{"id":7140,"date":"2018-07-11T11:28:15","date_gmt":"2018-07-11T15:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.elearninginside.com\/?p=7140"},"modified":"2018-07-11T11:28:15","modified_gmt":"2018-07-11T15:28:15","slug":"get-your-freshman-year-for-free-with-onlinedegree-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.elearninginside.com\/get-your-freshman-year-for-free-with-onlinedegree-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Get Your Freshman Year for Free with OnlineDegree.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s no question that higher education is a troubled system\u2014and that is making Americans increasingly unsure of how to pursue professional training. Many say a four-year degree is a waste of money and even\u00a0urge students to drop out<\/span><\/a>, but there\u2019s no shortage of data indicating that a degree translates into higher earnings. A recent survey<\/span><\/a> of young Oregon workers, for example, found a community college degree can double your pay. One startup thinks it has a solution to this unique situation. OnlineDegree.com has created a suite of free online courses that, in certain institutions, can count for an entire freshman year of university. <\/span><\/p>\n

CEO Grant Aldrich said the kernel of the startup emerged in a discussion with his wife. \u201cWe were talking about stay-at-home moms and the predicament that they\u2019re in,” he said. “They likely don\u2019t have the time or money to go back and get a degree. And cost is a huge factor, because you\u2019re trying to save money. It really hit me that that same dilemma affects working adults all across the country. So really, where it was born, was the mission statement. We have to make it free.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe asked ourselves, \u2018Could we, within the confines of the college system, get them their freshman year for free?\u2019 And that\u2019s really where it all started.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

OnlineDegree.com Courses Are Taught and Curated by Academics<\/h1>\n

OnlineDegree.com<\/a><\/span> has attracted the support and expertise of numerous professors and administrators from universities around the country. As of May, they have a catalog of 15 courses, with the plan to add more in the near future. 1,400 universities and colleges in the U.S. accept their courses. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"onlinedegree.com\"
Rochelle Nicole, Unsplash.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In Aldrich\u2019s view, it was the mission statement that drew these partners in: \u201cAll our professors, all our board members, these are people, who despite being in academia, saw that there\u2019s problems and really coalesced around the idea.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe all know there are problems with higher education: not enough people go back to school despite overwhelming demand in the face of globalization, automation, modernizing economy, etc.,” Aldrich said. “You\u2019ve got all these big macro trends driving people back to school. But they\u2019re not taking that first step in higher ed. Instead, you\u2019ve seen the rise of all these other education startups like Coursera and MissionU which have completely bypassed higher ed.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s interesting, because what they said is we don\u2019t even want to work in that playground anymore. And that\u2019s totally fine, I actually really like that those are an option. But I really feel that what\u2019s happening now is sucking people away. And those who should or want to get a college education still don\u2019t have the pathway. So really the goal is how can we make it very easy to get started, tear down all these hurdles, make it free, make it accessible, make it work with anyone\u2019s schedule, and get them back eventually to a four-year program.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A Tutoring Marketplace<\/h1>\n

Aldrich says his company plans to monetize by selling ad space on their platform. They also want to create a tutoring marketplace. It’s still in the works, but the plan is to offer students who earn an A grade in a given class the opportunity to help others at their own rates and discretion.<\/p>\n

While it’s still a new service, the company has seen a good deal of interest, with over 1,000 learners signing up shortly after the launch. As things grow, more courses will be added.<\/p>\n

Cover Image: Esther Tuttle, Unsplash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s no question that higher education is a troubled system\u2014and that is making Americans increasingly unsure of how to pursue professional training. Many say a four-year degree is a waste of money and even\u00a0urge students to drop out, but there\u2019s no shortage of data indicating that a degree translates into higher earnings. A recent survey of young Oregon workers, for example, found a community college degree can double your pay. One startup thinks it has a solution to this unique situation. OnlineDegree.com has created a suite of free online courses that, in certain institutions, can count for an entire freshman year of university.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":7162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[6698],"class_list":["post-7140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-editors-picks","tag-higher-education"],"yoast_head":"\nGet Your Freshman Year for Free with OnlineDegree.com - eLearningInside News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"OnlineDegree.com has created a suite of free online courses that, in certain institutions, can count for an entire freshman year of university.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.elearninginside.com\/get-your-freshman-year-for-free-with-onlinedegree-com\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Get Your Freshman Year for Free with OnlineDegree.com - 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