Dive Summary:
- Through a partnership with the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, the 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education are preparing for more adult students, and setting up a system that grants credit for previous higher learning assessment and stackable credentials--including technical training programs and MOOCs.
- Under Learning Counts, CAEL's portfolio-based prior learning service, students pay $500 for an online course explaining how to assemble a portfolio that describes their prior learning, and an additional $250 for faculty experts to review that portfolio and issue recommendations worth as many as 12 credits.
- Some wary faculty argue that the process could be an academically suspect money grab, a poor substitute for college and a potential threat to professors' jobs.
From the article:
Pennsylvania's regional public universities are gearing up to serve more adult students, and will use prior learning assessment and stackable credentials to help meet that anticipated demand. Work force development is a priority for the 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, in part because they are often the only public game in town. Many lack nearby community colleges, especially the universities in the state's central and northern regions, so the four-year system sports a healthy suite of associate degrees and one-year certificates, along with the standard fare of bachelor's degrees. ...