Monthly Archives: November 2012

There’s a simple reason more and more college students of all ages are taking StraighterLine online courses.
College shouldn’t cost arm and a leg
After all, online college courses should cost less than their offline equivalents. Which is why here at StraighterLine we’re always surprised when some for-profit colleges charge so much for the same basic introductory online [...]

Does StraighterLine or DSST Offer You Greater Speed or Better Value?
Even though this is the StraighterLine Blog, we encourage you to investigate all your educational options and be sure that you are making the choices that fit your situation best. But here's a suggestion. If you already know a lot about one of the subjects [...]

By Beth Dumbauld
It’s the preseason to the holiday season and you know what that means: a wreath with ornaments here, the waft of mulling spices there, and a rising tide of email deals and TV ads splashing lots of retail holi-dazzle across your screen. November also means ‘tis the season of layaway at retail stores [...]

An Invitation for International Students to Attend College in America
If you’re an accomplished student who has completed high school in another country, have you considered attending college in America? Chances are that you have. As you know, there are hundreds of excellentAmerican colleges and universities, far more than in any other country in the world [...]

Students in Record Numbers are Defaulting on Loans . . . 
“College students defaulting at record rate,”an article that Meghan Hoyer wrote forUSAToday, reports some sobering statistics that have just been released by the U.S. Department of Education.

Last year's 8.8% default rate surged to 13.4% this year.

Nearly half of defaulting borrowers attended for-profit colleges, despite the fact that [...]

PSST! Hey . . . you!
Yes, you. You there in your dorm room, doing the tenth rewrite of the paper you have to turn in tomorrow, “Ambivalence – good or bad?”
Sure, you’ve got to keep grinding away at your paper all night until you get it just the way you like it.  But while you’ve [...]

There are lots of reasons why college shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg. One is that if you pay an arm and a leg for anything, you are going to look like a boomerang. But there are lots of other reasons too.
If we start throwing numbers around, the whole issue of how much college costs can [...]

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) have been making the news a lot lately. Just this week, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced plans to fund research that will explore the role that MOOCs can plan in American higher education.
But at the moment, what is your best educational option and value - free online college course [...]

Black Friday is dangerous. Over the last few years, people have been trampled and physically attacked, just for trying to get through the doors of superstores to snag a sale item, a Tickle Me Elmo, or some other hot toy.
So stay home. While all those other people are standing outside the mall’s doors at 4:00 [...]

Thanksgiving isn’t about turkey. It isn’t about standing on line at the airport or driving long distances, just to sleep at home or in a relative’s house. (It’s not really about stuffing or cranberry sauce but man, is that stuff good.)
When you come down to it, Thanksgiving is really about two things. It’s about family [...]

By Brittany Hege
Whether you're currently working toward your degree through StraighterLine's affordable online courses or taking the more traditional classroom route, one thing's for sure: you can never do too much to increase the likelihood of snagging a postgrad job.
But don't just take our word for it. Editor at large of The Chronicle of Higher [...]

While I was in New York City a few days ago, I overheard this conversation on the Broadway uptown bus. Three people who looked like current college students were talking . . .
“It’s just too goddam expensive.”
“What’s too goddam expensive?”
“College. College is too goddam expensive.”
“You’re not XXXXing me it’s too expensive!”
“Why is it so XXXXing [...]

Over the last few years, grade inflation has become a hot topic at American colleges and universities. In case you don’t know, grade inflation is the practice of raising students’ grades so that they all dowell in a class. Many colleges and universities have silently engaged in it because it helps more of their students get into [...]

Burck Smith, our founder and CEO, believes that American higher education has three problems . . .

Price - College should be more affordable.
Debt - Students shouldn’t be graduating with an average of $27,000 in debt.
Student persistence – More of the students who start college should graduate.

You can hear Burck Smith and David Parento (StraighterLine’s Chief Operating and Financial Officer) discuss these [...]

Our fans and students respond to our “fill in the blank” invitation on Facebook 
StraighterLine recently set up a special Facebook page and invited visitors to fill in the blank in the statement “College should be ________.”
Talk about fun! Here’s a quick summary of some of the comments that StraighterLine students and fans have slugged into that blank [...]