Olivet Nazarene University

Through their YourWay Program, Olivet Nazarene University offers a number of self-paced classes for $50 per credit (as of January 2021). Unlike many other credit options, you pay for your class after you are done and not before you have started. These classes are only available to students with a high school diploma or GED. There is no fee for applying to the program but you must provide proof of graduation in order to be accepted. If you don't have access to your HS graduation information but you do have a transcript from another college or university then this is sufficient. For the purposes of the YourWay program, an unofficial transcript is good enough for enrollment. The Olivet YourWay program will end on March 27, 2023.

Course Structure/Content

Because ONU does not wish to have its course details made public at this time, details here will also remain vague.

Each class is broken up into different modules and each module is broken down into different units. Each unit has an estimated time to completion but these may not take into account the external reading and almost certainly don't take into account the time needed to complete the required assignments. In addition to readings, there are also videos most/all units.

At the end of each unit, there is a Trailhead/Salesforce quiz. These are similar to the Study.com quizzes. But, if you get everything right on the first try, you get 100 points. Second attempt, 50 points. Subsequent attempts, 25 points. For ONU classes, these points seem to be there mainly to track your progress because they don't appear to have any bearing on your grade. In addition to the quiz, there is also an easily-missed link to an assignment that must be completed. These may be multiple-choice tests. These may be written assessments. It depends on the class. These assignments are graded.

The modules themselves may be completed either on a computer or on a mobile device. ONU modules have nominally been tested to work with Chrome on Android and Safari on iOS. However, you may not use the Salesforce mobile app to access ONU courses. Your mobile browser may try to suggest that you download the app but the app doesn't actually connect to the ONU courses; only to the Salesforce-branded Trails. It is unknown if this will change in the future.

Although self-paced, ONU courses contain at least as much work as any RA option. They are certainly more work than most ASU EA courses. Students should not expect to accelerate through these classes in the same way that one may accelerate through courses from institutions like Study.com or Sophia.org.

Available courses

As of February 2022, there is a growing list of courses available to students. More are supposedly planned for future months. Currently available courses include:

ONU Course	ONU's estimate of time-to-completion
BIB 105 - Introduction to Christianity	107 hours
BIB 110 - Introduction to World Religions	125 hours
BIB 215 - Understanding the Bible	104 hours
BIO 201 - General Biological Science - 3 credits	128 hours
CHM 101 - Chemistry - 4 credits	116 hours
COM 105 - Oral Communication	107 hours
ENG 109 - College Writing I	140 hours
ENG 200 - College Writing II	149 hours
ENG 204 - World Literature	149 hours
ENG 301 - Thematic Studies in Literature (UL)	125 hours
FAC 126 - Nutrition, Health, and Fitness	100 hours
FIN 105 - Fine Arts	109 hours
GEO 121 - Physical Geography	54 hours
HIS 210 - Western Civilization	74 hours
HIS 379 - Latin American History and Politics (UL)	106 hours
MTH 117 - Finite Math	90 hours
MTH 120 - Introduction to Statistics	56 hours
PSC 223 - American Government	100 hours
SOC 120 - Introduction to Sociology	96 hours
THE 300 - Faith and Contemporary Issues (UL)	121 hours
THE 310 - Christianity and Culture (UL)	111 hours

Be aware that the "estimated time to completion" is just that: an estimate. These are entirely self-paced courses. Students with prior knowledge may be able to zip through a course in just a couple of days. Students who have difficulty with a given subject may take longer than expected.

HIS379 is expected to work for the non-western history requirement for a history degree at TESU or COSC. Ethnic Relations & Industrial and Organizational Psychology are classes that are expected to be added in the near future.