StraighterLine: All You Can Learn for $99 a Month

StraighterLine is a new kind of remote education company, offering online college courses in basic subjects such as math, accounting and writing at an extremely low flat rate of $99 a month.

Students can work through their classes as quickly or as slowly as they need to, and can go on to a new course without paying any extra fees above the $99. In a Washington Monthly story on StraighterLine, one student was able to complete four courses for a grand total of only $200. A similar course load would have cost $2,700 to $6,300 elsewhere, and would have taken two to there times as long to complete.

StraighterLine uses a mix of text, video and audio to convey its class material, and advisers and other students are available via instant messaging and email.

The company does offer accredited courses through partner colleges, but they have faced ongoing difficulties in being taken seriously by critics who view online education as somehow inferior to the real world kind.

Washington Monthly: “College for $99 a Month”

[via John Robb]

[image by jenlight]