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I am not sure this is the best or correct place to ask this question, but I thought I would give it a shot.

I am currently deployed overseas (from the US) and prior to this I was attending a community college and taking math courses (just finished Calc I). Unfortunately, my schools requires a proctor for online courses and there is not anybody qualified at my location, which prevents me from taking courses while I am deployed.

I have been searching for accredited mathematics course online (Calc II, Discrete Mathematics and Linear Algebra) but I not found anything worthwhile. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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    $\begingroup$ Try talking to your education officer. If he doesn't know (like you are in a small detached unit), try bumping it up to any larger resources. There are a lot of online websites on this topic, but I don't know how to navigate that stuff and it would be better to get something that your service thinks is legit. $\endgroup$
    – guest
    Dec 19, 2017 at 16:12
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    $\begingroup$ FWIW, my old man took calculus in WW2. the book was called an education manual (EM314 or whatever number). And it was bound like a field manual. Pretty simple system for correspondence course. $\endgroup$
    – guest
    Dec 19, 2017 at 16:14
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    $\begingroup$ The military has a long history of correspondance courses for deployed troops. Proctored exams can be done by the education officer. The issue is more that resources (time, proctors, courses, etc.) are lower for deployed troops and small ships than they are for REMFs. Just one of those things. Then again, I would rather be on the pointy end of the spear. $\endgroup$
    – guest
    Dec 19, 2017 at 23:03
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    $\begingroup$ you may look at openuniversity.edu (from the UK), or uab.pt (from Portugal, in Portuguese...), and certainly more. But I bet they'll always need some kind of in person testing, for obvious non-fraud reasons. $\endgroup$
    – Rolazaro Azeveires
    Dec 23, 2017 at 15:26
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    $\begingroup$ Coursera.org has been experimenting with an anti-fraud system based on access to the computer camera while taking the exam (coupled with a government id), and your unique typing-pattern. They offer certificates from legitimate universities (Standford, Illinois, Ohio, etc.). You'll have to talk to your educational institution to learn what kind of transfer credit you might get for such a certificate---but sometimes it is under the purview of the math department, and they can go over the syllabus and decide it merits some transfer credit, worth getting in touch with them if possible/relevant. $\endgroup$
    – GLG
    Dec 28, 2017 at 8:16

3 Answers 3

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Ottawa University is a fully accredited university in Kansas that offers an online math degree including all of the classes that you listed. I used to teach for them and none of my classes ever required a proctored exam.

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  • $\begingroup$ I'm curious, are you allowed to insist your exams be proctored, or does your school forbid such action? It's so strange to me that this is not expected. $\endgroup$
    – James S. Cook
    Jun 25, 2018 at 15:20
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    $\begingroup$ The classes are designed entirely by the college, as is the case with most online programs. I can't make any changes to the format including something like adding a requirement for students to find a proctor for a test. $\endgroup$
    – G. Allen
    Jun 25, 2018 at 22:40
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for the response. I wish I could say I was surprised. $\endgroup$
    – James S. Cook
    Jun 26, 2018 at 5:38
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I started to answer this question by pointing you to the International Correspondence Schools, which was founded over 125 years ago in Pennsylvania to educate miners, with the aim of improving worker safety. I know about them because I have one of their math textbooks from the 1890s.

However, in researching ICS, I learned that it has expanded and split and splintered, and there are now several organizations that are ancestors of the original ICS:

  • ICS Learn offers A Levels including Maths (which doesn't appear to include linear algebra or discrete mathematics, but might include Calc II), plus career courses
  • ICS Canada offers mostly high school and career
  • Penn Foster offers high school, career, and college programs

Along the way, I learned about the Distance Education Accrediting Commission, which you can consult to find an institution that offers what you're looking for. I found six listings for the subject "mathematics" under "Search Institutions".

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Does your community college allow gaining credit by passing the final exam for a course? Or does it allow you to skip a course if you either pass the final for the course, or pass an interview about the course? (These options are often called "challenging" the course.)

If so, you could take the online course to learn the material, even if you cannot find a proctor for the exam(s). Then when you get back to your community college, "challenge" the course.

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