Dive Brief:
- A three-day conference in Phoenix at the end of September will bring together some of the 600 colleges said to be designing competency-based education programs, giving them opportunities for collaboration and guidance.
- Inside Higher Ed reports the meeting, called CBExchange, will focus on centralized ideas of quality, encouraging those creating new programs to learn from the experiences of their peers.
- The conference is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and organized by nonprofit group Public Agenda, but sponsors include AAC&U and C-BEN, the Competency-Based Education Network.
Dive Insight:
There has been explosive growth in the number of schools considering competency-based education, but relatively few schools have established programs. Collaboration now is critical for growth to result in quality programming. There are lessons to be learned from the early adopters. The flexibility of competency-based courses is often touted for giving students the chance to finish coursework quickly. Critics say faculty are relegated to a support role in this setup and the focus on quick completion sets the stage for a churn mentality. Accreditation for such programs has so far been scarce, but Higher Education Act reauthorization and recent support from the Education Department may turn the tide.