From August 2008... StraighterLine: A Good Partner to Colleges and Universities The concept StraighterLine (SL) employs is one that is designed to serve as an online educational tool driving students to our partner colleges and universities for future studies once they have completed our introductory courses. That concept is a rather revolutionary one right now, we admit, but nonetheless several accredited institutes of higher learning have joined us and will accept credits from our students who successfully complete our courses. Why are they doing this unprecedented step? Because there are quite a few benefits that we provide our partner colleges and universities. They include the following: 1) We serve as a start-up online inf ...

From August 2008... Afraid that there might be some sort of stigma attached to taking college courses online, that they somehow will not count as "real" credits as opposed to ones earned in classrooms on campus? Think again. Recent surveys have shown not only that online courses are growing in popularity, but also that employers consider them a valid background for continuing education. For example, one survey found that 85 percent of employers representing a variety of industries across the United States believe that online degrees are more accepted today than they were five years ago. This attitude stems in part because online college courses fill a need to handle adult learners. Adult students over the age of 24 now account for ...

From August 2008... One common misconception we hear about using online educational systems such as StraighterLine (SL) is the doubt that the basic introductory college courses we offer do not involve "real" teachers. People usually ask the question along these lines: "How do I know that the person teaching the lessons has any real credentials?" We respond by telling potential clients that SL's parent company, SMARTHINKING, Inc., employs certified tutors who are seasoned educators, most with advanced degrees in their fields. Drawn from among college faculty, graduate students, high school teachers and retired educators, all of these prospective "e-structors" must first pass SMARTHINKING's rigorous real-time, online training program th ...