With more college students now considered nontraditional than traditional, higher education institutions have been scrambling to shift their models to better meet their needs. Many have turned to competency-based education, known as CBE, to reach the increasingly important returning adult learner.
These students graduated from high school years ago and have work and life experiences that distinguish them from their young adult counterparts on campus. With competency-based education, they can earn credits for that.
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The idea is that students should not have to sit through lessons they have already learned. Once they prove their knowledge — competency — they can move on to new material.
The model is popular with older learners who want to finish a degree as fast as possible, and online delivery means they can do it in evenings and weekends, or around their work and family commitments.
In 2014, about 50 colleges had either announced or started CBE programs. In 2017, the education research firm Eduventures issued a report about 175 institutions with some level of CBE, even if just a course or two. Hundreds more say they are considering such programs.
But competency-based education is hard to put into effect because it is so different from traditional higher education — in the way courses are designed, the way faculty members are expected to teach, how long courses take and how students should be charged.
“The demand side is there,” said Howard Lurie, principal analyst at Eduventures. “The actual execution is limited.”
At least so far.