CollegePlus is Now Lumerit Education/Scholar

[OakLakeNC]

Katiejo85, what do you mean by coaching and accountability? What happens if you don't meet expectations? I'm not sure I understand what exactly they do, even after visiting their site. Personally I don't find this process difficult to navigate. Thanks to the internet and really good school advisors. This company seems like a middle man who isn't needed. What question can they answer that a college advisor can't?

[cookderosa]

I don't have much time to reply to this because I've got to go study for my last test before I graduate this coming week, BUT, I can assure you that the service Lumerit (CP) provides is worth it for MANY students. It's not for everyone, just like a brick and mortar school isn't for everyone. You're not just receiving a list of courses that are guaranteed to be receiving credit with your chosen degree path, you also can receive coaching and accountability which is one thing that many younger students need. As an adult student it's not as necessary for me, however having someone fight on my behalf when TESU or another insititution changes their rules was important since I had no idea how fast I'd be able to finish my degree. I have personally seen Lumerit employees go above and beyond to fight for their students and ensure previous plans would be accepted by the chosen institution.

K, back to studying. Cheers.

they charge huge amounts of money to help you enroll at an open enrollment college using ACE credit.
FWIW, I have personally seen InstantCert volunteers go above and beyond to fight for strangers and ensure degree plans are accepted by the chosen institution.

[cookderosa]

They are working hard to dominate the market. This was a post I made in July about Speedyprep:

I was contacted by Speedyprep to review their product- they've got a new owner and are trying to grow their business. My son is testing it out for me. I'll update how it goes. Ok, so this is interesting. Day 1 (today) my son is watching the video and BAM right at the end is a big fat advertisement for .......... who wants to guess? CollegePlus! Hummm.... so how is that connected? 15 minutes on LinkedIn tells the story.

The end is this --> CollegePlus = Lumerit = Speedyprep = DebtFreeScholar

If you want to follow my crazy train, here it is.

Brad Voeller graduates from TESC and writes a book about it called Accelerated Distance Learning (out of print). He outlines how to use CLEP at TESC (now TESU) and graduates very young.

Brad and his 2 buddies Ryan Yamane and Woody Robertson start a concierge service company called CollegePlus targeting homeschooled Christian teens- they usher the kids through the process and into TESC/TESU for about fifteen grand. (College Plus gets no love here- the archives tell the full story)

In 2009, a kid named Nate Desmond (member here?) started a website called debt-free-scholar. He reviews a book called Accelerated Distance Learning and his site is immediately purchased by a company called CollegePlus. CP hires him as an intern, and he facilitated the growth hacking department. CollegePlus takes off.

Around 2013, CollegePlus buys a company called Speedyprep and hires Nate to grow it. According to his LinkedIn profile, he increased monthly users by 153%. In 2014 Nate leaves to work for Google and Brad leaves Collegeplus to launch his new company with former CP employee Laura Tyson: Digital Creative Institute - a feeder internship apprenticeship vehicle for digital marketing.

Early 2015 CollegePlus taps into the secular market creating an identical product under the name Lumerit Education. According to a LinkedIn search, they have over 70 employees in their company.

http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...yprep.html

I'm not sure if the Christian market was too small, if they saw bigger fish to fry, if they're trying to eat Straighterline, or what their deal is- but clearly their FAQ is aggressive and targets the uninformed consumer.

[sanantone]

Interesting stuff. I think their website is misleading because they don't make it clear that they hardly offer any courses of their own.

[keepsingin]

Katiejo85, what do you mean by coaching and accountability? What happens if you don't meet expectations? I'm not sure I understand what exactly they do, even after visiting their site. Personally I don't find this process difficult to navigate. Thanks to the internet and really good school advisors. This company seems like a middle man who isn't needed. What question can they answer that a college advisor can't?

Sooo I'm not Katiejo85, but I can answer some of your question.

I'm familiar with how they ran things from 2011-13; so if it's still the same as far as coaching experience... The coaching is much more than just academic coaching, it's personal coaching, even mentorship. If you think of the cost in terms of paying for a personal (life) coach, then maybe the numbers make a little more sense. As far as meeting expectations, if life gets in the way and you aren't able to keep up with the academic schedule they've set, nothing terrible happens lol they just readjust your schedule to accommodate that. They def are a middleman, which def wouldn't suit everyone. But for a lot of folks, what makes it so valuable is the experience. I know people who got their degree through them because they wanted the experience. The coaching experience, and also the huge community of students they have. I know countless of CPers who met through CP and got married...it happens so much, the joke is that CP is more like a dating service! milelol: It's the closest thing to the "college experience", yet online. So they're basically a halfway house between brick-and-mortar and online, because you can interact with fellow students, both online and in person. They also host huge get-togethers once or twice a year. All that to say, it really is a cool experience if you have the money!

disclaimer lol...I've never been a CPer but I know lots of people who have.

