Resource Description
Liberty University Online Academy (LUOA) offers courses for online classes for K-12 students, including Dual Enrollment for high school students. Courses are taught with a Christian perspective and an emphasis on individualized learning. Class instruction is administered in an online format. Lessons are interactive and designed to stimulate student interest, engage students in the learning process and maintain their focus. Although coursework promotes self-instruction, parental guidance is essential. Daily parental review of student progress is highly encouraged.
Website: Liberty University Online Academy
(51 Reviews)
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Contributor Reviews
Reviews are solely the opinions of the contributor.
Cons: Impersonal, punitive, pressurized, greedy
Grades Used: 9th and 10th
LUOA is the biggest mistake we ever made. We're too far in now to drop it without losing all our money, but it is an absolute nightmare. It is completely impersonal, as other reviewers have noted. I spent HOURS online repeating myself to various staff because no one had a clue what had happened before. We decided to take our kids out of a demanding classical school this year and homeschool because of travel. My 10th grade daughter went from being a summa cum laude straight A student to barely passing her classes! The courses are weighted to favor quizzes and tests, which relentlessly penalize every false answer and focus on the details rather than the large picture, almost as if they were trying to trip kids up and make sure they don't succeed. Some of the teachers are kind and responsive. Some are punitive, unclear, and unqualified to teach. And let me talk about the pace. Since starting 3 months ago, my daughter has never caught up with her course work. There are no weekends or breaks (that we have seen yet). It is relentless, and if you fall behind, God help you. There is no one who cares or understands your story. I am currently a Masters student in Liberty, and I have enjoyed the courses, but the graduate school must be run by different people because the academy is more like a punishment than a school. My daughter HATES it and has begun to hate Learning because she feels that she can never "win." I hate it too. It is impersonal, relentless, confusing, punitive, and greedy. This is not what a Christian School should be. RUN.
Cons: Requesting refunds
Grades Used: 4 & 5
Withdrawing from classes due to circumstances out of my control and requested a refund. The policy states 3-5 business days for refund to be issues however that is not true. I received email back from Liberty about the refund on August 24, 2023 and calling again today September 15, 2023 inquiring on this refund that was processed within 3-5 days but we still have NOT received our refund. When calling the operator states “ Once we process the refund this is sent to our refund team to release the funds”. Ok I understand that BUT what is the hold up? The policy is misleading and incorrect stating “3-5 business days to process” so maybe the policy needs to be updated stating “When you are due a refund amount it is returned at our discretion, the 3-5 business days is only to process the refund request that is then sent to a refund team who will process the refund balance at their discretion”
Cons: not helpful
Grades Used: A-F
Unfortunately I am unable to review instructors, etc as this university wasn't able to evaluate transcripts and get my son enrolled in the past two months so we are choosing another school. I would love to save another parent time and frustration which is why I am reviewing this school. It was beyond frustrating waiting on hold for hours art a time trying to accomplish this. I am not sure if they just don't have enough employees in admissions or what the problem is. They were very friendly but just could never help us.
Cons: communication
Grades Used: 9-12
LUOA promises a lot and delivers very little. We were told we could graduate our children with 2 years of college complete! That was a complete joke! Everyone I talk to gives us different answers and it is incredibly difficult to get ahold of anyone. We will not be doing this for our other children! It was extremely frustrating from the beginning and only gets worse every year!
Cons: It is not for every family.
Grades Used: K-6th...and going strong
LUOA as been amazing for our family. We have using LUOA since our oldest was in Kindergarten and she is now doing 6th grade. There is DEFINITELY a learning curve on how to manage it for your family. We do 4 day school weeks and they are usually only 4 hours long. Depending on the focus that day and other activities, it is as little a 2 hours.
You definitely need a fairly quick internet speed, a printer, a camera or scanner to function, and parent involvement. Even if your child was in a classroom with a teacher there is still teacher involvement. I do not know how many student LUOA teachers manage, however it is not one on one or even one on ten. How much parent involvement your child needs depends on the needs of your child.
I look ahead on the parent observation side to find out project needs, however each module's introduction does show what you need for science projects. We purchase things as needed. The required reading for the year is easy to find and we order the books at the beginning of each school year. I also purchase academic planners for each of them to write out the assignments and quizzes/tests. I find this to be easier than going back and forth through all the subjects and keeping it all straight. This allows for planning of working ahead when we are going to be out of town.
