Study.com Review – A Scam or Legit Online Learning Service? (2024)

Welcome to my Study.com Review.

One of the biggest advantages of the modern age is the digitization of education! You can study, complete courses and learn new things from anywhere, whether you are at home, school, vacation or maybe even at work!

One of the major players in the online education sphere is Study.Com! It has been around for a while and has gained a lot of credibility from students and teachers as a beneficial learning platform. 

It has also partnered with many universities, allowing you to transfer college credits from the website to your actual college. With knowledgeable teachers, certified courses, affordable pricing and an array of disciplines to choose from, Study.com might easily be one of the best!

What is Study.Com?

Study.com is your one-stop portal to learning! It has everything from college courses, subject explanations, and lessons from certified professors, university learning and much more. 

It is a popular education platform providing short and engaging video lessons created by professionals. It helps students excel academically and also gives them an opportunity to learn skills that will help them in the workplace.

Study.com was founded in 2002 by Adrian Ridner and Ben Wilson due to the rising college costs, inefficient education infrastructure and lack of study material. 

It was started with an aim to make education engaging and affordable and has grown into a big service provider with more than 20,000 lessons and a reach of 30 million learners.

It offers more than 150 courses which are qualified for college credit by the American Council on Education (ACE) and the National College Credit Recommendation Service (NCCRS).

Study.com also provides work from home opportunities for people willing to work as content writers for academics, course creators, query answerers or academic mentors. It is a great opportunity for side income as it only requires you to share what knowledge you have in a specific domain with a wider audience.

You can also gain a degree online from Study.com by completing almost 75% of the courses online and transferring the credits to a partner college. Study.com has partnerships with many good American colleges such as Cornell University, Fordham University, etc.

How does Study.com work?

For Students

You will need to sign up by providing your Name, Email, and Phone number.

Below are the pricing plans.

Study.com Cost

1. Basic Edition- This is the cheapest member plan at the website and offers various features for you to explore! It includes unlimited access to video lessons and transcripts. It is best for people who need extra tutoring help. The cost of the edition is $39.99 a month.
2. Premium Edition– Along with all the perks of Basic edition such as video lessons, Premium edition includes short quizzes, practice tests, etc. to help you gain insight into the level of guidance you require and the mastery you have gained in a specific subject. It also has various tools for tracking progress, personal coaches, access to instructors and much more! The price is $59.99 per month.
3. College Accelerator- It is an extension of the Premium program. College Accelerator enables students to complete college credit courses that are certified by ACE and NCCRS and help them to save thousands of dollars with respect to the traditional universities. College Accelerator is priced at $199.99/month.
4. Teacher Edition- It is like an assistant to teachers and helps the teachers to engage with the students outside the classroom with courses, video lessons, lesson schemes, books, online comparatives, and more. It is free for up to 250 students. The cost is $59.99 per month.
5. Enterprise Solutions– Study.com also provides programs for enterprises and companies to help professionalize their workforce and also give an opportunity to gain a degree at a low cost.

Work at Home Opportunities

There are various opportunities available at Study.com that make the job your perfect side hustle!

There are many benefits that come along with the job which includes absolutely flexible working hours, reliable payments and supportive staff.

What Contractors Have To Say!

Source: Study.com

Is Study.com A Scam?

To be very straightforward- NO! Study.com has been around for over two decades and if it would have been a scam, it would already have been taken down. Moreover, it has partnerships with many prestigious universities like Cornell and Fordham, which proves that the portal has credibility and universities entrust their faith in its courses. 

It has a viewership of almost 30 million learners! A scam would only like to dupe its customers, but study.com provides various features that are complete value for money. You can even work freelance at their website, earn a degree and transfer credits to your college. 

But like any other online portal, there have been some complaints of cancellation policy of the website where they provide 30-day free access by signing you up by credit card but make it difficult for you to cancel the subscription. 

It is a common strategy many online companies use to make money but Study.com does not indulge into such things. You just write an email to them, and they will reply, ensuring full refund!

Another such allegation is that the portal sells your information to for-profit colleges. It has not been fully proved but it is obvious that the partnered colleges would receive some of your details as per the T&C of the company. 

If you are not willing to receive updates from colleges, you can easily unsubscribe, it is not a scam.

It is certain that Study.com is a 100% legit learning portal and like any other company, it has its fair share of glitches that it’s trying to improve.

Type of Jobs

There are numerous ways you can join study.com and complete gigs to earn side income. While the pay is not very high, the work is very easy and flexible and does not even require you to be at an office!

1. Lesson Writing and Curriculum Design- As an experienced teacher, you are required to write lessons for subjects that can be accessed by millions of students.
   You are also required to design the curriculum that promotes fast-track learning on the website. The lessons can be created in a plethora of subjects like English, Maths, etc.
   Unconventional subjects like Philosophy, History, and Geography even require lessons and content development which can be done easily.
   
