Classical Liberal Arts Academy (CLAA)

The Classical Liberal Arts Academy is William C. Michael's online Catholic classical school, a genuinely online, genuinely classical, genuinely Catholic program with a pre-Vatican II scholarly sensibility and a membership-subscription pricing model that looks nothing like traditional Catholic online academies.

Last updated: 2026-04-24 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Classical / scholastic / trivium and quadrivium / self-paced online
Worldview	Christian-Catholic (traditional Catholic; pre-Vatican II scholarly sources; used across Novus Ordo and traditional Catholic communities)
Grades	3-12 (courses available to ages 8 and up; self-paced with no grade-level gating)
Formats	Online self-paced courses with optional live teacher support; no in-person component
Cost tier	Budget (subscription pricing is materially lower than per-course online academies)
Parent intensity	2 (self-paced student work with parent as oversight rather than teacher)
ESA-common	Varies
Accredited	Yes. Cognia, July 2024
Established	2008
Website	classicalliberalarts.com

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	5	Genuine trivium-and-quadrivium sequence with substantive Latin, logic, philosophy, and theology
Ease of teaching	4	Self-paced online delivery with teacher support lifts the parent out of primary-teacher role
Content quality	5	Serious engagement with classical sources; Cognia accreditation with IEQ score 67 points above average
Flexibility	4	Subscription rather than per-course; start any time; work year-round; no expiration on courses
Value for money	5	At $25/month student or $100/month family, CLAA is priced well below per-course Catholic online options
Worldview scope	1	Narrow by design. Catholic, drawing on scholastic and pre-Vatican II sources
Visual/design	3	Functional, utilitarian; the appeal is content depth, not interface polish
Support resources	4	Premium tier includes live support; accreditation supports diploma issuance

Who the publisher is

The Classical Liberal Arts Academy was founded in 2008 by William C. Michael and his wife. Michael holds an Honors degree in Classics and Ancient History from Rutgers University and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He has worked as a Catholic educator and classicist for over two decades and serves as Headmaster of the Academy. The Academy is distinct from several similarly-named organizations in the Catholic classical space, it is not the Angelicum Academy, not Kolbe Academy, not Mother of Divine Grace, and not Seton Home Study. The distinctiveness matters because each of these programs approaches Catholic classical education from a materially different direction. CLAA's direction is to restore what Michael argues is an authentic classical Catholic education, meaning classical as understood by pre-Vatican II Catholic tradition rather than the contemporary Dorothy Sayers-inflected classical Christian movement.

The Academy achieved full accreditation from Cognia in July 2024 with an Index of Education Quality score of 320, 20 points above Cognia's accreditation threshold and 67 points above the average score for Cognia schools worldwide. Cognia is the world's largest accrediting agency, serving over 32,000 schools in more than 90 countries. This accreditation means CLAA can issue a genuine high school diploma that most U.S. colleges will accept on standard terms, which was not historically the case for the Academy and which changes the calculus for high school families considering CLAA as their primary program.

Theologically, CLAA is Catholic in a specifically classical and scholastic register. Michael's published work and the Academy's course content draw heavily on pre-Vatican II Catholic educational tradition, the Ratio Studiorum of the Jesuit schools, the scholastic philosophers, the medieval Catholic universities, rather than on more contemporary Catholic educational movements. The Academy is used by families across the Catholic spectrum: traditional Catholic families attending the Tridentine Latin Mass find the pre-Vatican II sensibility congenial; Novus Ordo parish families use the program without ideological friction. The Academy does not market itself as "traditional Catholic" in a sectarian sense, but its scholarly center of gravity will feel traditional to most readers.

The core pedagogy

The pedagogical spine is the seven classical liberal arts, the trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric) and the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy), as understood in the medieval Catholic universities and practiced in the Jesuit schools before the 20th-century reforms. This is a specific claim about what "classical" means, and it is substantively different from the Sayers-inflected classical Christian movement that produced Classical Conversations, Veritas Press, and similar programs. CLAA's version of classical is scholastic, question-and-response disputation, Aristotelian logic, Thomist metaphysics, rather than Socratic-and-Great-Books-discussion.