The learning curve on how to make the curriculum work for us has taken a few years, but we have it now. Both of our children and the family, as a whole, is thriving with LUOA.
Cons: sometimes simple errors in lessons but nothing that was hindering
Grades Used: K5
We have LOVED LUOA for our kindergartener this year. He is testing at a 2nd grade reading level, has learned so much about the Bible and his favorite subject is Math. He can do simple addition and counts money like a pro! I'm pleased with the curriculum and we love the flexibility of completing the work around our daily schedules. We had the best teacher who was so kind and thoughtful leaving personalized messages at time when necessary. We plan to continue forward with LUOA with his younger brother as well.
Cons: See above
Liberty University Online School is a nightmare. They are hands off and you can't speak to anyone in charge. You can only fill out forms if you have a question, concern or need. Otherwise, they have a hotline of random people answering their "helpline" and they are simply call center people who many times work from home and are under qualified to answer questions. Additionally, while they claim to support children on 504 programs, that too is only lip service, they are completely tone deaf. If your child gets sick, they dock you up to 20% of your grade because of it! If you want it adjusted you again, have to fill out a form and it goes through there "admin" department for these strangers to make a decision without ever talking to a parent or the student. You get your verdict via email. If you are not happy with their verdict you can "appeal". MORE PAPERWORK to pull you from your studies! In the three years my son has been online, it went from full contact to speak with the leaders and administration at school, to 100% hands off. You can't speak to anyone of authority. RUN. This school is only about the money and are hypocrites with their Christian values.
Cons: financial check in system is archaic and un-user friendly, authenticator only works half the time.
Grades Used: 7-12
The school and the educational aspects of it are incredible. We have been using LUOA for a couple years and love the teachers, love the curriculum, love the spirit, love the spiritual focus. But if there is anything that eventually drive us away it is the ridiculous IT systems they use. It is difficult to log in and the required financial check in rarely works. About 75% of the time I am trying to update something I have to call in for help and they rarely can help without sending my issue to the next level, which means no help when I need it. They will get back to me later. This is perhaps the most user unfriendly system I ever dealt with. For an educational organization claiming to be pursuing excellence for the glory of God they have failed miserably in this area. Their financial system is embarrassing. Recently they "upgraded" the financial check in system so it looks different but the clumsiness and lack of user friendliness has not changed. I cannot in full conscience recommend them because of this reason.
Cons: Horrible
Grades Used: 2, 10
RUN! This school is definitely not good for your children. My daughter was a straight-A student and she was given an F in English. They were not willing to appeal the grade. My son did not receive additional time to finish his history or geometry work. He was given an F in both subjects. I requested to extend the course for additional time which is a $50 charge and was told the fee will be waived. My son tried to finish the course and they close course. He was able to finish the course. I called and was told there will be no additional time to finish the course. I pleaded with them and ask to speak to the supervisor, but I was told no one was available. I decided to put my kids back into public school when I request the transcripts, I was told that I had a financial hold of $150 dollars. I was shocked. I called the school and was told to file a student complaint form because no one was available to help me. They told me that had no record of showing that I was told that the course extension was waived. i told them that the kids cannot go to school unless they have the transcripts but they did not care. I was so upset and screaming because it was such a bad decision to put my kids in this school. There is no support and you cannot speak to anyone. I can honestly say that these people do not care at AL. The worst Christian school I have ever experienced.
Cons: Lesson moving too quickly, No phone support, no support to help the student when not convenient for LUOA, teachers don’t respond back quickly enough, extension not monitored by all teachers to keep up with progress
Grades Used: 10th
My child attended LUOA K-12 in High school. Let me say first of all homeschooling is the way to go, but LUOA has a few areas that need revamping. My child is not a 4.0 student but he has heart and the dignity to keep pushing to finish a subject. We left public schools because of the student need extra attention on a subject the teacher didn’t want to give that time. We thought LUOA would be different. It turns out the teachers (not all - just the ones that decide if you fail) we’re slow to respond. For example, when a particular paper was due the grade was given then the paper was rejected 7 months later at the end of the year a day before the close of the actual year for my kid. A research paper.
