Altius lands $8M to launch accredited online colleges

September 23, 2009 | Camille Ricketts | Comments | |

online-degree-programs-main_fullAltius Education, a company that partners with real junior colleges and universities to run a cost-effective, accredited online degree program, has brought in $8 million in a first round of funding.

Recognizing the need to provide access to areas of study being trimmed from budgets, especially at the community college level, Altius launched Ivy Bridge College in 2007 — with help from Tiffin University in Ohio. The web site gives enrolled students a more affordable route into a four-year university, all online and remotely accessible for greater flexibility. The company also provides students with round-the-clock tutoring and a personal academic coach to help them through their studies.

Many of the students taking advantage of the program also have to work full-time, making it difficult to attend classes in person. Others have been laid off from their jobs and are looking to make career changes as fast as possible. For these reasons, Altius has seen its business grow, even as the economy has dipped. It is looking for other universities and colleges to work with to launch online properties.

Ivy Bridge’s success depends on the number of its students making it into four year degree programs. For this reason, Altius has agreements with 24 of these institutions to accept students with credits from Ivy Bridge. This sets it apart from other e-learning or distance-learning services offering Associate’s degrees, the company says.

Altius plans to use its new funding to continue developing the Ivy Bridge site — adding more resources for students as well as course content. Specifically, it will add courses that could prepare students for careers in sustainability and health care industries. Maveron and Spark Capital led the round of financing, which included the Noah Fund.

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About the Author, Camille Ricketts

Camille is the lead writer for GreenBeat. She came to VentureBeat from Google where she worked on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. Before that, she was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York and London. Follow her on Twitter at @camillericketts, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

With GreenBeat 2009, VentureBeat's all-star conference on all things Smart Grid, coming up in November, Camille will be expanding coverage of this exciting space. Stay up to date by following @greenbeat2009 on Twitter or by becoming a fan of the event on Facebook here.

  • Social skills are at an all-time low, more online education simply magnifies that phenomenon. In addition, much of what community colleges teach is remedial, so what is a degree from this kind of education worth? The benefit of going to a community college is learning to organize, interface and have an instructor with whom you engage. That relationship is critical to encouraging and guiding the growth of a late blooming student. The benefit of community college education is lost in promoting online education. This kind of instruction is not equivalent to a campus college experience and will fail to produce critical thinkers. It will do nothing to ensure improved communication skills in those it purportedly educates. Degrees coming from such organizations may fulfill test requirements, but they do not support personal growth and the lifelong curiosity that a classroom full of other learners and an enthusiastic teacher imparts.