SOPHIA.org, the “social education platform that empowers students to learn in their own way, helps teachers to innovate and puts college students on a path to a lower-cost degree” just announced that they have partnered with Bill Nye, “The Science Guy,” to address the issue of college readiness and affordability with free resources and low-cost online courses for college credit.
From their press release: “It’s startling to think that two-thirds of high school students don’t have the academic skills they need to succeed in college and with the added cost of remediation, which collectively costs student billions, the goal of earning a college degree becomes that much harder to attain financially,” said Allison Gage, President of SOPHIA. “With Operation College Success, students now have more free resources at their fingertips that can help them get prepared. In addition, we also offer affordable college courses in several high-demand general education subjects that will start them on the path to a degree.”
The Bill Nye connection will certainly help with awareness and marketing. This offering will also help prospective students defray preparatory course costs at their chosen institution of higher learning since they are always expensive. With soaring student debt (see Student Debt and the Crushing of the American Dream by the economist Joseph Stiglitz) the timing of this offering is perfect.