California Southern U To Accept Third-Party Online Credits
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 07/28/14
California Southern University, a private institution that offers online degree programs, will be accepting transfer credits from a private company that provides online classes. Under the new arrangement students will be able to have up to 90 transfer credits from StraighterLine accepted by California Southern, reducing the overall expense of the degree being worked on.
Pricing is a major component of both organizations. StraighterLine follows a membership model. In a first-year program, students can complete 10 courses for $1,299. Memberships are $99 a month and courses are $49 each. Students also have textbook or e-textbook fees that vary from class to class.
California Southern's undergraduate degree programs are $6,000 per year for 24 credits; graduate degree programs are $8,500 per year for the same number of credits. The university also has a doctor of business administration program that is less than $6,000 for 15 credits. In the new program students enroll at California Southern first and then get approval for any transfer courses to be taken from StraighterLine.
The courses offered by StraighterLine tend to be college prep and introductory classes, such as English composition, Western Civilization I and II, college algebra and Introduction to Biology. The company's credits are accepted by a number of other schools with large online programs, including Western Governors University, Capella and the University of Phoenix.
About the Author
Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.