Modern States Education Alliance

What Modern States Education Alliance does

Modern States Education Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates a free, self-paced online learning platform aligned with the College Board's College Level Examination Program (CLEP). Founded in 2017 by New Mountain Capital founder/CEO Steve Klinsky, the organization offers a catalog of 32 online courses — one for each existing CLEP exam — spanning business and management, composition and literature, history and social sciences, science and mathematics, and world languages. Learners age 13 and older enroll directly at register.modernstates.org, complete coursework at their own pace, and upon meeting a 75% quiz average and 75% final-exam threshold receive a free CLEP exam voucher redeemable at any College Board-approved test center.

The platform is built on the D2L Brightspace learning management system with a parallel Open edX instance for legacy learners, supported by WordPress/Elementor for the public-facing site, Airtable for internal workflows, Stripe and FundraiseUp for donations, Cloudflare for edge security, and hCaptcha and Cookiebot for consent and bot management. Course content is anchored by named college and university faculty and was refreshed in 2025 with module-level syllabi (annotated video hours and reading pages) and named academic collaborators. Since launch, Modern States has served more than 800,000 users and paid for over 200,000 CLEP exams, helping learners save an estimated $59 million in tuition in 2025 alone and generating cumulative savings cited between $175 million and $300 million depending on the source and reporting period.

As a nonprofit, Modern States charges learners nothing; operating revenue is entirely philanthropic. Roughly $2.7 million in new funding was raised during 2025, anchored by Carnegie Corporation of New York ($900,000 over three years) and Mother Cabrini Health Foundation ($720,000 over two years), with additional support from Axim Collaborative, Ichigo Foundation, Achelis & Bodman Foundation, and the long-standing Klinsky Family Foundation. Distribution combines direct-to-consumer signup with university Fast Start partnerships (Norfolk State, Morgan State, Purdue), a state-agency pilot with the New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, and educator-led adoption in K-12 settings such as New Orleans Military and Maritime Academy. The organization has 1–10 disclosed employees and operates from a New York City headquarters at 1633 Broadway.

Name

Modern States Education Alliance

Legal name

Modern States Education Alliance™, Inc.

Website

https://modernstates.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Modern States Education Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates a free, self-paced library of 32 online courses aligned to College Board CLEP exams, enabling U.S. high school students, undergraduates, and adult learners to earn transferable college credit at no cost.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Foundation grants and philanthropic donations: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Modern States does not charge learners for courses or CLEP exam vouchers. Operating revenue comes primarily from foundation grants and individual donations. Named supporters in 2025 include Carnegie Corporation of New York (~$900,000 over 3 years), Mother Cabrini Health Foundation (~$720,000 over 2 years, plus a prior $600,000 grant in 2024), Axim Collaborative, Ichigo Foundation, and Achelis & Bodman Foundation. The Klinsky Family Foundation is a long-time supporter. Cumulative 2025 funding total of nearly $2.7 million was announced.
2. Individual donations (Donate / FundraiseUp): Modern States accepts individual donations through a FundraiseUp-powered donation form accessible from the homepage. This represents a smaller, recurring/one-time donor stream supplementing institutional grants.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Modern States Education Alliance operates a free, self-paced online learning platform offering 32 courses, each aligned one-to-one with an existing College Board CLEP exam. Upon course completion (75% quiz average and 75%+ on the final exam), learners receive a free CLEP exam voucher redeemable through the College Board, enabling them to convert course mastery into college credit at approximately 2,900 U.S. colleges and universities. The offering is uniformly free for learners age 13+, funded by philanthropic grants and donations.

Product overview

Modern States Education Alliance operates as a unified free online learning platform centered on its digital public library of 32 self-paced online courses (across Business and Management, Composition and Literature, History and Social Sciences, Science and Mathematics, and World Languages categories) that prepare learners for the College Board's CLEP exams. The platform's core flow connects the Modern States Learner Account (registration at register.modernstates.org) into course delivery on D2L Brightspace (with legacy Open edX support), with successful course completion unlocking the CLEP Exam Voucher Program and free CLEP exam registration through College Board. Supporting modules include the CLEP Acceptance Tool, which lets learners verify acceptance of CLEP credit at 2,900 U.S. colleges and universities, and branded initiatives such as "Freshman Year for Free" and "Fast Start" that package the core courses for high schools, individual learners, and partner universities. Detailed course pages are available for marquee offerings including College Composition, College Algebra, Spanish Language, American Government, Biology, History of the United States I, and American Literature.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Freshman Year for Free: A registered service mark/trademarked initiative of Modern States Education Alliance offering free online college-level courses aligned to CLEP exams so learners can earn college credit at no cost.