Now my complaint is clear LUOA is not any different from Public school. If you are looking for an understanding institution that can help your struggling student to succeed- this is not the homeschool you want to choose. If your kid is a 4.0 self starter - go for it. My child needed teachers that would help with the curriculum, but I felt like these teachers were too busy to teach.
Another point is there is no point of contact. You can not call anyone on the phone except an advisor. But don’t be fooled this advisor is basically a switch board that can look at your grades and say fill out this form or read the calendar to help you stay on track. That is it. EMAIL is the only form of communication if you have a problem. If your kid has a problem with the subject/ concepts call Slyvan learning center, because when we called the teacher hotline we were put on hold.
The last issue we had was how fast the concepts were taught. My kid is smart, but he would fall behind due to how fast each assignment had to worked on and then move on to the next subject. It was hard for him to retain when he didn’t even have enough time to digest the previous lesson.
I understand that LUOA has a timetable and needs to ensure they are keeping the business running smoothly, but when it comes to homeschooling it’s supposed to be about the kids and their pace at learning. One last thing - when we we got our extension the Director of academics was convinced my kid couldn’t possibly finish the assignments, but rather than letting me make that decision it was made for me. So really this isn’t homeschooling just another institution for online school. I hope your experience is better. We love the fact that discipleship and learning about God is in every subject, but when the kid needed more support LUOA did not support the student when he most needed the support.
Cons: Nothing notable
Grades Used: A
We had our daughter at LUOA for both 4th and 5th grade. She is self motivated and does well in school but covid opened our eyes to how much time is wasted at even the Good Private School she was attending previous to Covid.
We have no complaints being able to work ahead to allow for school free week long trips was an excellent pro... she started late July we took all the breaks plus 3 weeks of family visiting trips... and she was still done on April 2nd.
Some of the teachers over the 2 years were better then others... responding quickly with assistance... some went well above and beyond. Over all we were pleased with what she got out of the time spent.
Now entering the 7th grade we haven't quite decided if we are returning to standard education or if we will be returning to LUOA. Her father and I hope she will decide to stay with LUOA so we can continue our regular traveling as well as keeping her protected from some of the garbage public schools seem to have running a muck. But she has a ot of friends from the sports she participates in and feels like she's missing the social aspect.
Cons: All listed in the thread.
Grades Used: F
I am a recent graduate of LUOA. I attended public and private schools before starting my homeschool journey. I was only homeschooled my senior year and that was with LUOA.
In the beginning, everything was wonderful. I was learning a lot of my grades were excellent. LUOA provided every student with their own advisor. My advisor was very nice and responded swiftly to my emails. I very much appreciated her efforts during the college application process.
It all went downhill when LUOA trashed the idea of students having their own advisors. Instead, they consumed every advisor into the "LUOA current students advising team". No one knew what they were talking about. No one communicated well, not with the other advisors nor the students. I had to communicate with an advisor and I never knew who I was speaking with! It was insane because every other email I would get would be totally different and never pertained to my original message.
LUOA teachers do the bare minimum of what they need to do. I have had to self-teach myself through classes because the teachers would rarely reach out to help their students with tricky subjects. I was even given a very low grade for a video presentation because I have a stutter when I speak. That is clearly some kind of discrimination, coming from a Christian school. I pray and hope to Jesus above that this school will eventually become Christ-like.
The advising team does not know how to help seniors with the college application process and it is VERY disappointing. It is supposed to be an easy process to just simply ask for transcripts to be sent, but it is even very difficult for them to do that. They do not proofread transcripts for errors before they are sent not thoroughly read emails. It took LUOA 2+ weeks for my final transcript to be sent to the college I am attending because they made so many errors. It was very embarrassing to have received a phone call from my new university because LUOA made many errors on my transcript. Worst of all, they forgot to add me to the graduation list. I finished my classes around the beginning of May and did not receive notice until the first week of June that my diploma would not arrive for another 6-8 weeks. It's supposed to be 4-5. How hard could it truly be to send a high school diploma?
They never want to admit their faults. I NEVER received an apology from an advisor or staff member for the issues they have caused me and my family. It is pitiful.
Please choose any other homeschool Christian institution and please be praying for some sort of revival in the Liberty University Online Academy staff and team.
