Competency-Based Education

Competency-Based Education Results of the AACRAO May 2016 60-Second Survey

Contents Introduction... 1 What is Competency-Based Education?... 1 Key Findings... 1 Results... 1 Appendix A: AACRAO May 2016 60-Second Survey... 5 Appendix B: Respondent Count by Country, State/Province... 6 Appendix C: Respondent Count by Institution Type, Size and Control... 8

Introduction AACRAO and NASPA are engaged in a project funded by Lumina Foundation on student records. As one part of that project, we seek to understand the landscape of competencybased education (CBE) and its relationship to credit hours (or Carnegie units). This has a direct impact on how student learning and achievement is represented on a student's record. This month s 60-Second survey was designed to help us gain information on the frequency of CBE, generally, and how the paradigm of credit hours/carnegie units limits or does not limit innovation in this area (Appendix A). There were 554 viable responses representing different institutions and/or different practices within an institution varying by college/department. Participants are from several countries and a variety of institutional types (Appendix B and C). What is Competency-Based Education? For the purpose of this survey, we used the following definition of CBE. Competency-based education (CBE) is a flexible way for students to get credit for what they know, build on their knowledge and skills by learning more at their own pace, and earn high quality degrees, certificates, and other credentials that help them in their lives and careers. Students in these programs show what they know and how well they know it through multiple ways of evaluating learning. Source: http://www.cbenetwork.org/competency-based-education/ Key Findings A quarter offer CBE instruction. Of the three-quarters who do not offer CBE, 10% are planning to offer CBE in the next 12 months. Of those who do offer CBE, 9 out of 10 offer it at the undergraduate level for credit. Most who offer CBE convert CBE to credit hours for at least one purpose and the most reported reason is institutional choice. Results The data in this report may provide different insights if it is further disaggregated by additional institutional characteristics. Please contact Wendy Kilgore (wendyk@aacrao.org) if you have interest in seeing the data disaggregated differently than how is has been provided in this report. 1

Table 1: CBE Instruction at Institution (n=554) Response Percentage Count Yes 25% 140 No 75% 414 Table 2: Student Populations Served by CBE (n=150) Response Percentage Count Undergraduate for credit 90% 135 Graduate for credit 23% 34 Undergraduate noncredit 12% 16 Graduate noncredit 3% 5 Table 3: Percentage of Instruction Offered as CBE < 10% 10 to 24% 25 to 49% 50 to 74% 75 to 99% 100% Count Undergraduate for credit Graduate for credit Undergraduate noncredit Graduate noncredit 108 (82%) 9 (7%) 8 (6%) 3 (2%) 1 (1%) 2 (2%) 131 22 (71%) 2 (7%) 2 (7%) 1 (3%) 3 (10%) 1 (3%) 31 13 (77%) 2 (12%) 0 0 0 2 (12%) 17 4 (80%) 0 0 0 0 1 (20%) 5 Table 4: Percentage Who Convert CBE to Credit Hours for Any Purpose Response Percentage Count Yes 86% 113 No 14% 19 It appears that in addition to an institutional preference to do so, external pressures also account for why institutions convert CBE to credit hours (Table 5). Institutions in the United States who want their CBE programs to eligible for financial aid must obtain approval from their regional accreditor and may need to file with the Department of Education 1. 2 1 https://www.hlcommission.org/monitoring/competency-based-education-programs.html.

Table 5: Reason(s) for Converting CBE to Credit Hours (all that apply) (n=108) Response Percentage Count Institutional preference 68% 73 Accreditation requirements 32% 34 Federal and/or state financial aid rules 32% 34 Other, please specify... 22% 24 Licensure requirements/needs 19% 20 SIS limitations 15% 16 Employer requests/needs 12% 13 Graduate/professional school requests/needs 12% 13 Several themes emerged from the comments provided by respondents (Table 6). Many of the comments provided by respondents relate to the need or desire to convert CBE into credits for the purpose of transfer credit. Others related to counting credits toward an overall certificate or degree requirements. A few comments related to the need to convert CBE to credits for the purpose of tuition calculation. Table 6: Other Reasons for Converting CBE to Credit Hours Response To provide credits toward the minimum credits required for a degree. To fulfill requirements for graduation. Portfolio is reviewed to determine which courses should be granted credit based on the content of the courses. The student is awarded the credit for those courses. Our CBE process allows students to demonstrate that they have met the learning outcomes of a particular course and earn the course credit when they successfully complete a portfolio or credit by exam. Transfer. Experiential Learning converts portfolios into credit hours. TOC Evaluation. Transferability. Tuition/fees. Departmentally based credit by examination. Courses are offered that students register and pay for and complete. Undergraduate students wanting to qualify for Latin Honors. Maintain consistent measure for degree completion. We can transcript and there is a better chance at transfer. Ease of scheduling. Student demand/preference. Documentation of learning in internships. 3

