Many of us don’t place a postsecondary education in the same category as our other monthly bills: rent, electricity, cable, car payments, or credit card bills. Typically, expenses allotted for “education” are notably much pricier than those other monthly bills. But a company called StraighterLine is now offering an online college education at a flat rate of $99 per month – a cost that fits right in with the rest of those ordinary monthly bills. But is it the real deal? Students who have used StraighterLine say, “yes!”

Earning an advanced education can feel overwhelming in today’s economic climate. As job losses occur across almost every business sector, making serious time and financial commitments to an education might seem out of the question.

But today’s students now have a new option. StraighterLine was established to give students a new option for earning required college credits, and for making a college education more accessible. Burck Smith is StraighterLine’s founder and he’s serious about helping out today’s college student. Like many other educational experts, he recognized early on the power of technology to change the face of higher learning. With advances that are constantly being made in the online world, colleges can now provide an online education at almost no cost. In fact, the financial cost to most institutions may only be the cost of labor – paying the instructor who passes his or her expertise on to students.

So, are these institutions passing their savings on to the students? Most of the time, the answer is no. This is where Burck Smith saw an opening for StraighterLine. With a flat charge of only $99 a month, students can take online classes through StraighterLine to fulfill their college course requirements. As most college students will tell you, that $99 monthly rate is significantly cheaper than a typical university’s asking price.

Know anyone who’s used StraighterLine to earn their college credits? How do you feel about such dramatically increased accessibility and affordability in the education world?

A recent report conducted by SRI International for the U.S. Department of Education seems to indicate that it might be.

This report compared online and traditional classroom students and their academic performance levels between the years of 1996 and 2008. Its conclusion? “On average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.” This means an average percentile rank of 59th for online learners compared to 50th for traditional classroom learners.

While this report followed some students at the K-12 level, most of the subjects were college-level students. Could this be the end of classroom learning as we know it? Educational experts don’t think so. But they do think our country’s educational institutions will need to keep up with the online learning trend in the coming years. Today’s online learning environment is especially tailored to meet the student’s needs, and technologies such as email, video messaging, instant messaging and collaboration mean that many students will find unique chances to be engaged in their learning. Schools who stay hip to new technological trends can attract some of the best and brightest students.

Education experts see the exciting potential for learning communities and student collaborations that online education can create. They predict that more and more universities and colleges will offer online programs to their students.

Think learning online is the right choice for you? Search for online colleges and universities on Career Explorer today!