Products and services

• Modern States Online Courses (digital public library) A free, self-paced digital public library of 32 online courses taught by college professors and designed to prepare learners for the College Board's CLEP exams, for any learner age 13+ in the United States.
• College Composition Introductory-level, free, self-paced course with 6 modules, 3h 8m of video, and 666 reading pages, developing writing, grammar, revision, organization, rhetorical analysis, and source-evaluation skills; aligned to the CLEP College Composition Modular exam.
• College Algebra Self-paced, free course with 4 modules, 5h 54m of video, and 1,634 reading pages, reviewing one-semester college algebra topics including algebraic operations, equations and inequalities, algebraic/exponential/logarithmic functions, and number systems; aligned to the CLEP College Algebra exam.
• Spanish Language Self-paced, free course with 17 modules, 6h 44m of video, and 202 reading pages, building reading and listening skills needed to understand written and spoken Spanish; aligned to the CLEP Spanish Language exam combining Level 1 and Level 2 content.
• American Government Self-paced, free course with 5 modules, 4h 47m of video, and 1,541 reading pages, reviewing core material of a one-semester introductory college course on U.S. government and politics including federal institutions, civil rights, political parties, and constitutional underpinnings; aligned to the CLEP American Government exam.
• Biology Self-paced, free course with 3 modules, 3h 43m of video, and 791 reading pages, surveying one-year college biology with emphasis on molecular and cellular biology, organismal biology, and population biology including evolution and ecology; aligned to the CLEP Biology exam.
• History of the United States I: Early Colonization to 1877 Self-paced, free course with 7 modules, 2h 52m of video, and 643 reading pages, covering early European colonization through the end of Reconstruction and emphasizing political, social, cultural, economic, and diplomatic developments; aligned to the CLEP History of the United States I exam.
• American Literature Self-paced, free course with 8 modules, 7h 23m of video, and 165 reading pages, surveying prose and poetry written in the United States from colonial times to the present and developing the ability to interpret poetry, fiction, and nonfiction prose; aligned to the CLEP American Literature exam.
• CLEP Acceptance Tool Interactive tool allowing learners to verify whether a specific U.S. college or university accepts CLEP credit, indexed across approximately 2,900 institutions, helping prospective learners evaluate the credit-bearing outcome before enrolling in a Modern States course.
• CLEP Exam Voucher Program Program that issues learners a free CLEP exam voucher covering the cost of the corresponding CLEP exam after they pass quizzes (75% average) and the final exam (75% threshold) in a Modern States course; vouchers are unique, valid for one-time use, and redeemed via the College Board.
• Modern States Learner Account Free learner account and registration system providing access to course enrollment, CLEP exam voucher requests, and progress tracking; available to anyone age 13 or older and supporting both individual learners and group learning experiences.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 800,000 users served since 2017 launch
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core, major and minor.

