Sophia Learning Courses Without Touchstones
Which Sophia courses skip the Touchstone assignment entirely, and why that does not always mean easier.
Quick Answer
Every Sophia math course has no Touchstone component, confirmed directly against Sophia’s own current course pages. A number of business, career success, humanities, science, and social science courses are also Touchstone free, based on student reported course breakdowns. No Touchstone means no manually graded written or project assignment, not that the course is easy. FMMC completes Sophia courses with or without Touchstones, backed by a passing grade guarantee. Contact us for a quote.
Looking for the full Sophia cluster? See our hub: Sophia Learning Help and Answers. For background on what a Touchstone actually is, see What Is a Sophia Touchstone?
Confirmed: Every Math and Statistics Course Is Touchstone Free
We checked each of these directly against Sophia’s own current course pages. All rely entirely on Challenges and Milestones.
- College Algebra (22 Challenges, 6 Milestones), see our College Algebra guide
- Precalculus (17 Challenges, 6 Milestones)
- Calculus I (21 Challenges, 6 Milestones)
- Introduction to Statistics (20 Challenges, 6 Milestones)
- Foundations of Statistics (5 Challenges, 3 Milestones)
- Introduction to College Mathematics
This matters for pacing. Since every math course skips the Touchstone entirely, none of them carry the multi-day grading wait that a written Touchstone adds. If you are stacking courses to move quickly, math courses are predictable in a way that writing-heavy courses are not. See our guide on how quickly you can finish a Sophia course for more on grading turnaround.
Also Reported Touchstone Free (Student Reported)
Sophia does not publish a platform wide list of which courses include a Touchstone, and Sophia periodically adds Touchstones to courses that did not previously have one. The following is based on student reported course breakdowns and has not been independently verified against Sophia’s own materials the way the math cluster above has. Confirm against your own course dashboard before relying on this for course selection.
Business
Introduction to Business, Managerial Accounting, Financial Accounting, Principles of Finance
Career Success
Conflict Resolution, The Essentials of Managing Conflict, Developing Effective Teams
Humanities
Introduction to Ethics
Science
Introduction to Nutrition, Introduction to Chemistry (lecture), Anatomy and Physiology I & II (lecture), Human Biology, Microbiology (lecture)
Social Science
Lifespan Development, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics
A few courses that started Touchstone free have reportedly had one added since, including Project Management, Introduction to Information Technology, and Environmental Science. We left those off this list rather than publish a number we already know is out of date.
Why This Does Not Mean Easier
Skipping the Touchstone removes the multi-day grading wait and the written or project deliverable, but it does not remove difficulty. Calculus I has no Touchstone and is widely considered one of the harder courses on the platform because the Milestones themselves are demanding. If you want a genuinely easy course, Touchstone status is the wrong filter. See our guide to the easiest Sophia Learning courses instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Sophia Learning courses have no Touchstones?
Every Sophia math course, including College Algebra, Precalculus, Calculus I, Introduction to Statistics, Foundations of Statistics, and Introduction to College Mathematics, has no Touchstone component. A number of business, career success, humanities, science, and social science courses are also Touchstone free.
Is this list guaranteed to be accurate?
The math and statistics courses on this list are confirmed directly against Sophia’s own current course pages. The remaining courses are based on student reported course breakdowns, since Sophia does not publish a platform wide Touchstone list, and Sophia periodically adds Touchstones to courses that did not previously have one. Always check your own course dashboard or syllabus before relying on this for course selection.
Why do some Sophia courses have Touchstones and others do not?
Courses built around objective, computation heavy material, like math and accounting, tend to rely entirely on Challenges and Milestones. Courses with a writing, research, or lab based component are more likely to include one or more Touchstones.
Can a Touchstone free course still be hard?
Yes. Not having a Touchstone means no manually graded written or project assignment, not that the course is easy. Math courses like Calculus I have no Touchstone but are widely reported as some of the most difficult courses on the platform.