Experimental Sites Initiative Announced - Ed Dept - Title IV Financial Aid

At the end of July, 2014, the US Department of Education announced its intention to consider experimental sites that would offer Title IV financial aids to competency-based education programs.  The specific aim of the experimental sites (ex-sites, as the Ed Dept refers to them) is to provide "better, faster and more flexible paths to academic and career success."   The program will test several approaches for distributing aid:

• Enable students to earn federal student aid based on how much they learn, rather than the amount of time they spend in class by providing federal aid to students enrolled in self-paced competency-based education programs.
• Provide flexibility for an institution to provide a mix of direct assessment coursework and credit hour coursework in the same program.
• Allow the use of federal student aid to pay for prior learning assessments, which can allow students—including returning adults or veterans—to decrease their time to get a degree.
• Encourage college students to mentor high school students in the areas of college readiness, student aid, career counseling and financial literacy, through the use of federal work study funds.

In addition, the Ed Dept announced a grant for an Online Skills Academy.

A National College Degree

Paul LeBlanc, President of Southern New Hampshire University, and its College for America program, recently shared his vision for a National College Degree.  In this Inside Higher Education essay, he articulates that the NCD is based on a competency-based education model.  President LeBlanc outlines his ideas regarding curriculum, delivery, expense, funding, and evaluation.  He also presents strategies for engaging the current host of higher ed providers in delivering supports for the degree seekers, and proposes opportunities for other agencies to become involved in supporting students. 

The comments following the article also offer interesting perspectives on extending CBE to a national degree.  

In Business Magazine's Article, "Career Boost: UW's Flexible Option aids working professionals"

The July 2014 of the online business e-zine, "In Business," published a story on the UW Flexible Option.  Within the article, one finds interviews with Flex student Aaron Apel; Interim Chancellor Aaron Brower of UW Colleges and UW Extension; EVP and chief nursing officer Mary Beth Kingston of Aurora Health Care; and director David Krakauer of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery.

Highlights:  transitions in higher education in the face of free content; transitions in the workplace that demand more education from their employees; the number of applicants to the UW Flexible Option program.

Department of Education Invites Applications for Direct Assessment Programs

In a "Dear Colleague" letter in March of 2013, the Ed Dept provides guidance to institutions that are seeking Title IV Aid for their competency-based direct assessment programs.