More than half of today's students are adult learners, juggling jobs and families, in addition to college. This brings new challenges for institutions of higher education, forcing them to adjust rapidly to address the needs of their growing adult student base. Many universities have made significant strides when it comes to working with…

In 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor invited postsecondary institutions to participate in an experiment to learn how federal financial aid might be used to cover the costs of prior learning assessment (PLA). PLA is the process of evaluating a student's prior workplace and experiential learning for academic credit. While the experiment is still…

Previous research from the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) found that prior learning assessment/credit for prior learning (PLA/CPL) 1 has a positive effect on adult student credential completion--an effect that was evident for every student subgroup analyzed in a…

In 2012, CAEL released the report "Competency-Based Degree Programs in the U.S.: Postsecondary Credentials for Measurable Student Learning and Performance," which examined the current state of competency-based postsecondary education in the U.S., profiling the various types of competency-based, or competency-focused, models that…

Today the U.S. higher education system is facing a crisis regarding its perceived quality. One model for improving quality is competency-based education, in which an institution clearly defines the specific competencies expected of its graduates. A key challenge is how to help more people, particularly adults, succeed at the post¬secondary level…