When StraighterLine started, the idea of offering online college courses at much cheaper rates than universities was “pretty heretical,” says founder Burck Smith.
When Smith spun the startup out of his previous company, Smarthinking, and moved to Baltimore in 2010, four colleges were signed on as partners. Now the company has 100 colleges signed on, and is growing in its Federal Hill office.
These days, Smith is receiving accolades — such as a place on Forbes’ top 10 higher-ed influencers list. For StraighterLine and others, there’s also national attention and recognition for the model of offering lower-cost online courses to students — a self-paced model of coursework known as “competency-based learning.”
Over the years, he’s seen “the market moving toward where we were, and then we can present ourselves as a partner who is helping to navigate change rather than the enemy,” Smith said.
Read more at Technical.ly Baltimore
from http://baltimoretech.org/news/how-straighterline-went-from-controversial-to-common-practice/
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