The Most Affordable Student Learning & Licensure Tools
Students depend on more than textbooks and lectures to succeed. To excel in their studies, they rely on learning & licensure tools — digital platforms and software designed to support their educational journey and prepare them for professional certification or licensing exams.
Learning tools help students absorb, organize, and retain information through features like flashcards, practice puzzles, interactive lessons, and personalized feedback. Licensure tools assist them in meeting industry-specific certification or credentialing requirements.
These learning management systems are affordable when you choose the right one. Here’s a list of student learning & licensure tools that will assist without draining your pocket.
1. Watermark
Watermark is cloud-based software designed to assist higher education institutions in managing assessments, accreditations, curriculum, course evaluations, and faculty activities. By automating tedious tasks and simplifying data collection, Watermark’s software provides staff with more time to focus on their students.
Over 18 million students are enrolled in higher education institutions, and these figures are projected to remain consistent over the next few years. Watermark meets institutions’ needs by offering a 360-degree view of student learning. The company uses ePortfolios to showcase the whole learning journey and provides authentic assessments.
Watermark’s Educational Impact Suite is considered a one-stop shop for all student and institutional success. The Watermark Student Learning & Licensure guides students through program requirements and assesses learning from the classroom to the field. The software assesses coursework, tracks progress toward licensure, and runs juried assessment projects for a more comprehensive and faster insight into the outcomes.
You can also strengthen your assessment planning and reporting with indirect measures from course evaluations to facilitate continuous improvement.
Key features:
Features offered |
Feedback: Assessments with rubrics measure progress on learning outcomes. |
One platform: LMS and Turnitin integrations allow you to access your grades and submit assignments. |
|
Progress monitoring: Track student progress to manage program and licensure requirements. |
|
Support system: Expert support helps you understand the system and set up the needed methodologies to meet your goals. |
Pricing
Watermark offers three subscription packages that include service credits. These credits allow higher education institutions to consult with product experts to fully utilize specific features. Packages are designed to help institutions reach their goals while staying competitive.
2. UWorld
UWorld is a leader in online learning tools. It offers high-quality practice questions and detailed explanations, which makes it a preferred choice for students preparing for exams like the NCLEX, USMLE, CPA, and more. Dr. Chandra Pemmasani founded UWorld after realizing the need for affordable study tools.
The company simplifies complex concepts using illustrations and precise videos so students can practice exam-like questions and prepare for what to expect and how to succeed. These tools help students prepare for exams, including graduate and high schools, legal, medical, nursing, and pharmacy.
UWorld focuses on six core values:
- Student-focused: It delivers products and services to help students succeed.
- Innovation: It aims to serve students and drive growth by adding new tasks.
- Simplicity: It simplifies complexities so administrators and students understand.
- Collaboration: It works with higher education institutions to benefit students.
- Intellectual honesty: It accepts feedback from clients because it’s a working relationship.
- Results-driven: It prioritizes clients and students while reaching goals.
Key features:
Features offered |
Q&As: QBank questions and answer explanations provide an immersive learning environment. |
Live scenarios: Questions based on real-life clinical scenarios are linked to in-depth, visual answer explanations. |
|
Creative studying: ReadyDeck flashcards make learning fun and interactive. |
|
Personalization: Customized study experiences allow for individual progress and success. |
Pricing
Flexible pricing options are available to meet your needs and include review courses, self-assessments and renewals. All subscriptions go into effect on the day of activation, not purchase. You can also upgrade or downgrade your subscription before activating it.
3. Quizlet
Andrew Sutherland developed a study tool to help him pass a French test. He succeeded and shared it with his friends, who also saw positive results. Now, Quizlet assists over 60 million students in achieving their goals.
Quizlet earned a Research-Based Design product certification from Digital Promise, making it a reliable choice for administrators and families looking for research-based educational technology products. The system offers different learning formats to make education fun and interactive. Quizlet also offers Q-Chat — an AI tutor that helps you understand and make sense of your study materials. It provides guidance for languages and coaching on starting points in your journey.