Cons: Other students put test results on line. That’s true with traditional school as well.
Grades Used: 9-12
Great school and curriculum for motivated students. Our sons completed their high school grades 9-12. They started their day at 7am and we’re finished by 1pm. They worked full time and earned money to pay for college. They were able to call and talked to their professors if they had any questions
Cons: Unrealistic expectations. Better off doing your own curriculum or public schools
Grades Used: 9-11
Teachers are as unrealistic as public schools. Wants my 16 year old son to do a sermon outline. How will this help him when he doesn't feel called to be a pastor?
Cons: More trivia, less Learning, more Quantity, less Quality
Grades Used: 12th
I know this is a longer review, but please hear me out. I would really hate for other fellow homeschoolers to make the same mistake.
As a senior in high school and a 10+ year homeschool veteran I would NOT recommend LUOA at all to younger homeschool families. The program seems designed to speed students through coursework and information and make the dual enrollment courses with LU online accessible. To me, LUOA isn't learning, its just an easy streamline into Liberty University. If that's what you want, then this may actually work well for your family. And I do mean that most sincerely!!
BUT If you and your school-aged child are passionate about learning I would AVOID!! Here's why:
I notice that kids learn by doing and experiencing things; I can't imagine anyone younger than 13 or 14 surviving in LUOA's learning environment. Unless the student takes initiative to reach out with a specific question, there is no teacher-student engagement. I usually get very brief, by-the-book "enjoy your week" answers. The teachers seem like really nice people, but I am not enjoying going over questions from the book, taking tests and then moving on. The awful part? Its not the teachers' fault; they are getting paid to facilitate classes that aren't really teaching. It's wide, not deep. As a student, I don't just want to know "what" I want to know "why". I don't have time for that anymore because I have so much coursework to get through just to stay on their schedule.
I really wish I had not chosen quantity over quality. As a senior in high school, I'm kind of stuck. I have no choice but to finish strong.
Cons: The writers of the curriculum leave horrendous errors. Poor English and writing skills. Children learn by example.
Grades Used: 2-5
LUOA is definitely better than public education, but there are stronger Christian-based and educationally sound programs out there that aren't as expensive.
My son and I enjoyed the flexibility of school days and hours, but that is typical of many non-public homeschool programs. The internet-led style, as opposed to books, was handy--assuming you had fast internet speed--but the lack of personal and visual interaction with a teacher each year was discouraging to my child. (At the age of 12 now, he doesn't remember any of the three teachers.) There is an I.T. department, but no one is readily available to help, which is exactly when we need it. The teachers who graduated from LUOA were accommodating to parental requests, but retired public school teachers working for the Academy were not. Even when I proved them wrong on a grading decision, most refused to adjust the grade appropriately.
My greatest concern was the curriculum itself. The grammatical errors dispersed throughout were mind-blowing, even though, to my knowledge, teachers, subject matter experts, and department heads write the curriculum. Sometimes, within the same chapter, course material was written in both first and third person. At other times, prose in the same sections did not match. Some riders had a tendency to ramble on and on; others left out important and basic content. Worst of all, simple spelling and punctuation errors were abundant. I would expect this from public education; it upset me greatly that I was making the equivalent of a car payment monthly for it.
And, yes, LUOA homeschooling is a full-time job for the parent who monitors, co-teaches, and supplements the curriculum. It is required for the student (s) to have the quality education for which the family pays.
Since leaving LUOA, our family is happily using the Bob Jones University program.
Cons: Curriculum, advisor, Teachers, To many
Grades Used: 2 & 5
This is a homeschoolers nightmare!
Do not consider this as an option for your children. I chose LUOA as I needed to homeschool due to COVID it has been an absolute nightmare! I am a teacher and felt that this was a good fit for our family and I was wrong about it all.
To start if you want YOUTUBE to educate your children and don’t mind having to be the police of all internet links they are directed to then go ahead chance it.
I have been in contact with this school asking for help when my 5th grader struggled to catch up after falling behind. The teacher couldn’t accommodate our child’s needs. The content has so many flaws and isn’t a one size fits all. There is no flexibility of assignments or personalizing. To top it all off if your child gets behind and doesn’t complete every single assignment they will not issue them a final grade. It’s all or nothing! Even though they worked hard on getting their assignments done they get a F -failed to complete. Wow nice job at your wording and really making children feel great about ALL they DID do the entire school year.
