Kara Loehrer, StraighterLine Student
There are people who find success by doing what everyone else has done. Then there are people like StraighterLine student Kara Loehrer, who has found her own way to reach her career goals, receive a promotion at work, and achieve educational success. Kara took 17 courses with StraighterLine, earning a total of 51 credits for her degree at Thomas Edison State University. She estimates that those courses (and free eTextbooks included with every StraighterLine course) helped her save thousands on college costs and avoid taking on a big debt load. But that’s only part of the story. Let’s hear what Kara told StraighterLine in a recent interview.
What is your degree in?
Kara Loehrer: My degree is a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) with a concentration in General Management. Since Thomas Edison State University is a partner college, I was able to transfer all my credits from StraighterLine directly to TESU.
Do you feel like StraighterLine classes helped prepare you for your future career?
Kara Loehrer: After obtaining my degree, I was promoted into a new job role from Program Coordinator to Account Manager (AM1) within the same company. I have been in the staffing industry for a few years and now that I have my degree, I am more equipped for the position of handling relations between employees and clients. Now that I no longer have the time constraints associated with earning my degree, I have been able to take on this opportunity that includes both overtime and commission. My career goals include leveling up in the Account Manager rankings and growing the accounts I service – which includes selling into new departments, growing client relationships, and earning my company’s spot as their sole staffing supplier. Some of the classes I took through StraighterLine included ACC101: Accounting I, ACC102: Accounting II, ECON101: Economics I: Macroeconomics, and BUS110: Business Law. These courses, in particular, helped me prepare for my professional goals. I have to wear many hats in my industry and tackle various problems when they arise. Having a broad education in business has helped me troubleshoot and find solutions.
How much money did you save by taking courses at StraighterLine?
Kara Loehrer: I spent $1,003 on 17 classes for a total of 51 credits, which was a whopping 43% of my required courses for my degree. If I would have gone to a community college in my home state of California, I would have paid at least $1,343 more on credits alone and approximately $1,700 on books. I was also able to take advantage of a few discounts to contribute towards my monthly StraighterLine $99 subscription fees. StraighterLine was a third of the cost in comparison to a community college and saved me around $3,000. If you consider the price of an in-person 4-year public or private institution, my savings are in the tens of thousands of dollars on tuition alone for a bachelor’s degree.
What did you enjoy about the online classes you took?
Kara Loehrer: Taking online classes through StraighterLine had a big impact on the overall cost and length of time it took me to complete my degree as I wasn’t paying for transportation, on-campus housing, and food plans. Plus, I was able to maintain a full-time job in the industry I wanted to establish a career in, while not sacrificing my ability to work on my education during my downtime. StraighterLine classes were straightforward in their layout and thorough in their material.
Did it shorten the length of time it took to get your degree?
Kara Loehrer: StraighterLine courses are self-paced which meant I could knock out courses on a faster or slower timeline depending on my needs and how much effort I was willing to put into the material. I was able to shave off a year and three months off my total degree completion time by earning my credits through StraighterLine.
Would you recommend it to others and why?
Kara Loehrer: It was easy for me to choose StraighterLine because of its straightforward pricing. Budgeting the funds towards my degree was simple with StraighterLine because the cost of digital books was already included in the course cost and monthly tuition. I would recommend StraighterLine to budget-savvy and determined students who want to get classes completed in an efficient manner. This is the route for them. I enjoyed StraighterLine as a source of credits because of the time and money I saved as well as having the eTextbooks built directly into the classes.
