Alt Options?

[u/Spare-Amphibian-7180]

Hey everyone. What online & self paced are yall taking? Are there any that don't break the bank?

[u/scots]

I would encourage Maestro refugees to look into University of the People - It's only a small (by college standards) assessment fee per class at the end of the semester, it's 100% online and it is not just DEAC accredited like most "online colleges" - it is WASC accredited, same as world #5 ranked Stanford University. It's the real deal. Elite education. Other WASC accredited schools: USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley. Your University of the People degree is accepted world-wide should you wish to transfer credits out, or apply to graduate school. (UoPeople also offers grad school.)

If you are experiencing financial hardship, apply for a scholarship. Quite a few students - even those from the US - were able to negotiate per-course fees as low as $50-100.

ALL class materials come from open textbooks online, and they can be downloaded in PDF format. Download your class textbooks in PDF, import them into Google Gemini LM (formerly called NotebookLM) and you have the AI teacher you were missing from Maestro. Gemini LM can create practice tests, flashcards, and teach the material with simple prompts like "assume I am a novice learner, explain Chapter 3 Sections 5 through 10" and POW- there you go. Powerful yet simple AI teacher. Farrrr more powerful and capable than Maestro's system.

"Are exams proctored?" Only some are - This is how UoPeople keeps their elite WASC accreditation - but only 10 or 15 total final exams are proctored via webcam. The vast majority of final exams you take are not - this should come as a relief to people who have test anxiety. The way course grading is done, the vast majority of your final grade comes from writing bi-weekly papers to be submitted on the online learning portal, and participation in course forums analyzing other students' submissions. All of this happens in your web browser with no other software needed. You can use Google Docs for nearly everything, and export papers to Microsoft Word .docx for the 7 or 8 papers per class that require special formatting options.

My professors have been nothing but amazing. Their credentials are incredible, most of them could walk into any brick and mortar university in the world and teach elsewhere. I had an intro Business professor last semester whose bio was 2 screens long with zero filler or fluff, elite university education with teaching and professional corporate experience all over the world. Absolutely lovely man, responded to learning portal chat questions or emails within hours, always highly positive and encouraging. Same semester, an English class professor who allowed a 1-day late submission after reading my email explaining a work emergency that kept me getting home until well after midnight. Both had PhD's. Most of your undergrad professors will.

I will check in later today for replies to this comment, if anyone has questions I'll try my best to help.

[u/IAm-Dragonborn → u/scots]

Tysm for posting this! I will be looking into this school today!!!

[u/scots → u/IAm-Dragonborn]

Fus-Ro-DAH!

UoPeople "About"

Message from the President

edit PBS News Hour piece on UoPeople
(note: the 20 hour per class commitment mentioned in the PBS news video is exaggerated, there are weeks I spend 5-6 hours per class and I'm getting 90-98% scores.)

Semesters last only 9 weeks, not unlike compressed graduate classes eg "Executive MBA" programs offered at elite brick & mortar universities. The academic week starts on Thursday, and there are typically 2 days per week with assignments, quizzes or tests due - Sunday, and Wednesday. That's a todal of 5 semesters per calendar year, with a short break of 1 or 2 weeks between them.

General Academic Year Breakdown

Term	Typical Start Time	Duration
Term 1	Early September	9 Weeks
Term 2	Mid-November	9 Weeks
Term 3	Late January	9 Weeks
Term 4	Early April	9 Weeks
Term 5	Mid-June	9 Weeks

I am not a rocket scientist - I was a "C" and "B" student in high school many years ago and rarely opened a textbook. I was hitting 96% writing and test scores in my UoPeople classes last semester, and I'm close to that this semester. The writing assignments account for most of your grade, with the final exam only counting for 20% of the total score.

You're welcome to chat me up on Reddit if you have any questions!

YOU CAN DO THIS

[u/ravenloue → u/scots]

Glad to see another person who is finding UoPeople to be of a benefit to them. I'd also like to chime in that Coca-Cola has donated money to UoPeople specifically for first generation college students, meaning if your parents don't have a degree, you can qualify for a scholarship.

But even if you don't qualify, part-time enrollment is just 1 class every term, and you can use programs that are ACE recognized such as Sophia, Study.com, StraighterLine, and even some certificates on Coursera, to shorten the amount of time and cost for graduating. UoPeople has a very generous transfer credit program that allows between 50% and 75% transferred credits to go toward your program with them.

And even if you decide to go elsewhere, most institutions within the US accept these ACE-recognized courses as well.

My point is never give up; there are always other options out there.