StraighterLine and Western International University partner to provide an affordable and relevant education for working adults Addressing the continuing education needs and financial realities of today’s working adults, StraighterLine, a leading provider of affordable, flexible online courses that are transferable for certain college credit, has partnered with Western International University (West), a part of Apollo Education Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL), to develop an online degree path designed for the 21st Century global environment. “The combination of a globalized workforce with massive mobility has created an environment of unlimited potential,” said Burck Smith, CEO at StraighterLine. “Today’s working adults have the opportunity to propel their careers in new directions and new adventures. The key to unlocking this potential is education. Working with West, we are making the path to a degree attainable.” Sharing a common belief that a college education should be available to every student willing to work toward his or her degree – regardless of time and financial resources - StraighterLine and West have created a learning experience that can help students save significantly on the total cost of their college degree. Based on course-to-course equivalency, the partnership is creating a direct degree pathway to West for StraighterLine students. Through this path, all approved general education courses completed at StraighterLine can be used as prerequisites for West’s online degree programs. Additionally, West is offering students the opportunity to experience their course catalog at a reduced rate of $200 for their first course. After the initial course, the cost for undergraduate tuition is $250 per credit hour. “Oftentimes the biggest obstacles for working adults to overcome is the fear of not knowing how to work education into their lives, both in terms of time and cost,” said Tracy Lorenz, president of West. “That is why we make it so easy to get started. Beyond reducing the cost of their first course, we have services that help working adults more effectively make school a part of their life again and offer programs providing skills that students can immediately apply in their careers.” As part of the partnership, StraighterLine transfer students who complete four StraighterLine courses are eligible for the StraighterLine Partner College Benefit at West. Additionally, students who take the maximum number of courses at StraighterLine that fit into their degree program can save even more on their degree from West.
About Western International University, Inc. (West) For more than 35 years, Western International University (West) has been a leading private education provider. West focuses on meeting the higher education needs of working adults by offering programs that are affordable as well as manageable at its state-of-the-art campus in Tempe, Az., and through its online course delivery model. As a part of Apollo Education Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: APOL), West offers associate, bachelor and master degrees – each with a global perspective – in a variety of high-demand fields including accounting, business, IT and behavioral sciences. For more information, visit www.west.edu. About StraighterLine StraighterLine was founded in 2009, by Burck Smith as a solution to the rising costs of college education. Burck set out to discover why prices for online courses were the same or higher than those of face to face courses. Using relationships with colleges, publishers and policymakers that were forged in his 15 years of online higher education experience, Burck created StraighterLine, a way for students to get low-priced – but equal quality – college credit. StraighterLine students have transferred over 26,000 StraighterLine credits to America’s colleges. In addition to our over 70+ Partner Colleges, over 400 colleges have accepted credit for StraighterLine courses. StraighterLine’s courses are evaluated and recommended by the American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT). More than 2,000 colleges and universities consider ACE CREDIT recommendations in determining the applicability of coursework and examination results to their courses and degree programs. ### Media Contact Beth Dumbauld Director of Content Marketing Straighterline 443-712-7132 [email protected] West Media Contact Christopher Fielder Public Relations Director Western International University 602-327-3070 [email protected]