NEW YORK, Feb. 08, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Modern States Education Alliance, a philanthropy dedicated to making a college degree more affordable and accessible, today announced a significant milestone: the program’s first student to earn their entire freshman year of college tuition-free since the site launched in 2017. William Rush, a 17-year-old high school senior in Vancouver, Washington, earned a free year’s worth of college credits by taking courses through Modern States’ “Freshman Year for Free” program.
Modern States offers the first-ever catalog of tuition-free online courses for 40+ core freshman subjects that enables learners to earn traditional academic credits at more than 2,900 major colleges and universities. Taught by professors from leading universities, Modern States courses prepare students for the well-accepted Advanced Placement (AP) and College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams from the College Board.
The courses cover the full range of fundamental freshman topics, from microeconomics to chemistry, all taught by leading university professors at America’s most prestigious colleges. For example, Paul Schiff Berman, the former dean of George Washington Law School teaches Modern States’ introductory business law course.
“Modern States seems like it is too good to be true – but it’s not,” said Rush. “The courses helped me prioritize what I needed to study in order to successfully pass the CLEP exams. It’s been a great experience that’s giving me a leg up on my college education while still in high school.”
His mother, Melissa Rush added, “It means so much to us. In a way, it feels like [Modern States] has partnered with us to benefit William.”
Whether someone takes one course or enough credits to fulfill their freshman year requirements, like Rush did, Modern States’ “Freshman Year for Free” is providing a path to college for all kinds of learners. Through Modern States, anyone with a mobile phone or an internet connection can now access an entire year of courses that lead to college credit, from top professors, for free.
Rush passed his first Modern States course and exam during the site’s original beta test in the summer of 2017. He has now completed eight courses and the corresponding CLEP exams, qualifying for a full year of college credit. He will graduate with a high school diploma in early June and a few weeks later earn his associate in arts degree from Clark College in Southwest Washington, thanks in part to Modern States and a dual enrollment program at the school.
“We created Modern States in order to make college more accessible and affordable for anyone,” said Steve Klinsky, Modern States’ founder and chief executive officer. “We applaud William on his hard work and achievement. More than 40,000 people have registered for Modern States and we hope William’s story serves as an inspiration for others looking to save time and money on the cost of college.”
Rush completed achieved passing scores on multiple CLEP exams, including:
- Analyzing and Interpreting Literature taught by Dana (Dean) Simpson, Ph.D., of Tufts University
- Chemistry taught by Ruben M. Savizky, Ph.D., of Columbia University
- College Algebra taught by James Murphy, Ph.D., of Johns Hopkins
- College Mathematics taught by James Murphy, Ph.D., of Johns Hopkins
- Principles of Marketing taught by Tamar Avnet, Ph.D., of Yeshiva University
- Psychology taught by David Sitt, Ph.D., of Baruch College
- Sociology taught by Emily Restivo, Ph.D., of New York Institute of Technology
- Spanish taught by Maria Isabel Castro, Ph.D., of Boston College and Tufts University
Modern States is also paying exam fees to the College Board for the first 10,000 test takers, enabling students anywhere to earn up to a full year’s worth of credit for free, and reducing the cost of a traditional four-year college degree by 25 percent.
Registering for Modern States courses is free and easy. Sign up here. Modern States, a 501(c)3, welcomes donors who would like to support covering the College Board testing fees for students beyond the first 10,000 (at $85 per exam).
In the long term, Modern States aspires to help over one million learners earn credit at no tuition cost, saving students and taxpayers approximately $1,000 per course and over $1 billion in total, while also creating a practical “on-ramp” into the traditional college system for anyone who seeks it.
About Modern States
The Modern States Education Alliance is a NYC-based philanthropy dedicated to making a college degree more affordable and attainable for everyone. Its first initiative is “Freshman Year for Free”: more than 40 online college courses available tuition-free for credit, from top university professors available to anyone with an Internet connection. Students can use these courses to earn college credits by preparing for and taking AP and CLEP exams, as offered by the College Board. As a part of the initiative, Modern States partnered with edX.org, the nonprofit online learning platform founded by Harvard and MIT, to offer classes to students. Learn more at ModernStates.org. Stay in touch on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.