Dive Brief:
- College Unbound recently earned approval to turn its degree-completion program for Rhode Island adults into a full-fledged, private nonprofit college.
- Inside Higher Ed reports the next step will be accreditation and then scaling up its offerings beyond serving the first 100 students locally to growing online and internationally.
- College Unbound currently helps mostly working adults with unfinished bachelor’s degrees use their experience to finish individualized programs and get degrees from partner colleges, but now it will be able to offer its own diplomas, according to the article.
Dive Insight:
College Unbound’s shift to an accredited, private nonprofit will give it access to federal student aid, which will help its expansion. So far it has been able to bring its services to a relatively small number of Rhode Island students but there is every reason to expect it will grow quickly. Programs that give credit to students with relevant life experience are becoming more popular. Competency-based education seeks to loosen the reins on traditional higher education, acknowledging that quality learning also happens outside of the classroom. The key is getting employers to trust the integrity of competency-based credits, which many institutions are working on now.