• D2L (Brightspace)flagshipTechnology or Integration · 23 April 2025Modern States delivers its courses on the D2L Brightspace learning management system (learn.modernstates.org) and was a 2025 D2L Excellence Award winner. D2L also publishes a dedicated Brightspace Pulse mobile app (iOS App Store and Google Play) linked from the Modern States site.
• Norfolk State UniversitycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 24 March 2022Modern States launched its Fast Start program with Norfolk State University on March 24, 2022, designed to help high school students in Virginia and current NSU students earn up to a year of college credit at no cost.
• Morgan State UniversitycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 24 June 2021On June 24, 2021, Modern States and Morgan State University announced a partnership to help Maryland high school students earn up to a year of college credit at no cost; Modern States and Morgan work together to facilitate the university's enrollment of high-school students.
• New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 April 2021On April 7, 2021, the New Jersey OSHE and Modern States announced a pilot partnership to provide students across New Jersey the opportunity to earn free college credit for demonstrating college-level mastery. Aligned with the NJ State Plan for Higher Education.
• edXflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 January 2015On January 15, 2015, Modern States and edX jointly announced plans to fund development of more than 20 free online courses over the next year as the foundation of the 'Freshman Year for Free' initiative. edX course-enrollment hyperlinks remain accessible through Modern States' platform, and learners may log in via the Open edX instance (courses.modernstates.org).
• College BoardflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerModern States' entire model depends on the College Board's CLEP (College Level Examination Program). The College Board administers CLEP exams at approved testing centers and supplies score reports to Modern States; Modern States covers the CLEP exam fee for learners who complete Modern States courses via single-use vouchers. The College Board also operates the CLEP High School Achievement Award program (e.g., awarded to NOMMA).
• Purdue UniversitymajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPurdue is referenced as a key alliance in Modern States' press materials accompanying the 400,000-learner milestone (April 2023); the partnership supports university-side integration of Modern States coursework.
• JPMorganChase (Code for Good Hackathon)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerTwenty-five teams of college students participated in JPMorganChase's Code for Good Hackathon in Columbus, Ohio, building solutions for Modern States as part of the firm's Tech for Social Good program.
• New Mountain CapitalmajorOthersModern States founder and CEO Steve Klinsky is also the founder and CEO of New Mountain Capital, a growth-oriented private equity firm with more than $55–60 billion of capital commitments since inception. Whitney Macdonald previously served as an executive assistant at New Mountain Capital before joining Modern States at launch in 2017.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sophia Learning: Sophia Learning offers self-paced, low-cost general education courses with ACE Credit recommendations accepted at hundreds of colleges. It is a direct peer in affordable, self-paced college-credit alternatives, though it operates on a subscription model rather than the freemium CLEP-voucher model.
• Study.com: Study.com offers online courses that prepare learners for CLEP and other credit-by-exam programs, with ACE Credit-recommended courses accepted at many colleges. It is a direct peer in the exam-prep and credit-by-exam space, though it operates on a paid subscription model while Modern States is fully free.
• StraighterLine: StraighterLine offers low-cost online college courses whose credits are accepted at hundreds of accredited institutions, providing an alternative path to affordable college credit. It is a direct peer in affordable college-credit pathways, though it charges tuition while Modern States is fully free.

Others

• OpenStax (Rice University): OpenStax provides free, peer-reviewed digital textbooks widely used in higher education, including by Modern States learners. It is an enabling peer in the free college-content ecosystem rather than a direct competitor in exam-prep services.
• College Board (CLEP Program): College Board administers the CLEP exams that Modern States prepares students for and is Modern States' core partner/infrastructure dependency. While not a direct competitor, the relationship is symbiotic: Modern States drives exam-taker volume for College Board while College Board issues the credit.

Emerging players

• Outlier.org: Outlier.org offers low-cost ($199) college courses for credit from accredited universities, with an asynchronous, student-friendly format. It is comparable as a low-cost online college-credit pathway, though it charges per course and partners with specific accredited institutions rather than preparing for CLEP exams.
• Western Governors University (WGU): WGU is a competency-based, low-tuition online university that targets working adults and non-traditional learners seeking affordable degrees. It is comparable as a low-cost alternative to traditional higher education for adult and re-engaging learners, though it offers full degrees rather than individual course credit-by-exam.

Broad incumbents

• Coursera: Coursera partners with universities to offer free and low-cost college-level courses, and has expanded into free credit-eligible courses for community colleges. It is comparable to Modern States in delivering accessible online college-level instruction, though it focuses on degree programs and certificates rather than CLEP exam alignment.
• Khan Academy: Khan Academy offers free online learning across K-12 and early college subjects, including official SAT prep. It overlaps with Modern States in providing free, self-paced college-prep coursework for cost-conscious learners, though it does not pair courses with paid exam vouchers or focus specifically on credit-by-exam alignment.
• edX: edX is a major MOOC platform offering free audit access to college-level courses from top universities and has a strategic partnership with Modern States dating back to the 2015 Freshman Year for Free announcement. It is comparable as a free college-level course provider, though it does not bundle free exam vouchers or align its catalog 1:1 with CLEP.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/modernstatesed
• Facebookfacebook.com/learn.modernstates
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/modern-states-education-alliance

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Modern States Education Alliance