Scope and sequence runs through formal courses in Latin (at least six levels), Greek, grammar, traditional logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music theory, astronomy, philosophy (including substantial engagement with Aristotle and Aquinas), theology, and Great Books readings. The delivery is entirely online and self-paced, students work through course material at their own pace, with no fixed semester calendar, no class meeting times, and no expiration on enrollment. Premium-tier students get live teacher support; standard-tier students work through the material with written guidance and forum support.

Signature mechanics: (1) Subscription rather than per-course pricing, $25 per month for a Student Plan giving one student access to all online courses, $100 per month for a Family Plan giving all family members access, $100 per month for a Premium Student Plan with live support. (2) Self-paced with no semester calendar, students start anytime, work at their own pace, finish when the material is mastered; no enrollment windows. (3) Genuinely classical curriculum structure, the trivium and quadrivium are taught as a structured sequence, not as a loose reading list. (4) Cognia accreditation, as of 2024, CLAA can issue accredited high school diplomas, which is unusual for an academy of this size and pedagogical specificity.

A day in the life

An eleven-year-old using CLAA as their primary academic program does not have a fixed daily schedule imposed by the Academy, the self-paced design puts scheduling responsibility on the family. In practice, a typical family structure looks like this: the student starts the morning at 8:30 with a 30-40 minute Latin lesson (reading the course content, completing the written exercises, submitting the work through the online portal). Move to a 30 minute arithmetic or geometry block. A 45-60 minute Great Books reading with written notes (the student might be working through Aesop's Fables, Ovid's Metamorphoses, or a selection of Aristotle depending on where they are in the sequence). A short break. A 30 minute logic or grammar block. Lunch. Afternoon is lighter: a 30 minute music-theory or astronomy block, free reading, and whatever other subjects the family handles outside CLAA.

Total focused instructional time for an elementary-age student runs about two and a half to three hours per day; high school students often work four to five hours. The parent's role is supervisory rather than instructional, the online course content does the teaching, the teacher support (on the premium tier) handles substantive questions, and the parent checks that work is being done, supports the student through difficult material, and enforces daily rhythm.

Because the program is self-paced with no expiration, a family can take a slow week without penalty, accelerate during a focused season, and return to courses years later. This is a meaningfully different structure from traditional online academies with fixed semester calendars.

What they do exceptionally well

Substantive Latin and Greek sequences. The Academy's Latin I through VI sequence is real, students who complete it can read classical Latin prose with competence, which is unusual outside of specialized classics programs. Greek is available alongside. For families committed to serious classical language study, this is a genuine strength.

Authentic classical philosophy. Where many classical Christian programs treat philosophy as a reading list of Great Books to discuss, CLAA teaches logic, metaphysics, and ethics as structured disciplines in the scholastic tradition. Students who complete the traditional logic course and work through Aquinas's Summa selections emerge with philosophical training that would be competitive with an undergraduate classical education program.

Subscription pricing at an unusual value point. At $25 per month for a single student with access to the entire course catalog, CLAA is structurally cheaper than any per-course Catholic online academy. Families can try the program with minimal financial commitment, use it as a supplement to another curriculum, or use it as their primary program, the pricing scales meaningfully with use rather than locking in fixed annual tuition.

Cognia accreditation for high school families. The 2024 accreditation from Cognia materially changes the Academy's utility for high school families planning college application. CLAA-issued transcripts are now accredited, which removes the primary historical objection to using CLAA as a stand-alone high school program. For traditional Catholic families especially, an accredited online Catholic classical diploma is not a common option.

What they do poorly

Self-paced delivery is not self-starting. The structure requires the student and family to maintain discipline without externally-imposed deadlines. Students who do better with fixed semester calendars and scheduled class meetings may struggle in a self-paced online environment. The Academy addresses this with the premium support tier, but self-discipline is still the foundation.

Interface and production values are utilitarian. The online portal does what it needs to do without trying to impress. Families accustomed to designed learning-management systems (like Kolbe's newer portal or online live programs with polished video production) will find CLAA's interface basic. The content depth is the appeal, not the platform experience.