2. Question and Answer Help- This is a fun and flexible way to become an online tutor! You can help students by answering their subject queries whenever you want and get paid for doing so.
   The questions are posted regularly by many learners but you do not have to answer all the questions by yourself as there are many people. It is very interesting and engaging as the questions are new and exciting!
   
3. Research and Copywriting- This is a perfect job for freelance writers! You can write about various subjects and disciplines ranging from maths to career advice by completing the gigs allotted to you.
   You need to be an expert in your subject of interest to apply for this post. By developing new content, you will be working together with the lesson writers to provide engaging lessons for learners.
   
4. Reviewing and Editing- If you have subject matter expertise and the knack of reviewing scores of articles at once, you will be the perfect fit for this job! You don’t have to be the best in your subject but should have enough knowledge to correct factual inaccuracies and should have good English to correct grammar.

How to Apply?

To apply for the job you need to visit here.

There are many job listings posted here which can be applied to. You just need to click on the apply button. The application not only asks for your details but also tests your knowledge in the domain you are applying to.

For example- If you are applying for Accounting Expert, you will be asked: “What level of sales would generate a net income of $4.2m for the following year, knowing that operating costs (excl. depreciation and amortization) will increase by 7.5%, and given a 35% tax rate.” 

To ensure that you have answered the question yourself, you will also be required to explain how you arrived at the answer. Besides applying from the study.com portal, you can also apply to the job through Indeed. 

Requirements

There is no specific requirement as such but you need to be experienced in the subject you are applying for. There are some sections that are required to be filled up in the application. What you require to apply-

1. Your Personal Details- This includes your name, surname, date of birth, email address, address and phone number.
2. Your Resume- You may either paste the resume in the given section or attach a Word or pdf file.
3. Your Citizenship Country-

• U.S Citizen/ Permanent Resident
• Non-Citizen allowed to work for any employer
• Non-Citizen allowed to work for current employer
• Non-Citizen seeking work authorization
• Canadian Citizen/ Permanent Resident
• Other

1. LinkedIn URL
2. Explanation of Work Experience
3. Questions on Subject (Usually two questions followed by explanation)

Other than this, the website mentions some specific requirements-

1. Expertise in the college-level subject
2. Ability to provide clear answers and thorough explanations on advanced subject topics
3. Proficient writing and reading in English

Once you fill-up the application and submit, you can wait for the Human Resource Team to contact you.

Pay

One problem with the work is that there is very less salary feedback or review available about the jobs on the website. Although the pay can be expected to be $50k to $100k for distance learning professors, it is comparatively less for other jobs that are gig-based.

The payment is mainly done through PayPal twice a month. For gig-based jobs like content development, research, etc. you can expect to be paid per gig submitted. The salary reports are not transparent and there is the unavailability of genuine salary insights into the company.

There are some complaints of pay issues that the pay is less and not always on time. Also, the pay is only a side income and may not be regular as the work is contract-based. If you do not get the work, you will not be paid. The payment depends purely on the work allotted to you and therefore is highly irregular.

Study.com is only good as a work option if you are looking for side-income as a bonus to what you are already earning. If you are not in a permanent job, study.com might or might not be a suitable option for you depending on the position you are applying to. 

If the post is permanent like a professor, it will be well paid but the other jobs such as subject matter experts are contract-based and the payment depends on the number of gigs you complete and the gigs provided to you. 

Moreover, the gigs depend on the availability and you may or may not get gigs to complete, hence no payment.

Reviews and Complaints

The reviews are generally positive about the people, nature of work, work culture and atmosphere but there are also complaints. The complaints are usually about low leave policy, less compensation, limited work, and low incentives.

Have a look:

Source: Indeed

Pros:

1. Less workload- The workload is very less as the projects are updated very slowly.
2. Flexible- The nature of most jobs is flexible and you can work at home, job hours are not fixed.
3. Engaging- The work of engaging and interacting with students is fun for many people and not necessarily considered work.
4. Chance to Research- There is a chance to learn new things as you research to develop content and answer curious queries of different students.

Cons:

1. Less Pay- The payment is generally low as compared to traditional teachers.
2. Inconsistent work- The work may not be regular and as many jobs are gig-based, payment may not be regular too.
3. No incentives- There are no work incentives such as paid leaves, travel holidays, insurance, etc.
4. Monotonous Work- All work is of the same kind and may get repetitive.

Study.com Summary

To sum up, Study.com is a great learning opportunity for students, a good way to earn college credit for freshmen and an amazing job experience for freelancers. When you live in the digital age, you should ensure that you reap the maximum benefit out of it!

FAQs