Tuition for online classes

[Swimmer1112]

How much is reasonable to pay for online classes, ie AP Physics. My friend said she was going to sign her son up for AP Physics with a provider in the Bay Area in CA. She told my the tuition is $2700 for an one semester AP Physics 1 class, which seems kinda high. Or is it just expensive because it’s the Bay Area. 

[Farrar]

That's pretty high. I would attribute that to it being the Bay Area. Pennsylvania Homeschoolers is an excellent provider with two really well-loved instructors who give a lot of good support for AP Physics... and the courses are all less than $800. Physics 1 specifically is about $500.

The cost on really high quality online classes have been inching upwards. I teach online (at Aim Academy starting next year) and it's a lot of work. Good labor costs money. But the costs you'll see at WTMA, Aim, Potter's, etc. are all well under $1000 for a yearlong course still.

ETA: Adding that those are all online but with teachers. For in person, sometimes what you're paying for is the cost of the space as much as anything. There are no real in person AP offerings around us for homeschoolers. The only exception I know of is AP Music Theory, offered by a local music school since that's not offered at most schools. It is over $1000, but still not on the level of the cost you quoted.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Farrar

[NittanyJen]

I agree with Farrar. For that kind of money, I’d just take the college course.

[SoCal_Bear]

It sounds like she might be using a center that functions sort of like semi-exclusive private education for live in-person small class size AP courses and test prep. There's a chain called Elite Educational Institute for example. From what I can tell they are targeting high income areas and areas with Asian populations. The website renders in Korean, Chinese (traditional and simplified) which is on purpose.

 

Edited May 14, 2021 by calbear

[Lulu]

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Edited May 14, 2021 by Lulu

[stripe]

6 hours ago, calbear said:

It sounds like she might be using a center that functions sort of like semi-exclusive private education for live in-person small class size AP courses and test prep. There's a chain called Elite Educational Institute for example. From what I can tell they are targeting high income areas and areas with Asian populations. The website renders in Korean, Chinese (traditional and simplified) which is on purpose.
 

And they don’t list their prices anywhere that I can see. You have to ask.

My local Chinese school teaches math, computer science, writing, and some AP science prep classes in addition to Chinese language and culture related classes. I put one of my kids in a math class for enrichment last summer. 😂 

I would absolutely not pay $2700 for a one semester high school class.

[regentrude]

On 5/12/2021 at 9:01 PM, Swimmer1112 said:

How much is reasonable to pay for online classes, ie AP Physics. My friend said she was going to sign her son up for AP Physics with a provider in the Bay Area in CA. She told my the tuition is $2700 for an one semester AP Physics 1 class, which seems kinda high. Or is it just expensive because it’s the Bay Area. 

Why on Earth would anybody pay this much for an AP class? That is more expensive than taking the corresponding course at a college and earning college credit for the course instead of for a one-shot exam, which is much less stressful. At 3 credit hours, that would be $900 per credit hour. Ridiculous.

[AmandaVT]

My grad classes are $675/credit, so $2025 for a 3 credit semester class. $2700 for a high school physics class seems quite high!

[Swimmer1112]

 

On 5/13/2021 at 9:15 PM, calbear said:

It sounds like she might be using a center that functions sort of like semi-exclusive private education for live in-person small class size AP courses and test prep. There's a chain called Elite Educational Institute for example. From what I can tell they are targeting high income areas and areas with Asian populations. The website renders in Korean, Chinese (traditional and simplified) which is on purpose.

 

After asking more questions, I discovered that the class is targeting high income Asians. It’s an AP Physics/ F=ma prep class. The teacher has a reputation of getting kids to USAPhO camp. She told he that his class is highly sought after. I think that’s the reason for the high tuition. 

[SoCal_Bear]

2 hours ago, Swimmer1112 said:

 

After asking more questions, I discovered that the class is targeting high income Asians. It’s an AP Physics/ F=ma prep class. The teacher has a reputation of getting kids to USAPhO camp. She told he that his class is highly sought after. I think that’s the reason for the high tuition. 

I would say that you can expect to see an increase of these types of offerings since UC/CSU are no longer considering SAT or ACT. The only way to differentiate academic competitions would be through academic competitions and APs. Asians will definitely put money towards classes/programs that would help gain an edge.

[PeterPan]

On 5/12/2021 at 10:01 PM, Swimmer1112 said:

She told my the tuition is $2700 for an one semester AP Physics 1 class

What would it cost in the same area to do DE? AP is not guaranteed credit. 

[PeterPan]

On 5/16/2021 at 12:00 AM, Swimmer1112 said:

 

After asking more questions, I discovered that the class is targeting high income Asians. It’s an AP Physics/ F=ma prep class. The teacher has a reputation of getting kids to USAPhO camp. She told he that his class is highly sought after. I think that’s the reason for the high tuition. 

Ahhh...

I guess see if that's your goal. If all you want is the credit, right now DE is often free and a more dependable thing.

[Farrar]

AP is as much about getting into college as it is about getting college credit. I do wonder if this includes a lot of one on one tutoring. You really can get just as good a teacher/course set up for dramatically less. But some families want a one on one tutor at their beck and call. In which case, the price would just be the price of labor and space. And not crazy for what you get - it's just that what you want isn't in line with what makes much sense.

[SDMomof3]

That’s a lot for an online class. We have a private school in our are that offers classes to part time students and is around the same price point, but 3000 is for a whole school year, not a semester. The classes are 8 to 1 student/ teacher ratio, it like small group tutoring.