Limited peer community. Unlike Classical Conversations or Kolbe Academy's live sessions, CLAA is not a community-centered program. Students do not meet peers in class, do not have classmates in the ordinary sense, and do not develop social-academic relationships through the platform. Families who want their children to have peer relationships through the program will need to source that socialization outside CLAA.

Not a fit for families seeking a contemporary Catholic educational approach. Michael's pre-Vatican II scholarly sensibility is explicit and distinctive. Families who prefer a contemporary Catholic educational idiom (with ecumenical elements, contemporary theologians, post-conciliar framing) may find the Academy's framing out of step with their parish life. Conversely, families who find contemporary Catholic programs too casual will find CLAA's seriousness a match.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick CLAA if: you are a Catholic family seeking authentic classical and scholastic education; you are comfortable with self-paced online learning; you value subscription pricing over per-course fees; you want a pre-Vatican II scholarly sensibility; you specifically need an accredited Catholic high school transcript (post-2024 accreditation); your student is self-disciplined enough to work through online material.

• Skip CLAA if: you want a community-based classical program with peer interaction (consider Aquinas Learning instead); you prefer contemporary Catholic educational approaches; your student struggles with self-directed online work; you want a scheduled live-class format with teacher meetings; you want a polished, visually-designed online learning experience.

Cost honest assessment

CLAA's subscription pricing as of April 2026 is $25 per month for a Student Plan, $100 per month for a Family Plan giving all family members access to all online courses, and $100 per month for a Premium Student Plan with live support, exclusive resources, and prioritized lesson preparation. Annual cost: $300 for a single student at the standard tier, $1,200 for a family, $1,200 for premium student support. A family with three children using the Family Plan is paying $1,200 per year total, compared to Kolbe Academy's accredited home-school enrollment at $1,500-$2,500 per student, or Mother of Divine Grace consultation-tier pricing at $500-$900 per student per year. CLAA is structurally the lowest-priced serious Catholic classical option available.

The subscription model changes the cost calculation in another way. Because courses never expire, a family can enroll once and return to courses years later. A child who begins Latin at age 10 and takes years off can resume; an older sibling who completes a course can leave it available for a younger sibling. This is materially different from per-course pricing models where each course must be paid for per enrollment per student.

All in, a Catholic family of three using CLAA as their primary academic program with the Family Plan is looking at $1,200-$1,500 per year including incidental materials, far below comparable accredited Catholic online academies.

ESA eligibility notes

CLAA's ESA eligibility varies by state. The 2024 Cognia accreditation makes the Academy eligible for state ESA programs that require accredited providers, which materially changed its ESA posture. Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Account, Utah Fits All Scholarship, and several other state programs have historically accepted Cognia-accredited online academies, and CLAA should now qualify under those rules. ESA-funded families should verify current vendor-approval status with their state program administrator before enrolling, particularly for states that have changed their religious-curriculum restrictions recently. CLAA's subscription-pricing model may require the family to coordinate with their state program on how the monthly subscription is reimbursed.

Alternatives

• Kolbe Academy, a family would pick Kolbe over CLAA for a more traditional accredited Catholic home-study program with per-course enrollment, formal semester calendars, and a larger institutional reputation, at meaningfully higher per-student cost.
• Mother of Divine Grace, a family would pick MODG over CLAA for a Catholic classical program with a consultation-based model (a MODG consultant works with the family across the year), integrated with Catholic Charlotte-Mason-inflected pedagogy, at a middle price point.
• Angelicum Academy, a family would pick Angelicum over CLAA for a Catholic Great Books program with live online Socratic seminars for high school and college level, accepting the higher live-seminar cost for the peer interaction CLAA does not offer.

How we verified this

Our editorial team reviewed CLAA's public website at classicalliberalarts.com, the About page, the What is CLAA support page, the Is CLAA an online program blog post, and the accredited diploma announcement. We verified accreditation status through the Cognia announcement referenced on the Academy's site (July 2024 accreditation; Index of Education Quality score 320). Pricing and subscription terms verified on the publisher's public pricing page. Prices and program details verified April 2026.