If your student fails to catch up by the deadline you end up having to pay $50 per class for every month you have to extend.
What ever you do look elsewhere. Complete waste of time and money.
Let me emphasize TIME you won’t have any. Your weekdays (8-10 hrs/day) and weekends. Just to stay on track with the amount of projects and work load.
RUN away from this even if it’s your only option!
Cons: A LOT of printing worksheets that you can't access in advance. Also a lot of extra materials needed for science that you don't know about until the day of.
Grades Used: 3, 2
I have 2 children enrolled in LUOA and 1 child enrolled in a different online private school (also accredited however not christian based). Honestly, this is the best affordable online school option I've found for my younger kids. It's very reading intensive, often times confusing. The lesson materials seem to be used every year, so it can get confusing when the teacher doesn't even know the answer to something you might need clarification on. A LOT of printing which we weren't prepared for. That's probably the most annoying part. The science materials are also pretty irritating. Often we windbreaker know we needed something for a project and it would put my kids behind.
If there were a master list of materials needed for science provided and far less printing it would be close to perfect. I wish there were more lessons done in video format, especially for the younger ones who aren't ready for that amount of reading.
It relies heavily on the parent to teach and is more of a curriculum guide with assignments to turn in grades by the actual teacher. If you're a parent who doesn't have the time to be the full time teacher this probably isn't the program for you. If traditional homeschooling is what you're going for with the added benefit of it being a "christian private school" with an accreditation than it'll be perfect.
Cons: processing
Grades Used: 0-100
I am most upset about the payment process. She has been enrolled all year with no late payments. They come directly out of my account. I had some fraudulent charges on my card and the bank had to send me a new card. The next thing I know I get an email saying that, I cant access my Childs courses due to a payment issue. No warning calls. They say they sent an email but I cannot find it anywhere. Now I have paid and I'm still locked out of her account! I cant get in touch with someone until the next day and he says that he has unlocked it but I might sill be locked out up to 24 hours?!?! they didn't mind making calls or emails when I was contemplating enrolling her! The Classes are fine, there really isn't much interaction with the teacher. just be prepared to teach your kids the curriculum but that's homeschooling for you. Oh and did I mention you get charged $35 extra for processing if your payment is late. I think I deserved a few calls before her account got locked sense I'm being charged for them!
Cons: Lack of parent teacher conferences, lack of interaction,
Grades Used: 8th
My 14 yr son is a current student in 8th grade. As we live in a rural area, his middle school was equipped to transition to online format when COVID-19 hit. As a result, I signed him with LUOA as it was an accredited online private Christian school.
The Bible class has been very good, but there are some things about LUOA that could use improvement. I'm also including any comments I feel are relevant.
1. Nobody takes you through the site. The orientation course is a waste of time for someone who has basic computer skills which most teenagers do these days. I'm talking about walking through the calendar to establish a good daily routine. We figured it out on our own.
2. They expect you read through everything and there's a lot to read. Provide important/reference material. However, teachers/staff should be highlighting need-to-know information. This is lacking at LUOA.
3. Videos, quizzes and reading and tests. No interactivity with teachers. Unless you pay extra for classes over Zoom, it's completely non-interactive.
4. There's no homework per se. It's reading and quizzes. Quizzes count toward your grade.
5. Many items to purchase for Science labs. Careful as they don't tell you this in advance. Instead of the science teacher communicating the required items list up front, they put it into the back section of the syllabus and don't direct you at the beginning of the class. There's so much to read about policies and student handbook. When you first start reading the syllabus, it's more of the same, but you find it at the back.
6. Teachers are available via email. Other than that there's no check-in. My son has never spoken to any of his teachers.
7. If your son/daughter is awaiting materials for a project, they cannot proceed to the next task/assignment and then come back and complete the project. Only when you have completed the assignment, can you move on to the next.
8. Make sure you don't start mid semester. It's a nightmare trying to complete a full semester in half that time. Although the quizzes weren't required, the reading is as it will be on the end of semester test.
Communication in certain areas could be better.
Overall, I give LUOA a C. They're ok.
