After doing a ton of research on affordable, accredited online universities, I decided to go with Newlane University. I found a lot of useful info on degreeforum.net, where I even saw one of the school’s founders engaging in discussions. That gave me a good impression, but I still wanted to dig deeper.

There’s a Reddit sub for Newlane, but it’s practically dead—only two posts and not much discussion. After checking out the official website, I decided to apply. Right after, I got a link to schedule a video call with a counselor. Honestly, that annoyed me. I prefer a straightforward online application with no unnecessary steps, and I definitely didn’t want any kind of sales pitch. But out of curiosity, I scheduled it for the next day.

When the meeting started, the person introduced himself, and it turned out to be one of the actual founders of the school. Was not expecting that. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad sign, but it was definitely interesting. We ended up talking for about 30 minutes, and I asked about pricing, accreditation, and what motivated him to start the school.

I totally forgot to ask how many students are enrolled, which annoys me, but based on my research, it seems to be a couple hundred. I’ll confirm when I get an answer.

What impressed me was that there was no upselling at all. He told me the exact pricing structure upfront. The way it works is simple: you pay a flat monthly fee while you’re enrolled, and once you hit a set total cost, you don’t pay anything else. No hidden fees, no books to buy (everything is online), and they accept up to 90 transfer credits. It’s competency-based, so you work at your own pace—as fast or as slow as you want. If you stop taking classes, you stop paying.

The website itself is easy to use, though it looks a little dated. That doesn’t bother me, though, because it loads super fast. I also got an email about credit transfer, so I’m in the process of updating my credits.

So far, so good. The only things I don’t love: the school logo looks pretty generic, and the founders definitely avoid the corporate “suit-and-tie” look. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but some people might see it as unprofessional.

One thing I like is how fast everything moves. Every email I’ve sent has been answered the same day or the next day, and I was assigned a student support person in case I need help.

Haven’t had to use them yet, but they did give some advice on course pacing: “If you have 5-10 hours a week to spend, we recommend taking one course. If you have 10-20 hours a week, taking two courses is totally doable. You can also change how many courses you take at once as you get a feel for what works for you at Newlane.”

So far, my experience with Newlane has been fast, smooth, and no-nonsense. I’ll keep updating my thoughts as I go, sharing both the pros and cons along the way.