Key features:
Features offered |
Flashcards: You can make your own or access online flashcards. Students can share them with friends, facilitating collaborative learning. |
Test mode: Choose a question format from multiple-choice, true-false, and so on. Test yourself and get graded on your responses. Test mode is available on Quizlet Plus. |
|
Study guides: Your notes are transformed into study guides, flashcards, quizzes, outlines, and other study materials. |
|
Increased interaction: This program offers engagement for teachers and students in the classroom through team, individual, and classroom review games. Students learn vocabulary and concepts they learned in class through a fun, engaging and competitive quiz. |
Pricing
Quizlet Plus bills you monthly or annually. You get a free seven-day trial each year. Quizlet Plus offers 100% ad-free studying, step-by-step textbook solutions, and access to millions of flashcards, study games, and activities.
4. Kaplan
Kaplan is a global educational services company that offers various test preparation resources to educational institutions. It covers exams such as the SAT, LSAT, MCAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, USMLE, NCLEX, and Bar. Kaplan aims to help students raise their test scores by providing realistic practice tests with thousands of questions to prepare them for any kind they may encounter.
Kaplan offers free practice tests when you sign up for its programs. Some of these tests include exam-like practice questions, performance reports broken down into sections for feedback, and detailed areas of opportunity. Kaplan offers resources and videos to encourage self-paced and additional classroom learning. The provider also helps higher educational institutions achieve their goals by expanding access and improving student outcomes.
Key features:
Features offered: |
Progress: Students can stay on track with personalized and customizable study plans that track their performance and provide progress reports. |
Start to finish: Students experience the end-to-end prep method, where they receive the most comprehensive course options. This includes exam questions, explanations, strategies, and the study content needed to reach their scores. |
|
Improve: Students can identify areas for improvement to enhance their scores. |
|
Expert advice: Industry experts are available to help students reach their goals and showcase their knowledge. |
Pricing
Kaplan offers various packages. Live Online MCAT and Live Online LSAT are among its bestsellers. You can also sign up for the self-paced FNP Review Course or the Unlimited Prep option.
5. EducateMe
EducateMe was founded by a student who dropped out of university due to its complexities. He then started the Learning Management System (LMS) tool to help fellow students succeed in higher education institutions and their careers. It offers a white-labeled platform that allows educators to launch branded courses efficiently. It encourages them to invest in the quality attention their students need.
The platform uses a white-labeled system to help educators make learning easier. You can do this by creating content that resonates with your learners and uploading it to the platform where they can easily access it during their free time. The EducateMe platform allows administrators to create interactive assessments and quizzes, promote live or recorded videos, and monitor student progress.
Key features:
Features offered |
AI: Use an AI coach to role-play situations. The coach is available 24 hours, seven days a week, to help you and your team understand how to handle real-life situations. |
Build your course: Build your courses in four steps — choose your content format, use the block-based editor to make it interactive, embed documents and slides, and upload your file. |
|
Cohorts: Use various management tools to duplicate the learning flow for each student. |
|
Progress: You and your students can monitor the progress and alert each other about possible red flags, like low marks for a subject. Each student has access to their account with personalized materials. |
Pricing
You can start with a 14-day free trial. There are three options if you like the package: Advanced, Pro and Enterprise. Advanced caters to 50 active users and provides access to unlimited courses. Pro is for 80 active users and offers an advanced package with added benefits. Enterprise is available at a custom price. It comes with the Pro package with additional benefits.
Smart Spending for Student Learning & Licensure Tools
Students face increasing demands to perform well academically and meet licensure or certification requirements in their fields. Choosing the right tools can make an impactful difference — especially when affordability is key. The five tools featured in this list combine cost-effectiveness with robust educational value. Whether you’re preparing for high-stakes exams, tracking academic milestones, or building a licensure-ready portfolio, these platforms provide strategic support without straining your budget.
While each tool has unique strengths, they all share a focus on maximizing outcomes for minimal investment. As a higher educational institution or student, investing in the right learning & licensure tools can empower you to study smarter, track your growth, and launch your career with confidence.