Stratos Academy · Terms of Service

Terms of Service

Last updated: 2026-05-09 · Effective for all subscriptions started on or after this date.

1. Who you're contracting with

By using Stratos Academy you enter into an agreement with Stratos Technologies LLC, a Virginia limited liability company doing business as "Stratos Academy." Throughout this document, "we," "us," and "our" refer to that entity. "You" refers to the natural person creating the account.

2. What we provide

Stratos Academy is an exam preparation platform. We provide practice exams, reference material annotation, video lessons (where listed), and a community space for members preparing for these credentialing exams:

Virginia Home Improvement Contractor (VA HIC)
Virginia Commercial Improvement Contractor (CIC)
NFA Series 3 Commodities Futures
NFA Series 30 Branch Manager
Virginia Real Estate Salesperson

3. Tiers, billing, and refunds

Starter — single one-time payment, lifetime access to one protocol of your choice. No automatic renewal.
Pro — monthly or annual subscription. All seven live protocols (HIC, CIC, S3, S30, SIE, S7, VA RE), plus access to the four NASAA/FINRA protocols (Series 6, 63, 65, 66) as they launch in Q3 2026. Cancel anytime. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period.
Elite — monthly or annual subscription. Pro features plus monthly 1-on-1 with Michael and the private Elite community room.

All prices are in US dollars. Payment is processed by Stripe. By subscribing, you authorize us to charge your payment method on file.

Refunds: If you've used the platform for fewer than 14 days and have not yet attempted any practice exam, email us within those 14 days for a full refund — no questions. After 14 days or after your first practice attempt, refunds are at our discretion.

4. Acceptable use

Your account is for one human. Don't share credentials. Repeated multi-IP access can result in account suspension.
Don't scrape, copy, redistribute, or republish our practice exams, reference annotations, or video content. Members own their answers; we own the questions and pedagogical structure.
Don't use the platform to attempt the actual licensing exam (e.g., during PSI / NFA online proctoring). Doing so can disqualify you and may violate test-vendor terms.
Don't use the community space for spam, harassment, hate speech, or content that defames real people.

5. Practice content disclaimer — IMPORTANT

Practice questions are NOT real exam questions. They are written by Michael Howard and contributors to mirror the topic distribution and difficulty level of the official PSI, NFA, or VREB exams, but they are independent material. Passing our practice does not guarantee you'll pass the real exam, and failing our practice doesn't mean you'll fail the real one.

6. NFA Compliance Rule 2-29 disclaimer

Stratos Academy makes no guarantee, express or implied, that any subscriber will pass the Series 3 or Series 30 exam. Past performance of other students is not indicative of your future results. The platform is a study aid only. Your outcome depends on your preparation, your test-day execution, and factors outside our control.

7. Intellectual property

You retain ownership of any content you post (forum threads, win posts, comments). By posting, you grant us a worldwide, royalty-free license to display and distribute it within the platform. We retain ownership of all platform code, practice questions, video lessons, and reference annotations.

8. Termination

You can cancel your subscription anytime via your account settings or by emailing us. We can suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms. If we terminate without cause, we'll prorate any unused subscription period.

9. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our aggregate liability for any claim arising out of these Terms or your use of the platform is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim, or (b) $100. We are not liable for indirect, consequential, or punitive damages — including lost income from a failed credential exam, missed test dates, or proctor cancellations.

10. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, USA, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of state and federal courts located in Virginia.

11. Changes

If we materially change these Terms, we'll email active members at least 30 days before the change takes effect. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

12. Contact

Questions? Email [email protected].