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

Study.com’s website boasts over 4,000 courses, but the ONLY PLAN that allows you to earn college credit is called the College Saver Plan (formerly called College Accelerator), and you must choose courses that are worth “Direct College Credit” through their search filters. The current price is $235/month.

Use this HS4CC Link to receive 20% off your first two months.

Our coupon works on any plan –>HS4CC20off2

Study.com has several partner colleges that guarantee transfer credit. The categories below are projected classifications. Refer to your target college’s transfer page to confirm how a course will be used towards a degree.

Study.com ACE Evaluated Course List (03/2024)

General Education

Humanities (General Education)

LANGUAGE ARTS

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

ARTS

Philosophy & Religion

Natural Sciences (General Education)

Life Science

Physical Science

Social Science (General Education)

History & Geography

Government, Politics, and ECONOMICS

Behavioral Sciences

Mathematics (General Education)

Non-General Education Courses

Health & Nursing

Computer Science

Criminal Justice

Education

Business

Accounting, BOOKKEEPING, and Finance

Marketing

Management, SUPERVISION, and LEADERSHIP

Business Operations

Business Ethics & Legal

Information TECHNOLOGY Systems

Study.com has the largest catalog of ACE credit courses of any provider- by a landslide. Currently, hundreds of courses are available, in both lower (100/200) and upper (300/400) level credit. Access to upper-level opportunities using ACE credit is pretty limited, but their list is the biggest.

Study.com’s College Saver program allows you to take 2 exams per month. In theory, this would translate into taking 2 courses, but technically you can take as many courses as you’d like- but you’re restricted to only attempting 2 exams. If you’re a fast learner or studying something you’ve already studied in the past, you can zip along by paying a service fee of $70 for up to 3 more additional exams. (*note* that fee may be changing.)

If you have an account, anyone in the family can use the account, but only the registered user can take college credit tests. Upon passing, you’ll have to add your credit to your Credly account. While it is true that some colleges allow you to directly send your Study.com credit to them (going around Credly) I would highly discourage you from doing so. The added safety net of having this credit on your “permanent record” is worth any possible inconvenience. Once it’s on your Credly transcript, you have it forever. That is not the case when you send a Study.com transcript directly to a college. Further, if you later apply to graduate school, you may have to provide the Credly transcript anyway – save yourself a headache and get each Study.com course on your Credly transcript the day you complete it.

Format: Study.com is a “watch the video, take the quiz” format, with about 100-150 lessons per course. Their lower level (100/200) courses will require “watch the video, take the quiz” plus a proctored final exam on your home computer. Their (300/400) upper-level courses will require the same but with the additional requirement(s) of some type of project or research paper(s).

Speed: The courses are at a fast enough pace that makes their adult customers happy to zip along, but for homeschooled students, you may find that there are gaps in the material (not to mention a lack of enrichment opportunities like research off and away from the site, writing, etc.) So, if you’re considering using Study.com for direct credit, my advice is to try 1 month and see how you like the format.

Degree Completion: People who intend on accumulating a lot of ACE credit (not just through Study.com) ultimately are planning to complete their degree this way. If you review their list of partner colleges (I mean their specific written partnerships, not the generic ACE list of colleges that get posted) you’ll find you can complete most of a college degree this way. Many parents select one of the partners with very high Study.com transfer guarantee (75% or more of the entire degree). The remaining credits can come from other sources.

CAUTION: When you use Study.com’s transfer tool, you’ll have to pay very close attention to the results. They have agreements with Nationally and Regionally Accredited schools (high school students should choose RA only) and they also have 2 icons. The green checkmark is a generic transfer (they may or may not accept your Study.com credit) but the gold star is a GUARANTEED transfer. Only assume transfer if there is a gold star!!

I write a lot about Study.com and it can be a good choice for many. If, however, you’re looking for the cheapest or fastest, this is not the best option. In addition, if you’ve picked a college and that college is NOT a partner of Study.com’s, your college credit won’t transfer, so you’d be better served using a different type of course.

A highly motivated student using carefully selected courses through Study.com that are planned to transfer into a specific partner college and degree can accumulate up to 15 college credits per month – a pace that allows you to finish almost an entire bachelor’s degree in 1 year. Many HS4CC families do that when their teen is planning a general or liberal arts bachelor’s degree. With the available coupon (HS4CC) and using the program to the fullest (purchasing extra tests) a teen could accumulate at least 2 years of college credit in 6 months for under $2,000.

Take the time to read through these posts, there is a LOT of information here that will help.

Study.com ACE Look-Up Demonstration Video

Ever wonder how I know when course ends up on my “expiration watch list” or list of “expired” courses? In this video, I’ll show you how I used the American Council on Education National Guide to look up the Study.com courses, and how you can do it too!