MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 12/19/12 -- In the span of two weeks, college student Elisa Fleming took a free online course, earned 3 college credits, and saved almost $2,000 on her degree.

Frustrated with being a "full-time college student, working and broke," Fleming discovered that she could save time and money on her degree by using free online courses from start-up Education Portal.

Most free online courses are not designed for students who want to earn college credit, but Education Portal's courses are designed specifically with credit as the end goal. Each Education Portal course is planned around a credit-granting exam, such as the College Board's CLEP. Courses can be completed asynchronously, which means students like Elisa Fleming can study and earn credit in just a few weeks.

Fleming says she pays almost $2,000 for each course at Regent University, where she is a full-time student. Using Education Portal's course, she earned 3 credits for less than $100. These credits are accepted at her school as well as over 2,900 colleges and universities in the U.S.

Fleming took Education Portal's Psychology 101 course and plans to take 8 more including U.S. History, English Literature, and College Composition. In total, Education Portal's courses will save her up to $12,000 on her college degree. "It's too late for me to get out of my current debt," says Fleming, "but it's awesome to think that I don't have to worry about future debt."

In just one year of offering free courses, Education Portal has already reached over one million students. During that same year, total student debt in the U.S. surpassed one trillion dollars. Fleming sees how Education Portal's courses can solve the student debt problem. "This is how the entire institution of college will be in the future," she says. "Instead of going tens of thousands of dollars in debt and suffering through boring lectures, everyone will be learning at their own pace, for free, in their own house."

About Education Portal
Education Portal makes higher education accessible through free, online courses that help students earn widely-accepted college credit. Taught by experienced instructors and subject matter experts, Education Portal's 22 courses consist of over 1,000 fun and engaging video lessons designed specifically for the online learner. Education Portal is owned by Remilon LLC and based in Mountain View, California.