Degrees Based on What You Can Do, Not How Long You Went
By ANYA KAMENETZ
Published: October 29, 2013 141 Comments
IN 1893, Charles Eliot, president of Harvard, introduced to the National
Education Association a novel concept: the credit hour. Roughly
equivalent to one hour of lecture time a week for a 12- to 14-week
semester, it became the basic unit of a college education, and the
standard measure for transferring work between institutions. To be
accredited, universities have had to base curriculums on credit hours
and years of study. The seat-time system — one based on the hours spent
in the classroom — is further reinforced by Title IV student aid: to
receive need-based Pell grants or federal loans, students have had to
carry a certain load of credits each semester.
Students in Capella University's FlexPath program can
see how many criteria they must complete to achieve each competency.
Colors indicate how well the student is doing.
FLEX DEGREES
Online self-paced programs, based on demonstrating competence in required skills and knowledge.CAPELLA (FLEXPATH)
Tuition: $2,000 per three-month termDegrees: B.S. in business administration; M.B.A. ($2,200 per term)
Started: October 2013
SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE UNIVERSITY (COLLEGE FOR AMERICA)
Tuition: $1,250 per six-month termDegrees: A.A. in general studies
Started: September 2013
NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY (PERSONALIZED LEARNING)
Tuition: $2,500 per six-month termDegrees: B.A. in liberal arts, business, computer/information technology
Started: May 2013
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN (FLEXIBLE OPTION)
Tuition: $2,250 per three-month termDegrees: B.S.N. in nursing; B.S. in diagnostic imaging, information sciences, technology; A.A.S. in general education; certificate in technical communication
Starts: January 2014
WESTERN GOVERNORS UNIVERSITY
Tuition: $2,890 per six-month termDegrees: B.A., M.A., M.S. in education; B.S., M.S. in information technology; B.S., B.S.N., M.S.N. in nursing ($3,250-$4,250); B.S. in business; M.B.A. ($3,250)
Started: 1997
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After more than a century, the system equating time with learning is being challenged from high quarters.
In March of this year, the Department of Education invited colleges
to submit programs for consideration under Title IV aid that do not
rely on seat time. In response, public, private and for-profit
institutions alike have rushed out programs that are changing the
college degree in fundamental ways; they are based not on time in a
course but on tangible evidence of learning, a concept known as
competency-based education.
The motivation for ditching time is money. This August, at Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pa., President Obama issued a call to improve college affordability
that went beyond boilerplates about loans and Pell grants. He proposed a
rating system that would attach federal higher education dollars to a
college’s cost effectiveness and student performance. “Colleges have to
work harder to prevent tuition from going up year after year,” the
president said. “We’re going to encourage more colleges to innovate, try
new things, do things that can provide a great education without
breaking the bank.”
A new wave of innovators is following his injunction. College leaders
say that by focusing on what people learn, not how or when they learn
it, and by taking advantage of the latest technology, they can save
students time and lower costs. There are 37 million Americans with some
college but no degree, and political leaders at the local, state and
national levels are heralding new competency-based programs as the best
way to get them marketable diplomas.
The Lumina Foundation has been one of the champions of the approach.
Jamie P. Merisotis, president and chief executive, says the rationale is
not just lower cost but better education. “The time-centered system
says if you take the coursework, get passing grades and meet our
academic standards, you get the degree,” he said. “Competency is a
student-centered, learning-outcome-based model. Where you get the
education is secondary to what you know and are able to do.”
To help develop a blueprint for other universities, Lumina just
announced a $1.2 million grant to support an evaluation of the
University of Wisconsin’s competency-based program, set to begin in
January.
But not everyone is so excited about the programs. Many are raising
alarms that these untested offerings will limit or undermine the power
of a university degree.
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CERTIFYING learning, rather than time, is not an entirely new concept.
For decades there have been other ways to earn college credits besides
sitting in the classroom. You can “test out” of certain courses through
A.P., CLEP or D.S.S.T. exams. At many colleges, you can do an
independent study and submit a research paper for course credit. Since
the 1970s, Excelsior, Thomas Edison and Empire State have allowed
students to earn credits through performance-based assessment, like a
simulation with patients in a clinical setting, or by submitting a
portfolio with evidence of previous learning, whether through workplace
experience, military training or even a hobby.
But not until Western Governors University
was founded by a consortium of 19 states in 1997 was an entire degree
program structured around assessments of learning. The online
institution introduced many ideas that have been copied by new
competency programs. They charge fees per term, not per credit, with an
“all you can eat” policy — take and retake as many assessments as you
can fit into a six-month term.
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