College Saver: helping millions earn their college degree

A multi-platform redesign to improve course completion

Study.com is an online education platform. Its flagship product, College Saver, lets adult learners earn college credit through self-paced online courses that transfer to degree programs at 2,000+ partner universities. Member growth was declining, and the data pointed to a core problem: roughly half of enrolled learners were dropping off before completing a single course.

I led a multi-platform redesign — responsive web alongside new native iOS and Android apps — focused on improving course completion.

Understanding why learners were dropping off

Through user research, internal product audits, and concept and usability testing, I identified the breakdowns causing learners to abandon their courses. College Saver users are cost-conscious adults juggling work and family. They need a clear path through the course content and motivational support to stay on it — and the legacy experience offered neither.

Three principles, grounded in UX heuristics and learning science

Each principle addresses a specific breakdown in the legacy experience and anchored every design decision:

• Clarity: eliminate ambiguity about what a course requires and how to get started.
• Guidance: keep learners moving through the course efficiently, without removing user choice.
• Motivation: surface progress and relevance so learners stay engaged.

Stronger persistence through course milestones

After 8 weeks in beta, the new experience improved learner persistence at every milestone of the course — bringing more users to the finish.