StraighterLine is one of the most popular and widely accepted online education platforms among students and higher learning institutions.
This platform offers 55 ACE-accredited college courses. StraighterLine has partnered with 133 colleges and universities that accept full credit transfers from it, and more than 2000 other institutions have adopted transfer credits from this platform in the previous years.
Nevertheless, some students or people have doubts about StraighterLine course difficulty and are therefore reluctant to undertake its courses. This begs for the question, are StraighterLine courses difficult? To get an answer to this question and more others on StraighterLine, kindly read this article to the end.
Are StraighterLine Courses Difficult?
StraighterLine courses are not difficult since they are self-paced and course material is usually provided for students. Straighterline also provides person-to-person tutoring to help students understand course material.
StraighterLine offers 55 pre-made college courses with desirable elements, including proctoring, tutoring, advising, anti-plagiarism, credit transfer, and successful coaching.
These courses are competency-based; their instructions include images and videos, with additional features such as self-check and self-assessment.
When you enroll for a StraighterLine course by paying the subscription fee and the course fee, you will have unlimited access to free course eTextbooks.
In addition to the eTextbooks, you can utilize person-to-person tutoring, where you are tutored comprehensively by the courses experts via email, live sessions, or chat.
Also see: StraighterLine vs. Sophia
You can also request personalized technical support where you have difficulties comprehending the course content. Through this additional help, you will understand the course content well and pass the course.
To complete a StraighterLine course, you only have to sit for three exams: an opener, midterm, and final. These are multi-choice exams, and the first two are open-book, which means that you can have notes that you can refer to during the exam.
The final exam is the only examination that is not open-book. In addition, these exams are graded by the computer, which means that the grading is not subject to human error. Passing the StraighterLine exams is therefore not a complicated task.
Is Using StraighterLine Difficult?
Using StraighterLine is not difficult. This platform allows you to complete its courses in the cheapest, shortest, and most convenient way possible. The platform is comfortable to maneuver because you do everything online using any technological device anywhere, at any time.
The platform allows you to enroll in self-paced courses, which means that when you enroll, you learn at a pace that you are most comfortable with. This revelation means that you are not pressured to take the tutorials and lectures at specific times.
You also don’t have to attend the classes in a physical place because what you need is a smartphone, tablet, or a computer to attend the tutorials anywhere.
Therefore, if you are in employment or a college student who attends regular college classes, you can comfortably undertake these courses because of StraighterLine’s convenience.
Easiest StraighterLine Courses
The easiest courses allow you to sit for open-book examinations with multiple choices and are graded by the computer. This means that you can refer to your self-prepared notes during the examination. In addition, an easy course structure grants you the opportunity to accumulate adequate points to pass it prior to sitting for the main exam.
The challenging courses require you to upload oral assignments, discussion assignments, and written assignments to the platform. Such courses are graded by humans, which means that they are subject to human errors that can mistakenly fail you.
Moreover, challenging courses require you to use the science labs so that you can upload lab reports to the StraighterLine platform, which can take a considerable amount of time.
Considering the above factors, some of the easiest StraighterLine courses to enroll for include:
- Accounting 1 and 2,
- Financial Accounting
- Managerial accounting
- Introduction to Business
- Business Law
- Ethics,
- Statistics
- Western Civilization 1 and 2
- Medical Terminology
- Pharmacology 1 and 2
- Spanish 1 and 2
- Introduction to Communication
- Personal Wellness
- CPR First Aid
- Personal Finance.
Is StraighterLine Self-Paced?
Yes, StraighterLine is self-paced. When you enroll for a StraighterLine course, you and not the faculty set the pace at which you are going to study. The learning process in StraighterLine is personalized because you are granted the liberty to complete the course at your own volition and pace.
When you study through StraighterLine, you study at a pace that favors your schedule, unlike the traditional institutionalized learning where you have to attend classes at specific times.
This means that if you work or attend the regular classes during the day, you can choose to undertake the StraighterLine course at night or in the morning.
Moreover, StraighterLine offers flexibility to suit your learning style. If you are a fast learner, you won’t be forced to wait on the other students studying the same course because the learning is self-paced.
Nevertheless, if you don’t understand some concepts, you can spend more time on such concepts until you understand them fully. The overall benefit of studying through StraighterLine is you enjoy autonomy.
Do StraighterLine Courses Expire?
Yes, StraighterLine courses do expire on the American Council on Education’s credit site. These courses typically expire after 3 years, after which they have to be reapproved and renewed by ACE. Since you cannot complete a course or your credits are transferred during this period when a StraighterLine course is expired, ensure to complete the course before it expires. Nevertheless, you can still wait for the course to be renewed for you to enroll.
How Long Does It Take to Complete StraighterLine Courses?
Completing a StraighterLine course takes an average of 4-6 weeks. This time depends on your schedule because the more hours you can spend on completing the course, the faster you will complete it.
Moreover, depending on your understanding capabilities, if you are a fast learner, you will spend less time than a slower learner.
Some students would take as little as three weeks to complete a course, while others will consume the maximum time of two months to complete the same course.
What Happens If You Fail a StraighterLine Course?
When you fail a StraighterLine course, then you have to retake the whole course.
Remember, to pass any StraighterLine course, and you have to achieve a minimum grade of 70 percent. Other colleges will allow a 69.5 percent as a passing grade.
Therefore, when you get a score of less than 69.5 percent, you will be forced to repurchase the course and reattempt it. For you to retake a course, you will wait for three business days.
If you fail for the second time, you will retake the course for the third time. You can retake the course as many times until you pass it for StraighterLine to transfer your credits.
Can You Cheat on StraighterLine?
Yes, you can cheat on StraighterLine. Apart from some final exams, which are closed-book, all the other tests and exams are open-book.
This fact means that you can refer to your self-prepared notes or access any material that might help you answer the exam question, which is cheating. You could also hire an essay writer to take the StraighterLine exams for you, which is also cheating.
However, for the final exams, which are primarily closed-book, StraighterLine has partnered with ProctorU, an online proctoring company, to proctor their exams.
This program employs a webcam that records the candidates’ movements during the exam period to curb cheating and maintain exam integrity.
Conclusion
After discussing StraighterLine course difficulty, it is evident that these courses are comfortable and convenient to undertake. Therefore, if you are a student with doubts about whether StraighterLine courses are worth studying, put the doubts aside and enroll for the StraighterLine course of your choice.
Success!!