According to Inside Higher Ed, the University of Michigan, Purdue University and the University of Wisconsin System are now offering programs in competency-based education, a different method of learning which is based on skill level rather than credit hours. The programs are mostly geared toward adult students who have some credits but never earned a degree.
In a typical college course, professors set the pace and students complete the course over usually a four-month period. But in competency-based education, students can move slower or faster than the typical pace, and they earn their credit when they demonstrate their mastery of the material.
This may not seem like a significant departure from a traditional method of learning at a university, since students are usually assessed on their competency by taking tests on the chapters they have read or writing a paper about the material. But a large variety of competency levels can result from this method. A student can earn a C and still get credit for the class, but he probably does not know the material as well as the student who earned an A. For this reason, potential employers may be more attracted to candidates who have earned a degree in a competency-based program, because those students have done A-level work, no matter how long it took them. Students in competency-based education would be evaluated based on their completion of a task which is relevant to their field of study, such as designing a curriculum if enrolled in an education program. Professors assess the students’ projects to determine whether they have reached the expected skill level.
Competency-based education would be difficult to implement on a large scale, because it would require professors to cater to students individually and to work on a different schedule. But competency-based education may be a good approach for certain smaller programs. Medical schools have long focused on competencies. And schools which cater to older students, like the University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies, could also adopt this model so their students can move at different paces.
Older students may be especially suited for a flexible timeline when earning a degree. If they are taking classes while working a full-time job, they may take longer to meet the competency hurdles. They may also have considerable motivation to earn their degrees more quickly, if for instance they have a family to support, and a partner is temporarily taking on more work hours to bring in more money.
Undergraduates may also be interested in a competency-based approach. Not all young people want or have the resources to take four years to graduate, and they may be attracted to the potential advantage in the job market. But it would be difficult for universities to simultaneously offer a traditional learning trajectory and a competency-based trajectory for undergraduates. A system that awards credits based on hours allows universities to organize large numbers of students and effectively allocate resources, maximizing their potential to educate.
If competency-based learning does become more popular, what we may see is a shift where certain small private schools focus their undergraduate programs around this method, while larger state schools continue the traditional approach with competency-based options only being used in one or two of their smaller schools. The model creates more options in the market of higher education, for undergraduate students who feel they are better suited to this kind of learning trajectory.
Like a preference for a liberal arts education or a professional education (like engineering or architecture), competency-based education would simply be a matter of choice, and what a student feels is best to accomplish his or her goals. Though it is unlikely to take over on a large scale, the programs which are offered will hopefully expand overall access to higher education.
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