The Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN) on Tuesday announced 15 new members. This cohort will join the network, supported by Lumina Foundation and managed by Public Agenda, on March 3 when the national group comprising a total of 30 institutions and four public systems with 82 campuses meets for a three-day working session in Austin.
Competency-based degree programs are promising approaches to helping educate more Americans, because they hold potential as a better way to plan, organize, deliver, and support education for students who are not well served by traditional academic instruction. C-BEN was formed a year ago in response to clear demand from colleges and universities that had been building competency-based models in isolation. Today, these leading institutions are working collaboratively to accelerate progress on shared challenges around program design and integrity, business processes and systems, and vendor relations to build models capable of scaling to serve many more students from all backgrounds.
C-BEN, which has become a major voice on federal student aid issues and innovative program design, will now include: Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque; Concordia University Wisconsin; Danville (Va.) Community College; Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Mich.; Kentucky Commonwealth College (a collaborative effort of Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, the University of Louisville and Western Kentucky University); Lord Fairfax Community College in Virginia; Los Angeles Trade-Technical College; Purdue University at West Lafayette; Rasmussen College; Southwestern College in Winfield, Kan.; the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor; Thomas Edison State College in Trenton, N.J.; and Walden University (Laureate Education). In addition, C-BEN will add the University System of Georgia and the University of Texas System, which represent 40 campuses. Some of these institutions have been through the Next Generation Learning Challenges Business Model Incubator, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and are ready to begin working with the leading institutions.
Read more at the Competency-Based Education Network: http://www.cbenetwork.org/sites/457/uploaded/files/CBEN_Announces_New_Members.pdf