Study.com

Overview
Study.com offers NCCRS or ACE-approved courses that are accepted by all of The Big 3 for college credit. They offer a considerable amount of courses that can be completed quickly. As of October 2020, Study.com College Accelerator membership costs $200/month and allows for 2 exams during that period. Additional exams can be unlocked for $70. You may pay for an additional 3 exams per billing period for a total of 5 exams in any given billing period.

Study.com will send transcripts directly to the school of your choice but there is also an option to have your ACE-approved Study.com courses added to your transcript with the rest of your ACE courses. This is done using the Acclaim platform which can be confusing for first-time users. If you're having issues, check out these instructions for assistance.

Study Recommendations
Several SDC (Study.com) courses have essays or other assignments in addition to the standard quizzes. Because of this, it is recommended that students first sign up for the $60/mo. plan (Premium Edition). This will allow you to watch the videos and take the quizzes as well as unlock the ability to find out the assignment requirements. This will allow you to start on the assignment(s) while progressing through the course. The literature courses and the science courses with a lab require the acquisition of books or other resources that can take a while to arrive and you don't want to be paying $200/mo. for the privilege of waiting and/or reading your books.

Once you have finished the course/assignments, you can upgrade to the College Accelerator plan that will allow you to take the final exam(s) for credit.

Tuition Discounts
Excelsior students who take 2 Study.com courses get their application fee waived and a discounted rate on tuition; tuition discount only available when the student takes 12 credits from Excelsior itself.

Course Structure
Courses are self-paced and include video content. This can be an advantage for people that learn from observing and listening.

Courses have 300 points available. You need to get 70% (or 210 points) in order to pass a course. For courses without assignments, 100 points are assigned to the quizzes and 200 points to the final exam. For courses with assignments, 100 points each are given to quizzes, assignments, and the exam. The better you do on the quizzes and any assignment(s), the lower your score can be on the final exam and still pass. For instance, if you get a perfect score of 100 points on your quizzes, you only need to score 55% or better on the final exam to get the required 210 points to pass the course. For courses with assignments, if you manage to get 100 points on your quizzes and 100 points on your assignments, you only need to get 10% or better on your final exam to get the 210 points required to pass.

Quiz Structure
Although it is not clear within a given SDC course itself, you can take a quiz as many times as you want but only the highest score of the first 3 attempts on a given quiz count towards your final score. Because of this, it is extremely important to pay attention to the material so that you can get the best possible score within these first 3 attempts. A low score on the quizzes can make it extremely difficult or (sometimes) impossible to pass the course due to the added weight given to the final exam. You are not allowed to reset progress on your quizzes.

There is some overlap between different SDC courses on the same subject. So, as you move from one course to another, you will often find certain quizzes already completed and course progress unlocked as a result. This makes it doubly important to pay attention to the subject material because poor performance in a past class can cause issues with a future class.

Membership Upgrades & Downgrades


There are a number of reasons why a student might choose to upgrade or downgrade their account. One common question that gets asked is how this affects the current membership. Upon upgrading, a student will immediately be charged a prorated fee in line with how much time is left until the next renewal date. Upon downgrading, students are NOT given a refund if they have already taken their exams for the month. Students may be given a partial refund if they are downgrading from a College Accelerator plan and no exams have been taken in that month. This FAQ page may be useful to students who are considering a membership change.

Frequently Asked Questions

 * How do I pass a Study.com course? - As stated above, you need a minimum of 70% or 210 points. Some institutions, such as Brandman University, may have further requirements. The Big Three only require a pass in order to accept a course for credit.
 * What tier subscription do I need? - In order to be able to take exams, you must have a College Accelerator subscription. However, if your time is limited and/or you're not sure if you're going to be able to take any exams this month then you might want to subscribe to the middle tier or even just the basic tier. The basic tier only allows you to watch videos while the middle tier allows you to watch videos and to take quizzes.
 * If I subscribe to the middle tier, won't I have to redo everything when I switch to College Accelerator? - No. Quiz progress is saved as you move between tiers. Even pausing or canceling your membership has no effect on course progress if you decide to resubscribe again later.
 * How do I send a transcript to my institution? - Some schools, such as Pierpont, require all Study.com courses to be listed on your ACE transcript. You can find out how to do that on this page. Others, notably Thomas Edison State University and Charter Oak State College, require transcripts to be sent directly to them from Study.com. This can be done from your dashboard if you have a current College Accelerator subscription or this link if you don't have an active subscription.
 * How long will it take Study.com to send a transcript? - In most cases, it will take approximately 48 hours from when you request a transcript to be sent until when they send out the transcript. It may take more time during the winter holidays and at the end of the month of June. Seldom does it take as long as a week.
 * Will I know when the transcript has been sent? - Yes, Study.com will send an email to you with a copy of the transcript that was sent to the institution.