Professional Development

StraighterLine finds support from US Dept. of Education

The online college course provider joins coding academies selected for the Obama administration's $17 million EQUIP program.

StraighterLine CEO Burck Smith. (Photo by Stephen Babcock)
A Baltimore edtech company is among a handful of entities selected for a new federal program that’s backing new approaches to higher education.

Under the U.S. Department of Education’s Educational Quality through Innovative Partnerships (EQUIP), StraighterLine will team with a Texas community college to offer its lower-cost online college courses for general education.
For two associate’s degree programs offered at the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD), StraighterLine will provide up to 75 percent of the coursework. The prices for those courses will be more in StraighterLine’s realm of $99 per credit.
Students taking the StraighterLine courses will be eligible for federal financial aid, which is a big change. For EQUIP, the Obama administration is effectively waiving rules that said students could not receive aid if 50 percent of the coursework came from another entity.

What it really signifies is greater market adoption for the solutions we've been talking about for a long time.

From a national perspective, the program is a step toward acceptance that nontraditional education offerings can provide higher education access to people who can’t afford college, who want skills that aren’t taught there or both. It will be closely watched.
The Wall Street Journal noted a “shift in the Obama administration’s approach,” while EdSurge identified it as an “experiment.” But to StraighterLine CEO Burck Smith, it’s another sign that his eight-year-old company’s model can be a legitimate pathway for students.
“What it really signifies is greater market adoption for the solutions we’ve been talking about for a long time,” Smith said.
StraighterLine offers mostly general education courses to nontraditional students looking to save money before formally enrolling in programs. The Federal Hill-based company and DCCCD previously worked together to allow students to transfer credit from StraighterLine courses to the community college. Now they will be part of the college curriculum, which “takes it one step further,” Smith said. The coursework and outcomes will be evaluated by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
The partnership between the Federal Hill-based company and DCCCD is one of eight that were selected for the program. Another emphasis of the program is on providing access to coding skills, with Zip Code Wilmington, Makersquare and the New York-based Flatiron School. (Sister site Technical.ly Delaware has the details on the Zip Code news.) General Electric is the biggest company selected, partnering with Northeastern University on advanced manufacturing training.
The government will provide funding through $5 million in Pell grants, and is expecting about 1,500 students overall in the first year. Another $12 million in loans is also being opened up.

Technical.ly's Editorial Calendar explores a different topic each month. The August 2016 topic is edtech. See edtech coverage from all five of our East Coast markets here.

Companies: StraighterLine / U.S. Department of Education

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

Baltimore is setting a national standard for diversifying its economy

19 tech and entrepreneurship events to check out before the holidays

Tech lab space opening in new 4MLK building, thanks to $2M in public funds

EDA officials are ‘hopeful’ Tech Hubs program will live on under Trump

Technically Media