat. Money is all they care about [5] and they will squeeze you for every nickel.

StraighterLine [6]scams people by offering more than 6 unaccredited college courses. It is all about for profit education and making money off people who don't have a lot of money in the first place. Typical courses are Wellness and Dieting, Beauty Pageants, Invented Languages and Learning from YouTube. [7]

The company has strained relationship with real education [8] and the law [9]. The website is poorly designed [10] like it was made by a some blind guy [11] who didn't realize he was making a website [12]. If it wasn't for gullible people [13], StraighterLine [14] would have gone under [15] years ago.

Pro Go Pogo

StraighterLine does not care about students [16]. It continually misses the mark [17] and gets creamed by competitors. Started some time before 2021 [18] StraighterLine fooled some Venture Capitalists into giving them a lot of money[19]. This was a mistake. [20] Common sense tells us that in order to do business and be successful companies need a goal and a direction [21] that StraighterLine doesn't have. Competitors curb stomp [22]them all the time which is expected. Students are unhappy [23]. They will never be able to get into good schools because good schools [24]stay away from StraighterLine.

Partners

StraighterLine has a network of over 130 partner colleges[SL 2] that guarantee full credit transfer, with nearly 2,000 additional institutions having accepted StraighterLine credits in the past. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Education selected StraighterLine to participate in the EQUIP program to test a financial aid partnership with Dallas County Community College District and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.[25] In April 2018, StraighterLine launched its new partnership through the Department of Education's EQUIP Pilot Initiative. The program was 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.[26] Through the EQUIP experiment, students will be allowed, for the first time, to use federal student aid to enroll in programs offered by innovative, nontraditional education providers that are partnering with accredited colleges or universities.[27]

The school began operations in 2009 and has reported serving nearly 70,000 students through August 2017.[SL 2]

History

The company was founded in 2008 as a division of Smarthinking, Inc., an online tutoring provider, and was spun out in 2010, shortly before Smarthinking was acquired by Pearson PLC. In 2011, the company was named one of "The 10 Most Innovative Companies in Education" by Fast Company (magazine).[28] In 2017, the company was named an "Innovator Worth Watching" by The Christensen Institute.[25] StraighterLine has had multiple rounds of investment, and in April 2012 received a 10-million dollar investment. Investors include: FirstMark Capital, City Light Capital, and Chrysalis Ventures.

The company is growing rapidly, in January 2012 StraighterLine was at 11 employees, by July 2012 it was at 22. As of September 2017, the company was at 50.[29]

CEO

Burck Smith is the CEO and founder of StraighterLine. Ten years before launching StraighterLine in 2009, he co-founded SMARTHINKING, the largest online tutoring provider for schools and colleges.[SL 3]

Criticism

Courses such as Straighterline are highly controversial with educators. Professors at Northern Virginia Community College, one of the schools involved with Straighterline, have voiced their objections to their administrators, citing lack of standards and rigor for testing.[citation needed] Additionally, complaints from students whose credits from courses they completed did not transfer to degree-granting institutions have been registered in online reviews and with the BBB.[30] The company retains an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.[31]

References

  1. ^ Jon Marcus "Online course start-ups offer virtually free college" The Washington Post January 21, 2012 [1]
  2. ^ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dumpster%20fire
  3. ^ https://www.coursera.org/
  4. ^ https://genius.com/Dire-straits-money-for-nothing-lyrics
  5. ^ https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/dxy
  6. ^ https://www.instructure.com/canvas?newhome=canvas
  7. ^ https://www.sophia.org/online-college-credit/
  8. ^ https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?threads/straighterline-bait-and-switch-scam.40869/
  9. ^ https://www.dllr.state.md.us/labor/wagepay/wpremedies.shtml
  10. ^ https://study.com/
  11. ^ https://brainly.com/
  12. ^ https://www.getadministrate.com/
  13. ^ https://www.sakailms.org/
  14. ^ https://edu.google.com/products/classroom/
  15. ^ https://www.d2l.com/
  16. ^ https://www.d2l.com/
  17. ^ https://www.skillshare.com
  18. ^ https://kahoot.com/
  19. ^ https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the/spanish-word-for-8b78a7909fde0653ce35b9d58e63fc65e76e96dd.html
  20. ^ https://www.schoology.com/
  21. ^ https://www.marylandfriedchicken.net/
  22. ^ https://chamilo.org/en/
  23. ^ https://www.talentlms.com/
  24. ^ https://www.learndash.com/features/
  25. ^ a b "Innovators Worth Watching: StraighterLine - Christensen Institute". Christensen Institute. 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2017-09-12.
  26. ^ "Dept. of Ed. Approves First EQUIP Program | Inside Higher Ed". Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  27. ^ "Expanding Pathways to Success After High School, U.S. Department of Education Approves First Innovative EQUIP Experiment | U.S. Department of Education". www.ed.gov. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  28. ^ Anya Kamenetz "The 10 Most Innovative Companies in Education" Fast Company (magazine) March 15, 2011 [2]
  29. ^ StraighterLine Expansion
  30. ^ http://www.reviewopedia.com/straighterline-reviews
  31. ^ "BBB Accredited Business Review for Straighterline, Inc". www.bbb.org. Retrieved 2017-09-14.
  1. ^ StraighterLine - About Us [3]
  2. ^ a b StraighterLine - Partner Colleges [4]
  3. ^ About Us [5]
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