The companies/organizations in this category sell courses “for college credit” that have been evaluated by the American Council on Education (ACE). ACE credit is not as transferable as credit earned directly through a college, but can be very transferable when used with the intention of transferring to one of the partner colleges. ACE is a third party credit evaluator that evaluates all types of learning that happens outside of a college. This kind of college credit is guaranteed to transfer into partner colleges (varies by provider) but transfers poorly outside of partnerships.
Using ACE credit requires creating an account with another third party, Credly to “hold” your teen’s credit until they’re ready to use it. HS4CC List of ACE Partners
Sophia’s courses are offered as a subscription-based learning platform. You can work on 2 courses at a time, but there is no limit to the number of courses you can complete in a month.
Prices as of 3/29/2023: $99/month, $299/4 months, $599/12 months
Sophia subscription works best when you can lighten your homeschooling load and focus on 1-2 Sophia courses exclusively. Since finishing 2 courses in a month is very cost effective, that is the recommended strategy.
What you need to know about Sophia:
(1) No photo ID required. For teens that have a driver’s license or passport, this might not be a big deal, but if your teen doesn’t have an official identification card of some kind, getting past the ID checkpoint can be a pain. Sophia doesn’t require a photo ID, so no worries.
(2) No webcam proctoring. If you’ve taken other ACE courses, you know that webcam proctoring is an expected part of the final exam process. There are always concerns regarding privacy as well as providing a space that meets the proctor’s specifications (nothing on the walls, no one else in the room, etc.) so by using their new technology, they’ve eliminated web proctoring entirely. They are using a product called “keyboard biometrics” that identifies a person by their typing style. My son used it earlier this year and liked it a lot!
(3) Course platform is excellent. The appearance, style, visual attractiveness, and ease of use, intuitive style, etc. are constantly praised by our audience as being “their favorite” online course.
(4) All lower level. Their college credits will come in at 100 freshman and 200 sophomore level. To date they haven’t developed any upper level courses, but we hope they do!
(5) Responsiveness. Their customer service is excellent! In addition, they are in regular communication with HS4CC offering promotions, deals, and coupons exclusively to our audience, and we love deals!!
(6) No labs. At this time, none of their sciences offer lab credit. It wouldn’t hurt to send them an email asking for them to add a lab. A lot of colleges want lab sciences, and there are other ACE providers already serving this market, so we hope Sophia jumps into this area too.
(7) Transcripts. You’ll need to set up an account on Credly to “house” any ACE credits (Sophia or others) as an official transcript. Partner colleges may ask for an official Sophia transcript or an ACE transcript – if they ask for an ACE transcript, they are asking for the one from Credly. EVEN IF your college does not need an ACE transcript, it is highly suggested that you go through the trouble of setting that account up. Having the ACE / Credly transcript holds your unused credits for 20 years. If a company goes out of business before you use the credit, this is your safety net.
(8) ADA Compliance. Sophia has a formal published policy.
(9) Homework. Most Sophia courses require homework (called Touchstones). Since Touchstones must be graded by a human, this WILL create a lag time in your schedule. The strategy for working through the lag is to pair 2 courses together: 1 with homework and 1 without. Work exclusively on the course with homework (course 1) until you submit an assignment and are forced to wait for it to be graded. During the grading lag, work on the course without homework (course 2). Once your assignment is graded, hop back over and continue on course 1. Repeat this process during each grading lag period. When you finish one of the courses, double down on the remaining course. That strategy will allow you to complete 2 courses in 1 month.
If most or all of your planned courses require homework, you’ll want to use the HS4CC Inactive Account Strategy: Sophia Like a BOSS!
HS4CC TIP: How to list Sophia courses on a homeschool high school transcript
Sophia Courses 2023
(3 credits each unless otherwise indicated)
- Ancient Greek Philosophers
- Approaches to Studying Religions
- Art History I
- Art History II
- Business Communication
- Business Law
- Calculus I, 4 credits
- Career Readiness
- Introduction to Career Readiness, 1 credit
- College Algebra
- College Readiness
- Conflict Resolution
- Critical Thinking
- Developing Effective Teams, 1 credit
- English Composition I
- English Composition II
- Environmental Science
- Financial Accounting
- Foundations of English Composition (not for college credit)
- Foundations of Statistics, 2 credits
- Human Biology
- Human Biology Lab, 1 credit
- Introduction to Business
- Introduction to Chemistry
- Introduction to Chemistry Lab, 1 credit
- Introduction to College Mathematics
- Introduction to Information Technology
- Introduction to Java Programming
- Introduction to Nutrition
- Introduction to Python Programming
- Introduction to Psychology: Smarter Decisions Through Psychology
- Introduction to Relational Databases
- Introduction to Sociology: Embracing Diversity and Collaboration
- Introduction to Statistics
- Introduction to Web Development
- IT Career Exploration, 1 credit
- Macroeconomics
- Microeconomics
- Principles of Finance
- Precalculus
- Principles of Management
- Project Management
- Public Speaking
- Spanish I
- Spanish II
- The Essentials of Managing Conflict, 1 credit
- U.S. Government
- U.S. History I
- U.S. History II
- Visual Communications
- Workplace Communications
- Workplace Writing I
- Workplace Writing II
Partner Colleges 2023
- Alabama State University
- American College of Education
- American Military University
- American National University
- American Public University
- Art Institute of Atlanta
- Art Institute of Austin
- Art Institute of Dallas
- Art Institute of Houston
- Art Institute of Miami
- Art Institute of San Antonio
- Art Institute of Tampa
- Art Institute of Virginia Beach
- Ashworth College
- Athens State University
- Bay Path University
- Bellevue University
- Bennett College
- Berkeley College
- Bottega University
- Capella University
- Central Penn College
- Charter Oak State College
- Cheyney University
- Colorado State University – Global
- Columbia Southern University
- DeVry University
- Excelsior University
- Franklin University
- Grand Canyon University
- Houston Community College
- Indiana Wesleyan University
- Interdenominational Theological Center
- Jarvis Christian University
- Johnson & Wales University
- Liberty University
- McDougle Technical Institute
- Morris Brown College
- National Paralegal College
- Paul Smith’s College
- Peirce College
- Penn Foster College
- Philander Smith College
- Post University Arts and Science
- Post University Business
- Post University Nursing/Health Sciences
- Post University Public Service/Education
- Purdue University Global
- Regis University
- South Florida College of Nursing
- Southern California University of Health Sciences
- Southern Christian College
- Southern New Hampshire University
- Southern University Shreveport Louisiana
- Strayer University
- The Workshop School
- Trident University
- UMass Global
- University of Arizona Global Campus
- University of Maryland Global Campus
- University of Phoenix
- Upper Iowa University
- Walden University
- WGU College of Business
- WGU College of Health Professions
- WGU College of Information Technology
- WGU Teachers College
- Wilberforce University
- Wilmington University