StraighterLine is a for-profit U.S. educational company that offers low-price, online higher education courses that are accepted as general education credit at some accredited institutions. The American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT) has evaluated and recommended college credit for StraighterLine courses.StraighterLine - About Us The company is unaccredited, but partners with some accredited institutions, primarily for-profit and small private colleges, that accept its courses for credit. Jon Marcus "Online course start-ups offer virtually free college" The Washington Post January 21, 2012 Some of its previous partners have dropped the partnership citing loss of revenue and concerns about StraighterLine course quality
Courses The company primarily offers McGraw-Hill generated course content delivered via a Moodle learning management system, rather than offering courses developed by professors.Tamar Lewin "A Way to Speed the Pace" New York Times August 25, 2011 StraighterLine charges a flat monthly rate, plus a charge for each course taken. Straighterline requires proctoring for a course final exam. eTextbooks and tutoring are included with course purchase.
StraighterLine offers more than 60 online college courses as of August 2022. StraighterLine - Course List
The company has strategic partnerships with the Educational Testing Service and the makers of the Collegiate Learning Assessment, as part of a plan to expand into offering validated tests from leading educational organizations.Tom Ewing, ETS Press Release "ETS and StraighterLine Broaden Access to Student Data Through MyData Button Initiative" Educational Testing Service January 19, 2012
Professor Direct In 2012, StraighterLine launched professor led courses under the name Professor Direct.Paul Fain, Inside Higher Ed "Freelance Professors" Inside Higher Ed December 14, 2012 Professor Direct was the first time a business or school allowed professors to set their own prices for courses that could potentially lead to college credit. Jeffrey R. Young, The Chronicle "New Platform Lets Professors Set Prices for Their Online Courses" The Chronicle December 12, 2012 Fast Company "An eBay For Professors To Sell College Courses Directly To Students" Fast Company December 12, 2012 As of March, 2026, no mention of Professor Direct can be found on the StraighterLine website.
Partners StraighterLine has a network of over 150 partner collegesStraighterLine - Partner Colleges that guarantee full credit transfer, and the company website claims that over 3,000 institutions have accepted StraighterLine credits in the past. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Education selected StraighterLine to participate in the EQUIP program to test a financial aid partnership with Dallas County Community College District and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. The EQUIP experiment, which the US Department of Education considered a failure, allowed students to use federal student aid to enroll in courses offered by unaccredited partners of accredited institutions of higher education. Dallas County Community College District withdrew from the experiment before the program became operational.
The online course provider has served over 150,000 students as of 2021.
History The company was founded in 2009 by Burck Smith and David Parento as a division of Smarthinking, Inc., an online tutoring provider, and was spun out in 2010, shortly before Smarthinking was acquired by Pearson PLC. In 2011, the company was named one of "The 10 Most Innovative Companies in Education" by Fast Company (magazine).Anya Kamenetz "The 10 Most Innovative Companies in Education" Fast Company (magazine) March 15, 2011 In 2017, the company was named an "Innovator Worth Watching" by The Christensen Institute. StraighterLine has had multiple rounds of investment, and in April 2012 received a 10-million dollar investment. Investors include: FirstMark Capital, City Light Capital, and Chrysalis Ventures.
The company showed growth in its first 5 years, in January 2012 StraighterLine was at 11 employees, by July 2012 it was at 22. As of September 2017, the company was at 50.StraighterLine Expansion
CEO
Heather Combs was named CEO, March 15, 2022 of StraighterLine. Shweta Kabadi of BV Investment Partners, a current investor, was the interim CEO, as of December 19, 2023.About Us The current CEO is Matt Hulett of Rosetta Stone.
Criticism
Courses such as Straighterline are highly controversial with educators, including concerns about course quality, cheating, and lack of tracking. Additionally, complaints from students whose credits from courses they completed did not transfer to degree-granting institutions have been registered in online reviews. The company retains an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and is rated1.2 out of 5 stars on Consumer Affairs.
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