Competency-Based Education Arrives at Three Major Public Institutions

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/10/28/competency-based-education-arrives-three-major-public-institutions

The University of Michigan, Purdue University, and the University of Wisconsin System recently announced new competency-based programs that seek to shift the focus to what students know and can do rather than how much time they spend in class. The Wisconsin System’s “Flexible Option” offers five competency-based, online credentials that are designed mostly for adult students with some college credits but no degree. Michigan recently announced that its regional accreditor had approved a new master’s of health professions education, which is a distance-education, competency-based degree not based on the credit-hour standard. Likewise, Purdue recently announced a trans-disciplinary competency-based degree housed at the Purdue Polytechnic Institute. According to the article, “One reason these new programs from Purdue, Michigan and the Wisconsin System have drawn notice is that public universities face extra layers of bureaucracy when creating degree programs that look different.” The article also notes that until now it has mainly been private institutions experimenting with competency-based education.