SOPHIA Announces Four More Online Courses Recommended For College Credit By American Council On Education

MINNEAPOLIS, June 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- SOPHIA.org, the education platform that offers free academic resources for students and teachers as well as a path to an affordable college degree, announced today that four additional SOPHIA Pathways for College Credit™ (SPCC) courses have been evaluated and recommended for college credit by the American Council on Education's College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT®). ACE, the major coordinating body for all the nation's higher education institutions, seeks to provide leadership and a unifying voice on key higher education issues and to influence public policy through advocacy, research and program initiatives.

SPCC courses are now available in Conflict Resolution, Approaches to Studying Religion, Visual Communications and Introduction to Art History as well as College Algebra, Human Biology, Introduction to Psychology, Introduction to Sociology and Introduction to Statistics.

"Now students can take many of the general education courses they need at a significantly lower cost than traditional college courses – all on their own time and at their own pace," said Allison Gage, President of SOPHIA. "With an 85 percent completion rate and one-fourth choosing to take multiple courses, SPCC is proving to be incredibly effective because it personalizes the learning process. Students specifically appreciate the way the material is presented because it is interactive, customizable, and ultimately helps them be successful."

SPCC's self-paced courses are better designed to meet the needs of the student than programs that offer one instructor and a rigid schedule. Each course features SOPHIA's Many Ways to Learn™ model where individual concepts are taught by a variety of instructors each with their own style in short-form video tutorials so students can choose one that works best for them. In addition, all instructional materials are available online and included in the initial price, further increasing the affordability of SPCC by eliminating the expense of textbooks. Students can enroll in SPCC at any time to complete the online courses.

"SPCC was specifically designed with undergraduate students in mind so they could earn real transferable credits that add real value to their education," Gage said. "We also were diligent in choosing to develop courses that are essential for many degrees."

SPCC was developed by SOPHIA.org, a social education platform offering more than 34,000 free academic tutorials taught in a variety of ways, by a multitude of teachers and education enthusiasts. SPCC is the latest innovation by SOPHIA, which is focused on making credible academic tools available to teachers and students in middle school through the first two years of college.

ACE CREDIT® helps students gain academic credit for courses and examinations taken outside traditional degree programs. More than 2,000 colleges and universities consider ACE CREDIT recommendations in determining the applicability to their course and degree programs.

To learn more, visit www.SOPHIA.org.

Contact: Laura Telander Graf
651.698.4006
[email protected]

SOURCE SOPHIA.org