I’m really excited to share my newest Learning Guide with you! This 4-year high school planner is totally free and is for families who like Outlier courses and want to resourcefully plan them into their homeschool. This guide is unofficial, which is to say it is not endorsed by Outlier, but since Outlier courses are one of the few good options for legitimate credit laundering, there is a lot of new information I’m eager to share about how to use these courses. This guide contains 7 different high school plans.
Homeschooling for College Credit with Outlier
Outlier (from the makers of MasterClass) has developed high-quality, university-level courses, taught online by some of the most celebrated educators in their respective fields. Outlier is not a college but credits from Outlier will be credit laundered onto a University of Pittsburgh (PA) college transcript, thus making offering excellent transferability.
Homeschool High School Transcript
All Outlier courses transfer to University of Pittsburgh as 3 graded credits. Homeschool parents will award and record 1 high school credit per course passed.
Credit laundering is an attempt to earn college credit from one source and strategizing a method of getting it onto a transcript at a college that otherwise doesn’t accept that kind of credit. In general, this is almost impossible to accomplish. Outlier credit is an exception.
Outlier course credit will be recorded with a grade on an official college transcript at The University of Pittsburgh. The credit will appear as original credit. In other words, your teen’s transcript will be identical to that of a student that has taken the courses directly through The University of Pittsburgh.
The University of Pittsburgh is a well-respected and Regionally Accredited university, so expect these courses to transfer well into any college or university that accepts transfer credit.
“We are excited to be partnering with the University of Pittsburgh for our spring and summer courses. Upon successful completion, you will receive 3 college semester credits from the University of Pittsburgh, transferrable to other colleges and universities subject to review and approval by the receiving institution.”Outlier Press Release
Tuition Price: $597 per class. Our promotional link takes $75 off, which brings the cost per course down to $522. ($174/credit). Click for $75 Coupon
Level of difficulty: Based on student feedback shared online, students rated these courses as hard or harder than AP high school courses but more entertaining than typical online courses since you have multiple teachers. One student remarked that Outlier recommends 25 hours per week per course, but he had to put in closer to 30 each week to earn an A (in Calculus).
Discounts: Use Jennifer’s promotion link to get $75 off your course.
Scholarship: Frontline workers are eligible for a full-tuition scholarship (100% off 1 course) through November 22, 2022. Read about eligibility.
Schedule: Courses start and end with a calendar. These courses are not self-paced. Most courses allow you to choose between a 7 week accelerated option, or a 14 week traditionally paced option. Parents should note that a “typical” college class is 16 weeks, so even the longer option will be a bit fast for some students.
Extra Fees: None. BOOKS ARE INCLUDED, so there are no application fees, registration fees, textbooks, online access codes, etc. As such- it’s $400 per class total. (before coupon)
Placement Testing: No standardized testing is required (ACT, PSAT, SAT, etc.) Placement into Calculus 1 is through their free online pretest.
Testing Accommodations Yes. See details on their website.
Age / Grade: Age 13+
Paper Trail: Outlier courses, because they are being successfully credit laundered, will generate a paper trail (graded credit on a permanent record that must be disclosed to future colleges) Here are some things to keep in mind when you register.
- dropping before deadline date When a student decides to exit a course BEFORE that course’s drop deadline date, there is no academic record, and students are eligible for a full refund.
- dropping after deadline date If a student decides to exit from a course AFTER the drop deadline date, the student’s University of Pittsburgh transcript will show a grade of “W” which stands for withdrawal. (no GPA / no credit)
- withdrawal deadline The last date a student can withdrawal from the course. After this date, the student will receive a letter grade for their course on their University of Pittsburgh transcript.
Degree Program: in Fall 2022, Outlier launched a new degree program partnership with Golden Gate University (CA) called Degrees+. This is a great new program that leads to one of 3 associate degrees.
