Arizona State University's Universal Learner Courses are online college courses taught by ASU faculty and open to anyone, with no application, no GPA requirement and no placement test. Caveat Academic helps high school students choose the right courses, stay on pace and finish strong.

What ASU provides: the course, taught and graded by ASU faculty; all course materials, at no extra cost; and the official ASU transcript, if your student chooses to add the credit.

What we provide: a course plan matched to your student's goals and target colleges; a week-by-week pacing calendar; weekly coaching in small groups or one-on-one; tutoring when a concept doesn't click; a short progress update for parents every week; and guidance on when to add a grade to the transcript.

How ASU's fees work: students pay ASU $25 to start a course. When they finish, they can add it to an official ASU transcript for $400, and they have up to a year to decide. If they're not happy with the grade, they owe nothing more. ASU sets these fees and may change them.

Two ways to take a course: on-demand courses start anytime; students must stay enrolled at least six weeks and have a year to finish, and our cohorts use them with our own pacing calendar. Session-based courses follow ASU's calendar with fixed due dates, in 8- or 16-week sessions.

What it takes: a 3-credit course is about 135 hours of work, roughly 9 hours a week over 16 weeks or 18 hours a week over 8 weeks. Students need a PC or Mac with reliable internet. Some courses don't run on Chromebooks, and iPads and phones aren't supported.