Dive Brief:

• Study.com, formerly Education-Portal.com, aims to do nothing less than eliminate the need for community college.
• The newly re-launched platform started out offering classes to adult students trying to test out of certain college courses and later shifted its mission upon recognizing students could get two years worth of credits online, eCampusNews reports.
• The site offers 19 credit-bearing courses recognized by the American Council on Education, with 30 more under review, and students can tailor the learning experience to their time constraints and preferences, according to the article.

Dive Insight:

While community college officials doubt Study.com will succeed in its goal of supplanting their model, the site has made significant gains in the population that may have considered community college before online platforms existed. According to eCampusNews, the site gets 10 million visitors per month and hopes to build on the momentum of its new name.

While its courses seem to be thoughtfully designed and officials are going through the trouble of getting ACE approval, Study.com, like all online programs, won’t work for all students. And frankly, it’s not the only online option out there. As these internet education portals become increasingly sophisticated and student preferences for flexibility and affordability continue, however, the traditional higher education landscape will undoubtedly feel the impact. Still, the looming hurdle is getting employers to believe alternative online credentials are valuable.