I have read many of the negative comments on this threat and it was mind-blowing. I signed my nephew up with LUOA and he has learned more in 3 weeks than in 3 months in public school. The content is very advanced and challenging. We were actually concerned with the reading. This was the one subject he has struggled in. However, the teacher and adviser have worked with him and he is picking up more and more each day. They also have an observer site whereas a parent, you can print all worksheets and any materials that will be needed for the entire year. We have several friends that have signed their children up and they also agree that is is very advanced and well put together. Praise God for programs like this.
Cons: We had to increase internet speed with all the activity
Grades Used: 1st, 2nd, 8th
I prayed asking GOD for guidance on what to do concerning our children's education due to COVID-19. One thing was for sure, I was NOT comfortable with sending them to school during this pandemic. My husband and I both work in the Healthcare industry and we both have full time jobs. When we began our search I made a list of schools, called and got the info. The Holy Spirit lead us to Liberty and we do not at all regret it. We are army veterans so our home runs off of organization, and that's how we help our children as well. I believe with anything you have to make it your own and work for you. And this was definitely something new for us, but with prayer, patience and GOD'S guidance I believe this can work for any family! We are able to help our children and still work.. I appreciate Liberty because first off all of the resources that the students need are on the modules page for each course. Second, the teachers ARE there and willing to help. Parents if you are not checking your children's emails and responding to the teachers how can you develop rapor with them (to those parents complaining about the teachers) also all of our children's teachers let us know how they can be reached and that it may take 24 hours or more to get a response back. Either way our advisors are always available and willing to assist with all we need. Liberty's curriculum, I think is very good. Our children are actually learning and retaining the information they learn. Our son is 7 and in 2nd grade and he was diagnosed epilepsy since he was 2 yrs old. I love how the course work is not too strenuous on his brain, but challenging enough to make him think. All of them are able to finish their assignments for the day and rest, swim etc or start on lessons for the next day.The interactive videos, games and books are amazing. The only issues we've had was IT related and that was due to our internet being a bit slow (Not used to all this activity) Easy fix: Increase internet speed and got a hot spot and now all assignments can be done and submitted with ease. I LOVE IT! We're pleased with our decision in choosing Liberty.
Cons: N/A
Grades Used: 7,8
LUOA has been a blessing for our family. My daughter had to be taken out of public school because they were not having her do work. They did nothing to try and help her learn. I am not saying that the teachers were incapable or anything, but the particular school we were at did not have a good reputation with children who had specific needs. We found a school before Liberty, and then we found Liberty. This has been the best school to go to. My daughter went from hating school and feeling like a failure to doing her own work, consistently getting A's and B's. She now feels like she can accomplish her schooling which is absolutely incredible. Liberty has helped that so much. The teachers are caring and very supportive. They have been a great support system.
Cons: Everything
Grades Used: 7-10
I WOULD NOT recommend LUOA.
First of the many things wrong with LUOA, are some of the teachers, they CLEARLY do not care for sure, not supportive, not caring, and they are not timely with their responses. If you message them with something that is clearly not right, such as answers to questions hat are right yet marked wrong, a question that can not be seen, or really any sort of message it takes them much too long to respond. There is absolutely no excuses for their lax attitudes. Some of the teacher in particular have terrible attitudes and if they’re going to act like that should not be teachers. Here is something about the advisors they have. The “advisors” at LUOA are not helpful at all. When we have called the do nothing. Very not helpful. I won’t name names but they are some specific ones that are not good at all. For example, some of the math teachers are terrible. When my child asked one of the math teachers for help on how to do some of the assignments they just gave the statement of how that computer already told it was wrong when he got it wrong! They did not help at all. He clearly did not know what he was doing! Some teachers give very bad grades when that is not deserved. That is another one that I would not give a good report on. To give a gist of this is I would recommend LUOA to all people thinking of choosing LUOA, keep on looking!
Cons: many
Grades Used: 3rd-9th
We tried LUOA and we were not impressed. We called and left message after message with advisors and received no return call. We left messages through email for advisors. An advisor finally acknowledged the message after several days, but did not help with the question I had. Advisors were not helpful at all by telephone or through messaging. It appears that two of the teachers did not read any of the messages that were sent to them. Not all, but some of the teachers did not seem to care at all. Some of the curriculum that is tested on is not covered until after the test occurs.