So that it can apply to degree or certificate requirements. Offered in Credit Hours (not all CBE is direct assessment or noncredit hour based). Students show course learning outcomes through competency tests. To ensure ease of transfer for students who may wish to leave the program. FTE Reporting Guidelines. Questions regarding this or other AACRAO research should be directed to Wendy Kilgore, AACRAO Director of Research, at wendyk@aacrao.org. 4

Appendix A: AACRAO May 2016 60-Second Survey AACRAO 60-Second Survey: Competency Based Education What is competency based education? Competency-based education (CBE) is a flexible way for students to get credit for what they know, build on their knowledge and skills by learning more at their own pace, and earn high quality degrees, certificates, and other credentials that help them in their lives and careers. Students in these programs show what they know and how well they know it through multiple ways of evaluating learning. Source: http://www.cbenetwork.org/competencybased-education/ Does your institution currently offer any instruction that may fall under that definition of CBE above? Yes No What student population(s) is (are) served by CBE? Check all that apply Undergraduate for credit Graduate for credit Undergraduate noncredit Graduate noncredit About what percentage of your instruction is offered as CBE? Less than 10% 10 to 24% 25 to 49% 50 to 74% 75 to 99% 100% Undergraduate for credit Graduate for credit Undergraduate noncredit Graduate noncredit Are you planning to start CBE instructional offerings in the next 12 months? Yes No Is this instruction converted into credit hours for any purpose? Yes No What are some of the reasons that your CBE instruction is converted into credit hours (check all that apply)? Institutional preference Accreditation requirements Employer requests/needs Graduate/professional school requests/needs Licensure requirements/needs SIS limitations Federal and/or state financial aid rules Other, please specify... Are you planning to expand your CBE instructional offerings in the next 12 months? Yes No 5

Appendix B: Respondent Count by Country, State/Province Count Armenia 1 Bahamas 1 Bolivia 1 Canada 14 AB 3 BC 7 MB 1 NS 1 QC 2 Costa Rica 1 Cote d'ivoire 1 Egypt 1 Greece 1 Grenada 1 Italy 1 Lebanon 2 Mexico 1 Oman 1 Puerto Rico 4 Qatar 1 United Arab Emirates 1 United States 521 AK 3 AL 4 AR 3 AZ 9 CA 45 CO 16 CT 5 DC 3 DE 2 FL 13 GA 13 HI 1 IA 9 ID 3 IL 27 IN 14 6

KS 12 KY 7 LA 5 MA 22 MD 17 ME 3 MI 20 MN 16 MO 11 MS 2 MT 3 NC 13 ND 2 NE 3 NH 1 NJ 6 NM 4 NV 4 NY 31 OH 26 OK 9 OR 9 PA 20 RI 2 SC 7 SD 1 TN 12 TX 32 UT 5 VA 12 VT 5 WA 10 WI 15 WV 4 Grand Total 554 7

Appendix C: Respondent Count by Institution Type, Size and Control Count Lower Division Only 87 Under 1,000 17 Private, not-for-profit 4 Private, proprietary 3 Public 10 1,000-2,499 14 Public 14 2,500-4,999 20 Public 20 5,000-9,999 21 Private, not-for-profit 1 Public 20 10,000-19,999 12 Public 12 20,000+ 3 Public 3 Undergraduate 90 Under 1,000 32 Private, not-for-profit 26 Private, proprietary 4 Public 2 1,000-2,499 43 Private, not-for-profit 36 Public 7 2,500-4,999 11 Private, not-for-profit 3 Private, proprietary 2 Public 6 5,000-9,999 3 Public 3 10,000-19,999 1 Public 1 Undergraduate, Graduate and/or Professional 355 Under 1,000 42 Private, not-for-profit 34 Private, proprietary 5 Public 3 8

1,000-2,499 83 Private, not-for-profit 70 Private, proprietary 4 Public 9 2,500-4,999 62 Private, not-for-profit 45 Public 17 5,000-9,999 66 Private, not-for-profit 23 Private, proprietary 2 Public 41 10,000-19,999 51 Private, not-for-profit 17 Private, proprietary 2 Public 32 20,000+ 51 Private, not-for-profit 8 Private, proprietary 3 Public 40 Graduate and/or Professional 20 Under 1,000 17 Private, not-for-profit 16 Private, proprietary 1 1,000-2,499 1 Private, not-for-profit 1 5,000-9,999 1 Private, proprietary 1 Unk 1 Private, not-for-profit 1 Other 2 Under 1,000 1 Public 1 5,000-9,999 1 Private, not-for-profit 1 Grand Total 554 9