[sanantone]

Sooo I'm not Katiejo85, but I can answer some of your question.

I'm familiar with how they ran things from 2011-13; so if it's still the same as far as coaching experience... The coaching is much more than just academic coaching, it's personal coaching, even mentorship. If you think of the cost in terms of paying for a personal (life) coach, then maybe the numbers make a little more sense. As far as meeting expectations, if life gets in the way and you aren't able to keep up with the academic schedule they've set, nothing terrible happens lol they just readjust your schedule to accommodate that. They def are a middleman, which def wouldn't suit everyone. But for a lot of folks, what makes it so valuable is the experience. I know people who got their degree through them because they wanted the experience. The coaching experience, and also the huge community of students they have. I know countless of CPers who met through CP and got married...it happens so much, the joke is that CP is more like a dating service! milelol: It's the closest thing to the "college experience", yet online. So they're basically a halfway house between brick-and-mortar and online, because you can interact with fellow students, both online and in person. They also host huge get-togethers once or twice a year. All that to say, it really is a cool experience if you have the money!

disclaimer lol...I've never been a CPer but I know lots of people who have.

This makes me think about someone who said she was only earning her degree so that she could be better at homeschooling her future children. She had no plans of ever getting a job. She was only to leave her father's house after she was married, so I can see why CP-ers try to hook up fast. :roflol:

[cookderosa]

Sooo I'm not Katiejo85, but I can answer some of your question.

I'm familiar with how they ran things from 2011-13; so if it's still the same as far as coaching experience... The coaching is much more than just academic coaching, it's personal coaching, even mentorship. If you think of the cost in terms of paying for a personal (life) coach, then maybe the numbers make a little more sense. As far as meeting expectations, if life gets in the way and you aren't able to keep up with the academic schedule they've set, nothing terrible happens lol they just readjust your schedule to accommodate that.
.

Untrue. The bold in blue is mine.
A member HERE who was enrolled was diagnosed with cancer and had to put her degree on hold. College Plus called her a faker, told her she was making up excuses not to continue her education, and continued with aggressive sales tactics to keep her paying.
It's all fun and games, warm and fuzzy support until you want to stop paying....

[OakLakeNC]

So the $6,000/year is not including the cost of CLEP or Straightliner or any other class? It seems like an overpriced way to make friends. :/ If you want to connect with other college students get a pt job waiting tables. My tuition and books for 64 credits at the community college was under 6K. Then they still have to pay for the tests, actual classes and study aids? I would hope everyone considering CollegePlus/Lumerit looks into their community college first. Or at least start taking CLEP tests on your own and get to point where maybe you only need one year of Collegeplus to finish.

[keepsingin]

Untrue. The bold in blue is mine.
A member HERE who was enrolled was diagnosed with cancer and had to put her degree on hold. College Plus called her a faker, told her she was making up excuses not to continue her education, and continued with aggressive sales tactics to keep her paying.

ugh that's really terrible to hear...

It's all fun and games, warm and fuzzy support until you want to stop paying....

I've found this true with every program I've used. If you sign up for a 6 or 12 month program, they expect the money, period. In my post I was referring to adjusting your academic schedule, not your payment schedule.

[cookderosa]

So the $6,000/year is not including the cost of CLEP or Straightliner or any other class? It seems like an overpriced way to make friends. :/ If you want to connect with other college students get a pt job waiting tables. My tuition and books for 64 credits at the community college was under 6K. Then they still have to pay for the tests, actual classes and study aids? I would hope everyone considering CollegePlus/Lumerit looks into their community college first. Or at least start taking CLEP tests on your own and get to point where maybe you only need one year of Collegeplus to finish.

Nope, you still get to pay for those 45 credits via CLEP and your local testing center. https://collegeplus.org/pricing
Each exam is 3 credits, so add in 15 exams (x80ea) and you're up another $1200 plus proctoring fees (x20ea) so another $300 there.

Any student can come here and earn 45 CLEP credits for $1500
Every CP student must pay $7300 for those same 45 credits.

You're paying $5800 per year for 1/month academic coaching. That's more than $480 per session. I wonder if CP allows their students to take math? 15 minutes with a calculator and these guys could go out of business.