E-Learning Resources

Liberty U Offers Online Curriculum to Private Schools

• By Scott Aronowitz
• 03/03/10

[Editor's note: This article has been corrected to reflect a factual error that appeared in the original version. The curriculum being offered by Liberty University is not being made "free of charge," as previously reported, but at "no additional charge." We regret the error. --David Nagel]

Liberty University, an evangelical Christian institute of higher education in Lynchburg, VA, has announced it will make the middle and high school curricula of its Liberty University Online Academy (LUOA) available to financially challenged private schools at no additional charge.

With this new program, LUOA said, it hopes offer its mix of spiritual and academic curriculum content in order to help support smaller schools that cannot generate the tuition necessary to increase hiring or purchase specialized content.

"Our goal is to enable many private schools to offer their unique educational perspective to currently enrolled students," said Jay Spencer, dean of non-degree programs for Liberty University. "By partnering with us, these private schools can keep costs low and still provide the type of Christian education that families are searching for."

LUOA began beta-testing its online curriculum in September 2009. Its success with the five private schools that participated in the testing phase convinced Liberty it was ready for a public rollout, according to representatives from the institution.

"We decided to partner with LUOA in order to provide a solid, biblical curriculum for our students with the support of experienced teachers," said Jan Connor, reverend at Faith Baptist Christian Academy in North Carolina. "The process to get started was extremely smooth and the staff is always a blessing to work with, providing the support that we need, when we need it."

Because both LUOA and the schools being offered its curricula are private, faith-based institutions and thus receive no state or federal funding, such schools are not required to comply with some federal education guidelines. However, LUOA has received accreditation each year since its founding in 2007 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement, better known as SACS CASI, a recognized accreditation organization for both public and private schools. This accreditation, Spencer explained, ensures the validity of the LUOA academic curriculum with mainstream, non-sectarian colleges and universities.